York-based Oscar winner launches own production company

Serena Armitage, who won an Oscar earlier this year for her film Stutterer, has launched her own production company following a grant from the British Film Institute (BFI).

Serena’s new company Red Breast Productions will be based in York.

Serena said: “What an incredible year this has been. First an Oscar for Stutterer, which was beyond my wildest dreams, and now this Vision Award from the BFI, which has allowed me to set up my own independent production company.

“My focus will be on developing Yorkshire talent and I look forward to collaborating with filmmakers in the region. Visually, Yorkshire is stunning and diverse, providing the perfect backdrop for our work.

“I am seeking out character-driven stories with specific focus on female-led narratives and ‘outsider’ themes like social mobility, disability and immigration.

It’s important to find the personal and the heart in these stories and present them in an accessible way. For me compelling drama often includes humour, it’s a great way for the audience to engage with characters. I’m attracted to stories that have a good balance of light and shade.“

Serena previously spent several years working for ITV owned production company Shiver as a director and producer on shows like Come Dine With Me, Piers Morgan’s Life Stories and Paul O’Grady’s For The Love of Dogs.

Serena will continue to work alongside ITV, which has been “incredibly supportive.”

The Vision Awards provide support and funding for UK producers to help them build a career as they develop relationships and projects with different filmmakers, contributing to the cultural and economic success of the UK’s film industry.

A spokesman for the BFI said: “This year The BFI’s Vision Awards will give 22 production companies a degree of creative and financial autonomy to develop their ideas, an increase on the number of Vision Awards that it anticipated making initially (from 20 awards to 22), in response to the number of strong applications received through an open and competitive application process. Overall, almost 500 companies applied for the Awards this year.

The Vision Awards will now invest a total of £2.2m of National Lottery money into 22 of the UK’s most promising production companies.

Stutterer, which won the Short Film Live Action category in the Oscars this year, is a drama which tells the story of the struggles a young man with a cruel speech impediment, but an eloquent inner voice.

After falling in love on-line, he has to face his greatest fear – meeting and speaking to his new-found love in person. It has been described as “a roller-coaster ride of joy, doubt and romance in the digital age.”

In Stutterer Matthew Needham (Sherlock) stars as the eponymous hero, alongside Chloe Pirrie (Shell, Burn, Burn, Burn) and Eric Richard (The Bill).