
Ashley Walters begins production on his debut feature film AnimolWednesday 29 January 2025
Image Credit: Anthony Dickenson
Image available to download HERE
Critically acclaimed actor, director, producer and recording artist Ashley Walters (Top Boy, Missing You) has commenced production on his highly anticipated directorial feature debut, Animol. Drawing on his own experience, Ashley directs a searing portrayal of life within the confines of a Young Offenders' Institution. Written by Nick Love (The Football Factory, A Town Called Malice), this raw and poignant coming-of-age story highlights the power of humanity in the midst of adversity.
Animol was developed by Film4 in collaboration with Joi Productions. Sky is collaborating with Film4 for the first time as co-financiers on the project, with the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding) also financing. Bankside Films are handling international sales for the film.
Animol boasts a cast of upcoming talent, with Tut Nyuot and Vladyslav Baliuk starring as two teenagers embroiled in the prison's harsh environment. Stephen Graham (Help, Boiling Point, The Virtues) joins the supporting cast as a Welfare Officer tasked with supporting the young offenders during their incarceration. Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Dune: Part One, Enola Holmes 2) rounds off the casting line-up.
In a comment on Animol's inception, director Ashley Walters has said: Nick and I have worked together before and always wanted to create something bold-something that sparks conversation while delivering visual beauty. ANIMOL is deeply personal to me. It explores the struggle of being your authentic self in a world that often pressures you to conform-one of life's greatest challenges. At its heart, this is a story about survival and the safety found in true connection. It's not about the what'; it's about the why.' I couldn't be more excited to bring my debut feature to life with such an incredible team.
Julia Stuart, Director of Original Film at Sky, said: Ashley and Nick's passion for Animol' shone through from the get-go - and we knew with our partners at Film4, Joi Productions and the BFI, we could create something special. It's fantastic to see the stellar cast of best-of-British and emerging talent now bringing this powerful story to life, which promises to deliver a captivating viewing experience.
Ollie Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama comments: Ashley, Nick, Joy, Tom and team have been carefully developing this project with us for almost six years, and we couldn't be happier that it's finally ready to go into production. Ashley's vision for the film is incredibly compelling and I'm confident his first feature as a director will be a knock-out. It's also very exciting to be embarking on the first ever collaboration between Film4, BFI and Sky.
Louise Ortega, Senior Production and Development Executive at the BFI, said: We're excited to support Ashley in his directorial debut, and Nick and Joi Productions on this propulsive, thrilling and urgently humanising feature. We believe this collaboration with Film4 and Sky can bring in a whole new audience for a UK independent film."
The film is produced by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor (Blue Story, Boxing Day) and Tom Hawkins (True History of the Kelly Gang) from Joi Productions, an independent London-based production company focused on telling stories which are Black, Queer and Female-led, in association with Walter's production outfit SLNDA and Love's outfit Rogue State.
Production is working in close collaboration with the Synergy Theatre Project and Intermission Youth Theatre, to give opportunities as supporting artists to those at risk of entering the criminal justice system.
Julia Stuart, Laura Grange and Sabrina Parmar are executive producing for Sky, Ollie Madden and David Kimbangi for Film4 and Louise Ortega for BFI.
About SkySky is one of Europe's leading media and entertainment companies and is part of Comcast Corporation, a global media and technology company that connects people to moments and experiences that matter. At Sky we Believe in Better. It's in our DNA.
We're famous for innovation. We offer the world's smartest TV, Sky Glass; our plug and play streaming puck, Sky Stream; the best aggregation platform, Sky Q: the best aggregation platform, Sky Q; and streaming services NOW and WOW. We provide connectivity you can count on in mobile, fast, secure, reliable residential and business broadband, as well as smart home protection through Sky Protect.
We're Europe's premium content producer. We create award-winning original content, produce the biggest live sporting events, and we provide free access to news and the arts. Our new state-of-the-art film and TV studio Sky Studios Elstree is projected to attract £3 billion of new production investment to the UK in its first five years and create up to 2,000 jobs.
We are a diverse and inclusive employer that has a positive impact on society and the communities that we work and live in. Sky plays a major role in the UK's cultural economy and, in 2022 alone, supported a contribution of £20 billion to UK GDP, broadcast 70,000 hours of elite sports coverage and invested over £130 million to provide news to consumers free of charge.
About Film4Film4 Productions is Channel 4 Television's feature film division. Film4 develops and co-finances films and is known for working with the most distinctive and innovative talent in UK and international filmmaking, both new and established. Since its inception in 1982 Film4's films have won a collective 43 Oscars and 97 BAFTAs.
Film4's most recent films include Oscar , BAFTA and Venice Golden Lion winning Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos); Oscar , BAFTA and Cannes Grand Prix winning The Zone of In
Most recent headlines
01/04/2025
USHER's London takeover is in full swing. After kicking off his sold-out run of shows at the O2 Arena to rave reviews, the R&B icon joined forces with Spoti...
01/04/2025
Innovative program empowers partners with growth, efficiency and collaboration
Herndon, Va., April 1, 2025 ST Engineering iDirect, a global leader in satelli...
01/04/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., April 1, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its first quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, Ap...
01/04/2025
Calrec Craft Interview: Aston Fearon, Sound Supervisor In this craft interview, Aston Fearon speaks to us about how his career in sound started, projects he'...
01/04/2025
MONT-SAINT-GUIBERT, Belgium Telestream has integrated intoPIX's JPEG XS technology into Telestream's PRISM waveform monitors, which Telestream says will...
01/04/2025
BURLINGTON, Mass. Avid has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS), to deliver a cloud-based production framework that helps f...
01/04/2025
LONDON and NEW YORK The United Football League (UFL) has signed a new global partnership with sports broadcaster DAZN to broadcast every game of the UFL's 2...
01/04/2025
In a groundbreaking bid to streamline and democratize the production process, Netflix has laid out how it is developing a new Media Production Suite, that t...
01/04/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast Business has announced that it has completed its acquisition of Nitel, a U.S. managed services provider headquartered in Chicago, from inte...
01/04/2025
NEW YORK A team of research industry veterans, led by Tod Johnson have launched a new consumer insights and analytics platform, Tenetic, that offers both local ...
01/04/2025
V-Nova, a leading provider of compression solutions, today announced its inaugural participation in a patent pool, joining the Access Advance HEVC Patent Pool. ...
01/04/2025
Cinnafilm, a global leader in video optimization solutions, today announced that it will launch Tachyon LIVE, its groundbreaking live IP standards and format co...
01/04/2025
HighField AI, an advanced AI-powered solution designed to automate repetitive tasks within the media production workflow, today announced that it will demonstra...
01/04/2025
Globecast has expanded its use of Net Insight's Nimbra technology by deploying Nimbra Edge, significantly streamlining its media transport operations. This ...
01/04/2025
EdgePeak enables software architects and developers to design and build their own content delivery network (CDN) while reducing streaming costs, fighting video...
01/04/2025
Cinnafilm to preview the innovation at the 2025 NAB Show
Cinnafilm, a global leader in video optimization, has collaborated with NVIDIA to unveil a groundbreak...
01/04/2025
Leading video software provider Synamedia, will showcase its innovation-driven approach to solving the biggest challenges facing customers today and in the futu...
01/04/2025
AJA Debuts IP and 12G-SDI Innovations Ahead of NAB 2025
Brie Clayton April 1, 2025
0 Comments
New tools optimize media and entertainment and proAV wo...
01/04/2025
Bit Part Introduces bitbox mini, the Smallest and Lightest Solution for Ultra-Lo...
01/04/2025
IABM Unveils Bold Transformation at NAB Show, Prioritizing Member Value
Brie Clayton April 1, 2025
0 Comments
IABM is delivering a strategic transform...
01/04/2025
OOONA Introduces Multilingual QC Tool for Subtitling Workflows
Brie Clayton April 1, 2025
0 Comments
See OOONA on booth W4209 at the NAB Show, Las Veg...
01/04/2025
Adopting open standards, the solution aims to provide workflow standardisation, allowing for automation and other innovations across a diverse range of markets
...
01/04/2025
Submissions will be accepted up until 23:59 PST on 2nd April
By Jenny Priestley
Published: March 24, 2025 Updated: April 1, 2025
Submissions will be acc...
01/04/2025
The AI issue takes a look at how AI is reshaping broadcasting, including areas such as sports commentary and archiving and storage, plus we discover how Norways...
01/04/2025
Joining the company with more than two decades of experience forging and scaling alliances in the industry, Wastcoats role will support TVUs strategic developme...
01/04/2025
At the beginning of the year, Rich Welsh, senior vice president with Deluxe, was appointed the new president of Society of Motion Picture and Television Enginee...
01/04/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK Charter's Spectrum pay TV operations are continuing its previously announced strategy of adding more streaming services to its ...
01/04/2025
HUNT VALLEY, Md. Sinclair, Inc. and its subsidiary, ONE Media Technologies, have announced that members of their leadership team will be participating in multip...
01/04/2025
01 04 2025 - Media release Bus Stop Films' first feature Boss Cat to begin production in June
Boss Cat cast (L-R): Olivia Hargroder, Penny Downie and Juli...
01/04/2025
PremiumBeat - Flexible, Unlimited Music For Creators
Brie Clayton March 31, 2025
0 Comments
Back in November of 2024, PremiumBeat made a bold move tha...
01/04/2025
MLB 2025: TNT Sports Chooses Remote Production for MLB Tuesday,' Upgrades C...
01/04/2025
SVG All-Stars: Francisco Contreras, Executive Director, Field Operations, FOX Sp...
01/04/2025
MILTON drones get a boost with Rohde & Schwarz SIGINT integration Rohde & Schwarz and MILTON have partnered to integrate advanced signals intelligence technol...
01/04/2025
Rohde & Schwarz presents comprehensive R&S ELEKTRA portfolio for reproducible, s...
01/04/2025
Create Complex Compositions with Unlimited Layers with FOR-A MixBoard Powered by ClassX...
01/04/2025
Article courtesy of Digital Production Germany
Read the article
Digital Production Germany magazine editor, Bela Beier, recently talked to Nara's Steve Br...
01/04/2025
Article courtesy of Digital Media World
Read the article
Light Iron uses Nara to handle file navigation, content streaming and information sharing workflow ef...
01/04/2025
Article courtesy of British Cinematographer
Read the article
DoP Don Burgess, VFX supervisor Kevin Baillie and colourist Maxine Gervais pulled their talents t...
01/04/2025
Polesi ski made a name for himself early in his career. Renowned for his attention to detail and ability to mix his creative and technical skills, Polesi ski st...
01/04/2025
visionOS 2.4 is available today, bringing the first set of powerful Apple Intelligence features that help users communicate, write, and express themselves on Ap...
01/04/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and...
31/03/2025
Ready, set, Party Time!' SBS News empowers young voters with a new politica...
31/03/2025
31 January, 2024
Company News
Tokyo, January 31, 2024 - Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501) today announced the following executive
changes to improve corporate value....
31/03/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., March 31, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) has complete...
31/03/2025
Vice Admiral Jan Willem Hartman, commander of the Dutch Materiel and IT Command, and Chris Aebli, President, Tactical Communications, L3Harris Technologies, sig...
31/03/2025
The L3Harris team visited HMS GLASGOW, the first T26 Global Combat Ship, current...
31/03/2025
SEATTLE As the WNBA prepares to kick off the 2025 season, the Seattle Storm WNBA team has announced a multi-year deal with Sinclair's KOMO and KUNS station...
31/03/2025
Digital Nirvana, a provider of leading-edge AI-powered media solutions, today announced a global Alliance Partnership with Avid to bring advanced AI metadata c...
31/03/2025
BeckTV, a premier systems integrator for the broadcast media industry, today announced that Kate Gazdic has joined the company as a senior procurement specialis...
31/03/2025
MainConcept, a leading provider of video and audio codecs, has announced a series of key codec advancements that enable customers to realize significant time an...