Holly Reddaway | Voice and Performance Director

Holly Reddaway | Voice and Performance Director

(She/They)

It’s often hard to take the time out of our busy lives to reflect on past achievements. But that’s exactly what freelance director Holly Reddaway had to do when they applied for BAFTA Breakthrough. It came as quite a shock to Holly to realise that they had worked on a phenomenal 11 games released in 2023, including one of the year’s biggest hitters, the critically acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3. It is a dialogue-heavy game, and gamers responded by universally raving about the acting.

Holly’s journey to becoming a director, working across games, animation, immersive, screen and VR/AR, started through directing plays at university. Moving away from traditional stage performances, Holly began working in more interactive settings, creating shows in the likes of multi-story carparks, libraries, nightclubs and even a Victorian observatory. A providential trip to the V&A’s Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt exhibition in 2018 gave Holly a whole new professional appreciation for games as an artform, and they quickly recognised that someone had to direct those performers. Holly’s never looked back since – until, perhaps, it came to writing their Breakthrough application.

In their own words...

“I absolutely love games. Every job is completely different, because every world is so vastly different... There’s such expansive possibility with what can be achieved narratively.  Games as a form enable great ambition with storytelling which as a director makes the work thrilling. The interactivity of games creates an intimacy with its players and the story unlike any other medium can with its audience. It’s very special. 

 “Someone who’s career I really admire is Lucy Prebble. I’m a massive fan of her work across theatre, games and screen - her writing never feels confined by genre or form. I remember getting a lot of advice early on to find a style and stick to it, it felt like diversity of work was unhelpful. But I’m a director because I love storytelling. I don't want to be fixed stylistically. I want to tell a diverse set of stories across multiple mediums, always finding the best one for the narrative. Allowing my work as a director to develop and be informed by this variety.” 

Holly is currently working on several game projects in both the UK and US, as well as an animation and an audio series for Audible. Other credits include Park Beyond and Alan Wake 2.

Holly’s breakthrough credit is the game Baldur’s Gate 3

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