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Rocks star Bukky Bakray has won this year’s EE Rising Star Award at the BAFTAs, following in the footsteps of the likes of James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston and Kristen Stewart.

The actress is currently filming in r=the West Midlands for the BBC/Netflix’s drama You Don’t Know Me. The series is based on the bestselling novel of the same name, adapted by The Crown writer Tom Edge.

About the EE Rising Star Award

The EE Rising Star Award is the only BAFTA to be voted for by members of the public. Bukky Bakray eventually topped the vote against Peaky Blinders star Conrad Khan, His House star Ṣọpẹ́Dìrísù, Lord of the Rings star Morfydd Clark, One Night in Miami‘s and Kingsley Ben-Adir.

After winning the award, Bakray opened up about not expecting Rocks to be the break-out hit that it was. “When we filmed Rocks, I thought 100 people would watch the film, maximum. I didn’t think it would have this reach,” she reflected. “As I was texting [co-star] Kosar Ali today, I said, ‘This is actually mad, walking around in the Savoy Hotel, speaking to you right now is insane.’ I didn’t imagine any of this, I couldn’t have.”

She continued: “All the nominees and winners from previous years all have astonishing careers that I look up. Actors like Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield who was nominated, Micheal Ward, James McAvoy… I felt blessed to be nominated and now to have won the award, I can’t believe I’m saying that.”

Rocks won the Casting BAFTA at the opening night of this year’s awards on April 10th. Bukky Bakray was also nominated for Leading Actress against the likes of Frances McDormand and Vanessa Kirby.

About You Don’t Know Me

Bukky is currently filming for You Don’t Know Me in the West Midlands. She says: “Now I’m working on a series called “You Don’t Know Me”. It’s going to happen on Netflix. I’m really looking forward to seeing so many great projects lined up with great creators and artists.” Read more about the series here.

Source: www.digitalspy.com and londonnewstime.com

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Sky released an exclusive first look image of Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton) as Clarice Cliff in upcoming Sky Original film, The Colour Room. It is filmed in Birmingham and co-stars Matthew Goode.

Coming to cinemas, Sky Cinema and streaming service NOW later this year, The Colour Room  follows the journey of a determined, working class woman, Clarice Cliff, as she breaks the glass ceiling and revolutionises the workplace in the 2o^th century.

About The Colour Room

Clarice Cliff (Dynevor) is a vivacious young factory worker in the industrial British midlands of the 1920s. Her creativity and ambition drives her to move factory to factory, despite the financial impact on the household she shares with her widowed mother Ann (Kerry Fox) and youngest sister Dot (Darci Shaw). Bursting at the seams with ideas for colours and shapes, Clarice takes more and more dangerous risks – but she manages to stay one step ahead of the workhouse and impress the eccentric factory owner Colley Shorter (Goode) on the way with her talent and innovation.

Apprenticed to renowned Art Designer Fred Ridgeway (David Morrissey) and with support from Colley and other women in the factory, Clarice fights her way through to design the unprecedented Art Deco ‘Bizarre’ range. In the middle of the Great Depression, she ensures the factory’s survival and her future as one of the greatest Art Deco designers and a household name.

The Colour Room Production

The Colour Room is filmed in the West Midlands. Co-produced by Sky, Caspian Films and Creative England, the film will be directed by Claire McCarthy (Ophelia) and is written by Claire Peate, winner of BAFTA Rocliffe in 2016. The film is executive produced by Laura Grange for Sky, Paul Ashton for West Midlands Production Fund (Creative England) and David Gilbery, Charlie Dorfman, Marlon Vogelgesang for Media Finance Capital in association with On Sight.  It is produced by Thembisa Cochrane (The Harvesters) and Georgie Paget (Queens Of Syria) for Caspian Films, in association with Denaire Motion Picture Poetry and co-producer Neil Jones (Farming). The film was developed with the support of Film Cymru Wales.

Source: www.skygroup.sky

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The Peaky Blinders movie will be filmed in Birmingham – if its writer gets his way. Speaking exclusively to BirminghamLive, creator Steven Knight said he hoped to be days away from a major announcement about the huge Mercian Studios development, planned for Digbeth. The 38-acre studio complex comes amid the BBC committing major investment to that part of Birmingham – with prime-time television set to be made there. And Mr Knight said it would bring Hollywood too – with one “triple-A-list Hollywood star and director” having already expressed interest.

Peaky Blinders is poised to wrap up following its forthcoming sixth season, with the Birmingham-based BBC One gang drama set to be turned into a motion picture.

Its creator Knight told BirminghamLive: “My ambition is to have film and TV studios in the heart of Birmingham very soon. I plan to be shooting stuff in Birmingham very soon – and I am planning to do all my future projects there… We are in a period where we can’t do specifics. The studio is coming.”

Knight – who also has SAS Rogue Heroes in the works for the Beeb – added: “As you can see with the BBC coming to Birmingham, people are coming and not just for the studio, but to Birmingham in general. These are very exciting times. We will be making an announcement very soon… Peaky Blinders will be coming to Birmingham, that is all I can say.”

Source: www.birminghammail.co.uk

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About ‘You Are My Sunshine’

Watch the trailer here.

Source: www.expressandstar.com

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The region’s film-makers have been challenged to make an Oscar or Bafta-winning film or TV series within the next five years by the current mayor. This follows the success of shows such as Peaky Blinders. And Andy Street has said the region’s part in the industrial revolution is an obvious choice for a West Midlands story he would like to see on film. He mentioned the work of historical figures including Abraham Darby and Matthew Boulton at a time when the “world’s future changed”.

You can read the Oscar challenge in a 168-page document setting out his plans for a second term. Mayor Andy Street became the first West Midlands mayor in 2017. His April 6th manifesto for re-election pledges to “open the new Mercian Studios and the Creative Content Hub in Digbeth”. He also says he wants to help BBC in their relocation to the West Midlands. This move promised to create many new jobs for local people.

Source: www.birminghammail.co.uk

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‘The Great Pottery Throw Down’ is a reality competition show that features a group of passionate potters who compete to outshine each other and impress a panel of experts. The participants face different challenges in every episode that tests their dexterity in pre-industrial skills. The series has managed to impress a significant number of viewers around the world with its unique and informative content. After three seasons, the show moved its filming location to another equally appealing site. If you are curious about its production details, you have come to the right place. Here’s everything you need to know!

The Great Pottery Throw Down Filming Locations

‘The Great Pottery Throw Down’ is filmed entirely in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Located in the landlocked county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands, the city is the ideal place for the shooting. The city has a well-known pottery industry. However, this is not the first time Stoke-on-Trent has been used as a filming location for a movie or show.

The city is a sought-after shooting destination in England. Films and television shows filmed in Stoke-on-Trent include ‘Peaky Blinders,’ ‘The Girl With All The Gifts,’ ‘The Silent Child,’ ‘The Irregulars,’ and ‘Running Naked.’

Gladstone Pottery Museum, Stoke-on-Trent

Built in 1888, Middleport Pottery, located in Port Street in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, served as the show’s filming site for three seasons of the competition show. However, fans may notice that it is no longer filmed at the nineteenth-century port bank. Well, that is because the production team chose a different location to film the fourth season of ‘The Great Pottery Throw Down.’ The shooting for season 4 was done at Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke-on-Trent.

The creators followed all the COVID-norms to ensure that the filming is safe for the participants, judges, and the crew. However, with a surge in coronavirus cases, the filming had to put on hold for a week. In the nineteenth century, the Gladstone Pottery Museum (a former factory) used to export pottery to several countries in the world when the British empire was a significant colonizing force. Unfortunately, the Gladstone Pottery saw its downfall in the twentieth century and was going to be demolished in the 1970s.

Modernization meant the end of most old-fashioned industries, but Gladstone Pottery was lucky to be turned into a museum in 1974 instead of being demolished. It is now a heritage site and also a prominent filming location. Several documentaries and television shows were filmed in the nineteenth-century museum. These include ‘The Worst Jobs in Britain,’ ‘Blue Peter,’ ‘Doctor Who,’ ‘Noel’s House Party,’ ‘Most Haunted,’ and ’24 Hours in the Past.’

Source: thecinemaholic.com

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The BFI and BAFTA have announced the next stage of groundbreaking work to tackle bullying, harassment and racism in the workplace with a new employer Action List for the film and television industry, as The Film and TV Charity launches new services, providing immediate support for workers. The announcement comes as Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance on harassment at work is expected to become a statutory code of practice in the coming months, and filming restrictions and remote working during the pandemic have created additional pressures.

The Action List is part of a wider industry mobilisation and call for employers to commit to following the latest advice to meet their legal and ethical responsibilities and signpost workers to available support. It includes a set of resources designed to assist employers to meet those responsibilities and is endorsed by producers such as Faye Ward and Hannah Farrell of Fable Pictures (the recently BAFTA-nominated Rocks, Stan & Ollie, Wild Rose and the forthcoming TV series Anne Boleyn).

Research on Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace

Research commissioned by The Film and TV Charity, published in February 2020 collected data on more than 9,000 workers. Findings revealed that bullying remains highly prevalent. Across all sub-sectors, 84% had experienced or witnessed bullying or harassment, with even higher figures in some sub-sectors. Those who had experienced bullying were twice as likely to want to leave the industry and highly likely to have had mental health problems. The charity’s new bullying support services have been developed in direct response to this need.

The State of Play survey on unscripted TV undertaken in the wake of the pandemic and published in January 2021 by BECTU, Bournemouth University and Viva La PD, found that over 93% of respondents have experienced bullying or harassment in the TV industry, with only 11% who reported incidents considering that the matter was satisfactorily resolved. The report suggests that the vulnerability of the workforce over the last year has spotlighted a whole range of systemic employment-related concerns, including the need to ensure that incidents can be reported without fear of reprisal, and that procedures are in place to address reports.

New Action List

The new Action List is based on the Set of Principles and Guidance published in 2018 developed by the BFI in partnership with BAFTA and in consultation with organisations across the film, games and television industries in response to urgent and systemic issues around bullying and harassment exposed so shockingly through cases such as the Harvey Weinstein allegations and subsequent conviction. In July 2020 the Principles and Guidance were updated with a specific commitment to anti-racism in recognition of widespread failings highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Guidance outlines the law around bullying, harassment and racism, and also includes sexism, ableism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination. It sets out the responsibilities of employers, and provides advice for employees and freelancers. A supporting Dignity at Work Policy, developed in partnership with BECTU, provides a template for companies, productions and festivals to complement the Guidance and Principles to tackle workplace bullying and harassment.

The new Action List for film and television launched today, which joins one for the games industry already in place, outlines simple yet effective actions that all employers can take to prevent and tackle workplace bullying, harassment and racism and demonstrate their commitment to tackling the issue. The Action List makes further recommendations including taking the new ScreenSkills online training module on bullying and harassment, and ensuring all employees and freelancers are aware of the new suite of bullying support services launched today by The Film and TV Charity. The Action List can be downloaded here.

Film and TV Charity Services

The Film and TV Charity has launched a suite of new services to provide more support for individuals who have experienced or witnessed bullying including: the Bullying Pathway Service, accessible via the charity’s existing free and confidential 24-hour Film and TV Support Line 0800 054 00 00, offering free, confidential and independent industry-specific legal, HR and mental health advice; and digital incident recording tool Spot, accessible via the charity’s website, which can be used by anyone to create a confidential private record of something they’ve experienced of witnessed. The new services have been created as part of the Whole Picture Programme, the pan-industry movement for better mental health. More information can be found here.

Jen Smith, Head of Inclusion at the BFI, said: “We’re delighted that so many organisations across the screen industries have already adopted the Guidance and Principles. However, we know from our conversations with industry that more structured support needs to be within every workplace to prevent and reduce instances of bullying, harassment and racism. The Guidance, Principles, Dignity at Work policy and the Action List are working documents that we will continue to refine, as well as building even more complementary resources.

“We have demonstrated our dexterity and adaptability as an industry in the face of a pandemic; as production begins to increase again, in the face of the visceral inequality that the pandemic has laid bare, the BFI and BAFTA want to share these resources widely as we believe they can immediately improve that lived experience for our workers and act as a very useful point of reference for employers.”

Read the full press release here.

View more resources here.

Source: www.the-bigger-picture.com

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Cinema lovers in Birmingham could soon head to Broad Street or the NEC to once again watch films on the big screen. Cineworld has confirmed plans to reopen all of its UK cinemas in less than two months. The company has confirmed it has set a May reopening date following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in the UK – as outlined in the government’s road map to economic recovery. It means that planned screenings of blockbuster movies including Godzilla vs Kong are likely to go ahead.

Chief executive Mooky Greidinger said: “We have long-awaited this moment when we can welcome audiences back to our Regal theatres and restore our essential role within the communities we serve. With capacity restrictions expanding to 50% or more across most US states, we will be able to operate profitably in our biggest markets. We will also be monitoring developments closely in the UK and across Europe as we set to gradually reopen across the world in line with local government guidance.”

It has also been revealed that a deal has been struck with Warner Bros that gives the cinema chain exclusive rights to show films over streaming services. The multi-year agreement means Cineworld can show the studio’s films exclusively in its cinemas 31 days prior to them being made available on premium video on demand platforms for streaming at home. An extended window of 45 days for films that open to an agreed-upon box office threshold has also been reached, it added.

Last October, the cinema chain confirmed plans to temporarily close all its cinemas in the UK and US with the chain citing the delay of major film releases by big studios as the main reason.

Source: www.gazettelive.co.uk

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The 2021 EE British Academy Film Awards, celebrate the very best in film of the past year. The awards take place the weekend of 10th and 11th April 2021, and will be broadcast on the BBC.

Here is the full list of BAFTA nominees:

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

HIS HOUSE Remi Weekes (Writer/Director)

LIMBO Ben Sharrock (Writer/Director), Irune Gurtubai (Producer) [also produced by Angus Lamont]

MOFFIE Jack Sidey (Writer/Producer) [also written by Oliver Hermanus and produced by Eric Abraham]

ROCKS Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson (Writers)

SAINT MAUD Rose Glass (Writer/Director), Oliver Kassman (Producer) [also produced by Andrea Cornwell]

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

ANOTHER ROUND Thomas Vinterberg, Kasper Dissing, Sisse Graum Jørgensen

DEAR COMRADES! Andrei Konchalovsky, Alisher Usmanov

LES MISÉRABLES Ladj Ly, Toufik Ayadi, Christophe Barral

MINARI Lee Isaac Chung, Christina Oh

QUO VADIS, AIDA? Jasmila Žbanić, Damir Ibrahimovich

DOCUMENTARY

COLLECTIVE Alexander Nanau

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: A LIFE ON OUR PLANET Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, Keith Scholey

THE DISSIDENT Bryan Fogel, Thor Halvorssen, Mark Monroe, Jake Swantko

MY OCTOPUS TEACHER Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed, Craig Foster

THE SOCIAL DILEMMA Jeff Orlowski, Larissa Rhodes

ANIMATED FILM

ONWARD Dan Scanlon, Kori Rae

SOUL Pete Docter, Dana Murray

WOLFWALKERS Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young

DIRECTOR

ANOTHER ROUND Thomas Vinterberg

BABYTEETH Shannon Murphy

MINARI Lee Isaac Chung

NOMADLAND Chloé Zhao

QUO VADIS, AIDA? Jasmila Žbanić

ROCKS Sarah Gavron

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

ANOTHER ROUND Tobias Lindholm, Thomas Vinterberg

MANK Jack Fincher

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Emerald Fennell

ROCKS Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Aaron Sorkin

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

THE DIG Moira Buffini

THE FATHER Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller

THE MAURITANIAN Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, M.B. Traven

NOMADLAND Chloé Zhao

THE WHITE TIGER Ramin Bahrani

LEADING ACTRESS

BUKKY BAKRAY Rocks

RADHA BLANK The Forty-Year-Old Version

VANESSA KIRBY Pieces of a Woman

FRANCES McDORMAND Nomadland

WUNMI MOSAKU His House

ALFRE WOODARD Clemency

LEADING ACTOR

RIZ AHMED Sound of Metal

CHADWICK BOSEMAN Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

ADARSH GOURAV The White Tiger

ANTHONY HOPKINS The Father

MADS MIKKELSEN Another Round

TAHAR RAHIM The Mauritanian

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

NIAMH ALGAR Calm With Horses

KOSAR ALI Rocks

MARIA BAKALOVA Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

DOMINIQUE FISHBACK Judas and the Black Messiah

ASHLEY MADEKWE County Lines

YUH-JUNG YOUN Minari

SUPPORTING ACTOR

DANIEL KALUUYA Judas and the Black Messiah

BARRY KEOGHAN Calm With Horses

ALAN KIM Minari

LESLIE ODOM JR. One Night in Miami…

CLARKE PETERS Da 5 Bloods

PAUL RACI Sound of Metal

ORIGINAL SCORE

MANK Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

MINARI Emile Mosseri

NEWS OF THE WORLD James Newton Howard

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Anthony Willis

SOUL Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

CASTING

CALM WITH HORSES Shaheen Baig

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH Alexa L. Fogel

MINARI Julia Kim

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Lindsay Graham Ahanonu, Mary Vernieu

ROCKS Lucy Pardee

CINEMATOGRAPHY

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH Sean Bobbitt

MANK Erik Messerschmidt

THE MAURITANIAN Alwin H. Küchler

NEWS OF THE WORLD Dariusz Wolski

NOMADLAND Joshua James Richards

EDITING

THE FATHER Yorgos Lamprinos

NOMADLAND Chloé Zhao

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Frédéric Thoraval

SOUND OF METAL Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 Alan Baumgarten

PRODUCTION DESIGN

THE DIG Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald

THE FATHER Peter Francis, Cathy Featherstone

MANK Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale

NEWS OF THE WORLD David Crank, Elizabeth Keenan

REBECCA Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer

COSTUME DESIGN

AMMONITE Michael O’Connor

THE DIG Alice Babidge

EMMA. Alexandra Byrne

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM Ann Roth

MANK Trish Summerville

MAKE UP & HAIR

THE DIG Jenny Shircore

HILLBILLY ELEGY Patricia Dehaney, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM Matiki Anoff, Larry M. Cherry, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal

MANK Colleen LaBaff, Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams

PINOCCHIO Dalia Colli, Mark Coulier, Francesco Pegoretti

SOUND

GREYHOUND Beau Borders, Christian P. Minkler, Michael Minkler, Warren Shaw, David Wyman

NEWS OF THE WORLD Michael Fentum, William Miller, Mike Prestwood Smith, John Pritchett, Oliver Tarney

NOMADLAND Sergio Diaz, Zach Seivers, M. Wolf Snyder

SOUL Coya Elliott, Ren Klyce, David Parker

SOUND OF METAL Jaime Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Phillip Bladh, Carlos Cortés, Michelle Couttolenc

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

GREYHOUND Pete Bebb, Nathan McGuinness, Sebastian von Overheidt

THE MIDNIGHT SKY Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, Max Solomon, David Watkins

MULAN Sean Faden, Steve Ingram, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN Santiago Colomo Martinez, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones

TENET Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION

THE FIRE NEXT TIME Renaldho Pelle, Yanling Wang, Kerry Jade Kolbe

THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT Mole Hill, Laura Duncalf

THE SONG OF A LOST BOY Daniel Quirke, Jamie MacDonald, Brid Arnstein

BRITISH SHORT FILM

EYELASH Jesse Lewis Reece, Ike Newman

LIZARD Akinola Davies, Rachel Dargavel, Wale Davies

LUCKY BREAK John Addis, Rami Sarras Pantoja

MISS CURVY Ghada Eldemellawy

THE PRESENT Farah Nabulsi

EE RISING STAR AWARD

BUKKY BAKRAY

CONRAD KHAN

KINGSLEY BEN-ADIR

MORFYDD CLARK

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