Director Lab 2025: Meet the Participants
BFI NETWORK South West, in partnership with Bournemouth Film School (BFS), is pleased to announce our Director Lab cohort for 2025. These six directors will take part in two in-person days of masterclasses led by director and acting coach Em Smith. The weekend includes workshopping with professional actors and the opportunity to shoot a pre-written scene on a bespoke film set with the support of BFS crew. Let us introduce you to our fab cohort…
Lydia Jenkins (she/her)
Lydia is based in Cornwall and her work uses magical realism and experimental visual analogies to explore social issues. Her recent short film Nacre, commissioned by Exeter Phoenix, is currently on the festival circuit.
John Panton (he/him)
John is a filmmaker based in Devon. A full-time teacher with no industry background, John has managed to navigate a distinct pathway within filmmaking; from animation-hybrid Valentina’s Dream (with Rebecca Front), the award-winning Welcome to Oxmouth, and the Matt Berry-starring Sleigh, to genre pieces such as Line Signal and the recent Sleepyman, starring Mike Wozniak and Will Adamsdale.
Frankie Fox (he/him)
Frankie is a filmmaker based in the South West of England, known for his textural, atmospheric style. His debut short, Goodbye Python, was the first UK-funded sci-fi by a transgender director, and it screened at BFI Flare, Encounters and on Channel 4. It was also nominated for Best British Short at the BAFTA-qualifying Iris Prize.
Kam Gandhi (she/her)
Kam is a Bristol-based screenwriter and director. She is interested in stories that explore the experiences of being South Asian, female and British, and in how the process of documentary, artist film and community engagement can be used to shape stories.
Harry Faint (he/they)
Harry Faint is a queer writer-director based between Devon and Cornwall, and a founding member of Fylm Ankoth, a production collective that champions queer stories told by queer voices from the south west. Their short film slate includes King Henry, supported by IT GETS BETTER UK, and Lymp, a Cornish-language short exploring his teenage anxiety about being outed by his limp wrist, funded by Screen Cornwall’s FYLM K scheme. His upcoming short Jockstrap examines queer sexuality, shame, and empowerment.
Charlotte Cooper (she/her)
Charlotte is a writer-director who has spent the past five years working as a Script Supervisor on some of the UK’s biggest film and television productions, such as Barbie and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Before moving into large-scale productions she directed fringe theatre and created the award-winning web series Tour Girls. Her debut short, Bury Your Gays, a comedy satirising the outdated trope, has started its festival run.
About tutor Em Smith
Em Smith is a Bristol-based director and acting coach. She’s a graduate of the NFTS Directing Fiction MA, where she was sponsored by Channel 4 and the David Lean Foundation. Em’s shorts have screened at BAFTA and Oscar-qualifying festivals worldwide, and her recent BFI-supported comedy-drama, Rapture, starred Jessica Hynes and Siobhan Finneran. Em was child acting coach on the forthcoming Bad Apples, featuring Saoirse Ronan. She was also John Crowley’s assistant on the critically acclaimed Life After Life (BBC) and shadow director on Boarders (BBC). She is represented by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.
In partnership with
BFI NETWORK south west, in partnership with Bournemouth Film School (BFS), is pleased to announce our Director Lab cohort.
- Past Lab Participants Read more
- Animation Lab 2019: Meet the Participants Read more
- Animation Producer Lab 2024: Meet the Participants Read more
- Beyond Shorts: Meet the Participants Read more
- Creative Producers Lab 2021: Meet the Participants Read more
- Directing Workshop 2019: Meet the Participants Read more
- Director Lab 2024: Meet the Participants Read more
- Director Lab 2025: Meet the Participants Read more
- New Producers Lab 2020: Meet the Participants Read more
- New Voices 2020: Meet the Participants Read more
- New Voices 2021: Meet the Participants Read more
- New Voices 2023: Meet the Participants Read more
- New Voices Step Up: Meet the Participants Read more
- New Writers Lab 2020: Meet the Participants Read more
- Peninsula Producers Network Read more
- Producer Lab 2023: Meet the Participants Read more
- Producer’s Lab 2019: Meet the Participants Read more
- Queer Storytelling Workshop 2: Meet the Participants Read more
- Queer Storytelling Workshop: Meet the Participants Read more
- Script Development Lab 2021: Meet the Participants Read more
- Script Development Workshop 2019: Meet the Participants Read more
- Shorts2Features 2022: Meet the Cohort Read more
- Thinking Cinematically Participants Read more
Director Lab 2024: Meet the Participants
New Voices 2020: Meet the Participants
BFI NETWORK South West are pleased to present our participants for the New Voices scheme 2020.
New Voices 2021: Meet the Participants
BFI NETWORK, in partnership with production companies Blak Wave & Little By Little Films, are pleased to present our participants for the New Voices scheme 2021-22. This talent development opportunity aims to help aspiring South West and Midlands based filmmakers looking to develop their five-minute short film idea.
Watershed is the Lead Film Hub Organisation for Film Hub South West, part of the BFI Film Audience Network.
Watershed is a Registered Charity No. 284188 and a Social Enterprise
Watershed, 1 Canons Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Film Hub South West &
BFI NETWORK South West
are part of the BFI Film Audience Network, supported by The National Lottery.
