Producers Network

We collaborate with independent producers who are interested in reading new voices. Although we have the occasional executive working at a bigger production company, we mainly focus on independent and up-and-coming producers who are more likely to engage with new writers. Ideally, we would love you to find a life-long producing partner, so that you can grow and develop your career together.

We select our producers carefully, picking up the ones with a reasonable chance of success. They usually have solid credits under their belt, or they have ongoing relationships with funding bodies such as the BFI, Film4, BBC Films, or they have gone through international talent schemes such as Berlinale Talents and BAFTA Connect. Several of them work as executives at top production companies while developing a personal slate as individuals.

Please note we mainly engage with producers based in the UK and the USA, but many of them are accepting international projects. You can find a list of producers we connected with in the past, either by organising script calls for them or searching our database of scripts to find projects matching their taste.

Please refrain from contacting the producers below directly. They usually do not accept unsolicited submissions outside of our schemes.

• Short Film Producers •

Jen Smith (UK)

Jen is an up-and-coming producer. Having started her journey as a children’s television presenter in mainland China, she soon learned behind the camera is where her strengths were. Whilst working for ABCTime in Shenzhen, she developed and took to screen a children’s television show, whilst also founding a theatre company. She produced a sell-out run of Rodgers and Hammerstien’s Cinderella the Musical, and following on from that was backed by the Chinese Government to run a tour of South China. She also produced sold-out comedy nights and began a run of Shakespeare-adapted-plays in Shenzhen. However, when the pandemic hit, Jen returned to the UK to start a career in the Western Industry. She graduated from the production management course, where she developed her producing portfolio by assisting Mike Goodridge on Jessica Hausner’s new film, Club Zero (2023) and producer Kurban Kassam on Amazon’s pioneering drill-music-Shakespeare-esque epic Jungle (2022). Jen has also developed and produced two short films that will be premiering in 2023 and is currently developing TV series with HBO, Dieter Decostere (Trigger Happy Belgium) and ITV.

David Freedman (UK)

David Freedman is a Film London Breakthrough Producer who studied filmmaking at London Met and production management at the National Film and Television School. He has produced shorts including the black comedy Over The Influence (2019) (Dir. Andrew Younge), and drama The Number 30 (2020) (Dir. Bobby Goulding & Tom Pickard), as well as micro-budget feature Homeless Ashes (2019) (Dir. Marc Zammit), an award-winning drama about a young boy who grows up on the streets of London, which had a market screening at Cannes, theatrical release with Everyman Cinemas and was picked up by Indie Rights. Under The Radar (2019) (Dir. Simon Frith), a documentary feature about actor Mike Edmonds (Time Bandits) includes interviews with legends of British cinema Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Colin Firth. The film was selected for Film London Breakthrough screenings and both features premiered at Raindance 2019. In 2020, during the Covid pandemic, David production managed £2M Sci-fi Horror feature The Seed (2021) (Dir. Sam Walker), for Camelot films / Hardman Pictures, backed by Ingenious Media and Lipsync Post and distributed by Shudder. In 2022 Two’s A Crowd (Writer Ed Wiles), a feature optioned and developed by David’s production company New Indie Film, was shortlisted for Netflix/Creative UK Breakout. Also, in 2022, as part of the Connect initiative, David was made a member of BAFTA.

Amir Majlessi (UK)

Amir is a young emerging Independent Producer. He has an interest in films about the human condition and dark genre films and has worked across fiction and non-fiction. Amir has worked in collaboration with commissioners such as Random Acts and Screen South. His work has been broadcast on Channel 4 and screened at the London Short Film Festival, Aesthetica and BFI Flare.

Hannah Tookey (UK)

Hannah is a film, theatre and audio producer working on socially-engaged projects and campaigns. Her film work includes: the Vimeo Staff Pick awarded short documentary Wargames about obsession, camaraderie and what it takes to go into battle (funded by the BFI and Film London); ill, actually about the challenges of being young and chronically ill in a carefully curated online culture (broadcast on BBC4 and funded by the BFI and BBC) which was nominated for the Producing Award at Underwire Festival; and short film After the Sea which follows a separated couple who meet again to discuss the suicide of their best friend. It premiered at Raindance Film Festival and has recently completed an impact tour of mental health charities and prisons. Hannah is also a member of Film Strike for the Climate.

Harriet Dedman (UK)

Based in London, Harriet is a British Documentary Photographer and Emmy-nominated Producer. Harriet’s work can be found across multiple international publications, including the BBC, CNN, HBO, Quartz, The Guardian, AJ+, The Financial Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Slate and ABC Australia. She was a founding member of the production team for the launch of HBO’s VICE News Tonight in October 2016 and an active international producer for the show, covering stories from the deployment of US troops to the Russian border to the quest for gold in the Amazon. Over the course of 2015 and 2016, Harriet reported extensively on the Syrian refugee crisis, from Greece, Germany and the Jordanian border camps, and forms part of the cinematography team behind the feature documentary, Refugee. Previously based in Asia, she has covered stories throughout the region, including Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Revolution and the cessation of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009. An international lawyer, Harriet has worked for leading British and US law firms. Harriet was awarded the inaugural 2017 Gordon Parks Fellowship, for her photography series in Harlem, “highlighting the humanity and creative spirit of Gordon Parks.”

• Feature Film & TV Producers •

Rachel Stander (USA)

Rachel Stander is a Los Angeles-based independent producer focused on narrative filmmaking. Her first feature, SCRAP, world premiered at the Deauville American Film Festival in France and co-starred Anthony Rapp and Lana Parrilla. Her follow-up feature, Victorian Gothic psychological thriller SÉANCE, will premiere in 2024. Other work highlights include SUCH A PRETTY GIRL, a family drama short with queer themes and JULIAN, a quirky short comedy. Stander’s work has been supported by The Gotham and she is a member of Women in Film, Film Independent, and Women Independent Producers. Before graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Southern California with a degree in Theatre, she studied dance at Barnard College, Columbia University, as well as at NYU’s Tisch School of The Arts and Interlochen Center for the Arts. Stander is an unapologetic cat lady and has never met a spreadsheet she couldn’t tweak for the better.

Juliet Kirby @ Aluna Entertainment (UK)

Juliet Kirby is a Development Executive at Aluna Entertainment – a London-based film & television production company focused on telling stories from the spectrum of the female experience. Juliet is currently working across the development of the Aluna slate and all co-productions, including a feature with Sundance winner Blerta Basholli and a TV series with the team behind Euphoria. She is also developing a slate of debut features and short films. Prior to moving into development, she worked as an Assistant Director on studio sets for many years. Her past credits include Last Night In Soho (Working Title Films), Indiana Jones 5 (Disney), Spiderman: Far From Home (Marvel) and Artemis Fowl (Disney). Juliet is committed to supporting diverse female-identifying filmmakers to balance the voices within the film industry.

Frida Torresblanco @ Braven Films (USA)

Academy and PGA member Frida Torresblanco is a BAFTA-winning and Oscar nominated producer based in New York. She worked as Head of Esperanto Films, in partnership with Alfonso Cuarón, serving as Executive Producer on films like The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004), Duck Season (2004), Year of the Nail (2007), and Cronicas (2004). In 2006 she produced Pan’s Labyrinth with Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro, a film graced with three Academy Awards and three BAFTA Awards. In 2010 Ms. Torreblanco founded her production company Braven Films in partnership with Eric Lauder and Giovanna Randall. Through Braven, she produced Magic Magic (2013), written and directed by Sebastian Silva – which premiered at Sundance Film festival and screened at Director’s Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival – and Disobedience (2017) – an adaption from the original novel of Naomi Alderman, written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz and directed by Sebastian Leilo.

Tom Kimberly (UK)

Tom Kimberley is a producer most recently based at Umedia, where he worked across the international sales and EP department, attending festivals and markets, where he was involved in selling, acquiring and financing numerous features including I KILL GIANTS, A HUNDRED STREETS, SUMMER IN FEBRUARY, THE BEST OFFER. Prior to Umedia, he gained experience at Paramount Pictures in the Acquisitions and Co-Productions department and the BFI within the Distribution and Exhibition department. He also has extensive VFX experience with over 35 features and TV credits. As an independent producer, he has produced a handful of shorts including Balcony (2015), written/directed by Screen Star Toby Fell-Holden, financed by Film London/Western Edge Pictures, winning the Crystal Bear in Berlin, three Oscar Qualifying festivals and gaining a BIFA nomination. He also recently produced Naptha, written/directed by Screen Star Moin Hussin, financed by Film London/Film4, screening at LFF and Critics Week in Cannes. He is currently developing a number of projects through his company CONSPIRE PICTURES, including WHITE LIES, written/directed by Screen Star Toby Fell-Holden, which the BFI is supported by the BFI and 1497 Writers Lab and the Mobius Trip, by Bafta-nominated Simone Smith, which is being supported by the Sharp Shorts Scheme. He is a Berlinale Talent, Film London Lodestar for 2020 and a BIFA voter.

Jade Alexander (UK)

London-based producer Jade Alexander loves finding new ways to bring the audience into the story. From creating the world’s first live-action interactive sci-fi film The Complex, to immersive sensory experience ‘Black Out’ for ASICS, she thrives on creative and technical challenges that disrupt the everyday. Jade Alexander is an award-winning producer with experience in commercials, features & new media. Her latest project The Complex is the worlds first sci-fi interactive film, it has just been released on Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch & Steam to fantastic reviews and won Best Effects and Best Sound at British Film Festival. Her feature film After Death won BEST FILM at the BRAM STOKER Film festival 2012, was released theatrically in 2014. Her short films are now available on Shorts TV. She is an alumni of BAFTA Crew 2018 and Creative Minds in Cannes 2011 where she worked with ICM Partners. Little Jade Productions (LJP) was founded by Jade Alexander in 2011, and is a London-based film production company, creating thought-provoking sci-fi/fantasy genre films with a strong female & BAME presence on both sides of the camera.

Katie Hodgkin (UK)

Katie is currently in post-production on her second feature ‘Martyrs Lane’, written and directed by Ruth Platt, which is supported by the BFI. Her previous film, “Bruno” by writer / director by Karl Golden premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh in 2019 and went on to screen at Hamburg, Tallinn Black Nights and numerous other festivals. Her short films ‘The Cost Of Living, ‘Cut’ and ‘Miss’ have received backing from the BFI, Creative England, Erasmus, the Icelandic Film Centre and Shorts International. In addition to producing, Katie has freelanced in development and production for the past 9 years, working on both indie hits (‘Nina Forever’, ‘Snow in Paradise’, ‘The Banksy Job’) and studio films (‘Les Miserables’, ‘Maleficient’). Aside from feature films, Katie produces commercials and content for brands and charities. Katie is an alumnus of the Berlinale Talents Campus.

Rebecca Wolff @ Grasp The Nettle Films (UK)

With a background as Head of Development at BAFTA-winning production company The Producers, Rebecca Wolff went freelance as a producer in 2012 receiving BFI funding for her first short, soon after the birth of her son. In 2015 she formed Grasp The Nettle Films with writer/director Dean Puckett, the company is based in Devon and London and was selected as one of Creative England’s CE50 companies. She has produced a number of shorts funded by BFI, Creative England, Female Film Force/Bumble, Alter, and The Guardian. She was part of the Edinburgh Talent Lab 2019 and Les Arcs co-production village 2018. She has a slate of short and feature projects she is developing, including three features written and directed by Dean Puckett: Folk horror MAGPIE, which was one of the 2018 iFeatures projects and is backed by Bankside; SEAGULL, a vampire movie, which is in Early Development with BFI NETWORK, coproducing with Early Day Films (BAIT), RED TRIANGLE a supernatural Giallo-style horror which has Mike Chapman of Blue Finch Releasing is on board as an Executive Producer. Alongside these, she is co-producing feature documentary NATURE HUNTER working with Ed Sayers founder of the straight 8 competition which was selected for Doc Society’s Climate Story Lab in London in March.

Tom Viney @ Pundersons Gardens (UK)

Pundersons Gardens is a production company based in London. Founded in 2006, we are now split into two distinct parts: first a sophisticated and streamlined commercial production company, second, a prize-winning independent film collective, investing in the most interesting and creative documentaries and narrative feature films. We have worked with some of the world’s most recognizable brands and corporations. high-end fashion clients, arts institutions, and broadcasters.

Paul Furlong (UK)

As a small child, Paul Furlong would play make-believe endlessly with his younger brother, Daniel. His parents had moved out of a rough part of the city to somewhere where they felt that they could give him more opportunities, but in doing so had stretched themselves financially to the point where his Mum was working five jobs and his Dad was working two. Because all the wages were spent on barely surviving, he and his brother had no toys to play with and would therefore make up stories and then act them out for hours on end. As finances eased slightly, Paul’s parents introduced him to cinema and that childhood love of storytelling grew so that now, as a “grown-up”, Paul tells stories in the form of films (feature, short and documentary); television programmes for BBC, ITV & Channel4; and for his company’s corporate clients through TV advertising, online video, and photography. Paul is a BAFTA Crew x BFI Network alumnus.

Mustapha Wehbi (UK)

Mustapha is a UK-based producer and company director, hailing from the conservative city of Saida, Lebanon. With little to no film production opportunities in the Middle East, he first majored in Finance, and later moved to London to pursue a Producing degree – in the hopes of merging the worlds of business and entertainment. Upon finalising his master’s degree, Mustapha demonstrated exceptional entrepreneurial skills and built close relationships with leading media executives in the industry. He co-founded Dolphragon in 2019, a full-service film production and financing company based in London that focuses on commercial and narrative work. He has been focusing on a mix of passion projects and short content for clients. He recently produced a live-action trailer for the PS5 game Arcade Paradise and is currently focusing on developing narrative work with local filmmakers.

Terhi Kylliainen (UK)

Terhi worked in the production of several films, starting as a Production Coordinator and Producer’s Assistant and more recently moving into producing short films and associate producing feature films. She has been involved in all aspects of filmmaking from development to financing and production. In 2014, Terhi co-produced the short film “STRANGE WEATHER” (dir. Tom Shrapnel), starring Maxine Peake and funded by Creative England’s iShorts. The film was nominated for the Best UK Short at Raindance Film Festival. She also produced JAMES (dir. Claire Oakley), a period short film retelling the story of the first vaccination, funded by the Wellcome Trust. Terhi associate produced two feature films, a UK-China co-produced action-adventure film “LEGENDARY”, and UK-France thriller “ROAD GAMES”, which was distributed in the US, Scandinavia and Australia amongst others. In 2017, she attended Edinburgh Film Festival’s Talent Lab. Most recently she produced the short film “SEA DRAGON” (dir. James Morgan), about a young fossil hunter, who makes a groundbreaking discovery and challenges the worldviews of 19th century England.

and many more!

Several of the producers we collaborated with prefer keeping their profiles private and are not listed on this page.