21 creatives working across film, games and television have been selected for this year’s prestigious BAFTA Breakthrough UK.
As BAFTA’s flagship new talent programme, BAFTA Breakthrough is now in its 13th year of supporting British screen talent at their breakthrough moment.
The programme boasts an extensive list of alumni that includes Florence Pugh, Tom Holland, Josh O’Connor, Jessie Buckley, Bella Ramsey, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Mawaan Rizwan, Jennifer English, Paapa Essiedu, Letitia Wright and many more.
Today, BAFTA announces the 21 ‘must-watch’ creatives working in film, games and television who make up the 2026 BAFTA Breakthrough cohort in the UK, supported by Netflix.
Now in its 13th year, BAFTA Breakthrough remains the arts charity’s flagship new talent programme, recognising extraordinary screen talent on the cusp or in the midst of a breakthrough moment. The programme offers a springboard into the next phase of their careers with year-round support, one-to-one meetings, career guidance and access to industry networking events as well as full BAFTA membership.
Globally, over 330 people have passed through the programme, ranging from screenwriters and actors to game designers, art directors, editors, and costume designers. Many go on to develop their own features, games, or TV shows and achieve national and international acclaim, including more than 200 BAFTA nominations and over 80 wins.
This year’s UK cohort spans craft specialisms across casting, production, directing, performing and writing, and have worked on some of the most acclaimed projects of the last year. BAFTA North America will announce the Breakthrough US talent later this month.
The full list of this year’s BAFTA Breakthrough UK cohort is as follows:
*applied as a team
FILM
- Hollie Bryan, Producer – The Ceremony
- Louis Paxton, Writer/Director – The Incomer
- Lucy Allen*, Casting Directors – Sunny Dancer
- Imran Perretta, Co-writer/Director – Ish
- Regina Meessen, Hair and Make-Up Designer – Dreamers
- Ted Evans, Writer/Director – Retreat
- Tom Payne*, Casting Directors – Sunny Dancer
DOCUMENTARY / UNSCRIPTED
- Chris Lynch, Presenter and Producer – In the Driving Seat
- Myrid Carten, Writer/Director – A Want in Her
- Runako Celina, Producer and Reporter – Death in Dubai
TV
- Ella Bruccoleri, Performer – The Other Bennet Sister
- Izuka Hoyle, Performer – Prisoner
- Philippa Mumford, Production Designer – Juice (Series 2)
- Sophie Stone, Performer – Falling
- Tom Cousins, Creator and Executive Producer – Rafi the Wishing Wizard
- Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Writer – Emmerdale
GAMES
- Eloise Singer, Writer/Director – The Pirate Queen: No Safe Waters
- Husban Siddiqi, Game Director and Developer – Rogue Eclipse
- Kate Killick, Creative Director – Pieced Together
- Niru Fekri-Arnold, Creator/Designer – Cursed Words
- Tom McKay, Performer – Mysteria Ecclesiae: Kingdom Come Deliverance DLC
Jane Millichip, CEO of BAFTA, said: “BAFTA Breakthrough is a hugely impactful programme. It champions talented creatives and practitioners from all three screen sectors, and it is designed to give them the support and connections to build lasting careers. This year’s cohort comes from fantastically diverse backgrounds and skillsets which really enrich the stories they bring to our screens. Thank you to Netflix for their continued support and partnership. Congratulations to our ‘BAFTA Breakthroughs’. We can’t wait to see where they go from here.”
2026 marks Netflix’s seventh year supporting BAFTA Breakthrough, sharing its mission to inspire, nurture and champion emerging talent across the UK’s film, games and television industries.
Anne Mensah, Vice President, UK Content at Netflix, said: “We are so proud to back BAFTA Breakthrough for a seventh year. It forms an important part of Generation N, our commitment to supporting new, emerging and mid-career talent in the UK. The group announced today is an incredibly exciting range of names, and it is an honour to help them flourish with the guidance and support this programme provides.”
Notes to editors:
BAFTA Breakthrough is part of BAFTA’s year-round charitable initiatives to level the playing field and nurture the next generation of screen talent. Its long-established and celebrated programmes, such as BAFTA Elevate, Young Game Designers, and the BAFTA Student Awards, help thousands of people build their careers in film, games, and television.
CREDITS:
Photography: BAFTA / Sane Seven
All images are available HERE
Password: BreakthroughPress2026
Creative Director – Marius Seven
Makeup Artists – Pablo Rodriguez & Rahual Das, courtesy of Armani Beauty
Hair Stylists – Philipp Haug & Alison Pilichos, courtesy of Schwarzkopf Professional
Stylist – Peter Bevan
Styling Assistant – Clementine Brown
For press requests and any other enquiries, please contact:
WDM Entertainment
Francesca Duke | WDM Entertainment | [email protected]
Samantha Chong | WDM Entertainment | [email protected]
Hellie Painter | WDM Entertainment | [email protected]
BAFTA Press Office
[email protected]
About BAFTA
BAFTA’s mission as a charity is to champion the creative and cultural importance of the screen arts across film, games and television. Through its Awards ceremonies and year-round programme of talent initiatives and learning events that include masterclasses, lectures, scholarships, bursaries and mentoring schemes in the UK and North America, BAFTA identifies and celebrates excellence, discovers, inspires and nurtures new screen talent, and enables learning and creative collaboration. For more, visit www.bafta.org. BAFTA is a registered charity (no. 216726).
About Netflix
Netflix is one of the world’s leading entertainment services, with over 300 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films, and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching, as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time.
