Cary Fukunaga, Amma Asante Among BAFTA Breakthrough Jurors

“No Time to Die” filmmaker Cary Fukunaga and “The Handmaid’s Tale” director Amma Asante are among the jurors for this year’s British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Breakthrough initiative, supported by Netflix.

​Previously known as Breakthrough Brits, the initiative shines a spotlight on emerging talent and has been running in the U.K. since 2013 and in China since 2019. However, this year is the first time it is recognizing talent globally across the U.K., U.S., India and China.

The U.K. jury is chaired by broadcaster ITV’s head of diversity Ade Rawcliffe.

“The Breakthrough initiative showcases the enormous wealth of diverse talent breaking into the industry,” Rawcliffe said. “We have been so impressed by the amazing breadth of work we’ve seen and feel excited by the future of the industry, especially after such a challenging year.”

Successful Breakthrough applicants will receive one-to-one mentoring and career guidance, full voting membership, access to BAFTA events and networking opportunities, both in the U.K. and internationally. Previously selected talent includes Letitia Wright (“Black Panther”) and Florence Pugh (“Little Women”).

Full list of 2020 U.K. jurors

Ade Rawcliffe ​- Chair | Group Director of Diversity and Inclusion at ITV
Alison Owen ​- Producer (“Saving Mr Banks”)
Amma Asante ​- Filmmaker, screenwriter (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)
Clare Stewart ​- Festival Director
Dan Grabiner ​- U.K. Head of Unscripted at Amazon Studios
Edward Enninful ​- Editor-In-Chief, British Vogue
Fiona Shaw ​- ​Actor (“Killing Eve”)
Garry Napper ​- Game Director, Supermassive Games Ltd
Jim Jagger ​- Director of Animation, Rockstar Games
Jodie Azhar ​- Games Developer
Kate Townsend ​- Director, Original Documentary at Netflix
Melissa Johns​ – ​Actor (“Coronation Street”)
Nicole Taylor ​- Screenwriter (“Three Girls”)
Rami Ismail ​- Games Developer (“Ridiculous Fishing”)
Sara Putt ​- Craft Agent, Founder of Sara Putt Associates

Full list of 2020 U.S. jurors

Bao Nguyen ​- Director (“Be Water”)
Cary Fukunaga ​- Director (“No Time to Die”)
John Romero ​- Games Developer (“Empire of Sin”)
Kathryn Busby ​- Co-Chair | Chair of BAFTA LA and Executive Vice President,
Development & Programming, Sony Television/TriStar Television
Laura Bailey ​- Games Performer (“The Last of Us”)
Louise Chater ​- Entertainment Strategist
Maria Ishak ​- Co-Chair | Chair of BAFTA New York and ​Senior Vice President, North
America Sales, all3media
Mary Ramos ​- Music Supervisor (“Django Unchained”)
Nicole Stott ​- Producer (“Boys State”)
Paapa Essiedu ​- Actor (“I May Destroy You”)
Patrick Connolly ​- Senior Vice President, Programming and Marketing, AMC Networks

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