Meet The Neighbours - Lisa-Marie Tonelli

Lisa-Marie is the Founder and Festival Director of the North East International Film Festival, which is a completely volunteer-led festival, based in the North Shields Cultural Quarter and venues across Newcastle. The NEIFF is billed as one of the most diverse, collaborative and inclusive film festivals in the UK. It's also the youngest-ever BIFA and IMDB qualifying festival and the only carbon negative festival in the world.

Lisa-Marie is a multi-award winning independent film producer, volunteer and programmer at Star & Shadow Cinema, as well as a guest speaker.

She's a Fellow of the Royal Society Of Arts, a Distinguished Honorary Advisor for the Federation Of World Cultural & Arts Society Singapore, a full BAFTA and BIFA Member and a member of the Royal Television Society.

Lisa-Marie's other roles include being a Board Member for AutismAble and a Trustee for Fertile Ground, which is a Performance Arts charity.

She's the Recipient of the Prime Minister's Points Of Light Award, winner of the Champion Of Women Award 2022, has been added to the Northern Power Women Future List, and she's a Member of the F-Entrepreneur ialso100 list 2023, a list of the UK's most inspirational and dynamic female entrepreneurs. Lisa-Marie was shortlisted for the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and the British Business Awards.

Lisa says: "Being born in North Shields (the old Preston Hospital) and schooled in Tynemouth, I've always had a deep-rooted connection with area. Despite moving away, my dream was always to settle with my family in North Shields.

"I feel blessed to now reside here with my husband and three-year-old son, Teddy. I love the proximity to the fantastic amenities such as our blue flag beaches, theatres, Tynemouth Priory, our Fish Quay, tons of fantastic independent shops and businesses and on-the-doorstep transport links.

"It's wonderful to see the regeneration of the centre of North Shields and to witness it become host to a new cultural wave."