The BAFTA Breakthrough cohort for 2024 has been announced, and this year's cohort of young creatives working in film, games and TV includes those who have worked on hit video games Black Myth: Wukong and Baldur's Gate 3 as well as those from film and TV, including Bottoms, WondLa and Baby Reindeer.
The Breakthrough awards is supported by Netflix and is designed to turn the spotlight on new talent on the cusp of, well… breaking through. The list includes talented creatives from the UK, US and India, who join last year's BAFTA Through cohort. The Breakthrough initiative is a year-round programme aimed to support professional development in games, TV and film. In comes off the back of BAFTA revealing the winners of this year's BAFTA Young Game Designers in the summer.
"BAFTA Breakthrough, now in its 11th year, spotlights a host of emerging and talented ‘must-watch’ creative practitioners working across film, games and television," says Jane Millichip, BAFTA CEO. "This year we have an amazing roster of casting directors, producers, writers, performers, lead artists, cinematographers, lead developers, and more. We urge the industry to take note. A huge thank you to Netflix, whose support makes BAFTA Breakthrough possible."
The year-long program offers an incredible package for budding talent: personalised one-on-one mentoring, tailored career advice, full voting BAFTA membership, and exclusive access to BAFTA events and screenings.
Participants also get to connect with industry professionals through curated networking events in the UK and beyond, providing a global platform to grow their careers. If you're part of BAFTA Breakthrough things are looking good. If you want to find out more, visit the BAFTA website, and maybe you can make next year's list. Read our professional development content for career advice, tips and insights.
2024 BAFTA Breakthrough cohort
BAFTA Breakthrough is part of BAFTA's year-round initiatives to nurture the next generation of creative talent. Its long-established and celebrated programmes, such as BAFTA Elevate, Young Games Designers, and the Yugo BAFTA Student Awards, help thousands of people build their careers in film, games, and television.
Below is the full list of all 43 people included in the 2024 BAFTA Breakthrough cohort:
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BAFTA Breakthrough: UK
Alice Russell Director - If the Streets Were on Fire
Beth Park Lead Performance Director - Black Myth: Wukong
Clair Titley Director - The Contestant
Cobbie Yates Costume Designer - Layla
Daf James Creator/Writer/Executive Producer/Musical Director - Lost Boys & Fairies
Fred Hoffman Art Director - Paper Trail
Georgina Hurcombe Creator/Producer/Director - Pop Paper City
Harry Gilbert Casting Director - G'wed
Jennifer English Performer - Baldur's Gate 3
Kyla Harris* Lead Performer/Co-Creator/Co-Writer/Associate Producer - We Might Regret This
Lauren Sequeira Creator/Writer/Executive Producer - Domino Day
Lee Getty* Co-Creator/Co-Writer/Associate Producer - We Might Regret This
Loran Dunn Producer - Hoard
Luna Carmoon Writer/Director - Hoard
Luned Tonderai Series Director - Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star
Mawaan Rizwan Performer/Writer/Creator/Executive Producer - Juice
Otto Baxter Writer/Director/Performer - The Puppet Asylum
Poulomi Basu Creator/Director/Writer/Art Director - MAYA: The Birth of a Superhero
Rochelle Newman Producer - White Nanny Black Child
Shahnaz Dulaimy Editor - Top Boy
Sophie Knowles Lead Artist – Viewfinder
*applied as a team
BAFTA Breakthrough: US
Angela Walker Patton** Director - Daughters
Elaine Gómez Creative Director - Blink Land
Erica Tremblay Writer/Director - Fancy Dance
Hanna Park Editor - Bottoms
Jih-E Peng Cinematographer - Girls Will Be Girls
Joy Ngiaw Composer - WondLa
Juliana Hoffpauir Costume Designer - Hit Man
Karrie Shirou Shao Game Writer/Lead Designer - Pacific Drive
Nafisa Kaptownwala Casting Director - Dìdi
Natalie Rae** Director - Daughters
Nava Mau Performer - Baby Reindeer
Nicole He Creative Director - The Crush House
Sean Wang Writer/Director - Dìdi
**applied as a team
BAFTA Breakthrough: India
Abhinav Chokhavatia Game Producer - Down and Out
Christo Tomy Director - Curry and Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case
Deepa Bhatia Writer/Director/Producer - First Act
Dhiman Karmakar Sound Designer/Production Sound Mixer - Amar Singh Chamkila
Jaydeep Sarkar Showrunner/Series Director/Executive Producer - Rainbow Rishta
Monisha Thyagarajan Series Producer - The Hunt for Veerappan
Neeraj Kumar Producer/Lead Developer - Artifice: War Tactics
Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy Writer/Director/Performer - Aachar & Co.
Varun Grover Writer/Director - All India Rank
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Ian Dean is Editor, Digital Arts & 3D at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and video game titles Play and Official PlayStation Magazine. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his experiences to bring the latest news on digital art, VFX and video games and tech, and in his spare time he doodles in Procreate, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5.