The UK Global Screen Fund’s first Co-production Weekender is a two-day intensive lab designed to take participants through the essentials of putting a film or TV co-production together, from treaties and conventions, to legal agreements and sources of finance.
It takes place on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 March 2022 at HOME in central Manchester.
Speakers will include:
- In Good Company founder Roshanak Behesht Nedjad
- BAFTA award-winning producer Emily Morgan
- Olffi founder and producer Ilann Girard
- Haut et Court producers Carole Scotta and Caroline Benjo
- Archery Pictures COO Alex Marshall
Chantel Burrell from the BFI’s Certification Unit, which runs the British qualification process for co-productions in order to access the UK’s screen sector tax reliefs, and James Kay, head of media finance at Sheridans, will also be sharing their expertise as part of the speaker line-up.
The producers selected are:
Adrienne Liron
Adrienne Liron is co-founder of award-winning British-Dutch production company, 3 Minutes West. Adrienne and partner, director Jeff Tudor, produce ambitious, cross-genre, mixed media feature films. Adrienne’s career spans TV, event cinema, branded content, live events and feature films. She has produced arts programming for broadcasters and distributors including Arte (France/Germany), BBC (UK), CBC (Canada), NRK (Norway), PBS (North America) and Pathé Live. Awards include the Rose d’Or (Arts) and Czech Crystal. Adrienne’s first feature, Coppelia, is a critically-acclaimed, original mix of animation and live action dance; a modern fairytale for a family audience, told without words, featuring a diverse cast of international dance stars including Darcey Bussell. A Dutch-German-Belgian co-production, Coppelia premiered at Annecy Festival 2021. The film’s international release includes a nationwide broadcast on PBS (USA) and a Christmas broadcast on the BBC.
Ajay Rai
Ajay Rai is a Creative Producer and founder of In Front Films, which aims to champion diverse stories and international talent — both in front and behind the camera. The company also acquires remake rights and offers international production and line production services; recent credits include projects in South Africa, Albania, Sao Tome and Nepal. Ajay has worked across development, production and finance companies in the UK and has a wealth of international management and leadership experience, including in the NGO sector. He has worked as a MEDIA Expert for Creative Europe and, as an educator, he initiated a London based BFI Film Academy workshop and is a visiting lecturer at the Busan Asian Film School. Ajay Rai is a producing graduate of the National Film & Television School and a Richard Dunn scholar.
Alex Thiele
Alex Thiele is a British-German producer and founder of London-based 65 Wilding Films. Feature credits include Break My Fall (2011) by BAFTA-nominee Kanchi Wichmann and selling worldwide via Reel Suspects, award-winning comedy The Book of Gabrielle (2017), theatrically released by Peccadillo Pictures, and trans documentary A Deal With The Universe, sold by Altitude Films and released into UK cinemas in 2019. Alex has a slate of feature projects with diverse and exciting talent in funded development. This includes BFI-backed Claude about surrealist artists Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, which is written by Hannah Patterson, and co-written/directed by Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, Nicola Mills’ punk feature Up Yours!, also supported by the BFI, and Redmond Entwistle’s US-China-based Success in Circuit, developed through Torino Film Lab. Alex is an alumna of EAVE European Producers Workshop and Guiding Lights, the UK industry’s flagship mentoring scheme.
Alice Lusher / Catryn Ramasut
Founded by producer Catryn Ramasut and musician Gruff Rhys to produce their debut feature documentary Separado!, ie ie productions is an award-winning, Cardiff based bilingual production company supported by Ffilm Cymru Wales and the BFI Vision Award. Their drama department was founded by Alice Lusher in 2015 with support from FfCW and the BFI. With a growing slate of ambitious television dramas, documentaries and feature films, ie ie productions aims to produce innovative multi-platform projects which push the boundaries of creativity and technology. Striving to inform, educate and stimulate an audience of increasingly sophisticated and demanding media users. The company’s distinctive vision embraces the culture of Wales. Working collaboratively at a grass roots level with emerging as well as established talent to produce authored, culturally impactful films and television content for the global market. Recent credits include: Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm, Black and Welsh, Mothers, Missiles and the American President and bilingual drama series Merched Parchus (Respectable Girls).
Andee Ryder
Andee (Dee) Ryder is an Emmy award-winning and BAFTA-nominated film producer. In 2020 Dee was an executive producer on the double Emmy award-winning documentary Rising Phoenix. In 2018 Dee produced the double BAFTA-nominated documentary McQueen. In 2016 Dee co-founded the London-based film production company MISFITS ENTERTAINMENT. In the same year, Dee produced her debut feature, Alleycats. Dee produced her second feature, Viking Destiny, in 2018. Prior to this Dee accumulated extensive experience within the TV and film industry working on major Hollywood blockbusters, documentaries and multi returning documentary series aired on NAT GEO, DISCOVERY CHANNEL, HISTORY CHANNEL, PBS to name but a few. She also produced countless music videos, commercials and boasts a significant amount of experience as a VFX producer. Dee is the first transgender producer to be BAFTA-nominated. She is a filmmaker first and foremost and to produce the best creative work she believes in close working relationships and solid foundations.
Chris Hees
Founder of Bridge Way Ltd, Chris Hees is a BAFTA winning, Oscar nominated producer and alumni of the National Film and Television School, ACE Producers, Berlinale Talents, Creative England’s Market Trader, Screen Yorkshire’s Flex and Cannes Producer Network. In 2017 he was one of 22 most promising producers to secure slate financing through the BFI Vision Award 3. At the end of 2018 he co-produced Nathalie Biancheri’s debut feature, Nocturnal, and his debut feature animation, Absolute Denial, directed by Ryan Braund, was selected for competition at Annecy 2021. He currently has two short films on the festival circuit, animation Knot, live-action comedy Pop, and BFI backed European co-production, Scale is due to be released in 2022. His next feature, Hitchhikers, will shoot in 2022. He is also the Managing Director of The Kurious, a post facility and production space, which has a collective of Yorkshire based filmmakers at its heart.
Chiara Ventura
Chiara Ventura is a BFI Vision Awardee and BIFA-longlisted producer. After graduating from the NFTS, she worked in development, sales, distribution and production before joining ARDIMAGES UK, where she runs a slate of film and television alongside Manon Ardisson. Together, they work on projects including the adaptation of the Shakespeare’s Globe hit play Emilia and produced the SKY-commissioned comedy pilot Heart to Heart (SXSW 2020) featuring David Tennant. In collaboration with producer Jack Tarling, they also launched the Mother Tongues Award, a film development scheme backed by Charades, Intermission Film and Curzon. In addition to award-winning short films commissioned by Film London, Creative England and BBC, Chiara produced Elizabeth Sankey’s feature documentary Romantic Comedy (SXSW 2019), which has played at over 40 film and music festivals all over the world and was distributed in the UK by MUBI.
Chris Patterson
BFI Vision Awardee Chris Patterson started Belfast based film company Causeway Pictures in 2009. Since then, Causeway has worked alongside companies such as Netflix, Universal and Discovery to bring high quality content to a global audience. Chris is currently developing SciFi detective television series Violet Hill based on the book by Irish writer Henrietta McKervey and financing vigilante feature thriller Monster/s, written and directed by upcoming Northern Irish Director Aidan Largey.
Daisy Allsop
Daisy Allsop is currently in post-production on My Happy Ending (Andie MacDowell, Miriam Margolyes, Sally Phillips), a UK-Israel co-production supported by the UK Global Screen Fund. Daisy produced BFI-funded Tell It To The Bees (Anna Paquin, Holliday Grainger), which premiered in Special Presentation at TIFF and was released theatrically in 2019. Also Screen Star of Tomorrow David Leon’s Orthodox (Stephen Graham, Michael Smiley), longlisted for Best Debut Director BIFA and theatrically released in 2016. Daisy began in development and distribution, then acquisitions for sales agent financier Capitol Films. She was Assistant Producer on Five Children & It and as head of development for Feel Films managed a slate including The Song of Names. She was Associate Producer on Skellig (Tim Roth, Kelly Macdonald) and on Enlightenment Films award-winning The World Unseen and I Can’t Think Straight.
Derren Lawford
Derren Lawford is Founder of the recently launched DARE Pictures, a transnational content studio which focuses on premium content with diversity and inclusivity at its core. Previously he was Creative Director at Woodcut Media, securing commissions, co-pros, and finance opportunities. His EP credits include Mandela, My Dad and Me, and Cut from a Different Cloth, both co-produced with Idris Elba, Fiennes: Return to the Nile for Nat Geo and more. He started his career as a journalist before helping to launch youth TV station whereits.at before joining the BBC. There he helped launch radio station 1Xtra, SVOD service BBC Global iPlayer and secured BBC Three commissions. He then launched a new content division for social enterprise and marketing agency Livity. He was also a launch team commissioner at London Live looking after documentaries and diverse/online talent. Over the years he has mentored 20 plus feature doc projects worldwide, including Reporter/Refugee.
Eoin O’Faolain
Eoin O’Faolain is an Irish TV and feature film Development Producer with over 10 years of experience. After working on award-winning short films, he joined Samson Films as Head of Development to oversee their slate of projects. During that time, he worked on over a dozen produced TV and film projects. He acted as Associate Producer on the acclaimed horror A Dark Song, which featured in Fantastic Fest, LFF and Sitges, and was released in 2017. He currently resides in London as a freelance development producer while also acting as Head of Film for Sharp House, where he is building a slate of elevated genre projects and is working with a diverse range of talent. He is acting as executive producer for the upcoming Film London Microwave project Homebound, and co-producer for the Irish/UK feature Rose Plays Julie, which was released in 2021 to glowing reviews.
Farah Abushwesha
Farah Abushwesha is a BAFTA-nominated producer whose feature films include Irreplaceable You and The Last Photograph. TV credits include No Return, The Singapore Grip, and The ABC Murders. She has written two books on filmmaking and was awarded the BFI Vision Award in 2020. She is an Academy Gold Fellowship Finalist 2021.
Helen Jones
Helen Jones co-founded Silver Salt Films, a London-based film and TV production company creating bold, distinctive content for a global audience, focusing on female filmmakers with visionary projects. Her first feature Censor, directed and co-written by Prano Bailey-Bond, premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, opening the festival’s Midnight section. The film’s European premiere took place at the 2021 Berlinale, in the Panorama section. Censor was nominated for nine British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), including ‘Breakthrough Producer’ for Helen, and recently won the 2021 Méliès d’Or. The company’s first co-production The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin), won the Golden Bear for Best Film in the Encounters competition at the 2020 Berlinale. The Japanese-language drama, co-directed by C.W. Winter and Anders Edström, was led by the USA’s General Asst. and produced with partners in Sweden and Japan. Helen was recently selected for 2021 BAFTA Breakthrough UK.
Jack Sidey
Having spent the previous six years at Working Title Films, Jack Sidey joined Eric Abraham at Portobello Productions in 2015. Their first movie together – Oliver Hermanus’ Moffie — which Jack co-wrote and produced, premiered at the 76th Venice Film Festival. In 2021, he was nominated for a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut.
James Heath
James Heath is a BAFTA nominated producer of feature film The Fitzroy, written and directed by Andrew Harmer. Short film producing credits include proof of concept Biopunk, Sheep, live action 3D short Breath and One Last Dance starring Jonathan Pryce. Two recent short films, Duck Daze by director Alison Piper and Jealous Alan by writer/director Martin Clark, premiered at EIFF 2019.
James Watson
James Watson is a British-Panjabi London-based producer. Having started working in music promos, fashion film and short documentaries, he produced his first feature A Moment in the Reeds, which played at over 80 festivals worldwide, and was nominated for a BIFA Discovery Award as well as two Jussi Awards in Finland. He is working with Mikko Makela on his sophomore feature Sebastian. In 2020, he was the recipient of a BFI Vision Award to support the development of a slate of queer features.
Lincia Daniel
Lincia Daniel joined Moonriver as an Executive Producer after working as a drama Head of Production at Slim Film and Television. Her credits include Around the World in 80 Days (2021) and Mystic (2020). Following a chemistry degree at the University of London, Lincia became a Producer’s Assistant and TV Researcher. She went on to direct and produce science programmes and documentaries for Channel 4, Discovery and the BBC, whilst working as a script reader. Lincia produced the movie Freestyle (2010) for BBC Films and Film London, as well as short films by emerging writer/directors, supported by the BFI, Virgin Media and Creative England. She is a qualified teacher and developed courses for producers, accountants, location managers and production managers as the Training Manager at the Production Guild.
Nadia Jaynes
Nadia Jaynes has over 20 years’ experience working across all genres of film and television, from feature films to HETV, children’s television, comedy, documentary and structured reality. Nadia is the CEO of Little Monk Pictures, a new female-led Manchester-based production company, which was launched in 2020 to provide a platform for diverse regional talent both on and off screen. Her vast cross-genre experience has allowed her to build an enviable network of A-list on and off-screen talent on a national and global level.
Sinead Kirwan
Sinead Kirwan is an award-winning multi-disciplinary producer. Her first feature Still the Enemy Within (Grierson shortlisted, Sheffield Audience Award Winner, Focal Nominated) was screened globally. Her film Dying to Divorce received a special mention at this year’s Movies That Matter Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, screened at HOTDOCS, won the Grand Jury Special Prize Monte Carlo TV Festival. It is the UK Entry for Best International Feature to the Oscars. She is also currently releasing When a City Rises, about the Hong Kong uprising, which won the CPH:DOX F:ACT award in 2021 and screened at Sydney and Warsaw International Film Festival. Her short I Don’t Want to Call it Home was selected for Edinburgh International Film Festival, Dinard International Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival USA, Flying Broom Film Festival Ankara, and Cinema Nova Film Festival Lisbon, among others. Last year, Playing the Game, a documentary she produced, was broadcast by BBC Scotland. She has also made award-winning AVs and installations for museums and galleries across the world and recently completed her first short drama Burn on Arrival starring Kate Dickie, which won the Discover Film Award for Best Thriller.
Tim Bryans
Tim Bryans is an animation producer with over 12 years of experience in the industry, having produced dozens of hours of animated content and helped to raise in excess of £12 million of production finance. Since co-founding ALT Animation in 2016, Tim has been instrumental in developing a slate of projects for the international animation market, including The Hearios — one of the first projects in the UK to receive development funding from the BFI’s Young Audiences Content Fund, and the feature length animation Lugi — The Brodgar Boy, which received development funding from Creative Europe and NI Screen. The studio is currently producing the animation for the 40 x 11 min series Mimi’s World for C5 Milkshake. Tim has built strong working relationships with producers in all parts of the world and is currently overseeing a number of co-production opportunities with studios in Ireland, Canada, and Croatia.