Celebrating eleven years of BAFTA Breakthrough talent
For over 10 years BAFTA has played an impeccable role in the entertainment industry. It’s championed creatives from all over the world and focused on those in the Global South but outside of awards presentations and screenings the charity has shone a light on creators who have been doing amazing things through its BAFTA Breakthrough initiative. To celebrate this, The Floor Mag is rounding up some of the previous recipients and sharing where you can currently access their craft. DESTINY EKARAGHA (Director) Ekaragha was a recipient of the BAFTA Breakthrough in 2014 (the first cohort). Since 2014 she has carried on working in the industry as a director and writer working on the award winning Apple TV production Ted Lasso as an episodic director. Ekaragha also directed four episodes of the BAFTA award winning Channel 4 drama End of The F***ing World starring Naomi Ackie. Most recently (2024) she directed Audible’s 1984 starring Cynthia Ervio, Andrew Scott and Tom Hardy. MALACHI KIRBY (Actor) Known for playing the heavy role of Kunta Kinte in the four-part adaptation of Roots in 2016, Malachi Kirby has since become a well-known face on British television. He has since appeared in Netflix’s Black Mirror, period comedy film Wicked Little Letters alongside Jessie Buckley and Olivia Colman, and the critically acclaimed anthology series Small Axe . Most recently (2024) he starred in the Ashley Walters part directed series A Thousand Blows which had its European premiere at this year’s London Film Festival. SUSAN WOKOMA (Actor/Writer) Largely known for her work in comedy, Susan Wokoma is also no stranger to London’s theatres. She was a series regular in Michaela Coel’s cult comedy Chewing Gum as well as a regular in BBC’s comedy Cheaters . Wokoma also writes having had her short film screened in 2019 at London Film Festival. She was also a part of the writer’s room for Netflix’s Sex Education . She has just completed a run of The Real Thing at The Old Vic sharing a stage with Bel Powley. PAAPA ESSIEDU (Actor) Starring in Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You , Paapa Essiedu started out as a performer with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His work in TV straddles many genres including gritty crime drama, Sky TV’s Gangs of London and sci-fi heavy weights The Lazarus Project , Black Mirror: Demon 79 and The Capture. His work in feature films includes the Alex Garland project, Men which starred Jessie Buckley, Murder on the Orient Express and most recently The Outrun , where he starred alongside Saoirse Ronan. Essiedu’s last three theatre performances, A Number by Carol Churchill, The Effect by Lucy Prebble and Death of England: Delroy by Clint Dyer and Roy Williams have all been met with critical acclaim. DANIEL LAWRENCE TAYLOR (Writer/Actor) Known for his comedy writing Daniel Lawrence Taylor is most well known for creating and starring in the show Timewasters . The comedy was BAFTA nominated and Most recently he appeared in the new Netflix series KAOS , starring Jeff Goldblum. He is also set to return to our screens as Gus in series two of BBC Three’s Boarders , a show that he created. ABIGAIL DANKWA (Multi-Cam Director) Known for her work in multiple camera directing, Abigail Dankwa has directed over 50 episodes of the TV game show Pointless . Dankwa was a Stage Manager for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, which propelled her career. She then went on to work with UEFA and across the Big Brother franchise. She has also worked as a Gallery Director on the award winning Channel 4 series 24 Hours in A&E . RUKA JOHNSON (Costume Designer) Costume designer and stylist Ruka Johnson has worked across TV and music. Her work includes styling for Adidas, international band Coldplay and feature films and TV shows. She has twice collaborated with writer Theresa Ikoko on her projects Rocks and Grime Kids . You can see Johnson’s latest work in the HBO/Channel 4 series Get Millie Black which is set to air later this year in the UK. HEATHER BASTEN (Casting Director) Casting across some of the UK biggest production companies, Heather Basten has worked in TV, film and theatre. She’s casted for the following tv and film projects, A24 and BBC’s Dreaming Whilst Black , Blumhouse’s Dashcam , Universal’s Speak No Evil and Paramount’s Sumotherhood . Basten’s theatre work includes, Young Vic’s Passing Strange, Benethea’s Place, A Face in The Crowd and The Homecoming ; Bush Theatre’s House of Ife and Fair Play and the West End transfer of Red Pitch . AARON REID (Cinematographer) Working as a gaffer, camera trainee and a camera operator, Aaron Reid is now known for being the director of photography on several music videos as well as working in TV. Reid has worked with Headie One, Stormzy, Drake, Liam Payne, and Ella Eyre, amongst other names. Most recently he served as the director of photography for a number of episodes of Netflix’s Supacell . RUNYARARO MAPFUMO (Writer/Director) Known for her short films, Runyararo Mapfumo has worked across numerous TV shows including most recently Netflix’s KAOS where she directed three episodes. She also served as a director on Netflix’s teen comedy series Sex Education. She has been BIFA nominated for her feature film On Becoming a Guinea Fowl starring Susan Chardy, which was screened at the 2024 London FIlm Festival. NICÔLE LECKY (Writer/Actor/Director) Nicôle Lecky is known for creating and starring in her BAFTA award winning series Mood based on her play Superhoe . She is an accomplished writer, having written episodes of BBC’s Eastenders spin off E20 as well as an episode of Ackley Bridge. Lecky is also a singer and rapper, a talent which she featured regularly in every episode of Mood. She has also appeared in the Netflix cult series, Sense8 . Lecky can currently be seen in the new Sky thriller series, Sweetpea starring Ella Purnell. TALISHA JOHNSON (Presenter/Producer/Director) Known for her work in TV Talisha ‘Tee Cee’ Johnson is a presenter and producer known for championing Black story-telling. Her documentary Too Autistic For Black was commissioned as part of Discovery+’s Black Britain Unspoken in 2022 giving her a directors/writers credit. Johnson is also known for the BBC Three series My Mate’s a Bad Date, which was BBC Three Birmingham’s first in-house production. She is also a children’s author. You can read our interviews with last year’s BAFTA Breakthrough honourees - Vivian Oparah and Adjani Salmon . BAFTA Breakthrough is supported by Netflix.
BAFTA Breakthrough has played an impeccable role in the entertainment industry. Here are some of the honourees over the past 11 years.