A Fresh Cohort of Ambitious Founders and Businesses Joins Screen Launchpad

Now, let’s meet the 2026 cohort.

Alderney Middleton 

Alderney is a BAFTA Breakthrough Producer working known for delivering crew-supporting and tightly run productions across scripted series, features, shorts and kid's animated tv. She brings a blend of creative instinct, editorial discipline, and production leadership, shaped by years of working with diverse teams, tight turnarounds and ambitious storytelling goals. She's been recognised as a BAFTA Breakthrough as a leader in 'People First’ Productions that prioritise wellbeing, safe working and collaboration. Alderney has produced multiple series for CBBC, Cbeebies, as well as short films and is an experienced development producer across female-led shorts and features.

Alexis Bicât

Alexis Bicât directs stories in which ordinary people are pushed into extraordinary moral choices. Working where social realism meets the propulsion of genre, his films have received nationwide theatrical release and broadcast sales across the US, UK, Europe and Asia. Romchyk, inspired by the true story of a Ukrainian child transformed by war, won awards at Oscar-, BAFTA- and BIFA-qualifying festivals and was presented to Pope Francis. A BAFTA Connect member represented by SMA Talent, Alexis is developing feature and television work through Parent Films, led by the Yorkshire-set American noir Driven.

Cherene Bracegirdle-Smith

Cherene Bracegirdle Smith is a multi hyphenate UK Executive Producer blending legal insight, production accounting expertise and hands on creative leadership.
With deep expertise across the financial, legal and logistical foundations of production, she brings a strategic, solutions focused approach that maximises value and mitigates risk, navigating complexity with clarity and confidence. Autistic, ADHD, and a mother of six. Cherene combines determination, empathy and lived experience to create structured, supportive environments for creatives. She specialises in character driven drama, period storytelling and grounded folkloric narratives, championing overlooked voices with fresh perspectives, unconventional paths and untapped potential.

Cheri Darbon

Cheri Darbon is an independent producer working across film and television, drawn to distinctive, character-led stories exploring identity, belonging and the worlds we inhabit. Her credits include BIFA-winning, BAFTA-nominated Festival of Slaps, BAFTA-nominated Hoard, and BFI x BMW Filmmaking Challenge winner, We Collide. She is currently producing Abdou Cissé’s debut feature Voice of Reason with BBC Film and co-producing Luna Carmoon’s second feature, To Make Ends Meat. An alumna of BFI, BBC Film and Netflix talent programmes, Cheri is focused on building ambitious creative partnerships and producing original work for UK and international audiences.

Cheyenne Conway

Cheyenne is a BAFTA-nominated Producer with over a decade of senior experience across film and high-end television. She is passionate about bold, distinctive stories and works closely with writers and filmmakers from early development through to production and delivery.
Her producing work includes samuel-613 and The Pyramid Texts, receiving BAFTA and Edinburgh International Film Festival recognition. Most recently, she independently originated and developed A Woman in the Polar Night, securing the underlying rights and attaching Oscar-nominated, Golden Bear-winning filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi to write and direct. Alongside producing, Cheyenne brings extensive experience leading complex international productions with budgets of up to $50m.

Claud Cunningham

Claud Cunningham is a Manchester-based producer with an MFA in Producing from the National Film and Television School (NFTS), where she was a Toledo Scholar. Her background spans physical production, factual television and short film. Before the NFTS, Claud led several lives. She was a maths teacher and founder of Super Tutoring, which prepared children for the 11+. She served as an officer cadet in the Territorial Army. She DJed and co-founded Black Angel, Manchester's pioneering club night for queer women of colour and allies. She completed a year-long placement across ITV's Factual and Drama departments, working as a researcher and floor runner. At the NFTS, she produced award-winning short films that screened at BAFTA-qualifying festivals, with one title selected for Encounters, the BFI London Film Festival and Aesthetica. She also completed placements with BBC Film, BBC Drama, Greenacre Films and Rope Ladder Fiction. Claud has also been selected for No Password Required, a UK industry development programme that helps early-career, Global Majority-led production companies turn their feature film scripts into market-ready, financeable packages.

David Allain

David Allain is a uniquely versatile Creative Director with a background writing, directing and producing award-winning projects. His directing credits span branded content, podcasts, documentaries, and TV for clients including BBC, ITV, Sky, O2, The Guardian, and CNN. Alongside this, David has built over 15 years’ experience delivering projects for charities including Shelter, CALM, and Girl Effect. From experience – seeing content shift perceptions and inspire new behaviour – David knows stories can positively change the world. In 2026, David launched Intrepity, an impact studio that specialises in marketing and original content (film, TV, and audio) that promote environmental and social causes.

Diorella Mirasol

Diorella is a Filipino-Australian writer-director who grew up dreaming of a professional tennis career before forging her own path into film and TV. With 14 years’ experience across Disney, Apple TV and major global brands, her debut short premiered at the Cannes Short Film Corner and earned a Best Director nomination. A Women in the Screen Industries scholarship recipient, she holds an MA in Screenwriting, specialising in sports genre. Her scripts have been shortlisted by Studio21, HollyShorts, Final Draft’s Big Break and Slick Films. She champions bold, female-led stories in sport and beyond through her independent production company.

Dominika Scott-Jones

I am a Scriptwriter and Development Executive creating visceral sci-fi and supernatural thrillers. I transform mythic and dystopian settings into commercial content that champions underrepresented voices and female strength, both on- and off-screen.

My creative DNA is rooted in systemic defiance - having worked my way from cleaning positions to managing a department and running a scriptwriting workshop at the London Screenwriters' Festival.

I prove that creative partnerships build stronger stories, with nine collaborations to my name. I also curate diverse voices and guide scriptwriters through a 12-week Development Lab, taking genre projects from ideas through pitch stages to production.

Ella Natalia Hopkins

Ella is an Executive and Senior Producer with an international career spanning commercial film, documentary and brand-funded entertainment. Originally from Poland, she began her career in Italy, working on documentaries, including a collaboration with Oscar-nominated director Wim Wenders, before contributing to television game shows at Endemol. Since moving to London in 2013, she has produced campaigns and branded content for global clients including LEGO, McLaren F1, Sega, ABInBev/Budweiser and Nike. Ella also hosts 'From The Bloc' podcast and serves as Editorial Director at IZBA Arts. She is currently developing a Polish-UK feature documentary about a fashion designer and looking to further expand her work in brand-funded factual content.

Felicity Chen

Felicity Chen is a Chinese Film and XR director based in the UK. Working across Film, XR, Documentaries and Games, she founded the creative studio Neon Fiction, focusing on building immersive and innovative stories that bring people together with creative blend of technology and storytelling. With a strong cross-cultural background, her practice centres on virtual identity, digital communities, and how marginalised people author selfhood through virtual bodies and imagination. She holds an MA in Immersive Factual Storytelling from University College London, a BA in Drama and Films at University of Manchester Her mission and practice are recognised internationaly, most notably her selection as a director by the Venice Biennale College Immersive 2025, Alternative Reality Artist of Sheffield DocFest 2025, alongside her
recognition as a UK Immersive delegate at CPH:DOX, organized by BFI Doc Society.

Fey Okege

Fey Okege is a Black British Nigerian writer, director, and producer, and the founder of A New Nation Entertainment, a production company dedicated to telling emotionally grounded, culturally rich stories centred on the Black British and wider African diaspora.
Driven by a passion for authentic storytelling, Fey creates character-led narratives that explore identity, relationships, emotional vulnerability, and the complexities of navigating culture, faith, and belonging. Her work aims to challenge familiar tropes by presenting nuanced portrayals of Black characters, with a particular focus on stories that centre emotional interiority and underrepresented perspectives.

Harry Brandrick

Harry is the founder of Tigh-Na Films, a London-based production and distribution company, and a BAFTA Connect member. Self-taught and neurodivergent, he left school at sixteen and came to cinema through Fine Art Photography. His narrative shorts have screened at Oscar, BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying festivals worldwide. This Love Isn't Taught premiered at BFI Flare in 2026. The Out was nominated for Best Film at the British Short Film Awards.

Hussain Casey-Ahmed

Hussain Casey-Ahmed is a London-based producer and production executive, half-Egyptian and half-Irish, with 15 years across scripted comedy and drama. He started in physical production before moving into executive roles overseeing varied slates, and more recently producing end-to-end across broadcasters and streamers. He’s a BAFTA member, an Inside Pictures annd Breaking the Glass Ceiling alum, and trained at the National Film & Television School. Across his career he’s been drawn to distinctive voices and stories that don’t get told often enough, and has long felt the absence of proper space and support for them in the industry.

Jeffrey Otame

Nawfside is an independent film company specialising in film financing and distribution. We produce original genre films, collaborating with emerging auteurs. Our flagship ‘NAWFSIDE F.C.’ film series puts the spotlight on our privately owned football club, documenting its journey from grassroots to professional football. Our ambition is to build a self-sustaining company that owns its audience, develops original IP and merchandise, and guides independent auteurs through development.

Jonny Smith

Jonny Smith is an award-winning Producer/Director and founder of Bonny Lad Productions, based in the North East of England. With more than 12 years' experience in television, he has worked across factual, documentary, sport and branded content for broadcasters and platforms including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Netflix. His credits include, Robson Green's Weekend Escapes, All or Nothing: Manchester City and Crime Scene Cleaners. Jonny launched Bonny Lad to build on that experience and develop a sustainable North East production company, with ambitions to create and own original factual programming alongside its growing production work.

Julie Mayhew

Born and raised in Peterborough, Julie Mayhew trained as a journalist then as an actress. When she couldn’t find enough brilliant roles for women, she started writing them for herself. She is an award-winning novelist, an award-nominated radio dramatist and has recently completed a year in the Jerwood/HighTide Theatre Writers' Group. Her short films as writer/director have played at festivals across the world and her diverse slate of HETV and feature film projects includes a BFI Network-backed sports biopic, a Brexit romcom that featured on the WScripted Cannes Screenplay List, and adaptations of her Bloomsbury-published literary thrillers.

Kristina Erdely

Kristina Erdely is a London-based producer, casting director and writer with over 25 years in the industry. Beginning as a theatre producer, Kristina migrated into casting film and HETV in 2008. Her casting credits include David Fincher's BAFTA-winning Love, Death + Robots (Netflix), earning her a 2020 Artios nomination, alongside The Brutalist, The Actor, and BAFTA-nominated Toni_with_an_I. A lifelong passion for storytelling has driven her beyond casting into development producing,producing and writing — an alumna of John Yorke's Advanced Story Structure course. Kristina founded Marilla Pictures and is a member of BAFTA, CSA and CDG.

Lauren Yeates

Lauren Yeates is a scripted development producer with over 10 years’ experience developing ambitious television and film. Most recently Development Producer at Water & Power Productions, she has developed projects with established and emerging talent, acquired and adapted IP, and taken projects from initial idea through to production. Now working independently, Lauren is building her own slate of original and adapted projects alongside freelance development and editorial work. She is also the founder of Kent Scripted Circle, a network connecting scripted creatives across the region, and was a Women in Film & TV mentee in 2025.

Lewis Doherty

Lewis Doherty is a queer Irish producer-director deeply committed to amplifying underrepresented voices, whose work explores faith, queerness, conflict and class through creative documentary. Their talent has been recognised through selection for prestigious labs including the EURODOC International Lab for Creative Documentary Production, Sheffield DocFest Queer Realities Lab, Cork International Film Festival Ignite-Docs, starGAZE and WEMW Docuseries Lab.  Their work spans commissioned, funded and award-winning documentaries, including the BBC Northern Ireland commissioned documentary OUTLASTING, Northern Ireland Screen-funded IT TAKES A VILLAGE and WHEN IT RAINS, Reuters' commissioned DLÚTHPHÁIRTÍOCHT, and the Manchester Art Gallery commissioned SPLENDOURS OF THE SIKH RAJ. Over the past seven years they have built experience across independent film, broadcast TV, development and currently work as a Development Researcher at the BAFTA Award-winning Nine Lives Media. They were selected for the Docs Ireland 2025 Marketplace and were a finalist at the 2024 NI Screen Feature Pitch, 2025 Celtic Media Festival International Pitching Forum and 2026 Screen Talent Europe Pitching Forum at the Oscar-Qualifying Kortfilmfestivalen.

Lily O'Hara

Lily O’Hara is a writer from Lancashire who has worked on Ted Lasso, The Killing Kind, The Crown, A Very English Scandal and The Chief of War. She honed her editorial craft on the UK’s flagship continuing dramas Coronation Street, Holby City, EastEnders and Hollyoaks. Before her TV career, Lily worked as a Police Detective in London, in finance in New York City and as a tour guide in New Zealand. After university, she nearly joined the RAF full-time, having served as a reservist. Inspired by the people she’s met across five continents, Lily is drawn to the untold stories that reveal the extraordinary in the everyday. She writes to entertain, illuminate and provide escapism.

Maddie Lock

Maddie Lock (they/them) is a BAFTA and BFI supported filmmaker, programmer and facilitator, born in Eastbourne, and based in Margate. They are inspired by seaside and folk-based histories, underrepresented voices, and working with communities to create projects that have accessibility and inclusion at their core. Maddie has written and directed four short films, including one for National Trust, and has programmed for Margate Film Festival, BFI: Art of Action, Towner Eastbourne, and more.

Marie Hynes

Marie Hynes is a writer/director based in Greater Manchester. She has written and directed a number of short films and is currently developing her debut feature, Rosie Knuckles, a performance-led boxing drama. Her work focuses on emotional realism, complex relationships and characters who are broken rather than bad. She is developing her skills in producing, project development and the wider film industry, and hopes Screen Launchpad will help her take the project to the next stage.

Mathy Selvakumaran

Mathy is a Creative Development Producer, writer and activist, working at the intersection of film and disability activism. Her passion lies in finding and amplifying character-driven narratives of disability and illness, particularly stories told from within the community and from the lens of lived experience. My professional experience spans the film and arts sectors, most recently as a Programme Adviser at Sheffield DocFest, a Script Reader for The Writers Lab and a Previewer for WomenX Film Festival.

Melanie Williams

Mel Williams is a UK based creative director, designer and IP creator with over 15 years experience across character brands, fashion, licensing and consumer products. She has worked with global names including Disney, Netflix, Cartoon Network, Mattel and Roblox, and is the creator/founder of Gentle Odds, an original entertainment IP spanning storytelling, gaming, collectibles and consumer products.

Monalisa Chukwuma

Monalisa Chukwuma is a British-Nigerian artist-filmmaker, writer, producer and photographer with a practice spanning fiction, documentary and visual arts. She holds a PhD in Film Practice from Goldsmiths, University of London, where her practice-based research explored memory, trauma and autobiography in the aftermath of State violence. She has directed the feature documentary Portrait of an Unknown Woman and Custodians: The Work of Memory. As a director, she is drawn to stories of faith, memory and Black interiority, told with visual boldness and research-led depth.

Sam Richards

Coming from a theatre background, I graduated with an MA in Theatre Directing
from the Arden School of Theatre in 2023. During the course, I was enrolled in the
Young Film Collective course at HOME MCR, which was a great introduction to
filmmaking and film programming. Over the past three years, I've worked on multiple short films and worked my way up from Production Assistant to 2nd AD and 1st AD. This year, I began to get into film producing and directing.

Sophie Freeman

Sophie is a producer with 16+ years’ experience across the screen industry, from development, to production, marketing, distribution and exhibition. Her BFI-backed short Homegrown – a comedy horror exposing migrant worker exploitation – with collaborator Corinne Walker, premiered at BAFTA-qualifying Encounters. Previously, she was an Assistant Director (credits include Mike Leigh’s Peterloo) and produced talent development scheme New Creatives Southwest, co-commissioning, producing and delivering 60+ short films, audio and interactive work for BBC platforms. As Engagement & Partnerships Producer for the Film & TV Charity’s Mentally Healthy Productions, she supports companies and productions with embedding best practice, culture and behaviour change.  She studied the Script Development PGDip (NFTS), is a BAFTA Connect member, and was selected for the EIFF Talent Lab ‘22 and BFI NETWORK Creative Producer lab ‘21.

Stephen Watt-Bonar

i am a highly experienced, professional short film and award-winning commercials director, and tv writer-for-hire, who has worked in multi-lingual environments in the uk, france, and belgium. but not for 20 years! i have recently found a new creative partner, and together we've written a short film, which could easily become a feature film, or a series. this is in pre-production. at the same time, we have other substantial screen property we wish to develop. our wish is to build a truly difference-loving film production company, and develop our screen property for the widest possible distribution.

Susie Hunt

Susie Hunt is a London-based producer and co-founder of Supernova Productions. Previously, she has supported the producing teams on Band 4 high-end TV productions and worked as a Development & Production Executive at Hangtime International Pictures. She has also served as Associate Producer on a TBA feature, backed by Ffilm Cymru. Susie is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and UCLA, and is part of the BAFTA Albert Impact Producer Accelerator 2026 cohort.

Teresa Moorhead

I studied BA Filmmaking at Leeds Beckett University and graduated with a first-class honours degree in 2020. I have made several short films and music videos. I conceive, create, film amd edit all my own projects and still collaborate with my university cohort to produce new visual works of art.

Tom Sheldon

I am a self-taught solo developer from the Midlands who, in my spare time, has been making games and tinkering in level editors ever since I could move a mouse. Although I’ve never formally studied the art of game making or worked in the industry, I have honed and validated my skills in a number of unlikely places, including by becoming renowned in the Super Mario Maker community for my fiendishly amusing custom courses. Most recently I have been designing and developing Ink Strings – a relaxing puzzle game that has received an overwhelmingly positive reception at over a dozen exhibitions.

Unro Janchiv

Unro Janchiv is a cultural producer, curator, and founder of Great Diplomacy, a UK-based screen and Createch studio developing original film and documentary IP alongside international co-productions. She works across theatre, opera, and film production, cultural programming, and supports collaboration between international creatives. With over 25 years of experience in international cultural leadership and arts programming, she has built cultural bridges between Mongolia and Europe through exhibitions, curated programmes, and creative partnerships. Her practice is focused on increasing visibility for underrepresented voices and creating platforms for cross-cultural storytelling at an international level. At Great Diplomacy, she leads on production development, international partnerships, and audience engagement strategy. She oversees a monthly screening and Q&A programme showcasing international cinema and supporting emerging and underrepresented filmmakers, building an engaged audience around independent screen culture. Her current focus is on transitioning Great Diplomacy into a scalable, IP-led screen company that integrates screen production, audience development, and creative technology. She is particularly interested in how cultural diplomacy, digital innovation, and Createch approaches can support sustainable screen businesses and globally relevant storytelling. Unro is committed to strengthening representation within the UK screen industries, building long-term international collaboration through film, cultural exchange, and innovative screen-based storytelling practices.

Winnie Imara

Winnie Imara is a Producer and the Founder of the production company MARCH 25TH. She has produced narrative shorts, commercials and theatre productions. She is now developing her slate across long-form Film & TV, with a particular interest in both original and existing IP. She previously founded Seven Black Women, an initiative that supported over 400 creatives through programmes, masterclasses and production opportunities. She’s a graduate of the National Film and Television School, has been featured as a future industry leader and has mentored various creatives through organisations like Creative Access, Film London, and Catalyst Collective. She has also been a speaker & facilitator for Film London, Southbank Centre, BBC Radio London & more, and to date I've spoken to over 300 people, sharing on building a creative venture, Film, and Producing. She continues to be passionate about seeing more Black and Global Majority women in positions of creative leadership and decision-making and is drawn to stories that explore the intersections of language, culture, and belonging with heart and realism, and stories that stay with you long after you’ve watched them.

Zsofia Szemeredy

Zsófia Szemeredy is a producer, founder of Leverage Point Entertainment, and co-founder of Palbion, a boutique production company developing commercially minded, culturally rich stories from Central and Eastern Europe with a strong focus on female creator voices. Palbion’s work centres on bringing Eastern European perspectives to global audiences through accessible genre and character-driven storytelling. Her sustainability work across high-end film and television includes Hijack, Down Cemetery Road, Alien: Romulus, Dune: Prophecy, Lee, Poor Things and Moon Knight, among many other international productions. Through Leverage Point Entertainment, Zsófia works strategically with productions to embed sustainability into storytelling, planning and operations, supporting the industry’s transition toward decarbonisation. Alongside advising studios and broadcasters, she supports the independent sector as a Eurimages Expert, industry mentor with Cinelink Sarajevo and MIDPOINT, and educator across numerous international training programmes. She has designed and led sustainability programmes for the Screen Institute (Vienna) and Screen Cornwall, and regularly tutors and contributes to industry workshops and training initiatives across Europe. A graduate of the National Film and Television School, Zsófia was the first student to successfully crowdfund her tuition and received multiple scholarships including the CTBF and Odeon Scholarships. She began her career in sales, distribution and script development before expanding into production, PR and finance across the UK industry, working with organisations such as eOne, Odeon and BAFTA albert. Her work across producing, sustainability and industry training reflects a long-standing focus on building more internationally connected and responsible creative ecosystems.

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Creative Enterprise delivers a range of programmes supporting creative founders and businesses at different stages of their journey. 

From early ideas to established companies ready to scale, these programmes offer tailored support, expert guidance, and access to a thriving creative network. Together, they form a connected ecosystem designed to help creative talent grow, succeed, and sustain their work for the long term.

Find Out More Here.

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