Introducing our Film Generator writers!
As part of our new
Film Generator programme with North East Screen we asked writers to submit ideas for micro-budget shorts, to be shaped into winning scripts with our team. We selected four projects for development which will now progress to the second stage of the programme - being matched with emerging directors who pitched to work with the scripts. Meet our writers and their projects below!
Emmy Kay: Birder
Emmy is a working-class mixed-race new writer/director based in Manchester, originally from Blackpool. She wrote, directed and edited her first zero budget micro short Pink Noise late last year - which was shown at HOME FilmedUp night. Her second micro short Hello My Love was shown at Manchester's Origins film night. Emmy was also one of 10 writer/directors to take part in HOME's inaugural Film Lab earlier this year. She is also an actor and musician, composing for TV and performing live on BBC Radio 2 and Glastonbury, amongst others.
I started talking to a bird-watcher where I regularly walk a while ago and was fascinated by him. He seemed to inhabit this entire world I had no idea about. He saw things I’d never noticed before, and I consider myself a nature lover. Our anti-hero (of Birder), Carrie, a brown bird-watcher, exists in almost an alternate reality - she's a true outsider. Carrie feels overlooked and disenfranchised and desperately looks for a way to seek power. Birder is a horror, a thriller, but primarily it's Carrie’s story. A snapshot of how she sees the world. She’s someone to whom I feel a special connection - I’m interested in the outsider and social hierarchy in story-telling, specifically from a brown woman's point of view, but in a way that somehow avoids seeping the stories in trauma.
Raj Uddin: Dead Weight
Raj is a British-Bangladeshi, self-taught screenwriter born and raised in Bradford with a background as a script supervisor. Passionate about dark comedies and character-driven stories, they focus on exploring flawed, relatable characters in high-stakes, absurd situations.
The inspiration for Dead Weight came from a fascination with how people respond to incredibly difficult and morally complex situations. I wanted to explore the choices people make under extreme pressure, particularly when panic, fear, and self-preservation take over. This story is an examination of human nature at its most absurd and flawed, reflecting how even the best intentions can spiral into chaos when faced with impossible circumstances.
It’s important to me to tell stories that feature South Asian characters who are morally complex and human, rather than the caricatures or stereotypes so often seen on screen. Dead Weight offers a chance to portray flawed, relatable characters navigating a chaotic situation, showcasing their individuality and depth in a way that’s rarely explored.
JD Stewart: Pinkface
JD Stewart is a gay playwright, TV writer, screenwriter, performer, and digital content creator from the Scottish Borders. He holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University and an MSc in Playwriting from The University of Edinburgh. His work includes: GAY BOY, ONE TWENTY-ONE, THE BIRTHDAY ENGAGEMENT FUNERAL PARTY, DANIEL GETTING MARRIED, and THE DEVIL DRINKS CAVA. JD was a member of the BBC Scottish Voices 2022 cohort and developed his screenwriting through NFTS and The Edinburgh International Film Festival. In 2024, JD wrote the original TV Pilot, GAZE, which was shortlisted for the 2023 BAFTA/Rocliffe Prize, in the Top 3% of submissions for the 2024 BBC Drama Room and received funding and pitch deck support from New Writing North. JD is the New Work Producer at Live Theatre, Newcastle.
Pinkface came through discussions with my friend, Olivia, over how cis-het performers frequently take on LGBTQ+ roles and the possible consequences of that in a wider scale. The concept of the film came to be when I was thinking about ways to fit the BFI brief and felt that this may be something interesting to explore with the constraints imposed.
Richard Ampeh: Why Are You Like This
After spending 14 years working in education, Richard entered the world of TV when he was headhunted by Three Arrows Media for a role in development. Within a few months he was an Edinburgh TV festival nominated writer/director, with his debut short doc The Nod: Tell Me You Got Me commissioned by Warner Bros Discovery and Media Trust. Richard is a filmmaker with a keen focus on exploring stories of West African migrants and their British-born offspring, as well as telling stories that ‘humanise the Black male’ and their experiences. He is currently in pre-production with his latest short doc.
The idea for my script initially came from an experience at a 50 Cent concert, where a white male took it upon himself to explain and prove to me that he was not racist. I missed roughly 40 minutes of the concert listening to this guy. I spoke to other Black males about this and numerous times came across the terms ‘unconscious racism’ and ‘allyship’ when describing this behaviour, and Why Are You Like This was born.
Film Generator is a new two-stage training programme with North East Screen that seeks to support the most exciting early-stage writers and directors in the North to experiment, find their voice, and develop as storytellers.
