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Exclusive: ScreenSkills has backed a course to discover the next generation of disabled directors, writers and producers.

The UK training body has joined forces with film training and production specialist 104 Films on the course, which kicks off today.

The participants will have a week of workshops and training with top industry figures including BAFTA-longlisted disabled filmmaker Ella Glendining, BBC Film’s Kristin Irving, Film4’s Max Park, Mia Bayes from the BFI and Netflix’s Bradley Quirk.

The training program is funded by the ScreenSkills Film Skills Fund with contributions from UK film productions. A scaled-down version ran in 2022 but this is the first in person.

The move comes with the UK industry committing to various programs in order to boost disability representation. The newly-formed TV Access Project is targeting no disabled talent to feel excluded by 2030.

Emma Turner, Head of Film, Animation and Future Skills at ScreenSkills, said: “The...

The BBC has tasked His Dark Materials writer Jack Thorne to pen a TV adaptation of William Golding’s seminal novel Lord of the Flies.

This marks the first time the novel will be made for television, though there have been two feature film adaptations — the first Peter Brook’s 1963 movie and the second made in 1990 by Harry Hook (above).

Sex Education producer Eleven is attached to make The BBC’s series, which was unveiled by BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore today at a Broadcasting Press Guild event in London. Several other announcements were also made (see below).

Writer Thorne is known for shows such as BBC fantasy series His Dark Materials, Channel 4 Covid-19 drama Help, Shane Meadows’ This is England and Netflix series The Eddy, feature films Wonder and Enola Holmes and theater productions including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Golding’s 1954 novel tells the story...

Warning: contains spoilers for Line of Duty series 6 episode 1

Line of Duty requires attentive viewing. Try to watch it while doing the ironing and it’ll be burnt shirt collars and confusion for you, son. Every sly look, slight frown and worried swallow by the characters needs to be absorbed by fans if we’re to construct our usual baroque theories week by week.

You could keep a little notebook at hand in which to jot down and underline key info, or you could just come here every week after reading the episode review, and have your memory jogged to the relevant bits…

Acronym of the Week: Chis

Pronounced to rhyme with ‘fizz’. Stands for: Covert Human Intelligence Source, or informant.

Why did Kate leave AC-12?

She’s ambitious, for one, but the cracks started to show in series five. It was Kate and Steve who went to Acc Wise...

The film producer on how having a son with Down syndrome inspired him to promote inclusion in the industry

Award-winning film producer Ken Ross is calling for more people with disabilities to be seen on TV and film screens all around the world. “If we never give individuals these roles, we’ll never move forward. We don’t need to change people to be the part we want them to be, and we don’t need to be worried about casting someone with a disability,” he says. “You would never ask someone to ‘black up’ to play Nelson Mandela – so why would you ask an actor to ‘impersonate’ someone with a disability?”

Ross has spent the past two decades working with the UK government, the NHS, Bafta and various other institutions to promote greater diversity and inclusion of people with disabilities. And although much has changed for the better, there...

New members include filmmakers Lynne Ramsay, Haifaa al-Mansour, Fox Searchlight’s Kate Gardiner and Screen Scotland’s Isabel Davis.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) has revealed its 2019 intake of new members drawn from the film, TV and games industry.

Among the record 558 new members are filmmakers and writers Haifaa al-Mansour (Wadjda), Laszlo Nemes (Son Of Saul), Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here), Lee Unkrich (Coco) and former Screen Star of Tomorrow Rose Glass (Saint Maud).

New executives on the list include Kate Gardiner (head of Fox Searchlight UK); Jason Maza (Unstoppable), Emma Hewitt (BBC Films...

Credits from those selected include ‘Bodyguard’, ‘The Personal History Of David Copperfield’.

Bafta has named 21 actors for the latest edition of its Elevate scheme, aimed at supporting those from under-represented groups in progressing to the next stage of their career.

Those selected include Anjli Mohindra, whose breakthrough role was as would-be terrorist Nadia in the BBC’s Bodyguard last year.

Also chosen is Anthony Welsh, whose film credits include Starred Up, Journeyman, and The Personal History Of David Copperfield, with TV roles in Fleabag and Pure.

Micky McGregor is also among those selected and has credits including Ken Loach’s I,...