The BAFTA Breakthrough UK programme is supported by Netflix
BAFTA Partners

BAFTA Breakthrough

Showcasing and helping accelerate the careers of the next generation of film, games and TV talent.

Read the handbook
Applications for 2025 are now closed. BAFTA Breakthrough UK is supported by Netflix.
Four of the BAFTA 2024 Breakthrough cohort. On the left is a white woman with bobbed red hair wearing a denim blazer with statement sleeves. Second from left is a white woman with shoulder length light brown hair wearing a black top, black blazer and jeans. Second from right is an Asian man with short dyed blond hair sat on the floor wearing a white mohair top and brown leather trousers. On the far right stood at the back is a white woman with a short blonde pixie crop and wearing an oversized grey suit.
Credit: BAFTA/Manuel Vazquez
Luna Carmoon, Clair Titley, Loran Dunn, Mawaan Rizwan
Six of the BAFTA 2024 Breakthrough cohort. On the left is a white man with short curly hair and a beard wearing a black shirt with sparkly stripe running through it. Next is a white woman with blonde hair tied up and bold red lipstick wearing a black shift dress. Next is a a white woman with long wavy blonde hair sat down wearing a denim jumpsuit. Sat at the back is a black woman with shoulder length tightly curled hair and wearing a white shirt and denim jacket. Second from right is a man with short dark hair, a grey beard, and black rimmed glasses sat down wearing a black suit. On the far right is a woman with long dark blonde slightly curled hair wearing a white waistcoat and trousers.
Credit: BAFTA/Manuel Vazquez
Daf James, Alice Russell, Lauren Sequeira, Luned Tonderai, Otto Baxter, Lee Getty
Six of the BAFTA 2024 Breakthrough cohort. On the far left is a white woman with short dark hair and a thick fringe, wearing an all black outfit, white boots and sat in an electric wheelchair. Next is a white woman with light brown shoulder length hair wearing a short sleeved black shirt and blue jeans. In the middle of the photo is a white woman with shoulder length curly white hair wearing a one shoulder black top and white trousers. On the right of the photo is a man with short dark hair and wearing a brown knitted turtleneck jumper stood at the back. Sat on the floor at the front of the photo is an Asian woman with long dark wavy hair wearing a black top and long black skirt. On the far right is an Iraqi woman with dark hair tied back wearing a white shirt with feathers on the shoulder.
Credit: BAFTA/Manuel Vazquez
Kyla Harris, Beth Park, Sophie Knowles, Harry Gilbert, Poulomi Basu, Shahnaz Dulaimy
Five of the BAFTA 2024 Breakthrough cohort. On the far left is a black woman with short, dark, curly hair wearing a purple ombre one-shoulder dress. Next is a white woman with blonde hair tied up and bold red lipstick wearing a black top and pale pink caped suit. In the middle is a white man with short dark curly hair wearing a blue suit and a red patterned scarf. Next is a black man with long dark dreads wearing a black top, white floaty sleeved shirt and black leather trousers. On the far right is a white woman with long blonde curly hair wearing a black skirt with white stitching on and a black waistcoat.
Credit: BAFTA/Manuel Vazquez
Rochelle Newman, Georgina Hurcombe, Fred Hoffman, Cobbie Yates and Jennifer English.
Meet the current Breakthrough UK cohort
2024's Breakthrough UK Cohort Read the UK handbook

Are you at a turning point in your career? BAFTA’s flagship Breakthrough programme, supported by Netflix in the UK, could be for you.

Showcasing and helping accelerate the careers of the next generation of film, games and TV talent Breakthrough is part of our charity’s vision that people from all backgrounds will have opportunities to thrive in the screen industries.

Who is BAFTA Breakthrough for?

You may already be established in your field, but this will be the year you have ‘broken through’ into a lead creative role. BAFTA Breakthrough helps give a boost to talent  who’ve had a breakthrough year in the screen industry.

Selected by industry peers successful Breakthroughs receive:

  • Full voting membership of BAFTA for a year
  • Free access to BAFTA events and screenings
  • Access to the members’ space at 195 Piccadilly
  • A year of support, industry introductions and career development
  • A chance to raise your profile in the industry

How can you apply for BAFTA Breakthrough?

BAFTA Breakthrough currently runs in the UK. Chosen by the industry, it gives a platform to film, games and TV talent at that critical ‘breakthrough’ moment in their career.

Our aim is to help leverage early success into sustainable careers. We particularly welcome practitioners from underrepresented groups who have faced barriers to progression.

If you are 18 or over, work in the country whose programme you’re applying to, and meet the specific programme eligibility criteria in the handbook you can apply.

Read the UK handbook

FAQs

  • Applications for the 2025 Breakthrough UK cohort are now closed.

  • We recognise that applicants from under-represented groups may not have had the same access to opportunity as others to take on lead roles. We therefore accept applications from candidates from under-represented groups, in any discipline, who have taken on a lead or impactful role. We refer to under-represented groups as identified in the BFI Diversity Standards.

  • We recognise the team nature of working in craft and technical areas of games, film and television, and are looking for those individuals who have taken on a key role within a team that has had a significant impact on the outcome of the project.

    Impactful can also mean the impact of your work beyond the project itself. Possible examples include:

    • Was your role (or someone like you in your role) a first of its kind?
    • Did it raise awareness or start a conversation around issues traditionally underrepresented in film, TV and games?
    • Did your participation break new ground for the industry or demonstrate best practice?
    • Did your work impact a campaign or engage or create policy change outside the project?
    • Did you use a technique, method or technology for the first time?

  • To be eligible you must…

    • Be aged 18 or over
    • Be working in the UK
    • Have been primarily residing in the UK
    • Have a professional credit on a piece of work that has been released in the UK between 1 June 2024 and 1 September 2025 (or is reasonably expected to at the time of application).
    •  Have a lead or impactful role on their Breakthrough project

    Full details can be found in the UK handbook.

Meet our Breakthrough cohorts in other countries

The BAFTA Breakthrough programme also runs in the US, and until 2024 in India.

2024's Breakthrough US cohort 2024's Breakthrough India cohort
A group shot of some of the 2024 US Breakthroughs.
Credit: BAFTA/Jessica Chou, 2024
A few of the 2024 Breakthrough US Cohort
A group shot of seven of the 2024 Breakthrough India cohort.
Credit: BAFTA/Vikas Gotra, 2024
A few of the 2024 Breakthrough India Cohort

Explore previous cohorts Number of items shown:(11)

Explore Breakthrough Brits Number of items shown:(7)

Before Breakthrough went global we had Breakthrough Brits...

Explore our other programmes
Progress your Career

Supporting Talent Updates Number of items shown:(12)

The BAFTA Breakthrough UK programme is supported by Netflix
BAFTA Partners

Netflix is the main supporter of BAFTA’s flagship new talent scheme: BAFTA Breakthrough UK, which showcases and supports the next generation of creative talent across Film, Games and Television.

To date BAFTA Breakthrough has championed 290 creatives, including actors Letitia Wright, Florence Pugh, Abubakar Salim, Josh O’Connor, Niamh Algar and Jessie Buckley. Composer Segun Akinola, game producer Dan Gray, producer Sarah Brocklehurst, production designer Luke Hull, screenwriters Laurie Nunn and Charlie Covell, writers and actors Charlie and Daisy-May Cooper and directors Destiny Ekaragha and Michael Pearce. Previous Breakthroughs have gone on to flourish within their respective disciplines, many becoming BAFTA winners and nominees.

Netflix is one of the world’s leading entertainment services, with 283 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.