BAFTA Announces 2020 Jury Members for BAFTA BREAKTHROUGH

Today, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announces the U.S. and U.K Jury members for this year's BAFTA Breakthrough initiative, supported by Netflix. The leading figures from across film, games and television industries have come together virtually to select this year's talented recipients.

BAFTA Breakthrough, launched in May 2020, is BAFTA's flagship global, new talent initiative that showcases and supports the next generation of creative talent in film, games and television. Previously known as Breakthrough Brits, the initiative has been running in the U.K. since 2013 and in China since 2019, but this year marks the first time the initiative is recognizing talent globally across the U.K., U.S., India and China.

This year, BAFTA Breakthrough has selected talent through cross-industry juries of leading industry professionals in both the U.S. and U.K. These global juries took place over the space of a week with industry leaders contributing from across the globe. The initiative will continue to use digital communications in the coming months to enhance cross-cultural networking across the globe. The successful Breakthrough applicants will then receive one-to-one mentoring and career guidance, full voting membership, access to BAFTA events and networking opportunities, both in the U.K. and internationally.

This year's participants from both the U.S. and U.K. will be announced on Monday, November 16 and all global Breakthrough participants will be celebrated and showcased together in 2021. More details about applications opening in India and China will be announced later this year.

2020 BAFTA Breakthrough USA Juror, Paapa Essiedu said, "It's been a privilege to serve on the Breakthrough USA Jury in its first year. When first breaking into the industry you always feel like there are doors that you DON'T have keys to; but being named a Breakthrough in 2018 gave me the endorsement to believe in myself. You may wonder how this program can impact those selected and I'll tell you, it can be really transformative."

"As Jury Co-Chairs, we were honored to serve alongside such an impressive diverse group of leaders in their crafts in our first year of Breakthrough USA. The talent and work we saw from those just making their mark in the industry was truly inspiring," said Breakthrough USA Jury Co-Chairs Kathryn Busby and Maria Ishak. "In what has been an extraordinary year, the support BAFTA and Netflix can provide to the next generation of talent is now more vital than ever and we couldn't be more excited to be expanding the program to the United States."

BAFTA Breakthrough, previously known as Breakthrough Brits, has championed over 130 talented newcomers, including actors Letitia Wright, Florence Pugh, Josh O'Connor, Malachi Kirby, Ray Panthaki and Molly Windsor, reality television producer Coco Jackson, composer Segun Akinola, game producer Dan Gray, and directors Rose Glass, Stella Corradi, Destiny Ekaragha and Michael Pearce. Previous Breakthrough alumni have gone on to flourish within their respective disciplines, many becoming BAFTA winners and nominees.

Supporters of the initiative in recent years include actors Olivia Colman, Tilda Swinton, Zawe Ashton, actor-producer Brad Pitt, directors Tom Harper, Barry Jenkins and Asif Kapadia, game designers Brenda Romero and Tim Schafer, actor-writers Sharon Horgan and Amy Schumer.

Netflix is the official supporting partner for BAFTA Breakthrough, in the U.K., U.S. and India, providing integral support in the global expansion. BAFTA and Netflix share a joint vision to celebrate and provide opportunities for emerging talent across the world, bringing together international communities across global networks, in order to develop and support stories and voices from different cultures. BAFTA will work with local cultural bodies in each territory to provide bespoke support within each region's unique landscape.

Full list of 2020 U.S. Jurors:

• Bao Nguyen - Director (Be Water)
• Cary Fukunaga - Director (Sin Nombre)
• John Romero - Games Developer (Empire of Sin)
• Kathryn Busby - Co-Chair | Chair of BAFTA LA and Executive Vice President, Development & Programming, Sony Television/TriStar Television
• Laura Bailey - Games Performer (The Last of Us)
• Louise Chater - Entertainment Strategist
• Maria Ishak - Co-Chair | Chair of BAFTA New York and Senior Vice President, NORTH AMERICA Sales, all3media
• Mary Ramos - Music Supervisor (Django Unchained)
• Nicole Stott - Producer (Boys State)
• Paapa Essiedu - Actor (I May Destroy You)
• Patrick Connolly - Senior Vice President, Programming and Marketing, AMC Networks

Full list of 2020 U.K. Jurors:

• Ade Rawcliffe - Chair | Group Director of Diversity and Inclusion at ITV
• Alison Owen - Producer (Saving Mr Banks)
• Amma Asante - Filmmaker, screenwriter (A Way Of Life)
• Clare Stewart - Festival Director
• Dan Grabiner - UK Head of Unscripted at Amazon Studios
• Edward Enninful - Editor-In-Chief, British Vogue
• Fiona Shaw - Actor (Killing Eve)
• Garry Napper - Game Director, Supermassive Games Ltd
• Jim Jagger - Director of Animation, Rockstar Games
• Jodie Azhar - Games Developer
• Kate Townsend - Director, Original Documentary at Netflix
• Melissa Johns - Actor (Coronation Street)
• Nicole Taylor - Screenwriter (Three Girls)
• Rami Ismail - Games Developer (Ridiculous Fishing)
• Robin Hunicke - Games Designer & Producer, Co-Founder of Funomena (Luna)
• Sara Putt - Craft Agent, Founder of Sara Putt Associates

To post a comment, you must register and login.