Keri Collins’ family adventure comedy Super Gran has topped the 13-strong Brit List 2023 for unproduced scripts from emerging UK talent.
Collins was a Screen Star of Tomorrow in 2014 and won the Welsh Bafta Breakthrough the same year for his feature debut Convenience. Supergran is about a 12-year old dyslexic boy who reluctantly moves in with his Scottish grandmother. He soon discovers that she has superpowers, and needs his help bringing down an arrogant tech bro. The horror romance is set in 1919, and follows the relationship of a Chinese dockworker and a white English secretary who are threatened by social contempt. The film is produced by Bosena, Two Birds Entertainment, and received funding from Uncertain Kingdom. It also participated in 2022 Les Arcs co-production village. The psychological thriller revolves around a woman married into a wealthy family with an unnerving matriarch. The film is produced by 2020-
Screen-Star Of Tomorrow Joy Gharoro Akpojotor, through her company Joi Productions. Two of Joi’s productions were also on the list last year. This is the first year that three feature films have topped the list after incorporating TV scripts into 2019. Ten of the entries are TV while four are feature films. Vettesse’s acting credits include BBC series Vigil and
Guilt while she has written on multiple episodes of Scottish soap River City.This year, the gender parity is roughly split while a third of the writers come from historically underrepresented backgrounds. Vettesse’s acting credits include BBC series
Vigil
and Guilt while she has written on multiple episodes of Scottish soap River City.This year, the gender parity is roughly split while a third of the writers come from historically underrepresented backgrounds.The Brit List was first established in 2007 and compiles recommendations from UK production companies, talent agencies, sales companies, financiers, distributors and broadcasters.The 2023 Brit List22 recommendations
Super Gran
, wri. Keri Collins
Prod. Brock Media
Form: Feature
Genre: Family adventure comedy Summary: A dyslexic London schoolkid (12), tired of people saying he’s stupid, is sent to stay with his boring, cantankerous Scottish granny for Christmas. He is shocked to learn that she has secret spy powers and a flying 1980s Mini. She takes him on an epic adventure, fighting an arrogant tech guy who wants to bring instant climate change to profit. It is in this chaos that the boy discovers his dyslexia helps him see the world in a different way, giving him his very own superpower with which to help his Super Gran.
18 recommendations
The Golden Radiance Of A Beetle
, wri. Henry Blake and Xiao Tang –
Prod. Bosena and Two Birds Entertainment
Form: Feature
Genre: Body Horror Love StorySummary: 1919, East London. A Chinese dockworker and a white English secretary fall deeply in love. However, their relationship is threatened by societal disapproval, which triggers the woman’s transformation into a beetle. Can their love transcend cocooned from pain?
16 suggestions
The Manikin
wri. Maja Bodenstein
Prod. Joi Productions
Form: Feature
Genre: Psychological thrillerSummary: A humble Tailor’s Daughter arrives at the manor house on an isolated island, newly married to the Third Brother of the family which resides there. She soon learns that the Matriarch has more control over the family than just the inheritance. She also discovers the power of the unsettling anatomical doll that Matriarch keeps locked away. Libby Adam
Prod. Water & Power Productions
Form: TV
Genre: Crime Thriller
Summary: Raphael has spent his life trying to escape his family’s legacy. Kitty spent hers trying live up to one. When a high-stakes cocaine deal starts to unravel, they are both drawn into the criminal world where their pasts make them question if justice and love can ever coexist.
14 recommendations
The Beautiful Gayme, wri. Asad
Prod. 5 Acts Productions
Form: TV
Genre: Comedy Drama
Summary: A failing gay amateur football team are in desperate need of saving and look to a new star player to be their unconventional hero. Can they save themselves and their football team?
Bite me,
wri. Alfie Coates Prod. Available
Form: TV
Genre: Supernatural Drama
Summary: All Darcy wanted was to find her real dad. But when your dad manages a boyband – and when that boyband has a vampire in it – it’s hard to avoid getting blood on your hands.
13 recommendations
Antipope, wri. Sam Ferguson (Curtis Brown)
Prod. Available
Form: TV
Genre: Historical Adventure Comedy
Summary: Antipope follows two medieval conmen who get in over their heads after crashing a party at the castle of the Count of Avignon. They find a pit of vipers plotting to anoint a new Pope – an Antipope – at their wedding. When one of the conmen accidentally kills the chosen Cardinal, he’s forced to take their place to survive…
Preservation,
wri. Matthew McDevitt Prod. Available
Form: TV
Genre: Crime Drama
Summary: On a Donegal island, two Gardai battle a storm, the locals, paranoia and each other as they attempt to preserve a murder/suicide crime scene. But when they unearth an entire community complicit in generational crime, they’ll test each other’s limits of “what’s in the public interest”.
Dasilva & Sharp,
wri. Karla Marie Sweet Prod. Available
Form: TV
Genre: Police Drama
Summary: City cop DS Melanie Sharp moves to Saltney-On-Sea, a tiny town on the Welsh and English border, after being hired as maternity cover for local detective Portia DaSilva. When Portia returns to Saltney-On-Sea after maternity leave, she is shocked to see Mel still there. She feels like Mel is trying to take Portia’s place. As animosity grows between the two women, their boss partners them up to solve a massive local case.
12 recommendations
Marco & Gordon, wri. Joe Bishop
Prod. Available
Form: TV
Genre: Drama
Summary: Marco & Gordon traces the volatile, tempestuous relationship between two giants of British cooking: Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay. We follow them through their respective boom and bust in ’90s London, and the explosive end of their personal and professional alliance.
Foxes,
wri. Dexter Flanders Prod. Happy Prince
Form: TV
Genre: Drama
Summary: If one kiss had the power to destroy everything, would you risk it? A deeply moving and complex story of family, community, and sexual identity, Foxes tackles the Black gay experience with tenderness and beautiful depth.
Easy
, wri. Cerys Hughes (Speed Literary and Talent Management)Prod. B19 Media
Form: TV
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Summary: Based on real life experiences, Easy is an unflinchingly dark comedy set within the slutty world of sex addiction, as a woman tries, fails, and tries again to connect in a world where everything, and everyone, feels disposable. How do you stop yourself from going too far?
Your knife my back, My gun your head
Anita Vettesse Producers: BBC Studios Drama
Form: TV
Genre: Revenge Thriller
Summary: How far is a woman prepared to go to protect her child? Fiona embarks on a journey of revenge when headteacher Marissa expelled her son from school for being too close to Marissa’s daughter. This decision is catastrophic and now Fiona is coming for Marissa’s daughter.
Word of mouth – Director Carol Morley: “When I’m making films, I can’t watch or talk about films”
