BAFTA has named 21 creatives for its 2026 UK Breakthrough cohort, spanning film, documentary and unscripted, television and games, with Netflix supporting the programme for a seventh year, according to BAFTA’s press release and matching reports from Advanced Television, Deadline and Variety. The announcement, dated 3–4 November, covers the 13th year of BAFTA Breakthrough.
Key facts
- 21 UK creatives across film, documentary/unscripted, TV and games
- Programme’s 13th year; Netflix support for a seventh consecutive year
- Year-round support, mentoring, networking and full BAFTA membership
- Globally more than 330 alumni; more than 200 BAFTA nominations and over 80 wins (BAFTA figures via trades)
- US Breakthrough cohort due later this month; BAFTA Film Awards on 21 February
The scheme is BAFTA’s flagship new-talent programme. It selects people the academy describes as on the cusp of, or in the midst of, a breakthrough, and runs as a year-long package of one-to-one meetings, career guidance, screening and networking access in the UK and abroad, plus voting membership. Selection is through an open application process, Deadline reported.
The UK list sits beside a crowded autumn awards calendar already on FilmBunch, including the 2026 BIFA nominations (where Louis Paxton’s The Incomer is also among the debut-director and debut-screenwriter nominees), MedFilm’s Rome line-up and FilmFestival Cottbus. Further UK and festival coverage is in Festivals & Markets.
Programme and backers
BAFTA chief executive Jane Millichip said Breakthrough “champions talented creatives and practitioners from all three screen sectors” and is designed to give them “the support and connections to build lasting careers,” congratulating the cohort and thanking Netflix for continued partnership, in a statement carried by Advanced Television and Variety.
2026 is Netflix’s seventh year backing the UK programme. Anne Mensah, vice-president of UK content at Netflix, said the partnership forms part of Generation N, the streamer’s commitment to new, emerging and mid-career talent in the UK, and called it “an honour to help them flourish with the guidance and support this programme provides,” Advanced Television and Variety reported.
BAFTA North America is due to name the US Breakthrough cohort later this month. Deadline notes that the BAFTA Film Awards are scheduled for 21 February. Alumni named across the trade reports include Florence Pugh, Tom Holland, Jessie Buckley, Josh O’Connor, Bella Ramsey, Paapa Essiedu, Letitia Wright, Jim LeBrecht, Lauren Ridloff, Brandon Perea, Laurie Nunn and Sarah Lampert; those are illustrative examples from the outlets, not a BAFTA ranking.
Full 2026 UK cohort
Names, roles and associated titles follow BAFTA’s press release and the matching lists in Advanced Television, Deadline and Variety. Lucy Allen and Tom Payne applied as a team (casting directors on Sunny Dancer) and count as two of the 21.
Film
- Hollie Bryan, producer – The Ceremony
- Louis Paxton, writer/director – The Incomer
- Lucy Allen and Tom Payne, casting directors – Sunny Dancer
- Imran Perretta, co-writer/director – Ish
- Regina Meessen, hair and make-up designer – Dreamers
- Ted Evans, writer/director – Retreat
Documentary / unscripted
- Chris Lynch, presenter and producer – In the Driving Seat
- Myrid Carten, writer/director – A Want in Her
- Runako Celina, producer and reporter – Death in Dubai
Television
- Ella Bruccoleri, performer – The Other Bennet Sister
- Izuka Hoyle, performer – Prisoner
- Philippa Mumford, production designer – Juice (Series 2)
- Sophie Stone, performer – Falling
- Tom Cousins, creator and executive producer – Rafi the Wishing Wizard
- Yassmin Abdel-Magied, writer – Emmerdale
Games
- Eloise Singer, writer/director – The Pirate Queen: No Safe Waters
- Husban Siddiqi, game director and developer – Rogue Eclipse
- Kate Killick, creative director – Pieced Together
- Niru Fekri-Arnold, creator/designer – Cursed Words
- Tom McKay, performer – Mysteria Ecclesiae: Kingdom Come Deliverance DLC
Our reading
For buyers and commissioners the list is a cross-sector shortlist with craft credits already attached (Sunny Dancer, Ish, The Incomer, Juice), and games sits in the same academy pipeline as film and TV. The next evidence is who from this cohort lands a financed next feature, series order or published title before the 21 February Film Awards, and how the US Breakthrough list later this month compares on craft versus on-camera mix.
Sources
- Advanced Television, BAFTA Breakthrough 2026 UK cohort (4 November 2026; full list + Millichip/Mensah statements)
- Deadline, BAFTA Breakthrough: Ish filmmaker Imran Perretta & The Other Bennet Sister star Ella Bruccoleri among 2026 cohort (3 November 2026 PT; full list; Film Awards 21 February)
- Variety, BAFTA Breakthrough 2026 U.K. cohort including The Other Bennet Sister star Ella Bruccoleri (3 November 2026 PT; full list + alumni examples)
- BAFTA press release, 2026 Breakthrough UK cohort (4 November 2026; full list + Millichip statement)
- BAFTA, Meet the 2026 UK Breakthroughs (official cohort page)