Find out more about our South East talent below and get in touch if you’d like to hear more about how BFI NETWORK can help filmmakers and producers based in the South East.
Cover photo: Red Rover (dir Astrid Goldsmith)
Supported talent
Jess Dadds
Jess Dadds is a new generation filmmaker, from Canterbury, Kent. Writing/Directing films largely focused on youth culture and social issues affecting young people, whilst making them in a way that is progressive within independent cinema.
Jess often works with a mixture of traditionally trained actors, and “non” actors to create a unique style of realism, combined with elements of subjective fantasy from within the script. Usually the performers Jess works with have personal experience with the issues the film discusses. This helps allow the films to operate in a space in between documentary and fiction. Breaking the tradition that British films about social issues have to be presented in a certain style of social realism.
Jess has worked on a variety of commissions from organisations such as Channel 4, Mind:The Mental Health Charity, Screen South, Soho House Berlin and VisitDetroit. Most recently his directorial debut music video was premiered online by Clash Magazine.
Funded by BFI NETWORK, Jess’ new short film I am good at karate, follows a young teenager with mental health issues who is passionate about karate. They wander around a housing estate in East Kent locked in verbal and physical battles with a hallucinatory Demon made of football shirts.
David Drake
Born in 1986 in New York City to a Dutch immigrant and a father from the Bronx, David Drake is a director and photographer currently residing in Norwich. He has shot for every major record label from Sony to Universal and his work has been published in Vogue, Hypebeast, Creative Review, NME and many other magazines. In 2016, the album artwork he photographed for The 1975 was nominated for a Grammy.
David started directing music videos around 2014, and wrote and directed his first short film in 2017. His first short documentary premiered on NOWNESS in December 2018.
David is currently in early development with his feature film Modern Washout, and in production on a short documentary about jazz in Harlem called Post 398.
Russ Etheridge
Russ Etheridge has been working as a professional animator for more than eight years, working with high profile clients such as TED, Facebook, Google, Air BnB, Virgin, Adidas, IBM, Armani and many more. Previously he was Senior Creative at award-winning animation company Animade where he was Director, Designer and Team Lead on many of their high profile projects. Whilst at Animade, Russ co-created and animated the hugely popular 2016 short Olympops.
Russ has recently worked as a freelancer with Moth, Wednesday Collective and The Line. He frequently delivers workshops and lectures, most recently lecturing on 3D animation at Hyper Island in Stockholm.
Russ is the Director / Writer / Animator of the BFI NETWORK supported short film Armstrong, working alongside his wife Ayndrilla Singharay. Russ and Ayndrilla have been busy completing Armstrong this year and they have another important joint project in the pipeline too – a new baby.
Armstrong has been selected to play in the following festivals:
Nick Finegan
Nick is a filmmaker and actor who studied at Bristol University and Drama Centre London. He fell in love with making films from an early age after getting his hands on the family camcorder, and is passionate about telling stories that explore queer love and inner city experience. His first full scale short was part commissioned by DAZED and the UN Association and screened at BFI Southbank in 2017.
Nick is inspired by the works of Andrea Arnold and Wong Kar Wai. His acting work has taken him to theatres including Bristol Old Vic and Battersea Arts Centre, and film locations from Pinewood to Portugal. Nick trained in Meisner Technique and the method of Uta Hagen.
BFI NETWORK is supporting Bingo Queens – amid the spit and the slurs of a transphobic attack, a young gay musician and a transgender ballet dancer are flung into each other’s orbit… As a spark of friendship ignites between them, the pink neon lights of a faded old Bingo Hall provide the sanctuary and warmth they had no idea they needed.
Shakira Francis
Shakira Francis is an actor, director and writer based in Luton. She graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2015 where she fell in love with the idea of storytelling through the art of film and television. Her journey as an actress in the industry inspired her to write as she wanted to create more roles for women, particularly BAME women.
Shakira’s 2018 directorial debut was the short film, 4C. 4C is about the loveliness of afro hair and was selected as a finalist for Film Hub South East’s Short Film Competition, South East Stories: New Filmmaking Talent. The reception of 4C encouraged her to continue writing and Shakira’s BFI NETWORK supported short The Lost Land Girl is now finished.
The Lost Land Girl is a combination of Shakira’s love for period drama and her Caribbean heritage. Set during the Second World War it looks at the passion two sisters had to help Britain in their fight but also the struggles they faced in doing so.
The Lost Land Girl has been selected to play in the following festivals:
- Earls Court Film Festival, October 2020
- British Urban Film Festival, 2020
Astrid Goldsmith
Astrid Goldsmith is an award-winning stop-motion animation director, based in Folkestone. While working as a commercial model maker for film, tv and advertising – making everything from the Duracell Bunny to vibrating alien slugs for Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – she completed her debut short film, Squirrel Island, in 2016. Squirrel Island went on to compete at some of the world’s top film festivals – including Clermont-Ferrand, Tampere, LSFF, Brest, and Warsaw Film Festival – and won several awards for Best Animation.
In 2018 she was selected for the prestigious BFI / BBC4 Animation 2018 talent scheme, designed to support the UK’s most exciting emerging animators. In just 20 weeks she completed her 13-minute commissioned film, Quarantine, which premiered at the BFI in November 2018, was broadcast on BBC4 in December, and was subsequently nominated for Debut Director at the Edinburgh TV Festival’s New Voice Awards.
BFI NETWORK is supporting Astrid’s short film Red Rover, a stop-motion colonial monster movie set on Mars.
Red Rover has been selected to play in the following festivals:
Alex Kyrou
Alex Kyrou is a writer and director based in Epsom who is attracted to sensitive filmmaking and whose work has showcased at numerous international film festivals. He is passionate about exploring stories with depth and feeling and believes that short films have no less power to engage audiences and tackle important themes.
Alex started his career working on the visual effects of feature films at Method Vancouver and MPC London. Progressing to filmmaking, he directed conceptual music promos and commercial projects. He later wrote and directed the emotionally raw short film White Awake which showcased at NewFilmmakers Los Angeles and the TriForce Film Festival in London. It later won Best BAME Short Film and Best Cinematography in the FILMSshort competition.
His latest writing/directing effort is the BFI NETWORK supported short, Blank Shores, a sci-fi/drama starring Georgina Campbell. The script was awarded the Grand Prize in the Vortex Horror/Sci-Fi category at the Oscar/BAFTA affiliated Flickers’ Rhode Island International Screenplay Competition. Additionally, it was a finalist in the Global Script Challenge at the Oaxaca FilmFest, a finalist in the Southern California Screenplay Competition, and a semi-finalist in the Vail Film Festival Screenplay Contest.
Alex is currently looking for a like-minded writer to collaborate with on his first feature film as a director.
Michael Mante
Michael Mante is a writer/director from Bedford, Bedfordshire looking to tell poignant and relatable stories through the gift of cinema.
“I didn’t go to film school, but I got my education through watching hundreds, maybe thousands of films (US, domestic and foreign), specifically taking a liking to the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, Edward Yang, Akira Kurosawa and Paul Thomas Anderson. I also read a mass of screenplays and still do, trying to figure out what it is about films that makes them tick. I have so far tried to apply some of these practices in the things I’ve written and made so far and am still in the process of refining myself as a filmmaker. I’ve got a couple of short films which I’ve yet to completely put together and put out there but each has served as a learning curve, along with the short art film (Body Language) I did tackling identity and race with C4 Random Acts. This short film had a few cinema screenings and was part of the official selection at the 2018 London Short Film Festival which was a good experience for me.”
Michael has recently completed early treatment development stage with a feature film thanks to funding and support from the BFI. He’s has now completed his BFI NETWORK supported short film Sandpaper.
Sandpaper has been selected to play in the following festivals:
David Proud
David Proud is an English actor /writer / producer. He was born with Spina Bifida and uses a wheelchair. Listed in the Shaw Trust / Channel Four Power 100 List as one of the 100 most influential disabled people in 2018, David also works as a disability consultant for the British Film Institute and has provided project-based consultancy for Company Pictures, Scott Free UK and BBC.
David’s directorial debut Sympathy for the Lemon premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2017. He currently has a development deal with BBC Film for a new feature film called Mavericks, co-developed with writer Paul Viragh, and has been commissioned by Unstoppable/All3Media to co-write an original series with Noel Clarke.
As an actor, David is most well known for playing Adam Best in BBC’s EastEnders, making history as the first disabled actor to appear as a series regular in the popular BBC prime time drama. In 2018 David began a two-year Engagement Fellowship with the Wellcome Trust in which he will write a new book and film a documentary looking at inclusion of disabled people in society and scientific medical advances.
Verisimilitude has been selected to play in the following festivals:
- Palm Springs International ShortFest, June 2020
- Encounters Short Film Festival, September 2020
- DC Shorts International Film Festival, September 2020
- Bolton International Film Festival, October 2020
- Superfest, October 2020
- Norwich Film Festival, November 2020
- Aesthetica Film Festival, November 2020
- This Is England, November 2020
- London Short Film Festival, January 2021
Ayndrilla Singharay
The writer-producer of the upcoming BFI NETWORK supported short film Armstrong, Ayndrilla Singharay is interested in cross-cultural feminist perspectives. Her screenwriting has been developed and produced by Film London. Her feature screenplay for Unsung was shortlisted to the final six for Film London’s Microwave 2015 and she co-wrote short film The Prisoner with director Masood Khan, which was produced by Film London’s short film competition London Calling in 2016.
Ayndrilla produced Unsung the stage play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2014 to critical acclaim. Prior to this she produced a London run at the Rosemary Branch Theatre in 2013 including a sell-out performance at the historic Wilton’s Music Hall.
Ayndrilla has often been invited to speak about her work through platforms like the Women of the World Festival at Southbank Centre and BBC Asian Network. She also worked for a South Asian women’s refuge for seven years, which has profoundly influenced her writing.
Armstrong has been selected to play in the following festivals:
Alice Trueman
Alice Trueman is an award-winning writer/director based in St Leonard’s-On-Sea, Hastings, and working across the South as a freelance editor and filmmaker. Alice’s second directorial short, Jas, won several awards including Film Hub South East’s “South East Stories: New Filmmaking Talent” competition.
As a director Alice is drawn to explore the shadow self and themes of mental health – but to keep a healthy balance she can also often be found making silly comedy shorts! She is now in pre-production on her BFI NETWORK-funded short film, The Cost Of Living, which aims to bridge these two polarities, embracing a gallows humour to highlight the absurdity of existence. Representing ‘incidental’ queer narratives on film is also of central importance to Alice’s work and earlier this year she was invited to take part in Tribeca N.O.W. Digital Creators Market with her queer comedy sketch web-series Spoon the Prune.
Alice’s short films have screened at festivals such as BFI Flare Festival, Encounters, LSFF, British Shorts Berlin and Raindance. Before becoming a filmmaker, she co-wrote two plays for Broken Leg Theatre company, winning an Argus Angel Award at the Brighton Fringe and funding from the Arts Council England to tour a production around the UK, which received 4 & 5-star reviews and a Lyn Gardner Pick of the Week.
Perry White
Perry White is a writer and director with a passion for telling stories about regular people and their daily conflicts. He’s currently based between London and Slough where he works as a freelance videographer and editor.
“I believe that the responsibility of the filmmaker shooting a film for the present day, regardless of genre, is to represent the times that we’re in, and so I find it imperative to provide insight into the less flamboyant but equally important aspects of our society. Being born and raised in Slough, one of UK’s most ethnically diverse local authorities, provided me with a plethora of cultural and societal stimuli to absorb from.
Much of the perspective with which I tend to write from comes from my upbringing in such a culturally varied environment. Where most people on the outside find an awkward mismatch of ethnicities all squeezed into this concrete melting pot, I embrace how it taught my peers and myself a certain degree of tolerance and insight into the unfamiliar, from as far back as I can remember.”
BFI NETWORK is supporting Perry’s short film Home by 8.30, following a teenager challenged by two contrasting realities that he is determined to never let crossover: his family life inside of his home and a violent inner city encounter outside.
Home by 8.30 has been selected to play in the following festivals:
Katie Hodgkin
Katie is currently in post-production on her second feature ‘Martyrs Lane’, written and directed by Ruth Platt, which is supported by the BFI. Her previous film, “Bruno” by writer/director by Karl Golden premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh in 2019 and went on to screen at Hamburg, Tallinn Black Nights and numerous other festivals.
Her short films ‘The Cost Of Living, ‘Cut’ and ‘Miss’ have received backing from the BFI, Creative England, Erasmus, the Icelandic Film Centre and Shorts International.
Aside from feature films, Katie produces commercials and content for brands and charities.
Katie is an alumnus of the Berlinale Talents Campus.
Clare Shields
Clare is a film producer who has collaborated with several directors to produce short films that have a social message. “Blank Shores” explores child loss and mental health issues; “Pianist in a Brothel” observes a creative’s talent being overlooked; “Branded” highlights illegal African witchcraft practices in the UK; “Saving Light” reveals the trauma of bullying; “Crumble” shines a light on the enlisting of 16-year-olds into the UK armed forces; and “White Awake” delves into an adult’s childhood trauma. All six shorts have garnered industry recognition and between them have featured at notable festivals such as Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, Holly Shorts, the London Short Film Festival and Leeds International Film Festival.
Originally from a design and marketing background, Clare transitioned into promotional and branded video content. Her debut in the producing world was producing music promos for independent artists; Clare then moved into content for broadcast, events and online. After producing several story-driven music promos with the “Blank Shores” writer/director Alex Kyrou, she decided it was time to start producing narrative work for the screen. Their first collaboration was short film “White Awake”, which showcased at NewFilmmakers Los Angeles and the TriForce Film Festival in London, and later won Best BAME Short Film and Best Cinematography in the FILMSshort competition.
Clare is drawn to producing projects with strong characters and powerful subtextual potential, and is always on the lookout for new scripts to develop.
Ruth Sweeney
Ruth is a freelance producer based in London. She began her career working in film programming in Berlin and Amsterdam, and as a researcher for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in LA. In 2016 she returned to the UK to work in talent development for Film London before transitioning to producing, working in-house for Potboiler Productions on both Lenny Abrahamson’s The Little Stranger (2018) and Iciar Bollain’s Yuli (2018) and most recently on set for SunnyMarch on Will Sharpe’s Louis Wain (2021) and Kevin MacDonald’s Prisoner 760 (2021).
Ruth’s producing/exec. producing credits include Dorothy Allen-Pickard’s short films Objectified (2018), A Sonic Pulse (2019) and Wannabe (2019) which have screened at BAFTA-qualifying festivals worldwide and have featured on various platforms including The Guardian, Al Jazeera and Vimeo Staff Picks.
Alongside the BFI Network supported short, The Butcher’s Daughter, Ruth is also producing a BBC Commissioned short comedy in collaboration with BREACH Theatre. She is developing her own slate of films and is driven by the power of film to create change, making films that confront mainstream perspectives and conventions in unique and bold ways.
Tuli Litvak
Tuli Litvak is producing a BFI NETWORK commissioned short together with a BAFTA-nominated crew. Tuli worked as a Producer for Core TV were she oversaw the production of all video content, distributed across various networks, including Sky News and Al Jazeera. Starting her career in 2014 whilst at uni as the UK-based Production Assistant for the Emmy-nominated production company Got The Shot Films, including on ‘Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan’ which received a NY Times Critic’s Pick and was also praised by Vogue as well as was screened at NYFF, Raindance Festival, and the Venice Biennale. She’s worked as a Production Coordinator on shorts and music videos including for Tirzah via PRETTYBIRD as well as a Freelance Fashion shoot Producer for the likes of Tank Magazine. She’s also worked as an Assistant Post-Producer for David Sims and has had her videoart work exhibited in London and internationally.
Mia Xerri
Mia Xerri has been working as a Producer for over a decade spanning Commercials, Branded Content, TV, Short Film and Music Video for some of the world’s leading brands and channels. As Senior Producer at female owned and led production company Be The Fox – she has led award winning productions in the UK and Internationally, and more recently begun Directing content led by women in motor and sports.
She is currently in pre-production on upcoming BFI NETWORK funded short X to X with Writer/Director Lily Gwynne-Thomas and Co-Producer Precious Mahaga. Mia recently Exec’ed on Raindance supported short horror The Devil’s Harvest, and has a number of projects currently in development including her own short she is writing, working with Development Producer Julia Berg recently selected for BFI NETWORK 2019 Producers Lab. Mia has a strong passion for dark genres, exploring uncommon perspectives and particularly driven by female led stories.
Precious Mahaga
Formerly Head of Music Video at Greatcoat Films, Precious Mahaga is now a freelance producer working in music video, commercial, and short film. She has a keen interest in narrative projects which share the stories and experiences of marginalised social and cultural groups. Recent, notable projects include Trouble, the award-winning narrative music video for Kano directed by Aneil Karia, and award nominated music video for Michael Kiwanuka, Jorja Sith and Raleigh Ritchie. She was also line producer on Two Single Beds, a short film written by and starring Daniel Kaluuya, which is showing at this year’s BFI London Film Festival.
Charlie Edwards-Moss and Joe Williams
Joe and Charlie are a writer/director duo from Oxfordshire who’ve been making films since they were 15.
Studying Film Practice (BA) together at London College of Communication, they graduated in 2016 with their short Duke’s Pursuit, an Icelandic-set western shot on location.
Their most recent film, Ratking (2020), made whilst applying for funding for another project with the BFI, has been selected for the British Short Film category at Leeds International Film Festival.
Their upcoming short, Original Villain, will be a 70’s set psychedelic horror that puts an emphasis on character and atmosphere.
Ratking has been selected to play in the following festivals:
Cheri Darbon
Cheri Darbon is a London-based producer with seven years’ experience in commercials, promos and independent short films. Her background in television has spanned across major broadcasters, including Channel 4, ITV and UKTV.
She currently freelances as a producer and production manager, working on shorts including Yero Timi-Biu’s Signs, and Runyararo Mapfumo’s: Dawn in the Dark (BFI x BBC Films) and Sensational Simmy (BBC Arts x Google Arts).
Recent roles include production manager on Kisses & Bumflicks for Sky Studios and production manager on a new weekly live stream with Amazon Music and Twitch, with production rolling out into Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
Cheri is in development on a number of projects, including co-producer on Abdou Cisse’s Festival of Slaps (BBC Films) alongside Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, and associate producer on Mia Watkins’ directorial debut (Film 4). She is mentored by Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo as part of the BFI Flare x BAFTA Crew Mentoring Programme.
Nina Somers
With over 20 years of production experience working behind the scenes looking after series for the BBC and major indies like Talkback, Endemol and Princess Productions, there’s not much Nina can’t get her production brain around. Nina has recently set up the Audiotrope Studio Sessions to help struggling musicians and artist during the pandemic, managed a multiple location BMX Stunt edit for Red Bull, an animated children’s series for Cbeebies and worked with Screen South / CH4 Random Acts and Arts Council England to commission, develop, train and oversee production across 72 short films by emerging young filmmakers. Films ranged from live action (scripted, spoken word), live action with VFX and animation to documentary and dance.
Currently in post production with the BFI NETWORK funded short film I am good at karate, Nina is working in the capacity of Producer with emerging South East Writer and Director Jess Dadds to create a film that sits in a space between documentary and fiction, breaking the tradition that British films about social issues have to be presented in a certain style of social realism. Karate was shot in 3 days, across multiple locations in East Kent, on 16mm film (just prior to the first lockdown) and follows a young teenager with mental health issues who is passionate about karate, as they wander around a housing estate locked in verbal and physical battle with a hallucinatory Demon made of football shirts.
Passionate about storytelling and collaborating on projects from conception to completion, Nina is inspired by films that tell great stories and in the surreal and fantastical.
Nina lives in Hastings, East Sussex.
Richard Parry
Richard is an award-winning producer with over 15 years experience in producing events, films, photoshoots, immersive experiences, promotions, fashion shows, and large scale award ceremonies.
He has worked with a host of world-renowned brands, creative agencies and charities to produce a variety of films including campaign films for Terrence Higgin’s Trust, music videos with Tinie Tempah, JLS and Jurassic 5 and brand films for O2, Nike and Dr. Martens.
Richard is currently working on an upcoming BFI NETWORK funded short film Pole with Writer/Director, Matt Hass. Their film is an intimate gaze into the life of a lonely outsider who has lost his job and, ultimately, his last real connection to a ‘normal’ life. Rejected and driven to the periphery of society, we witness his cathectic and bloody rebirth into a vigilantism, as he saves a couple from the clutches of a violent gang, without thinking of the consequences.
Alex Hurle
Alex is a producer working across film, television and commercials.
Alex produced the feature documentary The Banksy Job, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2016 and was released internationally in 2017. Alex subsequently set up Vault Films to develop and produce features, documentaries and shorts from bold and exciting filmmakers.
Projects include the shorts The Cost of Living, funded by the BFI and directed by Alice Trueman, and Solitary, directed by Ian Roderick Gray and commissioned by the NHS.
Feature projects Alex is developing include Nothing Succeeds Like Success, a feature documentary exploring the seminal recording studio, Trident which was selected for the prestigious Sheffield DocFest MeetMarket, and the drama, Nothing is True, which explores the true story of William Burrough’s run in with Scientology.
Alex has also produced music videos and commercials for clients such as Sky Bet and ITV.
Alex is a graduate of the Sheffield DocFest Future Producer’s School.
Dorothy Allen-Pickard
Dorothy is a filmmaker from South-East London who recently completed an MA in Directing Fiction at Goldsmiths University. She started out making documentaries while studying French and Film at Warwick University, and won the Guardian Documentary Award for her first film In the Name of Greatness. While at Warwick she co-directed the Fringe First multimedia show The Beanfield and became a member of Breach Theatre. In 2019 Dorothy won Best UK New Director at BFI Future Film Festival and her short film The Mess was awarded with Best UK Short at Open City Doc Fest, Young Director’s Award, Vimeo Staff Pick and was shortlisted for Grierson Short Award. Her films have screened at festivals including Sheffield Doc Fest, as well as on BBC3, Channel 4, i-D and The Guardian. She has a particular interest in working with non-professional actors to create films that merge documentary and fiction and is currently developing a feature script about a butcher with OCD.
Katie Sinclair
As producer, Katie’s latest BFI-funded short film Signs with writer/director Yero Timi-Biu won the Youth Jury Prize at the Academy Award-qualifying Encounters Film Festival, playing at many more festivals at home and abroad. She is currently in prep to shoot her next film with filmmaker Dipo Baruwa-Etti, backed by BBC Drama Commissioning and the BFI. Katie is a current BFI NETWORK x BAFTA CREW producer.
Katie is Development Executive at Blueprint Pictures (Emma, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, In Bruges, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) where she sources and develops projects for the production company’s slate. She has worked in production and development for BBC Films, BBC Studios, Sugar Films, Disney and Lionsgate.
Katie also produces Canned Laughter, a charity comedy night that has raised over £20k for London’s food banks and has featured stars including Mae Martin, Phil Wang, Aisling Bea, Tom Allen, Deborah Francis-White and Lolly Adefope.
Dipo Baruwa-Etti
Dipo Baruwa-Etti is a playwright, poet, and filmmaker. For screen, he is developing several original pilots for television and is in pre-production on his BBC Drama/BFI NETWORK short film The Last Days, which follows a woman who discovers it’s her last day on earth and is torn between fighting the system and preparing her daughter for what’s to come. As a playwright, he is currently Channel 4 Playwright on attachment with Almeida Theatre and his upcoming plays include An Unfinished Man at The Yard Theatre, published by Faber & Faber. As a poet, Dipo has been published in The Good Journal, Ink Sweat & Tears, Amaryllis, and had his work showcased nationwide as part of End Hunger UK’s touring exhibition on food insecurity.
Chuckie McEwan
Chuckie McEwan is an award-winning producer from South East London, with over 12 years experience in live-action, animation, VFX, documentary, commercial, broadcast, and short film. She lectures in Film Production at University of the Arts, London, and runs short courses and community workshops in filmmaking for varied age groups. The principle underpinning all of her work is a commitment to accessible learning, and expanding filmic dialogues. Chuckie co-runs Grey Moth; a commercial production company bridging the gap between grassroots talent and commercial video production. Operating as a network of filmmakers and creatives, Grey Moth allocates a percentage of their profits to funding and facilitating original films, and amplifying emerging voices. Chuckie’s clients include; Disney, Chanel, M&C Saatchi, Virgin Media, BBC, Red Bull, and Xbox.
Matt Hass
I graduated from Central Saint Martins with a BA (hons) in Fine Art. After graduating I worked for independent film Company Tartan Films for five years before going Freelance as a photographer in 2008.
I have had my Portrait, editorial and Fine Art photography published in: The Architects Journal, Dazed & Confused, The Evening Standard, The Guardian, Harper’s Bazaar , iD, Interview Magazine, It’s Nice That, NME, Rolling Stone, The Telegraph, Time Out, The Times, Vice, The Wire, Wonderland etc.
My commercial clients include:
Air France, Amazon, Bacardi, Britvic, CAT Footwear, EMI, Huawei, Hugo Boss,IKEA, Intel, Jeep, Lacoste, L’Oreal, Marc Jacobs, Mr Start, MTV, Nike, O2, Picturehouse Cinemas, Ray Ban, Samsung, Sony Music, Sony Playstation, Spotify, Stella Artois, Stora Enso, Suzuki, Terrence Higgins Trust, Tesco Ticketmaster, Toni&Guy, Valentino, Victorinox, Vidal Sassoon, Viktor & Rolf, Warner Music, Woolrich.
Ludovico Zanette
Ludovico is a London-based producer, working across film and television, as well as developing a slate of feature and short projects. In 2019 he graduated from the National Film and Television School with an MA in Producing Film & Television.
The short films he produced at the NFTS have screened at several festivals around the world and his graduation documentary has won the Grierson Award for Best Student Documentary. While at the NFTS, Ludovico was mentored by Paul Webster and Tanya Seghatchian.
After his graduation, Ludovico was an intern in development at Heyday Films and subsequently worked as a production assistant on the HBO series We Are Who We Are by Luca Guadagnino.
Ludovico has just wrapped production on the BFI-funded short film “Left Over” by David N. Drake, starring Ian Hart and Chloe Pirrie. He is currently supervising postproduction and developing new projects.
Prior to working in film, Ludovico graduated in 2016 with a BA in Economics from the University of Padova, the town where he was born and raised.
Lily Gwynne-Thomas
Films are the one-true-love of writer, director LGT.
After cutting her teeth in music videos and self-funded shorts, Lily is bringing her narrative short X to X, to life with the help of the BFI. Currently in pre-production, it is a story of identical twins, dive bars, and a woman’s catharsis. For this project Lily, and her team, are taking on a full scale set build of a Deep Southern, ‘All American’ dive bar and casting one actor as two identical twins. She loves a challenge.
Lily’s stories are always personal and her background in human biology has left her with a fascination of the human form and its effect on our identity – something which too bleeds into her writing.
As well as a working as a director in narrative and promo, Lily is an Action Vehicle Coordinator on blockbusters such as Fast & Furious 9 and currently, The Batman.
Ella Glendining
Ella Glendining has written and directed several short films dedicated to presenting an authentic disabled voice. Power to the Mini Beasts won Best Experimental Short at the BFI Future Film Festival 2016. In 2017 she made a film for Channel Four’s Random Acts called Like Sunday, about being a wheelchair user on a night out. In 2018 Ella completed a 20-minute documentary called Born, commissioned by the National Paralympic Heritage Trust. Since then, she has been working on her first feature documentary, Is There Anybody Out There?, about her own search for others with the same rare disability as her, supported by the BFI Doc Society.
Ella is also an actor, having performed with Total Ensemble Theatre Company from 2013 – 2016. She has been in a number of short films and has done some voice acting for the BBC. Ella was named one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow 2020.
Charlotte Peters
Charlotte spent 15 years working in theatre before crossing into film last year. Career highlights include associate director roles on the West End runs and international tours of Tom Morris & Marianne Elliott’s War Horse and Stephen Daldry’s An Inspector Calls, and directing the award-winning critically acclaimed online film adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’ & Rachel Wagstaff’s Birdsong. Other recent films include: Billy and Me starring Jon Culshaw, Nicky Goldie’s Mrs Goldie vs The World, Matthew Morrison’s Dance, Natasha Santos’ A Moment’s Peace and Torben Betts’ Apollo 13: The Dark Side of the Moon starring Chris Harper, Michael Salami & Tom Chambers, made online in lockdown conditions. Having branched into live-streamed productions, Charlotte directed Cinderella, the world’s first green-screen pantomime, using Unreal Engine, which streamed to an audience of 100,000 last Christmas. She is really looking forward to directing Duncan Moore’s comedy short Reasons, with BFI Network, this summer.
Sid Sagar
Sid is an actor and writer from Hertfordshire. He grew up abroad and has lived in England since the age of eight. He studied at the University of Bristol and trained with the National Youth Theatre, Identity School of Acting and the Writers’ Lab at Soho Theatre.
His first full length play was shortlisted for the Finborough Theatre’s ETPEP Award and was one of the winners of Rose Theatre Kingston’s inaugural New Writing Festival. He was recently commissioned to write a monologue for The Mono Box’s RESET THE STAGE series and is also currently an Associate Writer at Middle Child. For screen, he is developing co-written television projects for SLAM Films and BritBox.
Sid’s first short film, Baked Beans, is part of BFI NETWORK’s 2021 slate.
More info about Sid can be found here.
Photo credit: Harry Livingstone
Duncan Moore
Duncan is a writer, producer and actor. After studying philosophy at University College London, he trained as an actor at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. In 2017 he founded the production company Project One. His credits as a theatre producer include Caste (Finborough Theatre), How Love Is Spelt and Pippin (Southwark Playhouse), and he is a recipient of the Stage One Producer’s Bursary and supported by the ETT Forge programme.
The BFI NETWORK short film Reasons is his first film project both as writer and producer. Set at a disastrous dinner party, the film explores the decisions we make and the actions we don’t take. He continues to develop a number of projects both for stage and screen.
Ryan Bennett
Ryan is a Producer and experienced International Sales Agent. He has developed projects with Film4, and active projects in development with Netflix & XYZ Films. He spent 6 years at Lionsgate, working on the International Sales for films such as Green Book, La La Land, The Hunger Games franchise, John Wick franchise and more.
His shorts have played all over the world including highlights such as Sundance, Flickers Rhode Island & DC Shorts. He has produced short films with BAFTA winner Guy Jenkin, BAFTA nominee Matt Greenhalgh, Olivier Award winner Jessica Swale, Screen International Star of Tomorrow Ben Aston and more.
He is developing feature projects with BAFTA winner Guy Jenkin, Bloc Party lead singer Kele Okereke, Award Winning Theatre Director Christopher Haydon, BAFTA nominee Samir Mehanovic & Ben Aston.
Aasaf Ainapore
Aasaf studied directing at the London Film School before becoming a Commercials Director at Great Guns. He has been awarded a D&AD Yellow Pencil and Cannes Lions Silver for his directing work. His feature projects have been optioned and developed by Producer Frank Bedor (Something About Mary) and Producer Alison Owen (How To Build A Girl). He is currently filming a documentary series funded by the BFI YACF.
Anu Anderson
After graduating from London College of Printing Anu took up internships with Christine Vachon at Killer Films and Stephen Woolley at Number 9 Films to learn from influential Producers. To further her knowledge about a Producers role during production, Anu went on to assist Lucasfilm Executive and Co-Producer, John Swartz on Star Wars: Rogue One.
Those valuable experiences led to assisting visionary filmmakers such as Jane Campion, Iain Canning and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly who all empowered Anu to pursue her own projects.
Notable short films Anu has produced are Harriet and the Matches. The film incorporates stopmotion, puppets and features Irish actor, Cillian Murphy. Anu’s most recent short film Belittled was a response to the belittlement of migrants. The film was financed by Directors UK & ARRI Media.
Anu is currently in pre-production on upcoming BFI Network funded short Peregrine (WT), with writer-director Aasaf Ainapore. Anu works as a Development Coordinator at Calamity Films. Harriet and the Matches screened at the BFI Future Film Festival, LSFF and was part of The UK Council: Into Film Compilation, playing nationwide. Belittled screened at BAFTA recognised festival Underwire and won Best Original Score.
Rhona Foster
Rhona Foster is a filmmaker originally from Edinburgh now based in Margate. Rhona graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2017. Rhona made her first narrative short film with a commission from arts organisation The Newbridge Project in 2018. In 2019 she created her short alice__alice with BBC Scotland & LUX for Now & Next: Artists Film Commissions, screening on BBC Arts, and her first BFI NETWORK short Me & My Friends. Rhona developed her 2021 short Nails & Beauty through the Film Hub South East BFI NETWORK Short Film Development Programme.
Thematically, Rhona’s films explore social issues of class, identity and gender. Rhona’s films have screened and exhibited at ASFF, LSFF, Bloomberg New Contemporaries and South London Gallery.
Paul Copeland
Paul directed and produced TV documentaries for several years – achieving an BAFTA nomination, a Banff Award, and 3 further RTS nominations, whilst working all over the world for many leading broadcasters and platforms – before transitioning into TV continuing drama, where his episodes have been multiple soap awards including a ‘Best Episode’, ‘Best Soap’, and multiple acting awards.
Paul also works for think-tanks and NGOs researching responses to disinformation and propaganda, with a particular focus on how media content can help support democratic values. He has published papers on media literacy in the smartphone era.
Soft Facts is his first foray into writing, working with Sixteen Films and his friend the non-fiction writer Peter Pomerantsev. The film looks to explore these pressing political issues through the lens of intimate human relationships – because, in a sense, ‘fake news begins at home.’
Jack Thomas-O'Brien
Jack has been working at Sixteen Films for the past six years – and now works as head of production and development at the company. In the last year he has taken an associate producer credit on Cristian Carion’s My Son featuring James McAvoy & Claire Foy, as well as completing a short film, entitled Staying (Aros Mae). Supported by Ffilm Cyrmu Wales, Staying premiered at Cork International Film Festival & won the Grand Jury Prize for best European Short at Festival Premiers Plans d’Angers.
Previous to that, he was assistant producer on Ken Loach’s most recent feature film Sorry We Missed You as well as working on I, Daniel Blake. Jack oversees the slate of projects across Sixteen Films, and has four feature projects and a TV series in development.
Chris Brake
Chris is an award-winning writer / director based in Essex. He graduated from the London Film School with distinction in 2020, having built up a body of work that uses a mix of puppetry, practical effects and live-action to share stories of outsiders on the fringes of society, and their relationships to inanimate objects.
His first short film using puppetry, Scraps, premiered exclusively on VERO where it was named ‘Editor’s Pick’, before going on screen at the BIFA qualifying ‘The Shortest Nights’ Film Festival. His follow-up short, Cactus Boy, also screened there and went on to win several awards at multiple festivals, as well as becoming a Finalist at the Oscar® qualifying Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, and premiering online as part of VERO’s ‘Screening Room’ series.
BFI NETWORK is supporting Chris’s latest film Canned Laughter; a comedy with puppetry about a retired comedian and her home-made heckler.
Simon Smith
Simon is a Brighton based Director, with a background in Drama Editing and Documentary Directing. His most notable work to date was as Editor on the HBO/Sky series Chernobyl, for which he was awarded both an Emmy and a BAFTA. Other works include The Third Day for HBO/Sky, and National Treasure for Channel 4. He has just locked his first feature as Editor, Help, starring Stephen Graham and Jodie Comer.
His documentary directing includes Welcome to Romford for Channel 4, which played at Sheffield DocFest, and comedian travelogues with Karl Pilkington for SkyOne and Seann Walsh for BBC.
Simon has a diagnosis for Aspergers, and looks to explore neuro-diversity and abstract themes in his creative work. Working with writer Temi Oh, and Producer Ed Feilden, their short film Murmur is about a non-verbal autistic girl who grows a pair of wings.
He’s also father to three lovely kids.
Ed Feilden
Ed Feilden, originally from Bristol and a graduate from Brighton University, is a producer with cross-industry experience spanning music, dance and TV. Previous projects with artists including Raven Bush, Daniel Merriweather, Tirzah, Mica Levi, Kae Tempest and Ben Frost have seen Ed facilitate productions and international tours.
Ed is the producer of Murmur, a short film about a young mother and her autistic daughter and the magic of their relationship. Written by Temi Oh and directed by Simon Smith, the film is a familiar subject for Ed, having grown up with family experiences of Autism.
Temi Oh
Temi Oh wrote her debut novel Do you dream of Terra-Two? while studying for degrees in Neuroscience and then Creative Writing. It was published in 2019 by Simon & Schuster and is about a British expedition to an earth-like planet. It was an NPR Best Book of the year in 2019, and it won the American Library Association’s Alex Award in 2020.
Most recently, her short stories have been published by Flametree Press and in Marvel’s Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda.
Temi is currently working on her second novel, and with Director Simon Smith, and Producer Ed Feilden on their first short film, Murmur. She lives in London with her husband.
Radha Bhandari
Writer/Producer - Cuppa Chai
Radha Bhandari is the founder of Alta Ambit Productions, an independent production company based across the North & East Midlands. After joining BFI NETWORK’s Creative Producer School 2020, she worked with award-winning filmmaker Lucy Campbell on her latest short For Heidi. Radha also develops factual programmes at BAFTA award-winning Nine Lives Media.
Cuppa Chai: After the passing of her Nani Ji, a young woman looks to recreate the perfect cup of tea.
Kelly Wong
Producer, Cuppa Chai
Kelly currently works in development at DNA Films & TV. In 2020, Kelly was selected for the BFI Creative Producers Lab and consequently founded Dyzygo Films.
Cuppa Chai: After the passing of her Nani Ji, a young woman looks to recreate the perfect cup of tea.
Amit Kaur
Director, Cuppa Chai
Amit Kaur is a director keen to make films inspired by the often-under-represented Asian diaspora and bring them to the global stage. She has worked with BAFTA-nominated producer Ameenah Allen on the Oscar-shortlisted short film The Road Home and Mira Nair and Lydia Pilcher on BBC One’s A Suitable Boy.
Cuppa Chai: After the passing of her Nani Ji, a young woman looks to recreate the perfect cup of tea.
Alex Browning
Writer/Director, Daylight Rules
Alex Browning is a director and writer whose previous short film After Dark Inferno, for Channel 4, was officially selected at Aesthetica, LSFF and nominated for Best Short Film at the ScreenNation awards. He has been in the writer’s room on a new TV drama from BadWolf and is currently developing a number of original projects.
Daylight Rules: Teenager Sasha possesses an unstable cosmic power that reveals itself once she’s exposed to the sun. In a secluded forest commune she must learn to wield her power without the protection of her mother Jenn.
Thomasina Gibson
Producer, Daylight Rules
Thomasina Gibson has been a journalist, author and producer/director, having worked with the BBC, SKY, C4, Sony International Television and MGM International Television. She produced her first independent feature in 2017: an adaptation of Catherine Bruton’s much loved children’s book We Can Be Heroes.
Daylight Rules: Teenager Sasha possesses an unstable cosmic power that reveals itself once she’s exposed to the sun. In a secluded forest commune she must learn to wield her power without the protection of her mother Jenn.
Pip Swallow
Writer/Director, Dream Big
As an actor Pip has performed at the Criterion, Leicester Square Theatre, Canal Cafe, and the Komedia in Brighton and Bath. Her sitcom pilot Great Expectations won the Edinburgh TV Festival New Voices award for Best Pilot and played at festivals such as Tribeca, Underwire, Cambridge and Norwich. Pip was subsequently selected for the BFI Talent Hub Short Film Development programme 2019/20 and Dream Big was born out of this scheme.
Dream Big: A woman with a passion for building model railways discovers a newfound power when she is overlooked for a promotion. But will she use it for good or evil?
Georgina French
Producer, Dream Big
Most recently Georgina produced From A Strange Land, written and directed by Caroline Steinbeis. The film was shot by BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Vanessa Whyte and stars Amanda Abbington, Deborah Findlay and Matthew Needham. She also produced What happened to Evie, directed by BAFTA award winner Kate Cheeseman. The film premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Galway Film Fleadh, where it won ‘Best International Short Fiction’. Georgina is an alumnus of the EIFF Talent Lab and BFI X Network BAFTA Crew where she was mentored by Rachel Robey of Wellington Films and is currently developing a slate of features.
Dream Big: A woman with a passion for building model railways discovers a newfound power when she is overlooked for a promotion. But will she use it for good or evil?
Jess O'Kane
Writer/Director, Girl at Party
Jess O’Kane is a BIFA-nominated writer based in Hastings. Girl at Party is her directorial debut. Her previous short, directed by Dylan Holmes Williams, won the Sundance Jury Prize for Best International Short Film. She’s an alumnus of the BBC TV Drama Writers Programme and BFI Network @ LFF. She’s currently writing a series for Sky & Ink Factory and a film for Working Title.
Girl at Party: A teenage girl goes to a party with a mission – to retrieve the soul of a 17-year-old boy on behalf of her Dad – a.k.a Death. Over the course of the night, she begins to question her purpose.
Chloe Culpin
Producer, Girl at Party
Chloe is a freelance producer who has worked on a range of BBC, BFI and privately funded shorts that have gone on to screen at Edinburgh International Film Festival, Rhode Island Festival and Aesthetica. Alongside her producing, Chloe works as a Script Executive with U.S based company, Stage 32.
Girl at Party: A teenage girl goes to a party with a mission – to retrieve the soul of a 17-year-old boy on behalf of her Dad – a.k.a Death. Over the course of the night, she begins to question her purpose.
Olivia Waring
Writer/Director, It's Dog To Make A Houseplant if You're Sandwich
Olivia is a writer and director from Brighton & Hove. She has made one short film, Flora & Fauna, filmed around the area where she grew up, which has won two festival awards. She also wrote the original screenplay for the feature film Nocturnal which had its premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. She has an MA in Scriptwriting from the University of East Anglia.
It’s Dog To Make A Houseplant if You’re Sandwich: Graeme, a middle-aged man living in an anonymous suburbia, becomes slightly perplexed after his neighbour’s dog vanishes, his wife and child disappear and then his favourite gadget goes haywire – but surely things can’t get any worse?
Jesse Romain
Producer, It’s Dog To Make A Sandwich If You’re a Houseplant
Jesse previously produced plays including Holes by Tom Basden at The Arcola Theatre and the original version of The Retreat at The Park by Sam Bain (Peep Show), directed by Kathy Burke. He co-produced the short EDMUND THE MAGNIFICENT (BAFTA Longlisted 2017) and was Executive Producer on the short White Girl which was in competition at BFI London Film Festival 2019. He is currently developing a short with BBC Film and Renee Zhan (dir. O Black Hole!) and also two features; a thriller with Tupaq Felber (Tides, 2017) and a film adaptation of The Retreat by Sam Bain. Jesse is a member of BFI Network X BAFTA Crew 2021, a British Screen Forum Future Leader and tutor on animation films at the NFTS.
It’s Dog To Make A Sandwich If You’re a Houseplant: Graeme, a middle-aged man living in an anonymous suburbia, becomes slightly perplexed after his neighbour’s dog vanishes, his wife and child disappear and then his favourite gadget goes haywire – but surely things can’t get any worse?
Matt Smith
Writer/Director, New Atlantis
Matt is a writer/director originally from Watford. He started making experimental short films during his time at Dartington College of Arts, which showed in competition at many BAFTA recognised festivals. His artist films have also been shown around the world with support from Arts Council England, The Arts Council of Wales and Drac Occitanie – Ministère de la Culture, (France), among others. His work often explores unsettling realities and imagined histories, blurring the line between what is real and what is fantasy. He is now focused on making narrative films.
New Atlantis: While exploring an abandoned building, two teenagers discover a recording of a woman who claims to be the last citizen of a lost Utopia.
Rhian Smith
Producer, New Atlantis
Rhian is an emerging narrative producer and works closely with writer/director Matt Smith, who co-founded micro-studio/production company VIDEOfeet. After producing several digital media projects supported by Arts Council England exploring the use of film and live performance she produced the UK tour of the official adaptation of Ted Hughes Gaudette with OBRA Theatre Company (FR) then co-produced a series of artist films in the Gers region of France. Alongside New Atlantis Rhian and Matt are currently developing their first feature.
New Atlantis: While exploring an abandoned building, two teenagers discover a recording of a woman who claims to be the last citizen of a lost Utopia.
Willow Mirza
Writer/Director, Norm
Willow Mirza is a writer and alumni of the 2018 BBC Comedy Writers Room where her script was chosen from over 3000 entries. Most recently she has worked as assistant writer to Romesh Ranganathan and as part of a team of writers on Nick Love’s upcoming Sky series A Town Called Malice. Willow’s current original projects include Wicked with Lucy Lumsden; Buried, a dark comedy/drama with Chris Clark and Working Title; and Galdem, a comedy about a wannabe girl gang from West London based on Willow’s own experiences, with Big Talk.
Norm: Depressed, repressed, and totally forgettable Norm’s a complete failure at life. But when Norm’s passion for true crime sets him on a path to find a monster he sees the bright lights of fame in his future…But is the real monster the one in the mirror?
Alexandra Blue
Producer, Norm
Alexandra is an award-winning producer committed to bold, original and inventive storytelling. With a talent-led approach, Alexandra’s short films have been Oscar-longlisted and received acclaim at festivals including BFI London, Clermont-Ferrand, Flickerfest and Palm Springs. They include Sarah Chong Is Going To Kill Herself, Cut and Land’s End. She recently completed Holy Cannelloni (a Creative England and BFI funded pilot), End-O (supported by Pia Pressure, directed by Alice Seabright), Martha (BFI Network) and Cinderella Games (for the English National Ballet). Alexandra’s feature slate includes projects in development with Film4, BFI and Screen Australia, and she is currently co-developing a TV series with VAL.
Norm: Depressed, repressed, and totally forgettable Norm’s a complete failure at life. But when Norm’s passion for true crime sets him on a path to find a monster he sees the bright lights of fame in his future…But is the real monster the one in the mirror?
Charlie Tidmas
Writer/Director, Pillow Talk
Charlie received the first MA Distinction grade in MET Film School history in his specialism of Screenwriting and his graduation feature film script has placed in international competitions including the Academy Nicholl Fellowship. Charlie was commissioned to write and direct a short film by Channel 4’s Random Acts initiative and he develops his own projects alongside script-reading work. Charlie attended the 2019 BFI NETWORK Weekender and has been selected for the BFI NETWORK x BAFTA Crew talent development programme for 2021.
Pillow Talk: A one night stand takes a turn for the worse when Jamie, a trans man, takes revenge on the famous Vince, for his unceremonious treatment.
Hope Moon
Producer, Pillow Talk
Hope started out as a runner, and then a director’s assistant before turning to post production as an edit assistant, then as a production assistant and researcher. She finally landed in development where she worked as a Development Coordinator for Creative England’s iFeatures and shortFLIX programmes. Hope has since turned to producing on her own, with three short films now under her belt. She is also currently studying at the NFTS for a diploma in Script Development.
Pillow Talk: A one night stand takes a turn for the worse when Jamie, a trans man, takes revenge on the famous Vince, for his unceremonious treatment.
Precious Wura Alabi
Writer/Director, SPIN
Precious Wura Alabi is a British-Nigerian Writer-Director and Actress from Essex. Her directorial debut, Cuckoo Chick (2020), was shot entirely on an iPhone with a cast and crew of all black womxn. It platformed on Girls in Film and was the official selection for film festivals including ‘Short to the Point’. Her 2019 short play, Losers was selected to be published by the Voices From Home festival curated by Broken Silence Theatre and premiered at the Theatre 503 in 2019.
SPIN: Zekiel and Izzy meet at an old laundrette for their first date. The challenge commences – they get to know each other as the washing machine timer ticks down like a bomb about to go off. But will they form a lasting connection, or leave each other out to dry?
Dami Adeyeye
Producer, SPIN
Dami Adeyeye produced and directed his first documentary A Dark Mind in 2019 while teaching at Eton College, which went on to be screened at Southbank Centre during Mental Health Awareness Week in 2021. Dami is now in the process of building a slate of films for development.
SPIN: Zekiel and Izzy meet at an old laundrette for their first date. The challenge commences – they get to know each other as the washing machine timer ticks down like a bomb about to go off. But will they form a lasting connection, or leave each other out to dry?
Katia Shannon
Writer/Director, Us & Inbetween
Katia writes and directs heartfelt stories about love and adversity. She was selected for the 2020 cohort of the Netflix x BANFF Diversity of Voices Initiative. Her short film, Standstill, premiered at the Calgary International Film Festival in 2019 and was selected at HollyShorts, Edmonton International Film Festival and Fantasia among others. In 2021, she directed and edited the micro-short Another Mumday. Katia holds a BFA in Film Production from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema where she was recognised with an award for outstanding achievement in filmmaking.
Us & Inbetween: As Rosewood Care Home’s newest member, Agnes (80) examines her new room, unsettled by the open-door policy that governs the residence. When Agnes discovers that her estranged lover Eddie (80) is also at the residence, matters of life and death threaten their reunion.
Gareth Brown
Producer, Us & Inbetween
Gareth is a creative producer based in Wargrave, Berkshire. He created Flyer Films, alongside Katia Shannon, in 2018 with the short film, Standstill, as their first project. He has recently completed a new short film, What If?, written and directed by Katia and is in post-production with Shadowboxer, written by Kim Taylor and Anke Beerman and starring Fiona Allen.
Us & Inbetween: As Rosewood Care Home’s newest member, Agnes (80) examines her new room, unsettled by the open-door policy that governs the residence. When Agnes discovers that her estranged lover Eddie (80) is also at the residence, matters of life and death threaten their reunion.
Amanda Dorsett
Producer, Us & Inbetween
Amanda has worked at Resource Productions for over 9 years and in that time has worked in excess of 50 funded short films. She has produced over five short film & art projects, which include films for BBC Arts and Arts Council England.
Us & Inbetween: As Rosewood Care Home’s newest member, Agnes (80) examines her new room, unsettled by the open-door policy that governs the residence. When Agnes discovers that her estranged lover Eddie (80) is also at the residence, matters of life and death threaten their reunion.
Matt Ayleigh & Ewan Stuart Black
Co-Producers, Baked Beans
Bigger Pictures was founded in 2018. As a two man team, Matt and Ewan focus on creating collaborative and supportive environments to develop work. Their wide-ranging artist engagement and straightforward production process has led to commercial commissions and small scale narrative projects. This work has facilitated the production of award-nominated films Beanie, Known Unknown (both nominated for the John Byrne Award 2019), Boys & Men, and Pit Stop (Little Wing Festival 2020).
In Spring 2020, they produced three lockdown projects: Bambino, Vegan Lasagne and Screening (the latter chosen for the Global Lift Off Sessions 2020). They are currently producing an ongoing short documentary series, This Little World, focusing on Shakespeare in Council Estates. Baked Beans marks their first film collaboration with writer Sid Sagar and producer Ellen Spence. They’re very proud to be co-producing this story with the support of BFI NETWORK South East.