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\u201cIt was a massive surprise,\u201d reflects Bradford-based producer Hollie Bryan of her first feature The Ceremony receiving an outstanding British debut nomination at the 2026 Bafta Film Awards. \u201cIt felt like a validation that our small film can sit alongside those big-budget debuts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Written and directed by Jack King, the black-and-white drama follows two undocumented migrant workers at a car wash in Yorkshire tasked with giving a burial ceremony to a fellow migrant \u2013 made on a budget of \u00a3120,000 ($163,000), without any public funding. It was feted with the inaugural \u00a350,000 ($68,000) Sean Connery award at the 2024 Edinburgh International Film Festival.<\/p>\n
Bryan grew up in Grimsby, Lincoln\u00adshire, with a love of fantasy films such as The NeverEnding Story and Labyrinth. \u201cIt says a lot about the kind of stuff I like now \u2013 dark, surreal, curious characters.\u201d<\/p>\n
A foundation degree at the Northern Film School in Leeds led to work on music video sets for the likes of metal band Paradise Lost. She transitioned into electrician and stage manager roles for theatre, including the Northern Ballet. \u201cIt was the same thing I like about producing \u2013 adrenaline and risk of things going wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
She returned to the UK after a period living in Japan, laser-focused on film producing. Breakthroughs included a place on Film Hub North\u2019s first ever producers lab in 2019, producing shorts such as Alfie Barker\u2019s Toronto selection Hanging On and an associate producer role on Ken Loach\u2019s County Durham-shot The Old Oak for London-based Sixteen Films.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat paved the way to learn what it was like in the \u2018proper industry\u2019, what producing a feature means, being part of the London landscape without being in London,\u201d says Bryan.<\/p>\n
BBC Small Indie Fund awards in 2025 and 2026 followed for her company Cosmosquare Films. She is currently taking part in the 2026 Eave producers\u2019 network.<\/p>\n
Cosmosquare\u2019s slate includes Sunburn, a Spain-set ghost story at casting stage about a washed-up British psychic to be directed by King, and a dark comedy helmed by Jethro Massey (Paul & Paulette Take A Bath) about a celebrity impersonator.<\/p>\n