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The second edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival under the aegis of festival director and CEO Paul Ridd and producer Emma Boa closed this week, with attendees welcoming a decent selection of world premieres and improved screening venues, including the return of the Edinburgh Filmhouse.

Abdolreza Kahani’s Canada-set Mortician won the main £50,000 Sean Connery Prize for feature filmmaking excellence, and further competition titles generating interest on the ground included UK filmmaker Helen Walsh’s sophomore feature On The Sea and Elliot Tuttle’s camboy drama Blue Film.

The general feeling, as a source told Screen, was the competition...

Two weeks before the Edinburgh International Film Festival kicks off its 78th edition, Festival Director and CEO Paul Ridd seemed almost at ease.

“We’re not in the eye of the storm,” he said, “but we’re sort of circling it.”

Since taking the helm in late 2023, alongside festival producer Emma Boa, Ridd has overseen a strategic reinvention of one of the world’s oldest film festivals from building a new board and footprint to rethinking its mission within Scotland’s festival-heavy cultural calendar.

“This year is really year one,” he told Variety. “Last year we laid the groundwork, we showed that the new structure could work. Now, it’s about growing on that ballast.”

That growth is visible across the board. EIFF25 presents 43 new feature films, 18 of them world premieres, including the 10-title Sean Connery Competition for Feature Filmmaking Excellence — carrying substantial £50,000 prize awarded by audience vote. Alongside that are six retrospective screenings,...

Paul Ridd defines success in his role as Edinburgh International Film Festival chief using a two-pronged test.

“50% is the seven days of the festival, and how effectively we can deliver an amazing experience for our audiences and industry,” he explains. “And then 50% of it is about what happens to the films after our festival.”

Last year’s Eiff, his first in charge, he explains, was a model year.

“60% of the programme has either been picked up for distribution in the UK or has been distributed,” he says proudly. The key to supporting Eiff titles, he says, has been to engage “industry on a grassroots level”, highlighting films that are seeking distribution.

“We want to keep those stats up,” he says, adding that this year’s expanded industry section has been shaped to meet this goal. Changes include a new dedicated space for industry delegates at Tollcross Central Hall. The festival...

Starpower isn’t a trait that has been associated, in recent years, with Edinburgh’s International Film Festival. The event didn’t sustain any real drop in quality or reach, but has rather been a victim, like other summer festivals, of the tightening grip the fall period has on our industry.

This year, however, festival director Paul Ridd, in his sophomore year at the helm, has compiled, along with his growing team, an intriguing lineup packed with high-profile names from across the industry, many of whom rarely speak or appear publicly.

2025 Eiff visitors include producer Adele Romanski (Moonlight), who will appear alongside filmmaker Eva Victor. The festival will hold the UK premiere of Sorry, Baby, Victor’s debut feature as a director, and the latest film produced by Romanski for Pastel, the company she created with Barry Jenkins and Mark Ceryak. The Sixteen Films team, Ken Loach, Paul Laverty, and Rebecca O’Brien,...

The full Edinburgh Film Festival industry lineup was announced this afternoon, with high-profile visitors including filmmakers Rose Garnett and Eva Victor alongside producer Adele Romanski (Moonlight).

Edinburgh’s industry events will run from 15 August to 20 August at the Festival Hub at Tollcross Central Hall.

The festival’s In Conversation session will begin on August 15 with a session featuring Rose Garnett. The next day, Victor and Romanski will chair a masterclass, and it will be followed by an Eiff Networking Brunch delivered in association with Screen Fringe.

The Sixteen Films team, Ken Loach, Paul Laverty, and Rebecca O’Brien, will give a session on 20 August, while filmmaker Kevin Macdonald and his brother, producer Andrew Macdonald, will deliver the Eiff Keynote on 17 August. Scroll down for the full industry lineup.

Discussing this afternoon’s announcement, Paul Ridd, CEO and Festival Director, said he is “absolutely thrilled to welcome so many major Scottish,...

The Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has unveiled the full lineup of its 2025 industry program, assembling a heavyweight slate of prestigious U.K. and international filmmakers, producers and executives — from Andrea Arnold and Nia DaCosta to Jeremy Thomas, David Hinojosa and Ken Loach.

Running throughout the Festival, with a concentrated program over Aug. 15–20 at the Festival Hub (Tollcross Central Hall), the industry strand looks to consolidate Eiff’s expanding ambitions under Festival Director and CEO Paul Ridd, offering a mix of case study panels, networking events, and its flagship Eiff In Conversation sessions.

This year’s edition leans into cross-sector dialogue and talent development while strengthening links between Scotland’s creative ecosystem and global industry players. Unified, the producing banner founded by Amy Jackson and Lauren Dark, curates a dedicated strand within the programme – a series of one-on-one talks with senior decision-makers and creatives.

Guests in the Unified Series include Rose Garnett,...

A24 executive Rose Garnett and Palme d’Or winner Ken Loach are to speak as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival industry programme, which runs from August 15-20.

Garnett, who has previously worked as director of BBC Film and head of creative at Film4, will be speaking as part of the Unified series, a partnership between Eiff and Amy Jackson and Lauren Dark’snascent production company, Unified.

Further execs speaking across the programme will be Eva Yates, director of BBC Film and Farhana Bhula, interim Film4 director.

Filmmakers that will take part in ‘in conversation’ events include Loach alongside his longstanding partners,...

A24 has appointed Laura Lankester and Will Johnston in a strategic expansion of the company’s UK team, led by Piers Wenger and Rose Garnett.

The duo exits their current roles as co-CEOs of Lookout Point as A24 continues growing its international television operations. Based in London, Lankester and Johnston will work with Wenger and Garnett to expand and develop the studio’s global television slate.

Lankester and Johnston will continue to produce and deliver Netflix’s new adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice,” written by Dolly Alderton, for Lookout Point and BBC Studios. Lankester will also oversee BritBox’s “Tommy and Tuppence” for Lookout Point and BBC Studios.

Their recent credits for Lookout Point include two seasons of Sally Wainwright’s “Gentleman Jack” (BBC/HBO), “Renegade Nell” (Disney+), the final season of “Last Tango in Halifax” (BBC), the acclaimed final season of “Happy Valley” (BBC/AMC), and Andrew Davies’ adaptation...

A24 has strengthened its U.K. office with another poaching of senior executives from the local industry.

Laura Lankester and Will Johnston, co-CEOs of Lookout Point, the BBC Studios-owned company that has produced a raft of prestige dramas such as “Les Miserables,” “A Suitable Boy,” “War & Peace,” “Gentleman Jack,” “Renegade Nell” and the final season of “Happy Valley,” are set to join A24 as it looks to grow its international TV operations.

The two bolster a team in the U.K. led by Piers Wenger and Rose Garnett, who themselves were hired from the BBC in a major coup back in 2022.

Lankester and Johnston, who will leave their currents positions this autumn, will also continue to produce and deliver Netflix’s recently-unveiled adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice,” written by Dolly Alderton and starring Emma Corrin, Jack Lowden and Olivia Colman, for Lookout Point and BBC Studios, while Lankester...

A24 has hired Lookout Point co-CEOs Laura Lankester and Will Johnston to senior leadership roles in the UK team as it looks to grow the global television slate.

Based in London, Lankester and Johnston will leave their current roles at the production company behind BBC/AMC’s Happy Valley and Disney+ show Renegade Nell and join A24’s UK team leaders Piers Wenger and Rose Garnett.

The new arrivals will continue to produce and deliver Netflix’s Pride And Prejudice adaptation for Lookout Point and BBC Studios. Lankester will also oversee BritBox’s Tommy And Tuppence for Lookout Point and Bbcs.

A24 has signed up two of Britain’s hottest TV drama producers as it moves to expand its international small-screen output.

The hip producer and distributor on Wednesday unveiled that it was adding Laura Lankester and Will Johnston to its U.K. team, joining former BBC executives Piers Wenger and Rose Garnett.

Lankester and Johnston will exit their current roles as co-CEOs of Lookout Point to work with Wenger and Garnett to “expand, shape, and grow the studio’s global television slate,” A24 said in a statement.

The pair has worked with writer Sally Wainwright on some of the most acclaimed British television of the last decade, including Happy Valley, Gentleman Jack, and Last Tango in Halifax, and Renegade Nell, as well as on Andrew Davies’ adaptation of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy. They are currently in production, with BBC Studios, on a new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice for Netflix.

A24 is bolstering its UK team with the splashy appointments of Lookout Point co-CEOs Laura Lankester and Will Johnston.

Based in London, Lankester and Johnston will report to and work with A24 UK bosses Piers Wenger and Rose Garnett to “expand, shape, and grow the TV slate”.

Lankester and Johnston will continue to produce and deliver Netflix’s new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, written by Dolly Alderton, for Lookout Point and BBC Studios. Lankester will also oversee BritBox’s Tommy and Tuppence for Lookout Point and Bbcs, a production we revealed earlier this week.

The duo’s recent credits for Lookout Point include two seasons of Sally Wainwright’s Gentleman Jack (BBC/HBO), Renegade Nell (Disney+), the final season of Last Tango in Halifax (BBC), and the acclaimed final season of Happy Valley (BBC/AMC); as well as Andrew Davies’ adaptation of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy (BBC...

Exclusive: Molly Manning Walker, whose debut feature How to Have Sex won the Cannes Un Certain Regard, is teaming with A24 and Channel 4 on her debut TV series.

Major Players is about two girls on the brink of adulthood and their mission to start a women’s soccer team. The series is described as a “love letter to football and a funny and wild exploration of young people in London today, tackling topics from friendship to gender politics.”

The show is inspired by Manning Walker’s high school experience. She is also the co-founder of Babe City Fc, a London-based Sunday league soccer team for women and non-binary people in the film industry, which has more than 180 members.

Manning Walker is exec producing, directing and co-writing Major Players with Yasmin Joseph, who wrote on Disney+’s A Thousand Blows and A24-Apple’s upcoming Husbands starring Juno Temple.

Exclusive: A24 is getting into business with the UK’s irreverent public broadcaster.

The indie behemoth has landed a flatshare comedy series for Channel 4 from Leo Reich, who broke out last year with HBO comedy special Literally Who Cares?!.

Starring and created by Reich, It Gets Worse, which is co-produced for Canada’s Crave, follows Ethan, Abi, and Sam – best friends from uni, soulmates for life, and dysfunctional roommates. It’s been a year since the trio finally managed to move to London, but they have collectively accomplished nothing and now their landlord is selling up.

Reich gained critical acclaim for his debut stand-up Literally Who Cares?! and A24 produced the HBO special. He is starring in Netflix’s upcoming Lena Dunham series Too Much.

Reich said: “I’m over the moon to be working with the amazing teams at A24 and Channel 4 on It Gets Worse. This is...

Exclusive: The adaptation of Booker Prize-winner Shuggie Bain has emerged as one of the BBC’s “stuck in limbo” projects as drama boss Lindsay Salt blames a “perfect storm” for the funding crisis but says “we are as creatively ambitious as ever.”

BBC shows that have been greenlit but do not have the budget to get to screen have been the talk of UK TV circles ever since super-producer Jane Featherstone told a public inquiry that the BBC has “multiple shows which through no fault of their own they can’t fund.”

Two weeks later, the BBC acknowledged in a submission to the same parliamentary inquiry that it is struggling to get shows across all genres into production, “even those that have been greenlit by our commissioners.” Wolf Hall director Peter Kosminsky said in his submission that there are 15 such shows across the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, with BBC...

“The Outrun,” the adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s deeply raw and lyrical 2016 memoir about addiction, recovery and nature, premiered in Sundance this year to stellar reviews, with many awards prophets already suggesting that the film could take Saoirse Ronan — who stars in and produces the film — back to the Oscars in 2025.

For producer Sarah Brocklehurst, the Sundance premiere also marked something of an enjoyable full circle, landing almost five years to the day after the Sundance 2019 debut of “Animals.” The film, which screens at the Berlin Film Festival, also marks the first feature from her Brock Media banner.

“Animals,” based on Emma Jane Unsworth’s novel about hedonism and friendship (described as a “Withnail for Girls”) and starring Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat, may not have been Brocklehurst’s debut film (that was 2012’s “Black Pond”), but she claims it was a career game-changer. “It proved to myself and probably...

Exclusive: Euphoria producer A24 has turned to a series of self-published, TikTok-famous novels for its latest project out of the UK, Deadline understands.

The independent studio has snapped up the rights to Jessa Hastings’ Magnolia Parks universe books, which went viral on TikTok and have been described as Gossip Girl in high society London.

The Magnolia Parks project is understood to be a reasonable way into development, with A24 close to signing off partnerships for the series. The company declined to comment.

Firmly in A24’s zeitgeisty wheelhouse, the first novel follows the story of beautiful but neurotic London socialite Magnolia Parks and Bj Ballentine, the bad-boy lothario who broke her heart.

Hastings’ second book, Daisy Haites, expands on Magnolia’s world by following fellow London “It Girl” Haites, the heiress to a criminal empire who is desperately pursuing a normal life.

The third and fourth books return to Parks and Haites’ perspectives respectively.

Exclusive: A24 has quietly added another experienced exec to its steadily growing London office.

Former Film4 and The Ink Factory production boss Tracey Josephs, whose past credits list includes Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years A Slave and Fighting with my Family, joined as Head of UK Production several months ago. She had previously been freelancing with the Piers Wenger and Rose Garnett-led outfit.

Josephs is overseeing the production and management of TV series, films and documentaries from the Everything Everywhere and Euphoria maker’s London hub, which opened just over a year ago, helmed by the former BBC Drama and Film bosses.

Tracey Josephs

Josephs spent four years as Head of Production at The Night Manager producer The Ink Factory, where she was EP on Stephen Merchant’s Florence Pugh-starrer Fighting with my Family and also worked across the BBC/AMC’s The Little Drummer Girl. She left The Ink Factory...

The 2023 BAFTA TV Awards took place at Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday evening, honoring the best performances in British television in 2022. The ceremony, which was hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan, paid tribute to an eclectic mix of popular British shows and international hits.

The third and final season of “Derry Girls” was a big winner, with Lisa McGee’s Netflix-distributed series winning Best Scripted Comedy and Best Female Performance In a Comedy Program for Siobhán Mcsweeney.

Kate Winslet also had a big night, winning Best Leading Actress for her role in the Channel 4 series “I Am Ruth.” The series was also honored with a win in the Single Drama category. Best Leading Actor went to Ben Whishaw for his work on “This Is Going to Hurt.” Netflix’s “Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” won Best International Series.

On the unscripted side,...

Kate Winslet, Sharon Horgan and Ben Whishaw were among those who scooped the top prizes at the BAFTA TV awards on Sunday evening.

The ceremony, which took place at the Royal Festival Hall in London, was hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan.

Winslet won the prize for best leading actress for her turn in “I Am Ruth,” which also starred her real-life daughter Mia Threapleton. The duo also took to the stage to accept the award for best single drama, with Threapleton tearing up. “We did this together kiddo,” Winslet said as she accepted the leading actress award, adding: “There were days when it was agony for [Threapleton] to dig as deeply as she did and it took my breath away.”

Horgan, meanwhile, thanked her writers as she accepted the award for best drama on behalf of Apple TV+ series “Bad Sisters,” which also saw Anne-Marie Duff take home...

Twelve months ago, the UK industry drew a sharp intake of breath when Euphoria and Moonlight outfit A24 lured Piers Wenger and Rose Garnett to launch the studio’s London-based production division.

The splashy double hire of the BBC’s Director of Drama and Film, respectively, was seen by many as a major coup for A24 and a significant loss for the UK’s leading broadcaster.

Wenger and Garnett had spent the previous decade playing an influential role in making the UK a creative powerhouse, greenlighting significant productions and blooding future stars while at the BBC and Channel 4. I May Destroy You, Normal People, The Souvenir, The Favourite, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri were all commissioned or developed on their watch. Steve McQueen and Michaela Coel are among the duo’s high-profile admirers.

But despite the initial UK shakeup and A24’s subsequent Oscar glory with Everything Everywhere All At Once,...

An autumn theatrical release is planned.

Joanna Hogg’s gothic ghost story The Eternal Daughter has been acquired for distribution in the UK and Ireland by BFI Distribution.

The UK-us production marks the BFI’s second acquisition from A24, following God’s Creatures earlier this year.

A theatrical release is planned for autumn. It will also form part of a Joanna Hogg retrospective season running at BFI Southbank, also taking place in the autumn.

The film, which premiered at Venice, tells the story of an artist and her elderly mother confront long-buried secrets when they return to a former family home,...

Distribution

BFI Distribution has acquired Joanna Hogg’s gothic ghost story “The Eternal Daughter,” starring Tilda Swinton in a dual role, for theatrical release in the U.K. and Ireland and will release in cinemas this fall. In the film, an artist and her elderly mother confront long-buried secrets when they return to a former family home, now a hotel haunted by its mysterious past.

The film had its world premiere at Venice in 2022 and also screened at the London and Toronto festivals. Alongside its wider distribution, it will also screen at London’s BFI Southbank as part of a complete Hogg retrospective season, which will run alongside a program of films that have influenced her work. The film is the BFI’s second acquisition from A24, following “God’s Creatures” earlier this year.

Executive produced by Martin Scorsese and Rose Garnett and coproduced by Eimhear McMahon, the film is produced by Hogg alongside Ed Guiney,...

Exclusive: The first new A24 project to emerge since the studio’s record-breaking Oscar haul last week is international TV series Young Mungo, which is being adapted by Scottish-American author Douglas Stuart from his acclaimed novel.

The series, about the dangerous first love of two working class men in Glasgow, is being shepherded by A24’s international heads Piers Wenger and Rose Garnett, and marks a coup for the pair given the stellar reviews and buzz around its author.

Published last year, Young Mungo is the second novel from Stuart after Booker prize-winner Shuggie Bain, which Euphoria and Everything Everywhere All At Once producer A24 is currently making into a series with the BBC. A broadcaster has yet to be set on Young Mungo.

The story follows Protestant Mungo and Catholic James who live in a hyper-masculine world. They are caught between two of Glasgow’s housing estates where young...

Scripts to be showcased to industry guests on February 23.

Bafta has selected three winners of the Rocliffe New Writing Competition for film, the platform for aspiring screenwriters looking to take their career to the next level.

Florence Hyde, Paddy Browne and Ben Hyland have been selected from more than 400 entries for the showcase, which runs twice a year.

Their scripts will be showcased online to Bafta’s industry guests on February 23, with an extract from each script performed by actors. They will then receive feedback from guests including Rose Garnett, former BBC Film director who is now working at A24 Films; Andrew Orr,...

Exclusive: HBO Max, the BBC and A24 have won the rights to co-develop one of the most highly-anticipated British debuts of the coming year – Slay in Your Lane scribe Yomi Adegoke’s The List.

In what Deadline understands was a highly-competitive situation that attracted the interest of some of the UK’s top drama production houses, A24’s Piers Wenger and Rose Garnett-led international team won out and is in early-stage development on a TV adaptation for the British public broadcaster and U.S. streamer. Adegoke is creating and exec producing.

Due to be published in July, The List follows Ola Olajide, a high-profile journalist at Womxxxn magazine about to marry the love of her life, Michael. The couple seem to have it all but one morning they wake up to the same message: “Oh my god, have you seen The List?”

Adegoke is a columnist, journalist, former Forbes...

A24, the production company that's almost single-handedly responsible for the recent term “elevated horror”, strikes again with a gothic mystery horror, The Eternal Daughter. The film is written and directed by Joanna Hogg, who is best known for her directorial work on The Souvenir and The Souvenir: Part II. Hogg is also the producer for The Eternal Daughter, alongside co-producer Eimhear McMahon (You Were Never Really Here). The other producers for the film are Ed Guiney, Emma Norton, and Andrew Lowe, who have all produced other A24 films such as Room and The Lobster. The Eternal Daughter was executive produced by heavy hitters Martin Scorsese and Rose Garnett. Garnett is known for being an executive producer of the Academy Award-winning film The Power of the Dog and was also a producer for A24’s Room and Ex Machina. Scorsese has previously worked with Joanna Hogg as an executive producer for...

The acclaimed novel, set in working-class Glasgow in the 1980s, will be adapted by its author Douglas Stuart in his first television series.

A24, the drama producer that hired the BBC’s Piers Wenger and Rose Garnett in March, is adapting Booker Prize-winning novel Shuggie Bain for the corporation.

The acclaimed novel, set in working-class Glasgow in the 1980s, will be adapted by its author Douglas Stuart in his first television series.

Shuggie Bain was inspired by Stuart’s childhood and the BBC described it as a story of “pride, sexuality, addiction and love”.

It tells the story of mother-son relationship in which Shuggie,...

Claudia Yusef expands role to commissioning executive.

BBC Film is revising its editorial team including new hires Kristin Irving and Anu Henriques, under the leadership of director Eva Yates.

Starting from November, Irving will take on the role of commissioning executive, with Henriques as development executive; while head of development Claudia Yusef is expanding her role across development and production, under the new title of commissioning executive.

Irving will join from the British Film Institute (BFI), where she is currently senior production and development executive, and executive produced titles including Raine Allen-Miller’s Rye Lane, Basil Khalil’s A Gaza...

Biopic is produced by Fragile Films’ Barnaby Thompson and Unigram’s Gregor Cameron.

Altitude has boarded feature doc Mad About The Boy – The Noël Coward Story, a chronicle of the playwright, director and wit’s life which is being produced by Barnaby Thompson for Fragile Films and Gregor Cameron for Unigram.

Altitude is handling international sales and UK and Irish distribution.

Coward is known for his films, stage plays and musicals including Brief Encounter, Blithe Spirit and Private Lives.

The documentary is written and directed by Thompson, whose credits include St Trinians and Pixie. Cameron’s credits include Kill Your Friends.

Altitude has picked up international sales and UK and Irish distribution rights to Mad About the Boy — The Noël Coward Story, a feature documentary about the life of Noël Coward from Barnaby Thompson (St. Trinian’s).

The doc is billed as an exploration of Coward’s expansive career which features credits across the stage and screen, including Brief Encounter, Blithe Spirit, and Private Lives.

Adam Lambert will sing the film’s theme song, an updated cover of Coward’s 1930’s single Mad About The Boy, which will be released on 7 October. The song was produced by Amanda Ghost and Johnny Coffer.

“Noël Coward was a fascinating character. He invented the modern Englishman – witty, sophisticated, and stylish – but was born poor and left school when he was 9,” Thompson said. “He was a sex symbol who was queer in a very straight world and he was exiled from the country he came to define.

Executive’s development credits include Martin McDonagh’s Venice and TIFF selection The Banshees Of Inisherin.

Former Blueprint Pictures development executive Katie Sinclair has been appointed head of development at Jude Law’s Riff Raff Entertainment.

At Blueprint Pictures Sinclair’s credits include Martin McDonagh’s Venice and TIFF selection The Banshees Of Inisherin, Andrew Haigh’s Strangers, and Thea Sharrock’s The Beautiful Game. She also worked closely in production on Lady Chatterley’s Lover for Sony 3000 and Netflix.

Prior to Blueprint, she worked for Rose Garnett and Eva Yates at BBC Film, and previously worked in production and development for BBC Studios,...

Katie Sinclair has been named the new head of development at Riff Raff Entertainment, the development and production company co-founded by Oscar-nominated actor Jude Law and creative partner Ben Jackson.

She joins from Blueprint Pictures, where her credits as a development executive include Martin McDonagh’s upcoming “Banshees of Inisherin,” which is seen as a major awards season player and will screen at both the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals; “The Beautiful Game,” directed by Thea Sharrock; and Andrew Haigh’s “Strangers,” which stars Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, and Jamie Bell. Sinclair has worked on “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” for Sony 3000 and Netflix. She has been heavily involved in sourcing and shepherding Blueprint’s slate of feature film projects.

Prior to Blueprint, Sinclair worked for Rose Garnett and Eva Yates at BBC Film. She has previously worked in production and development for BBC Studios, Sugar Films, Disney and Lionsgate,...

Films presented include Baltasar Kormákur’s Whaleman (At The Ends Of The Earth) and Gerardo Herrero’s Raqqa.

Executives from Wild Bunch, A24, Netflix and Focus Features are among those who will attend the inaugural two-day Creative Investors’ conference taking place at the San Sebastian International Film Festival (Ssiff), organised in collaboration with CAA Media and running from September 19-20.

Participants will include A24 Europe’s head of film and head of TV, respectively, Rose Garnett and Piers Wenger; Netflix’s head of international original film Teresa Moneo; Focus Features’ president of production and acquisitions Kiska Higgs; Mubi’s VP...

Exclusive: Rebecca Ferguson, series producer on BBC hits including The Responder and The Trial of Christine Keeler, has been snapped up by the new-look BBC drama commissioning team, Deadline can reveal.

Ferguson effectively replaces This is Going to Hurt commissioner Mona Qureshi, who moved to Netflix several months ago.

She has been freelancing with the team since May and became a permanent Drama Commissioning Editor last month.

The former Film4 and Broadchurch indie Kudos exec has a lot on her plate already, working across huge BBC shows including The Capture, Happy Valley and Doctor Who. Deadline revealed on Tuesday that Heyday Television deepfake thriller The Capture’s second season has been promoted to the coveted August Bank Holiday slot.

Ferguson, who series-produced the Martin Freeman-starring police drama The Responder and The Trial of Christine Keeler, will also develop her own slate. The Responder, which aired on BritBox in the U.

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IFC Films has picked up the North American rights to The Lost King ahead of its debut at the Toronto Film Festival.

The film reunites the team behind 2013’s Philomena — Stephen Frears, Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope — for a comedy-drama based on a true story about Philippa Langley, played by Sally Hawkins, and the historian who helped uncover the remains of King Richard III, lost for more than 500 years, beneath a carpark in the English city of Leicester.

The discovery, in 2012, was the culmination of years of obsessive research by Langley, who faced the incomprehension of friends and family and the derision of experts and academics, and whose role was largely overlooked. Coogan will play Langley’s husband and Frears will direct from a script co-written by Coogan and Pope.

Arianna Bocco, president of IFC Films said in a statement about the acquisition:...

IFC Films is acquiring North American rights to Stephen Frears’ drama The Lost King, starring Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) and Steve Coogan (The Trip), ahead of its world premiere at the 47th Toronto Film Festival.

The film reuniting Frears with writers Coogan and Jeff Pope—who adapted the script for his 2013 dramedy Philomena—tells the remarkable true story of amateur historian Philippa Langley (Hawkins), who was behind the real life discovery of King Richard III in 2012 after the remains had been lost for 500 years. Langley spent years researching and searching for the remains, in spite of skepticism from friends, family and academics. Her story is one of a woman who refused to be ignored and who took on the country’s most eminent historians, forcing them to think again about one of the most controversial kings in England’s history. Two-time Oscar nominee Coogan stars alongside two-time Oscar...

IFC Films nabbed North American rights to “The Lost King,” which will have its world premiere at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival.

Directed by Stephen Frears, the feel-good true story stars Sally Hawkins as Philippa Langley, an amateur historian who uncovered the remains of King Richard the III after they had been lost for 500 years. Langley spent years researching — and searching — for the remnants, even when family, friends and academics openly doubted her.

Steve Coogan (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jeff Pope) is playing Philippa’s husband, John Langley. “The Lost King” reunites Frears with Coogan and Pope, who previously teamed on the Oscar-nominated “Philomena.”

“I’m delighted that ‘The Lost King’ has found a home in North America with IFC Films,” Frears said. “It was hugely enjoyable to work again with Steve and Jeff and we were blessed with an incredible performance from Sally. Toronto is always...

Baby Cow production recounts extraordinary true-life story of amateur historian Philippa Langley.

IFC Films has acquired North American rights to The Lost King starring Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan ahead of its world premiere in TIFF next month.

Stephen Frears and his Philomena co-writers Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope reunited on the true story of Philippa Langley, the amateur historian behind the discovery of King Richard III’s remains in 2012 after they had been lost for 500 years.

Langley spent years searching for the remains in spite of skepticism from friends and family and took on the country’s most eminent historians,...

IFC Films is acquiring North American rights to “The Lost King,” the next film from director Stephen Frears that stars Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan, ahead of the movie’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

“The Lost King” is a reunion of the creative team behind the acclaimed 2013 film “Philomena,” with Frears returning to direct from a script by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope. In “The Lost King,” they tell the true story of Philippa Langley, an amateur historian who helped lead the discovery of King Richard III’s remains in 2012 after the monarch had been lost for 500 years.

TIFF, which runs between Sept. 8-18, will screen “The Lost King” in its World Premiere as part of a special presentation. IFC Films has yet to set a release date for the film.

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TIFF 2022 Lineup: Films From Tyler Perry, Peter Farrelly, Sam Mendes and...

The BBC has poached well-respected scripted executive Lindsay Salt from Netflix, to serve as the public broadcaster’s new director of drama — one of the most high-profile jobs in British television.

Salt — who commissioned Netflix shows such as the forthcoming “One Day” and “Half Bad” — replaces Piers Wenger, who left the BBC to oversee the international film and TV slate for Hollywood indie studio A24 alongside BBC Films boss Rose Garnett.

Salt’s hire is a major coup for the BBC and marks an especially rare occasion where a U.K. public broadcaster has lured away streaming talent. The current generally flows the other way, with Netflix having snapped up BBC drama executive Mona Qureshi to join its scripted series team earlier this year.

Salt, who worked closely with Anne Mensah at Netflix, will report directly to Charlotte Moore, chief content officer at the BBC, and lead the drama commissioning team.

The BBC has unveiled Lindsay Salt, Netflix UK scripted commissioner, as its next Director of Drama.

Salt replaces Piers Wenger, who departed to A24 earlier this year to run its international division alongside former BBC Films boss Rose Garnett. BBC Drama Commissioner Ben Irving was doing the role on an interim basis and had been tipped as frontrunner to take it permanently along with Channel 4 Drama Head Caroline Hollick.

Reporting to Anne Mensah, who was also linked with the BBC job, Salt has been with Netflix for three years, commissioning the likes of Baby Reindeer, One Day, The F*** it Bucket, Palomino and Half Bad and working across hits such as Heartstopper and The Crown.

She used to run development at Sky Drama, during which time she also worked with Mensah.

Salt will report to to BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore, who said the move “heralds an exciting new era for BBC drama.

Harris Dickinson joins Dn today with the premiere of his Devisio Pictures produced film 2003, a short that chronicles a young soldier’s final day before deployment. The film is a gripping drama centring around the soldier’s uncomfortable if well-intentioned relationship with his father. The actor-turned-director – known for his nuanced performances in films by Xavier Dolan, Eliza Hittman and Joanna Hogg, and previously seen on our pages in a range of films such as Beach Rats, County Lines, and BIFA winning short Femme – brings an intuitive care to the performances of his own actors whose relationships in the film feel impressively well-rounded and complex. Dickinson also employed established Cinematographer Robbie Ryan to shoot the film on 16mm, giving the short a grainy texture which perfectly situates it in its early 00s setting. You can watch 2003 in its entirety below, after which we get into an in-depth chat with Dickinson where...

A24 has snapped up the Paul Mescal-led tearjerker “Aftersun” out of the Cannes Film Festival.

The distributor has picked up North American rights for the movie, which premiered as part of Cannes’ Critics’ Week section to rave reviews last week.

The movie, directed by Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells in her feature directorial debut, stars Mescal and newcomer Frankie Corio as a young father and his 11-year-old daughter who are on holiday at a resort in Turkey in the late 1990s. Framed as a look back at a father-daughter holiday in the late 1990s, with occasional mini Dv footage adding to the period texture, the film is an ode to nostalgia with hints of something far darker.

Variety critic Guy Lodge said of “Aftersun”: “Ambitiously and poignantly, ‘Aftersun’ explores the oddly intimate chasm between parent and child, the latter forever playing catch-up to the former’s inner life, except on the brief occasions — like,...

The prestigious exec training programme is delivered by the Nfts and supported by the BFI.

DNA Films chairman Andrew Macdonald will be the industry ambassador for the 2022 edition of European business training and leadership skills development programme Inside Pictures, which has selected 20 participants including executives from MGM, Netflix and Amazon.

Macdonald will represent the programme to the wider international industry, and share his expertise and insight with the participants.

Scroll down for the full list of participants

For its 19th edition, Inside Pictures will include both film and television executives for the first time. The 20 participants come from seven different territories,...

It’s Friday again, readers. Jesse Whittock here, taking you through the week’s top headlines.

Cannes Goods

Pre-market deals galore: With Cannes now less than two weeks away, everyone’s in deal mode, and Andreas had the scoop on several big packages. Film Constellation took sales rights to Blue Jean, a BBC Film- and BFI backed identity drama, while Bella Thorne has signed up to lead thriller Saint Clare, co-scripted by American Psycho’s Guinevere Turner. Oscar nominee Felicity Jones and Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey are attached to comedy Maria, which Independent Entertainment will be selling at the festival, XYZ Films took worldwide sales rights to the Frank Grillo/Robert Patrick/Rhona Mitra-starring thriller Hounds of War, and Bankside Films bagged Oren Moverman’s Raised Eyebrows, which brings Geoffrey Rush and Sienna Miller together. Elsewhere, Kate Beckinsale is set for spy thriller...

Martin Scorsese is boarding a documentary about some of his favorite filmmakers, with plans to both narrate and executive produce a movie about the lives of the British duo Powell & Pressburger.

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, under their production company The Archers, directed some of the finest films of Britain’s golden age of cinema – and often in ravishing color – such as “The Red Shoes,” “Black Narcissus,” “A Matter of Life Or Death” (also known as “Stairway to Heaven”) and “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.”

Scorsese has often cited their influence, and has referred to their movies as “grand, poetic, wise, adventurous, headstrong, enraptured by beauty, deeply romantic, and completely uncompromising.”

David Hinton, a BAFTA and Emmy winner, will direct the untitled feature, which will be something of a personal journey for Scorsese as he reflects on how he was captivated by their films at a young age,...

Talk about legends colliding.

Martin Scorsese is set to narrate and executive produce a feature documentary about the hugely influential British filmmaking duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Directed by two-time BAFTA and Emmy-winning helmer David Hinton, the doc is billed as “Scorsese’s personal and moving look at two of British cinema’s greatest filmmakers.” London-based sales agent Altitude is handling international sales and will release the film in the U.K. and Ireland.

Powell and Pressburger — who together ran production company The Archers — worked together over the course of 18 years and are highly regarded for their innovative use of editing, special effects and color, which at the time was very forward-looking. They made some of the great classics of the British golden age, including “The Red Shoes” (1948), “Black Narcissus” (1947), “A Matter of Life and Death” (1946) and “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp” (1943). Pressburger died at the...

Martin Scorsese will pay personal homage to influential British filmmaking duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in an upcoming feature doc. Altitude is attached to handle sales of the as-yet untitled doc and has secured a release in the UK and Ireland.

The Mean Streets, Goodfellas and Casino director will narrate the doc, which is from from Bafta- and Emmy-winning director David Hinton. Scorsese will explain how the makers of classics such as Black Narcissus and A Matter of Life and Death captivated him from a young age and recalls his powerful personal friendship with Powell, who passed in 1990.

The doc is brought to life through a treasure trove of rare archival material from the personal collections of Powell, Pressburger and Scorsese, telling the story through diaries, audio recordings, home movies, personal snapshots and the British duos’ films.

Altitude has boarded sales ahead of the Cannes Film Festival and will...

Eva Yates has been appointed Director of BBC Film.

The assumed front-runner for the job, Yates will be responsible for the development and production of films backed by the broadcaster.

Yates, who replaces Rose Garnett who is leaving to join A24, will also oversee Storyville, the BBC’s documentary films strand led by Philippa Kowarsky.

Yates is currently Acting Director of BBC Film and joined the broadcaster in 2017. As a BBC commissioner and executive producer, she has commissioned more than 30 features, most recently Aleem Khan’s BAFTA winner After Love; Blue Story by Andrew Rapman Onwubolu; Remi Weekes’s BAFTA winner His House; and Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun which will premiere in Cannes Critics Week 2022.

Prior to joining the BBC, she worked for eight years as an executive at Film4, where she executive-produced movies including Rungano Nyoni’s BAFTA winner I Am Not A Witch, which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight and...