Team
Victoria Mapplebeck
Writer, Director and Editor
Victoria Mapplebeck is a BAFTA award winning artist and film director, Victoria’s films explore autobiographical stories which ask universal questions about our relationship with technology, parenting, health and wellbeing.
For the last decade, Victoria has been shooting continuously with smartphones. She is passionate about the innovation, intimacy and access of smartphone filmmaking. In 2017, Victoria wrote, filmed and directed 'Missed Call' which was the first commissioned short film to be shot on the iPhone X. ‘Missed Call’ explores her son's decision to reconnect with his absent father. ‘Missed Call’ won Best Short Form Programme at the 2019 BAFTAs and Best Documentary Short at The 2019 Broadcast Digital Awards.
Victoria has also experimented with VR and immersive audio. In 2019, she was awarded an EPSRC Immersive Documentary Encounters Commission, to create a VR project which told the story of her breast cancer (as patient and film-maker) 'The Waiting Room VR' premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival and won The IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling
In 2024 Victoria filmed, directed and co edited Motherboard, a smartphone feature documentary. Filmed over 20 years, Motherboard documents a lifetime of parenting, capturing the comedy and drama of solo motherhood in all its unfiltered glory. Motherboard received a 2025 Grierson nomination for Best Cinema Documentary , three nominations at the BIFA Awards and was included in the Guardian's Best Films of 2025.
Victoria won The Women in Film and TV Director Award for her work on Motherboard. This award recognises outstanding achievement by a woman director in film, TV or digital media within the last two years. Victoria is also Professor of Digital Arts at Royal Holloway, University of London and is also a member of BAFTA.
Debbie Manners
Executive Producer
Debbie’s previous roles include Director of Rights and Business Affairs at the BBC, Director of Rights for Flextech TV, Chair of PACT, Commercial Director at RDF, COO of Hattrick, CEO of Keo Films and Senior Investment director at Ingenious Media. Debbie works in an advisory capacity in the TV and Film industry, including acting as a non-executive director for companies spanning production, distribution and production services. She is also a founder partner and executive producer for First Person Films with director Victoria Mapplebeck. Debbie was the executive producer on Victoria's BAFTA winning short film 'Missed Call' in 2019. In addition to her formal roles Debbie is involved in a number of projects and companies alongside her day job, including launching a small restaurant group, HERE Cafe Ltd, and holding the role of Chair for the charity SafeHands.