BAFTA Young Game Designers Awards 2016 programme

23 July 2016

BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, London

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HRH The Duke of Cambridge, KG President of the Academy

Welcome to the 2016 BAFTA Young Game Designers Awards.

As we celebrate our sixth year of the Young Game Designers Awards program it is with a little sadness that I come to end of my tenure here at BAFTA as chair of the Games Committee and part of the YGD team.

Having helped start Young Game Designers and remaining involved ever since, I have been incredibly proud of the achievements of the finalists, winners and the YGD initiative itself. I remember Dan Pearce as the first ever winner touring my studio as a youngling with his two team mates, just as the winners of today’s awards will go on to do. From there it has been inspiring to see Dan become a Breakthrough Brit and BAFTA nominee, and reinforcing precisely why we started this initiative – to help inspire the next generation of game creators.

The introduction of the game making award was a particular highlight during my time involved with YGD. It was, and still is, incredible to see how well the young entrants can already program and create games.

Finally seeing the awards extend to include the YGD Hero and Mentor awards is something I am also very proud of. It is vital that the creative recognition is given to people that support the development process and those that inspire us to create even more.

To give our Young Game Designers that same support would not be possible without our industry partners: Criterion Games, Google, Jagex, Pinewood Games, Sony Computer Entertainment, SEGA, Ubisoft, Unity and WB Games UK. We gratefully thank them all for their generous support in extending the reach of this program. I would like to especially thank Nominet Trust as our main partner this year, without whom much of the 2016 Young Game Designers initiative would not have been possible.

Best of luck to all nominees and have an excellent ceremony!

Harvey Elliott Chairman, BAFTA Games Committee

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BAFTA YGD 2016 BAFTA Young Game Designers (YGD) aims to inspire the UK’s game creators of the future by giving young people the chance to design and make their own game. The competition is part of a year-round programme of activity that gives young people and educators unique insights into the games industry and access to the creative minds behind some of their favourite games.

What were our judges looking for?

Our judges were looking for original game ideas that they felt could be sold to the general public‌ for Game Making they were also looking at the skills of the programmer and the level design!

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What have some of our winners been up to?

Jack Reynolds Game Concept 15 -18yrs (2015)

Louis Jackson Game Making 10 -14yrs (2015)

“I’m now in my penultimate year of school studying Maths, Physics, Computer Science and Drama.

Winning showed me that I actually have a talent for something I’m very passionate about. It gave me the confidence and encouragement I needed to continue making games.”

“I’ve met a lot more “Winning YGD showed game developers since me that it is possible last year. I recently met to have a career in with developers from games and taught me The Chinese Room, to have more faith in who won three BAFTA myself. Everything that Games Awards this I have learnt from year! They’ve been BAFTA and the really helpful, giving experiences I’ve had me tips on how to have been invaluable.” market and publish my games and learning how the industry works in general.”

A right Royal visit to Abertay…

Seeing your game or game concept developed further at Abertay University is just one of the fantastic prizes available for the winners of the YGD Game Concept and Game Making Awards. Last year royalty even got involved!

Rhianna Hawkins Game Concept (2014)

THE NOMINEES

GAME CONCEPT AWARD 10–14 YEARS

For the most creative and original concept for a new game

GIRLGANG Zoe Denning Alice Li “In a dystopian reality, there is only one saviour from tyranny and destruction: G I R L G A N G. The player must choose which of the five G I R L G A N G members they want to play as to fight off alien beings.”

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Blast Off! Indumita Prakash “This is a fun, enriching journey beyond the four corners of our Earth! In my game, children learn about the different planets in our Solar System. Laika, the first ever dog in space, is their fun ‘tour guide’ who tells them about the planets.”

Ice Cream Avalanche

Imagibots – Save Eden Green

Kyle Randall

Aysheq Hussain

“The objective of the game is that in each level you must catch ice cream balls that are falling from the sky, but watch out because trash and rubbish will also be falling from the sky and you don’t want a banana skin in your ice cream tower.”

“One day out of the blue, Professor Eden received a telephone call from the Mayor of Eden Green.

It was terrible news, there was a massive asteroid on a collision course for the village and apparently there was nothing the government could do to save Eden Green from being obliterated.”

Cross Keys

The Extra Experiment Fluffology©

Ellen O’Regan

Ethan Smith

“Many years ago, the typelings and other electrical devices lived merrily in their unique home planet: Computiper. It was in a completely different solar system before a virus tragically struck their world destroying almost every byte and bit. Now it’s the typeling’s turn to help with their heroic leader King Key.”

“The Extra Experiment is a colourful yet challenging puzzle game set in a strange facility where you control four different characters each with a different superpower.

Each character can do something different – Control Fire, Control Water, Control the Ground or Control the Air. You go through the game by completing puzzles and learning about how you ended up in the facility.”

Ria Paulraj-Cooper “Fluff-Puff is a cross between a hairy Ewok and a colourful pink ball of fluff with hands and legs. Fluff-Puff is obsessed about science – biology, chemistry and physics and wants to be a botanist when she is all grown up. Fluff-Puff travels from site to site learning about evolution, taxonomy, ecology, biology, environmental biology and conservation.”

Leap Frog

Supernatural Café

Josh Golding

Vyrahlotte Sidonie Sutcliffe Charlotte Campbell “You start with Earth – 4,000 million Vyshnavhee Gurunathan years ago, before any life has

“You’re a small frog on a small lily pad. You get points by eating flies, dragon flies and other small insects.

The more you eat the more points “Supernatural Café is a challenging, you score and the bigger you get. competitive and interactive game As you grow in size you become too which never gets boring! Users can heavy for the lily pad and so you will play as different mythical creature sink. It’s frogtastic!” customers in this ‘supernatural café’ or a member of the waiting staff and can even play against other users.”

Tree of Life

evolved. Your first job is to populate the planet with Bacteria – you design the Bacteria and set them free to colonise the planet. Some of them may thrive and multiply, some of them may die out.”

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THE NOMINEES

GAME CONCEPT AWARD 15–18 YEARS

For the most creative and original concept for a new game

Antibody Jack Harding “In my game you play as an antibody named Glob that is tasked with saving the life of the host he is injected into. Glob must use a variety of weapons to defeat malicious bacteria and viruses to save the life of his host.”

Last Alive

Salt Without Pepper

Save the Rainforest

Vilte Bendziute

Bethany Maia Evans

Lauren Calvert

“An astronaut finds out a journey to a distant planet has left her as the last human alive, miles away from Earth, and attempts to navigate back home under the guidance of an AI developed by an alien species.”

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“In a charming tale of friendship and heroism, behold the great lengths Salt will go to in order to remain with his partner Pepper. While the food industry attempts to separate the duo by replacing Pepper with a new spice, Capiel, we must guide Salt through a series of obstacles in order to reunite the pair.”

“Protect the rainforest at all costs in this fun, action-packed and educative game. The Amazon Rainforest is constantly bombarded with threats, ranging from forest fires to poachers. The player is given a section of rainforest that they have to try to protect. The ultimate goal is to save your rainforest for as long as possible.”

The Ashes Call My Name Jordan Han “The Ashes Call My Name is a 2D puzzle game where the player solves the puzzles in either Constructive or Destructive ways.

Azar has been swept away from their home: a literal hotspot known as The Pyros right at the base of The Great Torch. They need to navigate their way home through the forest they and their fellow flames only previously referred to as ‘The Dark’.”

Blokwork

Fallen Kingdom

Madison Riley

Daniel Wood

“Blotch is a small blob of black ink that is navigating the worlds after the creature escaped, looking for the rest of the Blots and their palettes. Solve the puzzles in each world to find the missing Blots.”

Vista

Working Stiff

Phase 18 James Clements Lauren Farwell Jacob Deacon

Aryaan Awais

“Vista is an episodic, choice-based game about life. Through the perspectives of playable sisters, Eva and Celia, players can shape and experience their lives as they both go through very different periods of turmoil. How strong or weak their relationship is by the end of the game is entirely down to your choices.”

“Working Stiff is a game of management, organisation and tactical tricks based in a restaurant.

From acknowledging the customers to creating your cuisine, it is a systematic procedure which is designed to make you feel anxious and alert.”

“The game is about climbing to the top of the hierarchy in a medieval setting. It follows similar rules to chess except it does not include the limitations of movement from each piece. The game is a strategy game in which you control troops of soldiers such as rooks, knights, bishops, a queen and a king.”

YOU ARE BEING FOLLOWED Nic Gordon “YOU ARE BEING FOLLOWED is a virtual reality story-driven game, containing puzzle and exploration elements, where you only see what you can hear. You control Emma, a blind woman, driven by paranoia to leave the noise of her home in a bustling metropolis in pursuit of a place of complete silence.”

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THE NOMINEES

GAME MAKING AWARD 10–14 YEARS

For the best original game made using freely available software

Apocalypse Alpha Charlie Thurston “The world has been ravaged by a deadly and mysterious infection known as The Judgement, the lucky ones are dead and the minds of survivors are destroyed. Society crumbles and those left with their humanity intact must fight to survive.

Throughout the game you must scavenge for supplies and weapons, fight your way through the hordes of Infected and reach the Airbase in one piece.”

Gravity

Illuminate

Kyta

Aasmaan Yadav

Harry Petch

Mindscape Merle Durant Timothy McCarthy Natasha Hayball

“The main objective is to hit the sun with one of your asteroids but you only have a certain amount of asteroids for each level. Some planets block you from hitting the target, and you have to use the gravity of planets to slingshot/re-aim your asteroids so that they hit the sun. There are different types of planets, so far Jupiter, Pluto and Earth.”

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“Illuminate is a platform game where you can’t see the level and where you need to go. You must navigate each of the levels and reach the door at the end of each level. But if the level is shrouded in darkness, how will you be able to see where you are going?”

“Kyta is an action game with a pixel graphics atmosphere and hopefully adorable twist. The player controls a small cat shaped character using the arrow keys. In story mode, the player will watch a short intro where the two main characters explain what’s going on; the boss must be destroyed to complete the level and free a randomly generated villager.”

Box Maze

Crab Catcher

Genre

Zak Buzzard

Kyle Randall

Jay Bennett

“You are a red box trapped in a maze of 20 levels; each level is harder than the one before. You must get to level 20 to escape the maze and beat the game. The game is two dimensional except for the final level where the game shows the third dimension as the camera rotates in an unexpected way, revealing the final exit.”

“The main aim of my game is to become the crab catcher champion. Each time you complete a level, the next one becomes even more of a challenge… The amount of crabs in the level, the number of sharks in the level, the score to reach in the level and/or number of creatures in the level at once change through the game.”

“Genre is an homage to the classic 8-bit collection of games that started the gaming industry.

You’re a square in an unfamiliar world, and you have discovered new powers. Genre feels and is familiar to a lot of people, but with its own unique spin of combining the different genres of games, and it is this idea that makes Genre unique.”

Medic

QuirkArt

System Guardian

Louis Jackson

Sophia Snow

Scott Parker

“You play as Pete, a medic part of a “The main concept of QuirkArt is very “Hackers have infiltrated your rebel group in an unidentified war simple: an avatar travels around, computer, uploading a virus in order set in 1950’s Britain. Your goal is to drawing a line behind it. However, to steal the invaluable computer re-join your former allies by travelling there’s way more to it than this, it’s core. System Guardian is a unique towards them using notes they have quirky, fun and surprising! There are scrolling game, where the player, left. To overcome terrain, you need three modes on QuirkArt: Free Mode, a piece of anti-virus software, has to to solve mind-bending puzzles and Guess Mode and Trail Mode.” fight numerous viruses and retrieve think outside the box to keep up the computer core. You face a with your lost allies and take down significant decision at the end – the enemy.” will you choose wisely?”

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THE NOMINEES

GAME MAKING AWARD 15–18 YEARS

For the best original game made using freely available software

Abandoned Mine Playing with Concepts Jordan Power Joseph Reynolds Karl McCrae “A randomly generated re-playable semi rogue-like side-on adventure with enemies to shoot at and bullets to dodge. You control a character named Phil. Phil has a magic slingshot and uses it to attack enemies. The goal of the game is to go through all the levels, defeat any bosses you encounter and win!”

Metal Labyrinth

MINUTEMAN

Ow

Tom Panton

Jim Bruges

Vaida Plankyte

“In Metal Labyrinth the player must “MINUTEMAN is a twine adventure navigate a procedurally generated game about a nuclear dawn, space-station, fighting turrets and curiosity and adventure. Uncover enemy spaceships while collecting the long shadow of the Cold coins to upgrade and customise War as you delve deeper into their spaceship. The player is able an abandoned fallout bunker.” to pilot ships they find, each having different attacks, speeds and health.

If the player runs out of health they have to restart their entire run, adding an element of challenge.”

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“Ow is a two-player local multiplayer cuddling game inspired by real events. The two players can choose between playing competitively or collaboratively. The goal of the game is to match the cuddling positions that are being shown by moving your character’s limbs with four keys, faster than your opponent.

However, the keys are mapped in a way that doesn’t make it easy to learn!”

Capeless Heroes

Cell0

EVVADE

Capeless Heroes Gabriel Aldridge Josh Curry-Glasper

Max Baraitser Smith

Syd Lambert

“In this game, you must rush into a burning building to extinguish fires, rescue civilians and recover valuables before the integrity of the house causes it to collapse right on top of you! With a top-down view and a retro feel of crisp pixel graphics creating a well-polished and highly-researched little indie game.”

“In Cell0, you play as a classic game character up against a series of lethal entities, which morph their shape and size to stop you getting past. The game is made up of two parts, day and night. Each part uses an arcade style structure, where the objective is to progress to the end without getting hit.”

“In Evvade, the player must collect as many green orbs as possible whilst avoiding the enemy drones that spawn with each orb collected; the more points you collect, the harder the game becomes. With an easy to master control system, classic feel and a minimal aesthetic, Evvade is easy to pick up and very addictive.”

Space Drifter

Spectrum

Stepfish

Calum McCartan

Daniel Smith

Team Stepfish Joseph Burton Moses Burton

“The player pilots a spaceship through an asteroid field from a top down perspective. The objective is to defeat waves of enemies.

Between waves the player can buy upgrades from a station. The ship has no friction which makes flying fun and challenging.”

“Spectrum is a mind-bending first person puzzler that challenges you to switch colours and manipulate gravity in order to escape a “Stepfish is a platform game in the digital labyrinth. You don’t know style of old retro games such as why you’re there or what the Manic Miner. The catch is that purpose of the place is. The only you’re not always sure if you can way to navigate the chambers is step on that platform… Or if you completing increasingly challenging can go through that spike… Are puzzles; the more you overcome, you the right colour to proceed?” the more you learn the dark secrets this digital place hides.”

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THE NOMINEES

YGD MENTOR Matthew Applegate Founder, Creative Computing Club Suffolk

The BAFTA YGD Mentor Award recognises individuals who have made an effort to inspire and mentor young people to learn more about programming and game design skills, in particular those who’ve helped young people that might not have had an opportunity to explore games creation otherwise.

“I’ve had a great time in my life making and playing video games, I knew I needed to create a pipeline for those interested in making games to get involved early.

I started an after school club and it’s emails from parents and teachers saying they have noticed that this student is more engaged or has a lot more confidence that really motivates me. ”

Matthew McGrory

Michael Warburton

Terry Watts

Senior Lecturer in Games Art & Design (Designer)

Head of Games Development, Lecturer and Founder of Rizing Games

Head of Computing & IT

Teesside University

Cotham School, Bristol

Cambridge “I’m a passionate gamer, games “Playing games is fun! Talking about designer and teacher. Having games is fun! Learning about games “Helping young people on their spent five years designing games is fun! So making games should be career paths is more than just about and eight years teaching I enjoy a whole lotta fun! This has always games creation. Though they do delivering games development and been my motivation to engage need the technical skills to succeed, programming. I’ve made games with young people. I am lucky many also need nurturing to believe programming an integral part of the to help young people explore in themselves. My mission: it’s about curriculum we deliver at school as it something they are passionate making the learning experience challenges and engages students. about, help them make new as ‘Real World’ as possible and I find the excitement and energy friends, get over their issues giving young people the most that students put into developing and explore their imaginations.” empowering and engaging learning their games a joy to be a part of.” environment for them to succeed!”

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Graham Foucher

Vee Lakhani

Ryan Laley

Games Development Lecturer

Subject leader for ICT/ Computing CGS

Student Manager and Lecturer

South Essex College “My motivation for teaching is using Games Development as a platform for integrating students back in to education. It is about seeing each student grow as an individual and starting to see their own potential and then taking that potential through to higher levels of study or even into the workplace.”

Chesham Grammar School “Since my introduction into Chesham Grammar, I have worked incredibly hard to engage young students in Computer Science and Programming. My main aim is to continue to help developing excellent young games designers and developers, and to keep helping young enthusiastic boys and girls to create games which they have designed using their imagination and ideas.”

South Essex College “The young people I teach come to me from a variety of backgrounds, but every one of them has at least a single commonality; their passion for games and games creation.

Their imagination and creativity coupled with that passion has led to me seeing work that amazes me. I look forward to showing these young people the newest tools, techniques and technology every day.”

Simon Webb

Patricia West

Amanda Wilson

Code Club Leader and Curator of the Museum of Computing

Teacher of ICT and Computing

Volunteer Computing Expert

Horndean College

West College, Scotland

Swindon “The Museum of Computing is a unique venue to teach children games programming. To have working games gives them a unique insight into games and game programming. My focus is on playability, encouraging children to look at what makes a great game and then coming up with their own.

I remember the excitement when I started programming and I can see that same excitement in my students.”

“I run a Computer Games Club “I hope that at least some children exclusively for girls, it is vital that we will realise that there is a potential do not miss out on the innovations, out there for them making games solutions, and creativity that females through attending my game could bring. It is important students jams and that it’s not for a limited are inspired by Games Design and audience to make games but STEM related qualifications, it will they themselves are capable help them to become successful of achieving such a goal.” problem solvers and promote digital communication skills that will benefit them for life.”

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Founded in 2006 by a group of like-minded friends looking for new creative challenges, Media Molecule has grown from humble beginnings to becoming one of the industry’s most pioneering developers, constantly pushing the boundaries between the player and the creator.

Whilst maintaining a small family feel, Media Molecule has gone on to develop multi-award winning, critically acclaimed titles such as LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet 2, Tearaway and Tearaway Unfolded. The studio consistently aims to tell beautiful and compelling stories that give players the power to go forth and create their own adventures and their own worlds.

Now in its 10th year, Media Molecule is setting its sights even higher with an ambitious new title for Playstation 4 – Dreams – a spiritual successor to LittleBigPlanet. Set in a 3D space, dreams will offer deeper and more advanced tools, giving players the power to create more than just games, but entire pieces of art – whether it’s music, films, animations or sculpture. The opportunity for intersection between the art and gaming worlds is now greater than ever, and is something that Media Molecule is looking to achieve with Dreams.

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YGD INDUSTRY HERO Media Molecule is a video game development studio based in the bustling market town of Guildford – an unexpected leafy hub for British games development.

“We are completely thrilled and honoured to be presented with the BAFTA YGD Hero Award. At Media Molecule, we are passionate about meeting the future generation of games makers and encouraging them to follow their dreams. It’s always so inspiring to see how much talent and dedication these incredible young people have and we can’t wait to see what the future holds – we’re in good hands!”

BAFTA YGD is held in association with

“Year on year, the Young Game Designers competition offers young people a unique opportunity to focus their passions and talents on creating imaginative games.

Through our partnership with BAFTA, we are proud to offer young people from all backgrounds a platform to develop their digital skills and make the industry connections they need to become the game makers and designers of the future. The programme is a great way to encourage more young women to pursue careers in game design, helping to address the gender gap in the UK’s digital industry. We’re excited to see the creativity and originality in this year’s entries and wish all the finalists the best of luck.”

Edward Evans Director of Strategy and Partnerships at Nominet Trust www.nominettrust.org.uk

BAFTA YGD would not be possible without the generous backing of our partners. From offering amazing prizes to our lucky winners expertise and participating in our judging panels and upcoming video series, their support has been invaluable.

Criterion Games (An EA Studio) “Helping young people to be digital creators is a mission that Electronic Arts and Criterion Games are proud to support. We are passionate about inspiring, supporting, educating and working with a new generation of gamemakers. Working with BAFTA YGD is something we have done for the past three years and we are very happy to be involved again.

We always feel truly inspired when we work with young people as they bring a fresh perspective and such great energy and enthusiasm.”

Google “Great teachers inspire us, listen to us and learn from us; they bring the most mundane subjects to life.

Technology can help great teachers do what they do best – stimulating minds and fostering skills in the next generation – and make learning even more rewarding for students.”

Jagex “YGD continues to be an excellent opportunity for young people to experience a sliver of what the ‘real’ games industry has to offer.

By taking part, these budding game designers get to rub shoulders with industry professionals, an utterly priceless experience as they begin to work towards their careers!”

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Pinewood Games “Pinewood Studios is a home for creative talent. We aim to provide the facilities, services and people to help turn dreams into reality – in games, films and television.

Pinewood Games are very proud to be partnering with BAFTA and other industry leaders to help build a future generation of talent and demonstrate that through fun, hard work and determination, anything is possible.”

SEGA “SEGA are proud to offer our continued support to the BAFTA YGD. It’s always an inspiration to see such talented and creative minds coming together demonstrating an innovative spirit and pushing the boundaries of game development.

A great showcase of what is set to be the future of British gaming.”

Sony Computer Entertainment “Being part of the BAFTA YGD program offers a terrific opportunity to connect with the next generation of game creators. At Sony Computer Entertainment, we’re actively shaping the future of game development education through our PlayStation First academic program, putting PlayStation into the hands of young, up-and-coming developers. We’re delighted to partner with BAFTA once again and help usher in a new wave of talent.”

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Ubisoft “We’re delighted to be supporting this year’s BAFTA Young Game Designers Awards. The future of the games industry lies in the hands of budding new talent, and it is awards like the YGD that give them a fantastic platform to showcase their incredible skills.”

Unity “YGD encourages young designers to think about the processes involved in making the commercial games they play. Using that knowledge and their imagination they can come up with something new and personal. The design of YGD to include both coding and design means the less technical can still contribute. Studios need people with different skills – not everyone is a killer coder.”

WB Games UK “We’re proud to be a BAFTA YGD industry partner. Investing in the next generation of creative talent is vital to the future of the industry: that’s why, through this programme – and Warner Bros. Creative Talent – we are working in partnership with BAFTA to support upcoming talent. ”

Acknowledgements With Thanks To

For BAFTA

Hosts Jane Douglas Ben Shires

Director of Learning & New Talent Tim Hunter

Script Anthony Richardson Set Design Tom Denning Set Install Crew 4 Camera Operators Jonathan Dibley Darren Lovell John Maloney Tom Seal Suzanne Smith Prompting Facilities Portaprompt Photographers Hannah Hutchins Mollie Rose Skeffington

Official Partners Nominet Trust Criterion Games (an EA Studio) Google Jagex Pinewood Games Sony Computer Entertainment SEGA Ubisoft Unity WB Games UK University of Abertay Dundee

Juries With thanks to all readers, jury members, chairs and 195 Piccadilly

BAFTA YGD Steering Group Harvey Elliott (chair) Ray Maguire Jo Twist The Academy chooses Amadeus Primo Silk, supporting excellence in print. Publication printed on Amadeus Primo Silk 150g/m² supplied by Denmaur Independent Papers.

The carbon impact of this paper has been measured and balanced through the World Land Trust, an ecological charity. www.denmaur.com

Director of Production Clare Brown YGD Campaign Producer Kerry Rizzo YGD Project Coordinator Melissa Phillips Production Team Ryan Doherty Cassandra Hybel Sophie Klein Jamie Ryan Editing Daniel Dalton Trey Farley PR & Learning Campaigns Managers Niyi Akeju Eleanor Pickering Online Team Oli Goldman Emma Raczowski Partnerships Sam D’Elia Thessa Madden Graphic Design Joe Lawrence Additional Support Julia Carruthers Abigail Carter Claire Stratton Alexa Tamsett Ciara Teggart British Academy of Film and Television Arts 195 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LN T: 020 7734 0022 F: 020 7292 5869 www.bafta.org Chair Jane Lush Chief Executive Amanda Berry OBE Chief Operating Officer Kevin Price

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