We're pleased to announce Lauren Parker as our new BFI NETWORK Talent Executive.
Lauren is well-placed to deliver the support that the region's filmmakers need; Lauren has been our BFI NETWORK Midlands Talent Coordinator for the last 2 years nurturing creative talent and helping them to kick-start their careers with training opportunities. She brings extensive experience as a producer to this role, creating films for over 10 years independently and through her company Kato Pictures. Based in the East Midlands Lauren has worked with talented filmmakers across the Midlands and is passionate about sharing their talent with a wider network.
Here's what Lauren had to say about her new role:
"I'm always impressed by their dedication to discovering, developing and supporting new filmmakers. I’ve been making films in the Midlands for over 10 years, so I know first hand how talented the filmmakers are in our region and I look forward to nurturing and supporting them to achieve more."
I feel so lucky to be in a role that is actively discovering new voices and supporting filmmakers from a region that can be often be overlooked by the wider industry.
"I’m really excited to follow on from the great work already laid out before me and to continue the support for emerging filmmakers but also to showcase their work and help them make those industry connections, so we can hopefully start seeing more Midlands voices on the big screen."
Lauren Parker
For the past 2 years Lauren has worked with BFI NETWORK as Talent Coordinator for the Midlands. During this time Lauren has provided creative oversight of funded filmmaking projects, and worked closely with teams to offer guidance on their selected projects. BFI NETWORK are thrilled to see Lauren progress into her new role as Talent Executive.
Lauren is an East Midlands based producer with 10 years experience. Starting her career in television with Endemol. She has continued to progress, working for companies such as Element Pictures, CBBC, Balloon Entertainment and Netflix including Shane’s Meadow’s new TV show The Gallows Pole.
Lauren has also worked on a range of feature films and 4 years ago she forged her own production company Kato Pictures, a Nottingham based organisation working across short films, music videos and commercials. Lauren has had a great amount of success delving into feature films. She has line produced the interactive feature film As Dead As It Gets for Midlands-based Wellington Films (Calibre, The Levelling). Plus Lauren's more recent short film Majority, supported by BFI NETWORK aired on BBC 2 as part of their Festival of Comedy. Majority since went on to screen at some high profile festivals including Krakow, Palm Springs and BFI London Film Festival.
Lauren’s previous short films have played at a wide range of festivals including Frightfest, Aesthetica, LSFF, Norwich Film Festival, Stiges and has screened on the horror channel. In 2018 Lauren was selected for the Edinburgh International Film Festival Talent Lab with the feature film version of Wash Club.
Lauren has just finished the BFI NETWORK supported short Lord of the Free Range, a folk horror comedy about a vegan cult who worship a chicken which we expect to see on the festival circuit soon.