Join us at ARC Stockton on Friday 29 November to celebrate the launch of our Film Generator director training programme.
We’ll hear from three of the North East's most promising directors on their journeys, from micro-budget shorts to breaking into TV.
Regional directors Andy Berriman, Emma Roxburgh and Katja Roberts took part in Scratch Me in 2022, a Film Hub North character development lab, and have gone on to make BFI NETWORK shorts and direct for TV. We’ll talk through their career trajectories and gain advice on how to interpret scripts, find and convey your voice as a filmmaker, and pitch your creative vision.
You’ll also meet the Film Hub North team and hear more about
Film Generator, our new two-stage training programme with
North East Screen, supporting the most exciting early-stage directors and writers in the
North to develop as storytellers.
Friday 29 November
ARC Stockton, 16:00 - 18:00
Speaker bios
Andy Berriman
Andy is a director and writer from Stockton-on-Tees. He co-founded the award-winning Arden Theatre Company at the age of 16 before attending the Met Film School in Ealing. In 2015 he made BFI/Creative England funded iShort A Six & Two Threes which played festivals around the world and made the BIFA long-list. In 2018 he made the similarly funded Elsewhere with Molly Windsor and Mark Addy. Other credits include a BBC Laugh Lesson, a few music videos, the odd TVC and countless corporate films. His film Mortal won the Northern Film prize in 2023. Andy was awarded Tees Valley Artist of the Year in 2024 and is currently in post-production with his BFI NETWORK short GIANTS.
Emma Roxburgh
Emma is a director and producer from Newcastle. She has directed shortform comedy for C4 and BBC3. She was a selected attendee of the 2021 BFI NETWORK weekender and recipient of North East Comedy Hot House’s development producer bursary with Tiger Aspect. Emma’s career began as a theatre director working in new writing, this underpins her screen development skills and performance led approach to directing. Much of her work has been with and for young people and emerging talent, she is passionate about championing and working with new and authentic voices. She is currently part of BAFTA Connect and directed BFI Scratch Me.
Katja Roberts
Katja grew up on the film sets of Amber Film and Photography Collective, which is where her passion for filmmaking was born. She co-founded Meerkat Films in 2007 and as in-house director has 15 years’ experience writing and directing short drama, observational documentaries, campaign films and factual entertainment. Her work has reached audiences through the BBC, National Geographic, online platforms and film festivals around the world. She has won festival awards for short drama The Ball and a Royal Television Society award for a drama doc that explored the impact of the Work Capability Assessments. Katja was part of the Film Hub North Scratch me programme in 2022 and directed 2023 BFI NETWORK short Kiss. Katja is also a multi-camera director and editor and works closely with theatre teams to create innovative digital content, often with a focus on social change. She is currently working on several short drama projects.
This session is supported by North East Screen.
