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MEET THE TEAM
Emma Cooper
Film-maker, Producer and Founder
Cooper is an independent film-maker and Executive Producer recently founding Empress Films. Prior to this she was the Global President of Non-Scripted Television at Pulse Films. Delivering a strong slate of highly regarded non-fiction films and series which have won accolades at Sundance, Tribeca and Toronto Film Festivals and premiered on Netflix and other UK and US broadcasters and streamers.
Emma has most recently Exec produced 'Who Killed Jill Dando?', she directed the Netflix series 'Depp V Heard' which was No1 in 88 countries. She directed the feature doc, 'The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe; The Unheard Tapes', for Netflix. Emma’s other credits include: The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann (series Netflix) Bikram (feature Netflix) Rock and Roll (series SKY) No Greater Law (A&E Indie Films) The Deal (series BBC 2) with a number of projects currently in production launching in 2020/2021.
Having previously held the position of Commissioning Editor in Documentaries at Channel 4, Cooper has a track record for developing award-winning, innovative and trend-setting non-fiction that encouraged discussion within her strand Cutting Edge. Titles include The Fried Chicken Shop, Teens, Freshers, Going To The Dogs, Tattoos, The Jihadi Next Door, The Murder Workers, Ian Brady: Endgames of a Psychopath and Meet the Police Commissioner.
Prior to Channel 4, Emma directed and produced films for the BBC including Louis Theroux: A Place for Paedophiles, Miami Mega-Jail and America’s Most Hated Family.
Eben Davidson
Creative Executive and Producer
Eben Davidson, a native New Yorker, stands as a distinguished creative executive and producer with an impressive track record spanning over 20 years in the entertainment industry. His multifaceted career encompasses key roles at Paramount Pictures and notable contributions to both film and television.
Mr. Davidson's tenure at Paramount Pictures showcases his versatility and adept management of projects from development through production, sales, and distribution. Serving in various capacities, he notably held the position of Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Production, overseeing projects that collectively grossed over $1 billion and received 18 Academy Award nominations.
Among the many successful films under his purview were critically acclaimed works such as "Arrival," "Florence Foster Jenkins," "Top Five," and engaging projects like "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" and "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.”
Additionally, Davidson was part of Paramount’s outreach to China, developing numerous co-productions with Chinese Partners.
Transitioning seamlessly into television, Mr. Davidson assumed the role of Senior Vice President of Development at Paramount Pictures Television where he created the alternative division and oversaw projects, including "The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann" at Netflix. Continuing with a move to Blumhouse Television as Executive Vice President Scripted Programming, where he played a pivotal role in overseeing the anthology series "Into the Dark" on Hulu and bringing "The Purge" to USA Network.
Davidson joined Adam Goodman’s Invisible Narratives as head of creative where he produced the pandemic thriller “Songbird” at STX/Hulu co-produced with Michael Bay.
With an eye towards the international marketplace Mr. Davidson became head of production at Vision Entertainment, a premier management and production company representing Latin talent with offices in LA and Mexico City.
Beyond his executive and producing roles, Mr. Davidson shares his industry insights as an instructor in the UCLA Film certificate program. Paramount Pictures recently optioned "OK Boomer," a screenplay written by Davidson.
Currently, Davidson is an Executive Producer at Empress Film running the LA office, overseeing a wide slate of both scripted and factual projects in the US, UK and beyond.
Samia Murphy
Development Executive
Samia is an experienced development exec with a background in documentaries, specialist factual and factual entertainment.
She started in production, working on a weekly arts and travel series for CNN, before joining the BBC’s in-house factual department where she spent seven years working on documentaries and format series.
Samia went on to work in development at Diverse, Dragonfly, Watershed, Lion and Wonderhood Studios before joining Empress Films in 2023.
Miranda Soto
Line Producer
Miranda Soto has over 20 years in the unscripted documentary market and has worked as the Executive in Charge of Production for Pulse Films in Los Angeles and Head of Production for Zig Zag Productions in London.
Recent credits include the Emmy Award Winning ‘George Carlin’s American Dream’ for HBO, 'Aka Mr Chow' for HBO, 'Robbie Williams' for Netflix and ‘Stay on Board’ for Netflix (winner of Outfest’s Audience Award).
When she's not busy working on one of Empress's productions you'll find her in her home in Pasadena, CA - probably watching a documentary!
Amy Gibbs
Development Producer
Amy is a documentary producer with almost a decade of experience working across a broad range of documentaries and development at renowned UK production companies.
With stints in development at companies including Sandpaper Films and Dorothy Street Pictures, Amy also has extensive experience in production, delivering iconic shows like 24 Hours in A&E, as well as branded content and Sky Documentaries’ feature documentary Doom Scroll.
Having joined the development team at Empress in 2024, Amy is across a broad slate of projects.
Zoe Elliott
Production Manager
Zoe Elliott is a highly experienced Production Manager, having worked in documentaries for over 20 years. She started her career at the BBC Science Department and has since worked at numerous independent production companies from Arrow Media, to Oxford Scientific Films and Ventureland.
Recent credits include the Emmy Award Winning series ‘Beckham' for Netflix and the Feature documentary ' If these Walls Could Sing' for Disney.
Jamie Gray
Junior Researcher and Production Assistant
Jamie has been a Researcher and Production Assistant at Empress since mid 2023. He is currently studying for a degree at Newcastle University
During his time at Empress, Jamie has worked on numerous projects in development and production phases, including projects coming soon. Utilising skills such as operating camera, lighting and sound equipment alongside editing software.
Before Empress, Jamie studied Photography. In which he produced high quality documentary compositions on subject matter including Youth Culture, Contrasting Political Views and the Military. Alongside this, he produced a series of short films on British Football Culture and Food Poverty.
Suzannah Gray
Business Affairs
Suzannah is responsible for business affairs at
Empress Films.
Suzannah has worked on multiple productions including 'The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe' and 'Who Killed Jill Dando?'. As well as films set for release in the near future. Suzannah joined Empress in 2019 after a long career in the fashion industry working with brands such as Burberry, Jigsaw and Gap
Kate Glover
Executive Assistant
Kate joined Empress Films in April 2021. Prior to that, she has been an Executive Assistant in music and broadcast companies for many years, working for organisations such as FremantleMedia, National Geographic & Universal Music Group.
Starting with a temp role at FremantleMedia and staying for 8 years, ending as EA to the Global CEO until 2014. She then worked for National Geographic for 2 years, picking up lots of useful information about commissioning and the greenlight process, along the way, before moving to work for the CEO of a division of Universal Music Group called Universal Advanced Media, which was responsible for the production of music events (BTS, concerts, music videos, etc.) for any artist/label under the Universal umbrella.
Jahmari McCalla
Digital Designer
Digital designer at Empress films, Jahmari is a multidisciplinary across ;
3D design, VFX animation & screen printing.
Jahmari has worked on projects including the BRIT awards X Mastercard advert 2023 with McCan, VFX for Agile films with Sadnightdynamite , and has had his 3D work screened for London short film festivals at multiple venues including Genesis Cinema.
Also a screen printer, Jahmari has done work for Nike, Nocta, Jordan, Timberland & AshleyWilliams.
