Melissa Cogavin is Editor at the SCTE (Society for Broadband Professionals) and has a long background in the UK film industry, where she was involved in international theatrical distribution at Disney and later at Paramount Pictures as Director of Film Operations.

Setting up her own consultancy in 2009, she was retained by the Royal Opera House before coining the term Event Cinema and setting up the Event Cinema Association in 2012. Appointing a board of 10 key figures in the industry and with a global membership including Odeon, Cineworld, the British Museum and the BBC, she went on to organise conferences, trade shows, awards and networking events, as well as continuing to provide editorial to the trade press. A driving force behind the rise of Event Cinema, her strategic vision and superb commercial acumen simultaneously grew an organisation and helped establish an industry.

Melissa’s achievements have been recognised with the Outstanding Contribution to Event Cinema Award at the 2015 ECA Awards, and she was also ranked 33rd in the Celluloid Junkie Top Women in Cinema in 2017. In 2020 she joined the SCTE, overseeing marketing and communications, media partnerships, corporate membership and advertising and sponsorship. Responsible for writing and editing Broadband Journal, as well as producing webinars, podcasts and events for the Society, she has recently overseen a company-wide rebrand, launched a rebranded magazine and a new SCTE app, now available on iOS and Android.