WILLOW MIRZA

Bio

Willow Mirza is an emerging writer and alumni of the 2018 BBC Comedy Writers Room where her script was chosen from over 3000 entries. Most recently she has worked as assistant writer to Romesh Ranganathan and as part of a team of writers on Nick Love’s upcoming Sky series A Town Called Malice.

Willow’s current television projects include WICKED with Lucy Lumsden; BURIED, a dark comedy/drama with Chris Clark and Working Title; and GALDEM, a comedy about a wannabe girl gang from West London based on Willow’s own experiences, with Big Talk.

Willow’s personal work centres on multidimensional female characters; with a keen interest in social class, LGBTQ+ issues and mental health.

TITLE OF FEATURE: NORM

Depressed, repressed, and totally forgettable, Norm is a complete failure at life. But when Norm’s passion for true crime sets him on a path to find a monster he sees the bright lights of fame in his future...although things might turn out a little differently than Norm imagined. Is the real monster the one in the mirror?

Sabina Smitham

Bio

Sabina Smitham is founder of Hinterland Pictures, an independent production company with a slate of feature films and TV. She has several features in development, including with the BFI, BBC Films and financier / co-producer Pia Pressure.

Sabina’s most recent short film was produced with the support of Film4 and premiered at the BFI London Film Festival 2021 (JOY, dir. Alexandra Brodski). She is in post-production on short film ORIGINAL SKIN for BBC Film (directed by Screen International Screen Star of Tomorrow Mdhamiri á Nkemi, and written by Eve Hedderwick Turner), which is now being developed as a feature film.

Alongside her work with Hinterland, Sabina develops original film and HETV projects as Development Producer with Faye Ward’s Fable Pictures. Sabina is a BIFA voter, a member of BAFTA Crew X BFI network, and she has participated in the Edinburgh International Film Festival Talent Lab and the Les Arc Talent Village.

TITLE OF FEATURE: THE DOULA

A pregnant woman is gaslit by her charismatic doula as part of an occult plot to steal her baby.