London, 7 November 2018: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) tonight celebrated 2018’s BAFTA Breakthrough Brits, in partnership with Burberry – 19 of the UK’s most promising future stars of film, games and television – at a star-studded reception attended by leading figures in the creative industries.
Sara Putt, Chair of BAFTA’s Learning and New Talent Committee, welcomed guests before the honourees were introduced by actors George MacKay, Stacy Martin and Tom Hiddleston. Other guests at the event, which took place for the first time at 194 Piccadilly, an exciting new event space underneath the home of BAFTA, included actors Gemma Arterton and Susan Wokoma, documentary-maker Stacey Dooley, SB.TV founder Jamal Edwards MBE, and CEO of games industry trade body Ukie Dr Jo Twist OBE.
Also in attendance were the recently announced 2018 Breakthrough Brits:
Adrienne Law – Games Producer
Annie Price – Presenter
Chris Walley – Actor
Daniel Kokotajlo – Writer/Director
Daniel Lawrence Taylor – Actor/Writer
Ellena Wood – Director
Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly – Producer
Harry Nesbitt – Artist and Game Developer
Jay Armstrong – Game Developer
Jessica Barden – Actress
John Campbell and Katie Goode – Technical Director & Creative Director
Lucy Cohen – Writer/Director
Luisa Omielan – Comedian
Lottie Bevan – Co-Founder & COO
Michael Pearce – Director
Paapa Essiedu – Actor
Ria Zmitrowicz – Actress
Vanessa Whyte – Cinematographer
Breakthrough Brits is BAFTA’s flagship initiative that identifies and supports the UK’s next generation of creative talent. Selected by a jury of industry experts after a UK-wide open call for nominations and applications, the 2018 Breakthrough Brits will be supported by BAFTA over the next 12 months as they progress their careers.
Since the launch of the initiative in 2013, previous Breakthrough Brits have gone on to be recognised at BAFTA’s awards ceremonies, including 2018 BAFTA winners Molly Windsor (Leading Actress for Three Girls); Daisy May Cooper (Female Performance for This Country) and Tom Davis (Comedy Entertainment Programme for Murder in Successville). Also in 2018, 2016 Breakthrough Brit honouree Florence Pugh was nominated for the 2018 EE Rising Star Award. Other previous Breakthrough Brits include composer Segun Akinola (Doctor Who), actress Letitia Wright (Black Panther), actor Alex Lawther (Imitation Game) and 2017 EE Rising star winner, actor Tom Holland (Spider-man: Homecoming).
BAFTA and Burberry share a joint vision of celebrating emerging British talent and giving them the tools to develop their skills at the start of their careers. Alongside one-to-one mentoring and guidance sessions, honourees also receive free access to BAFTA events for 12 months and networking opportunities in the UK and internationally.
For more information about BAFTA Breakthrough Brits, in partnership with Burberry, go to: http://bit.ly/Breakthrough-Brits
This year’s honourees were accommodated by Bulgari London Hotel, Official Hotel Partner to the event, and chauffeured by Audi UK, BAFTA’s Official Car Partner.
– Ends –
Notes to Editors:
Biographies of the 2018 Breakthrough Brits are available here.
A full list of the Breakthrough Brits jurors in 2018 is available here.
Photography:
A selection of free press imagery from the event is available from BAFTA’s online photo library https://bafta.thirdlight.com via the BAFTA Talent Initiatives folder. Please contact [email protected] for access.
A wider selection of images from the event is available from Rex/Shutterstock
Camera Press holds all of BAFTA portraiture for exclusive placement including Breakthrough Brits 2018.
For further information, please contact:
Molly Whitehall at WDW Communications
E: [email protected]
T: 0203 432 5839
