The BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer is presented annually at the
British Academy Film Awards
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. The
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
(BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, children's film and television, and interactive media. The Outstanding Debut award recognises the work of writers, directors and producers whose first films have been released in cinemas during the award's qualification window. It is presented in honour of screenwriter and producer
Carl Foreman
Carl Foreman, CBE (July 23, 1914 – June 26, 1984) was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the award-winning films ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' and '' High Noon'', among others. He was one of the screenwriters who were bla ...
.
[http://static.bafta.org/files/rule-book-bafta-film-awards-1112-1017.pdf BAFTA Film Awards Guidelines]
* From 1998 to 2000, this category was known as the Carl Foreman Award for Most Promising Newcomer in British Film (and was presented to a writer, director or producer).
* From 2001 to 2008, this category was known as the Carl Foreman Award for
Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their first Feature Film.
* From 2009–present, this category has been known by its current name of Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.
Jury Process
Unlike many of the other BAFTA Awards, which are decided by a membership vote, the Outstanding Debut Award's nominees and winner are decided by a jury of industry experts who view and consider eligible films over the course of the year. The jury can choose to nominate any combination of debut writer, director or producer involved in a film.
[
The jury has been chaired by Prof. Anthony Mellows (1999–2009), ]Simon Relph
Simon George Michael Relph, CBE (13 April 1940 – 30 October 2016) was a British film producer and assistant film director.
Biography
Relph was born in Chelsea, London on 13 April 1940. His father, Michael Relph was a Ealing Studios writ ...
(2009–2012), and Stephen Woolley
Stephen Woolley (born 3 September 1956) is an English film producer and director, whose prolific career has spanned over three and a half decades, for which he was awarded the BAFTA award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in Febr ...
(2012–2016).[http://www.bafta.org/film/awards/film-awards-brochure-2012,2878,BA.html Film Awards Brochure 2012]
Jury members in recent years have included (former winner) Asif Kapadia
Asif Kapadia (born 1972) is a British filmmaker.
Academy Award, BAFTA and Grammy winning director Asif Kapadia has made his name directing visually striking films exploring ‘outsiders’, characters living in extreme circumstances, fighting ...
, Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''.
Early life and education
Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...
, Jane Goldman
Jane Loretta Anne Goldman''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 11 June 1970) is an English screenwriter, author and producer. With Matthew Vaughn, she co-wrote the screenplays of '' Kingsm ...
, Peter Straughan
Peter Straughan (born 1968) is a British playwright, screenwriter and author, based in the north-east of England. He was writer-in-residence at Newcastle's Live Theatre Company. Whilst there, Live staged his plays, ''Bones'' and ''Noir''. Both o ...
, James Watkins, Joe Cornish
Joseph Murray Cornish (born 20 December 1968) is an English comedian and filmmaker. With his long-time comedy partner, Adam Buxton, he forms the comedy duo Adam and Joe. In 2011, Cornish released his directorial debut ''Attack the Block''. He ...
, and Moira Buffini
Moira Buffini (born 29 May 1965) is an English dramatist, director, and actor.
Early life
Buffini was born in Cheshire to Irish parents, and attended St Mary's College at Rhos-on-Sea in Wales as a day girl. She studied English and Drama at Gold ...
.
History
The first version of the award was established by the Foreman Williams Jones Foundation in 1991. Scholarships were awarded to promising British students to study filmmaking in the United States.
The present version of the award was initiated by the Foundation in 1997 and was conducted jointly by the Foundation and by BAFTA until 2009. It was established to encourage British filmmaking by recognising the most promising British newcomer in the selected disciplines of screenwriting, producing or directing (or in more than one of these disciplines). The first award of the present version was made in respect of 1998. In 2009, the name of the award was changed, and it is now solely administered by BAFTA. The award continues to be presented in honour of Carl Foreman
Carl Foreman, CBE (July 23, 1914 – June 26, 1984) was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the award-winning films ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' and '' High Noon'', among others. He was one of the screenwriters who were bla ...
.
Winners and nominees
1990s
Carl Foreman Award for Most Promising Newcomer in British Film
2000s
Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their first Feature Film
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
2010s
2020s
See also
From 1952–1984, a separate Newcomer Award for performers was presented. For a full list of winners and nominees in this category, see BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles
The British Academy Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles is a discontinued award that was presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts until 1984.
The category had several name changes:
* 1952–1959: Most Promi ...
.
Since 2006, a separate Newcomer Award for performers presented annually as Rising Star Award. For a full list of winners and nominees in this category, see BAFTA Rising Star Award
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Rising Star Award, currently styled as the EE Rising Star Award for commercial reasons and previously known as the Orange Rising Star Award, is an award that acknowledges new talents in the ...
.
Notes
{{BAFTA Film Awards Chron
British Academy Film Awards
Directorial debut film awards
Screenwriting awards for film