43 ‘must-watch’ creatives working in film, games and television from the UK, USA and India have been selected to join this year’s BAFTA Breakthrough cohort
BAFTA Breakthrough is the arts charity’s flagship new talent initiative supported by Netflix, offering a year-round programme of support and professional development opportunities
Celebrating its 11th year, alumni include Ambika Mod, Bella Ramsey, George Robinson, Paapa Essiedu, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Rina Yang, Paapa Essiedu, Josh O’Connor, Jessie Buckley, Vivian Oparah and Letitia Wright
Link to BAFTA images: HERE
Password: Breakthrough24/25FI
Link to headshots and biographies: HERE
Today, BAFTA announces the 2024 BAFTA Breakthrough cohort, featuring 43 ‘must-watch’ creatives working in film, games and television, from across the UK, US and India. BAFTA Breakthrough is the arts charity’s flagship talent initiative supported by Netflix, providing a springboard to creatives spanning craft specialisms from costume design, production, casting, editing and games design, to performance, directing, composing and cinematography.
Awarded to those in the midst, or on the cusp, of their breakthrough moment, the year-long initiative includes one-to-one meetings and career guidance, full voting membership, access to BAFTA events and screenings, as well as networking events, both in the UK and internationally.
The full list of this year’s Breakthrough cohort is as follows:
UK BREAKTHROUGHS (21):
- Alice Russell, Director – If the Streets Were on Fire
- Beth Park, Lead Performance Director – Black Myth: Wukong
- Clair Titley, Director – The Contestant
- Cobbie Yates, Costume Designer – Layla
- Daf James, Creator/Writer/Executive Producer/Musical Director – Lost Boys & Fairies
- Fred Hoffman, Art Director – Paper Trail
- Georgina Hurcombe, Creator/Producer/Director – Pop Paper City
- Harry Gilbert, Casting Director – G’wed
- Jennifer English, Performer – Baldur’s Gate 3
- Kyla Harris*, Lead Performer/Co-Creator/Co-Writer/Associate Producer – We Might Regret This
- Lauren Sequeira, Creator/Writer/Executive Producer – Domino Day
- Lee Getty*, Co-Creator/Co-Writer/Associate Producer – We Might Regret This
- Loran Dunn, Producer – Hoard
- Luna Carmoon, Writer/Director – Hoard
- Luned Tonderai, Series Director – Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star
- Mawaan Rizwan, Performer/Writer/Creator/Executive Producer – Juice
- Otto Baxter, Writer/Director/Performer – The Puppet Asylum
- Poulomi Basu, Creator/Director/Writer/Art Director – MAYA: The Birth of a Superhero
- Rochelle Newman, Producer – White Nanny Black Child
- Shahnaz Dulaimy, Editor – Top Boy
- Sophie Knowles, Lead Artist – Viewfinder
*applied as a team
US BREAKTHROUGHS (13):
- Angela Walker Patton, Director – Daughters
- Elaine Gómez, Creative Director – Blink Land
- Erica Tremblay, Writer/Director – Fancy Dance
- Hanna Park, Editor – Bottoms
- Jih-E Peng, Cinematographer – Girls Will Be Girls
- Joy Ngiaw, Composer – WondLa
- Juliana Hoffpauir, Costume Designer – Hit Man
- Karrie Shirou Shao, Game Writer/Lead Designer – Pacific Drive
- Nafisa Kaptownwala, Casting Director – Dìdi
- Natalie Rae, Director – Daughters
- Nava Mau, Performer – Baby Reindeer
- Nicole He, Creative Director – The Crush House
- Sean Wang, Writer/Director – Dìdi
applied as a team
INDIA BREAKTHROUGHS (9):
- Abhinav Chokhavatia, Game Producer – Down and Out
- Christo Tomy, Director – Curry and Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case
- Deepa Bhatia, Writer/Director/Producer – First Act
- Dhiman Karmakar, Sound Designer/Production Sound Mixer – Amar Singh Chamkila
- Jaydeep Sarkar, Showrunner/Series Director/Executive Producer – Rainbow Rishta
- Monisha Thyagarajan, Series Producer – The Hunt for Veerappan
- Neeraj Kumar, Producer/Lead Developer – Artifice: War Tactics
- Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy, Writer/Director/Performer – Aachar & Co.
- Varun Grover, Writer/Director – All India Rank
Jane Millichip, BAFTA CEO, said: “BAFTA Breakthrough, now in its 11th year, spotlights a host of emerging and talented ‘must-watch’ creative practitioners working across film, games and television. This year we have an amazing roster of casting directors, producers, writers, performers, lead artists, cinematographers, lead developers, and more. We urge the industry to take note. A huge thank you to Netflix, whose support makes BAFTA Breakthrough possible.”
Courtney LaBarge Bell, Executive Director of BAFTA North America said: “Each year the BAFTA Breakthrough USA cohort represents some of the most exciting and brilliant voices working across film, TV and games and this year is no exception. We at BAFTA believe in the work of these distinctive and immensely talented creators and we are honored to be their champions for the next year and beyond. We’re grateful to play a small part in supporting them in what will surely be long, illustrious careers.”
Anne Mensah, Vice President, UK Content at Netflix said: “We are so proud to support the exceptional group of creatives who make up BAFTA Breakthrough. Breakthrough is brilliant at unearthing fresh voices, spotlighting talent and providing the support needed to help creatives reach their full potential.”
Guneet Monga Kapoor, Film Producer and Ambassador for BAFTA Breakthrough in India, said: “A massive congratulations to this year’s nine India Breakthroughs, who demonstrate once again that there is no shortage of creative talent in India. It was extremely difficult to narrow down the pool of talented candidates. I can’t wait to see how this year’s cohort harness BAFTA Breakthrough’s opportunities to hone their craft!”
This year’s Breakthrough UK cohort was selected by five specialist sub-committees comprising industry figures from the world of film, television, craft and tech, unscripted and games with BAFTA and Netflix representatives. In the US, a jury of leading cross-industry figures including producer Kerstin Emhoff and actor John David Washington selected this year’s cohort. The Breakthrough India jury was chaired by film producer and Breakthrough India ambassador Guneet Monga Kapoor, and also featured leading cross-industry figures including Vice President of Content, Netflix India, Monika Shergill and filmmaker Sushmit Ghosh.
BAFTA Breakthrough is celebrating its 11th anniversary this year. As an incubator for the industry’s future change-makers, BAFTA Breakthrough nurtures and encourages peer-to-peer network building. The programme also taps into BAFTA’s unique global academy of 12,500 creatives through curating a host of one-to-one meetings with established practitioners. Over 1,500 meetings for Breakthroughs have been set up to-date. These have included Cillian Murphy, Paul Rudd, Emma Thompson, Danny Boyle, Paul Greengrass, Barry Jenkins, Martin McDonagh, Abi Morgan, Lesley Manville and Brad Pitt, among many others.
BAFTA Breakthough today counts 290 people among its alumni, including Ambika Mod, Bella Ramsey, Rose Ayling-Ellis, George Robinson, Rina Yang, Paapa Essiedu, Josh O’Connor, Jessie Buckley, Vivian Oparah and Letitia Wright. Many go on to build very successful careers in the screen arts, creating games, TV shows and features that achieve national and international industry acclaim, including BAFTA nominations and wins.
Photography
BAFTA commissioned the following:
- BAFTA/Manuel Vazquez for the UK cohort, with makeup by Sophie Finlay and Jasmine Eastwood for Lancôme and hair by Philipp Haug and Chantelle Jones for Schwarzkopf Professional
- BAFTA/Jessica Chou for the US cohort
- BAFTA/Vikas Gotra for the India cohort.
All Images are available here. Password: Breakthrough24/25FI
Notes to Editors:
BAFTA Breakthrough is part of BAFTA’s year-round initiatives to nurture the next generation of creative talent. Its long-established and celebrated programmes, such as BAFTA Elevate, Young Games Designers, and the Yugo BAFTA Student Awards, help thousands of people build their careers in film, games, and television. From children and students to rising stars and new practitioners, levelling the playing field for all is at the heart of BAFTA’s mission.
For press requests and any other enquiries, please contact:
UK & US
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Francesca Duke | WDM Entertainment
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India
Isha Choure | The Other Circle PR & Marketing
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Prathmesh Chavan | The Other Circle PR & Marketing
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BAFTA
BAFTA Press Office
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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).
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