The Team

Tim Sparke, Chief Executive

Tim founded MercuryMedia in 2000 and has been focussing the company solely on documentary since 2005. Prior to Mercury, Tim amassed 15 years experience working for Disney, Thames, BBC and the AP rising to senior executive roles. He contributes at a strategic level to Ofcom, the BBC Trust and EDN, (European Documentary Network). Tim founded joiningthedocs.tv in 2008 in order to increase the availability of documentary films, which he believes are under-served by traditional channels and deserve a wider audience.

“I’ve found MercuryMedia very friendly, helpful and supportive. They have a knowledgeable and well connected team that go the extra mile for the producers they represent”
- Steve Humphries, MD Testimony Films

Patricia Hickey, Head of Sales & Acquisitions, MercuryMedia

Patricia has worked for over 10 years in both theatrical and television sales in the UK and USA. She has been with Mercury for 3 years and handles world wide sales excluding UK and acquisitions. Prior to joining Mercury, Patricia worked in theatrical sales at Sony Pictures Classics in New York, and has held executive positions at Buena Vista International Television and Freemantle International in London.

Ben Wharton, Content Director

Ben has enjoyed moving between TV, post-production, feature writing, web producing and festival programming for over 10 years. Ben has produced TV/online shows covering independent filmmaking, the video game industry and written articles on the animation and visual effects community. A keen film enthusiast across all genres, Ben is passionate about the power of visual storytelling.

Talia Hussain, CTO and Marketing Director

Talia has over 10 years of experience in design, marketing, publishing and communications, working with clients such as Channel 4, Red Bull, the Princes’ Trust, Arts Council England and many others. She’s an online veteran bringing a wealth of experience working with internet startups.

“Mercury Media took on a tough film and made some decent sales. Tim is always available for a chat – which is more than you can say of most sales agents! They really fight for their producers.”
- Chris Atkins, Director

Helena G. Martinez, Distribution Coordinator

With more than five years of experience in production financing in Barcelona, Madrid and NY. Helena has settled down in London, handling Mercury’s accounts and providing support to the sales, acquisitions and marketing team.

Alice Broughton, Marketing Executive

Alice has joined Mercury Media as Marketing Executive and will be assisting in development and execution of marketing and communication activity. Alice joins us from both an agency and in-house marketing background having worked across a client base which includes; Tate Modern, Paramount Pictures and MTV Networks.

Calum Gray, Acquisitions and Development Executive

Calum Gray has joined the company as Acquisitions and Development Executive. He joins the team from Celsius Entertainment where he worked as international Sales Agent on a number of high profile independent film and documentary features; these included two Sundance Grand Jury Award winning docs.