Film London has announced its 2021 Lodestars, the annual list honouring the innovative creators and practitioners to watch from across the capital.
With lodestars known for their inspiration and guidance, the list celebrates those within Film, TV and Games who shine with outstanding creativity or craftsmanship, tipped to go on to ever greater works in coming years.
Selected from a pool of hundreds of people, Film London Lodestars reflects the breadth of talent across London’s screen industries, celebrating a variety of successes from festival circuits and distribution deals to community and environmental impact and gallery residencies. Over the course of the year, British talent has been recognised worldwide through both award wins and the ever-increasing demand for content, infrastructure and talent in the UK. Londoners have been at the forefront of this recognition, and Film London Lodestars seeks to reinforce and celebrate our upcoming Londoners making great strides globally.
Previous Lodestars have gone on to achieve critical and commercial acclaim, putting London creatives firmly on the map. This includes Blue Story producer Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, currently on board to produce new BBC drama Champion, director Koby Adom who will be returning for a second season of BBC’s Noughts + Crosses, and director and producer Marley Morrison and Michelle Antoniades, whose debut feature Sweetheart has just secured a distribution deal and September UK cinema release off the back of winning the Audience Award at the 2021 Glasgow International Film Festival.
Adrian Wootton OBE, chief executive of Film London and the British Film Commission, said: “I’m thrilled to congratulate the 2021 Lodestars, selected from an incredibly high calibre of talent that reflects the diversity of London, encompassing a wide range of sectors and practices from film, TV and games, to archive film, exhibition and artists’ moving image. Lodestars is proving to be a true marker of industry talent, with alumni going on to achieve mainstream distribution and critical recognition for their work – even in this last, challenging, year. With global demand for content at an all-time high, I’m incredibly excited by the opportunities that await this year’s Lodestars to tell bold and diverse stories from across the capital.”
Head of creative: film and relevision at Esperanto Filmoj Lila Rawlings added: “The Lodestars are amongst the most talented emerging filmmaking and creative talent to be working in the UK today. They are a cause for great optimism and represent the innovation and diversity that continues to make London a world leader in the creative industries.”
A jury panel comprising London based industry professionals each representing distinct areas of expertise selected the final list:
· Anthony Andrews (We Are Parable, Film London Lodestar 2020)
· Michelle Antoniades (Producer, Film London Lodestar 2020)
· Heather Basten (Casting director, Film London Lodestar 2020)
· Paul Bowman (Head of Film Culture, Film London)
· Nosa Eke (Director, Film London Lodestar 2020)
· Maggie Ellis (Head of Artists’ Moving Image, Film London)
· Michael French (Head of Games London, Film London)
· Des Gayle (Producer, Altered Gene)
· Iyare Igiehon (Creative Diversity Partner, BBC, Founder, S.O.U.L)
· Daniela Kirchner (Chief Operating Officer, Film London)
· Helena Mackenzie (Head of Inward Investment & Business Development, Film London)
· Jesse Mangum (Producer, Film London Lodestar 2020)
· Jordan McGarry (Head of Talent Development & Production, Film London)
· Amanda Parker (Communications strategist and campaigns manager)
· Lila Rawlings (Head of Creative: Film and Television, Esperanto Filmoj)
· Cindy Sissokho (Cultural producer)
· Adrian Wootton OBE (Chief Executive, Film London and British Film Commission)
· Jamie Wyld and Moritz Cheung (Director and curator, videoclub)
The jury’s selection is based on criteria which takes into account the success and creativity around work already completed and the forward progression of each shortlisted talent. Consideration is given to three areas: Artistic Excellence, Creative Vision and Momentum.
You can find out more about each individual Film London Lodestar 2021 here.
