Meet the Team
Ben is an actor, writer, director and producer, and the founder of Ha Hum Ah Productions CIC. He trained at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) and established Ha Hum Ah in Cornwall in 2018, leading the company’s artistic and organisational development.
His producing experience spans mid-scale national touring, rural touring and outdoor residencies. He has developed co-productions and long-term creative partnerships, bringing artists, venues and organisations together through the collaborative approach that underpins Ha Hum Ah’s cooperative ethos. His work has been presented at regional and London venues including Theatre Royal Bath, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Theatre Royal Windsor, Exeter Northcott, Theatre Severn and Southwark Playhouse.
His films have been selected for BAFTA and BIFA qualifying festivals, including Carmarthen Bay Film Festival, Beeston Film Festival and Exit 6. Awards for his film work include Best Director at Worcester Film Festival and SWIFF, Best Short Film at Romford and Bristol Independent Film Festivals, and Best Cornish Film at Cornwall Film Festival. His Cornish-language short Art also received two Celtic Media Festival nominations, including the Spirit of the Festival.
Ben is supported through Stage One’s Producers Bursary programme and was selected for the inaugural BFI-supported Peninsula Producers Network. A former trustee of ALRA, he brings experience in arts governance alongside his work developing productions, securing investment and building creative partnerships.
Ben Kernow
Director
Advisory Board
"Ha Hum Ah’s independent advisory board brings professional experience and fresh perspectives to support the company’s work and long-term development. Advisers offer practical guidance on our creative plans and how we run the company, providing support and constructive challenge. Their contribution helps us make informed decisions and strengthens our accountability to the artists, audiences and communities we work with."
Zoë Curnow
Zoë ran the Minack Theatre for over 17 years. She is passionate about promoting equality of access to cultural education and, with John Brolly, established the Minack’s thriving participatory programme and the resulting professional producing strand of the Minack’s work which was committed to providing opportunities to established and emerging creative professionals from Cornwall. Since leaving the Minack, professional experience has included managing St Michael’s Mount for St Aubyn Estates, supporting Cornwall Council with the creation of a new destination management organisation to replace the liquidated Visit Cornwall CIC, and freelance work supporting cultural organisations primarily with their business planning processes. Zoë is currently CEO of Trebah Garden.
Mandy Precious
Mandy is a freelance consultant supporting arts organisations strategically through fundraising, evaluation, and data analysis. She is also the Vital Xposure Labs Project Manager, a research project that explores access and inclusion as a creative proposition.
Prior to being freelance, she worked for 14 years as a senior manager at the Theatre Royal Plymouth and as CEO/AD of Burnley Arts Centre. Her key interests are in socially engaged practice, and co-creation, and work that centres underserved communities.