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Exclusive: “Peggy Ramsay used to say ‘agent’ is the most disgusting word in the English language,” ponders Adam Welsh, the founder of Divergent Talent Group (Dtg).

For a group of changemakers making their way through the UK’s bustling agenting landscape, the words uttered by Ramsay, one of the greats — who repped the likes of Stephen Poliakoff, David Hare and J.B. Priestley — don’t exactly chime.

These agents are spearheading the UK TV and film industry’s drive to improve representation for disabled talent, a minority that makes up 20% of the British population and yet is vastly under-utilized both on the small screen and behind the camera.

Welsh founded his agency devoted to repping neurodivergent talent in 2021. Sara Johnson and Julie Fernandez have recently joined Casarotto Ramsay in an intriguing dual role representing, training and developing talent, while long-time advocate Andrew Roach, whose clients include Britain’s Got Talent winner Lost Voice Guy,...

The Corner Shop’s managing director Susie Gray will continue to lead the firm

UK-based entertainment PR firm Premier has acquired Scottish agency The Corner Shop.

Based in Edinburgh, The Corner Shop was founded in 2015 by managing director Susie Gray, who will continue to lead the firm as well as joining Premier’s executive board. The subsidiary will be rebranded Premier Scotland.

The acquisition marks Premier’s first foray into Scotland and follows the opening of its Manchester office earlier this year. The company also recently appointed Angela Smith as managing director of filmed entertainment.

Premier’s founder and chairman,...

UK agency Casarotto Ramsay & Associates has hired Sara Johnson and Julie Fernandez, co-founders of Bridge06.

The company has said the hires are part of its plan to expand its commitment to disability representation across the UK Creative Industries.

Beginning December 4, Johnson and Fernandez will be full-time Casarotto Ramsay agents. Their role will include representing, training, and developing talent alongside supporting all those with access requirements across the film, television, and theatre industries. The agency said the pair will be tasked with growing careers and creating meaningful change with every production their access coordinators work within.

Fernandez will lead on training and then representation of access coordinators entering the industry, ensuring that Casarotto can meet the growing demand for the role, which begins in development and runs throughout production and beyond. Johnson will lead on supporting broadcasters, studios, and other industry bodies to underscore and understand the “importance” of an “access first” approach.

Bridge06 is an agency and consultancy that supports access coordinators and disabled, d/Deaf and neurodiverse talent.

UK film, TV and theatre talent agency Casarotto Ramsay & Associates has appointed access advocates Sara Johnson and Julie Fernandez, co-founders of Bridge06, to expand the agency’s committment to improve disability representation for the media and entertainment Industries.

Bridge06 is an agency and consultancy that supports access coordinators and disabled, d/Deaf and neurodiverse talent, as well as offering training to all areas of the film and TV industry on bringing accessibility into day-to-day business.

Johnson and Fernandez will be working full-time...

Recipients including Screen Star of Tomorrow 2023 Rory Fleck Byrne and ’Chuck Chucky Baby’ producers Anne Beresford and Andrew Gillman.

The British Film Institute (BFI) and Film4 have unveiled the nine short films that will receive funding through their Future Takes programme,.

It will see each filmmaking team receive between £55,000 and £90,000 of National Lottery funding, with recipients including Screen Star of Tomorrow 2023 Rory Fleck Byrne and Chuck Chucky Baby producers Anne Beresford and Andrew Gillman.

Actor-director Fleck Byrne, who stared in BBC drama series This Is Going To Hurt, has been selected for In Heat, produced Radha Bhandari, whose short For...

Nicholas Winding Refn’s ‘Famous Five’ Adaptation Sets Cast

The BBC’s upcoming Famous Five adaptation from Nicholas Winding Refn has set cast and unveiled first look images. Diaana Babnicova will play the role of George, alongside Elliott Rose as Julian, Kit Rakusen as Dick, Flora Jacoby Richardson as Anne playing George’s cousins who come to stay at Kirrin Cottage. Joining the five are Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones) as Wentworth, Ann Akinjirin (Moon Knight) as Fanny, James Lance (Ted Lasso) as Quentin and Diana Quick (Father Brown) as Mrs Wentworth. The series is being co-produced for Zdf and comes from Drive creator Winding Refn’s byNWR along with Moonage Pictures. The show will be based on Enid Blyton’s iconic 21 stories with filming set to take place shortly across the south west of the UK. Famous Five is one of the highest-profile series to come out of the...

BFI has partnered with Film4 on Future Takes, a pilot fund seeking applications for ambitious and original short form work from emerging filmmaking talent from across the U.K.

The initiative will award up to £90,000 each to up to seven projects with funding by BFI National Lottery and Film4. It is positioned as a stepping stone between lower budget shorts and features or long form work and the aim is to help more filmmaking talent build sustainable careers.

Future Takes will be available to teams with a background in but not limited to filmmaking, theater, TV, video gaming, commercials, music videos, graphic novels, with a writer/director attached who has a demonstrably strong creative track record in their field. It will not fund directors making their first screen work. The fund will seek to back projects which demonstrate a clear career progression, for example with a more ambitious scale and...

Up to £90,000 will be awarded per project

The British Film Institute (BFI) and Film4 are piloting a high-budget shorts programme called Future Takes that will see a maximum of seven projects awarded with up to £90,000 each.

Future Takes aims to create a stepping stone for emerging filmmakers between lower-budgeted shorts and feature films or longer-form work. Funding comes from BFI National Lottery and Film4.

The deadline for applications is February 13.

A statement from the BFI said the fund is hoping to help up-and-coming filmmakers at a time in which “it is becoming increasingly challenging to secure financing for debut features...

Up to £90,000 will be awarded per project

The British Film Institute (BFI) and Film4 has partnered on a high-budget pilot shorts programme, Future Takes, which will see a maximum of seven projects awarded with up to £90,000 per short.

Future Takes aims to create a stepping stone for emerging filmmakers between lower-budgeted shorts and feature films or longer-form work. Funding comes from BFI National Lottery and Film4.

The deadline for applications is February 13.

A statement from the BFI said that the fund is hoping to help up-and-coming filmmakers at a time in which “it is becoming increasingly challenging to secure financing...

Up to 12 accessibility coordinators to be trained this year following Underlying Health Condition report.

Working conditions for disabled talent are set to improve with ScreenSkills offering to fund training for accessibility coordinators, following advice from pressure group Underlying Health Condition (Uhc).

The individuals who are trained will go on to ensure that actors and crew are provided with the support and facilities required to carry out their jobs safely and with dignity.

Funded via ScreenSkills’ High-end TV Skills Fund, up to 12 trained individuals will be available for producers to employ by the end of the year, after the need...

UK training body ScreenSkills is actioning one of the key recommendations from Jack Thorne’s report into disability in TV by funding the training of Accessibility Co-ordinators.

Similar to Intimacy and Covid Co-ordinators, the role will support TV productions in hiring and working with disabled talent and crew and support disabled professionals to work well, safely and with dignity.

ScreenSkills, which is funding the measure through its High-end TV Skills Fund, has teamed with Jack Thorne’s new lobbying group Underlying Health Condition to push through the measure, along with Bridge06, the company set up by Sara Johnson, the former Creative Director of Vienna Blood indie Endor Productions, and The Office actress Julie Fernandez.

Fernandez and Johnson will deliver the training and have been working with Underlying Health Condition on the initiative. They said they have “already begun to research a combination of production practicalities and disability access requirements, which...

The Office star Julie Fernandez has revealed that Jimmy Savile groped her when she was just 14. The disabled actress, who played Brenda in The Office, appeared on Jim'll Fix It after writing to the show on behalf of her friends at Treloar School in Hampshire. She told how Savile's hands lingered "in places they shouldn't" and she felt like "slapping his hand away" while they were in the TV studio. "I was in my wheelchair, but I just remember his hands being everywhere and just lingering those two, three, four seconds slightly too long in places they shouldn't. But it wasn't particularly obvious either," Fernandez told Radio 5 Live. "It was in a busy room full of people in a studio so it was quite discreetly done and you don't kind of realise what's happening at the time, (more)...

Katie Price's boyfriend Alex Reid will reportedly continue with his role in Killer Bitch even though the movie will film scenes of a disabled woman being raped and murdered this week. According to The Mirror, the cage-fighter, who is seen raping and throttlingco-star Yvette Rowland in the movie, said that he will still appear in the film despite the scenes with a disabled woman. Actress Julie Fernandez is reportedly dragged out of her wheelchair and assaulted by another character in the film. A source said: "This set-piece was on the cards from day (more)...