Laura Kirwan-Ashman
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Laura Kirwan-Ashman

Screenwriter, Filmmaker, Co-FounderLondon, United Kingdom
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Laura Kirwan-Ashman
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Laura Kirwan-Ashman

Screenwriter, Filmmaker, Co-FounderLondon, United Kingdom
About me
I am a writer-director whose work focuses on Blackness, queerness, and the female experience. My roots are in DIY filmmaking; in 2015 I co-founded female film collective Sorta Kinda Maybe Yeah, writing and appearing in our web series of the same name. I was chosen for the Betty Box and Peter Rogers Comedy Writing programme, BBC Comedy Writersroom, Channel 4 Commissioning Mentorship, and the 2018 BFI NETWORK @ LFF programme. I have spoken on panels, taught, programmed, and shown my work at the V&A, ICA, LSFF, LOCO Film Festival, Underwire Festival, and the BFI. My directorial debut MAGIC, a short doc about self-care and Black women, won the Eye Want Change smartphone filmmaking competition. I was recently funded to direct another short doc, PXSSY PALACE, by Converse who chose me as one of 25 female community leaders for their Spark Progress campaign. My debut feature film as a writer-director is currently in development with the BFI.
Projects
  • PXSSY PALACE
    PXSSY PALACEAn introduction to and snapshot of Pxssy Palace, a London-based QTIPOC (queer trans intersex people of colour) collective and clubnight. I was chosen by Converse as one of 25 young womxn across London to receive funding for a project of our choosing as part of their Spark Progress campaign. DIRECTOR // Laura Kirwan-Ashman PRODUCERS // Rowena Wallace + Aya Kaido DOP // Nathalie Pitters 1ST ASSISTANT CAMERA // Catharina Scarpellini GAFFER // Edel Gardner STEADICAM OPERATOR // Grant Sandy-Phillips
  • Borderlands
    BorderlandsMother Nature leaves a chilling message to humanity. I wrote the poetic monologue for this Channel 4 Random Acts film, performed by Adjoa Andoh.
  • BFI NETWORK@LFF 2018
    BFI NETWORK@LFF 2018This year BFI NETWORK welcomed applications from filmmakers who are taking creative risks, pushing boundaries of narrative and form, and forging new pathways for cinematic storytelling. The 17 participants, selected from 510 applications (almost double the number received in 2017), have an impressive range of experience across film, television, theatre and artists’ moving image. NETWORK@LFF will provide the next step in their burgeoning feature film careers with a programme that boasts mastercla
  • Directorial debut - winner of Eye Want Change smartphone filmmaking competition
    Directorial debut - winner of Eye Want Change smartphone filmmaking competitionEye Want Change promotes and spotlights Smartphone Filmmaking. We nurture creative self-expression and storytelling from a multitude of voices.  Filmmakers no longer need to depend on broadcasters and suits. Eye Want Change offers a space where creativity and passion is placed above formal education, access to equipment, large budgets and technical expertise. Inspired by the use of phones by activists across the world and by films shot entirely or in part on smartphones, we look to affordable mo
  • Sorta Kinda Maybe Yeah
    Sorta Kinda Maybe YeahTWO BEST FRIENDS AND THEIR MYSTERIOUS NEW FLATMATE NAVIGATE THE MUDDY WATERS OF IDENTITY, FEMALE FRIENDSHIP, AND MILLENNIAL MALAISE. With a self-deprecating, tongue-in-cheek approach to the often #firstworldproblems facing millennials, this series follows the lives of three young women trying to figure out who they are and what they want to be whilst living in East London. Female friendship is as complex and emotionally turbulent as the most intense romantic relationships, if not more so. When y
  • Betty Box & Peter Rodgers Comedy Writing Programme
    Betty Box & Peter Rodgers Comedy Writing ProgrammeThe Betty Box and Peter Rogers Comedy Writing Programme is being tweaked to reflect feedback on our first year. It will return in Spring 2018. As producers of the Doctor and Carry On film series respectively, as well as dozens of other films, Betty Box and Peter Rogers were giants of British film comedy. In recognition of their success, they left a generous bequest to The Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund, which among many other people and projects funds The Betty Box and Peter Rogers Comedy
Projects credited in
  • Championing Diversity: This Black History Month 2018, meet 100 creatives inspiring change
    Championing Diversity: This Black History Month 2018, meet 100 creatives inspiring changeThis Black History Month 2018, we’ve brought together a group of outstanding industry heroes to each nominate 10 black changemakers and creators that are shaping culture, arts, design, business, tech and beyond. We still have a way to go when it comes to conquering the lack of diversity in the creative industry - which is why it so important for us, as a platform, to use our force for good. To do so, throughout the year we spotlight incredible people, the projects that they are involved with
  • MAGIC (dir. by Laura Kirwan-Ashman) - editor/graphic design/sound recordist
    MAGIC (dir. by Laura Kirwan-Ashman) - editor/graphic design/sound recordist
Work history
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    Script ReaderFilm 4
    London, United KingdomFreelance
    I read and reviewed speculative scripts, providing a synopsis, analysing the execution of concept, structure, dialogue and characterisation, and assessing both the script and the writer's potential for development.
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    DirectorFor myself
    London, United KingdomFreelance
    My directorial debut 'MAGIC' - a short documentary on the importance of self-care for Black womxn - won the Eye Want Change smartphone filmmaking competition, and has been screened at the ICA and the V&A. I was recently funded to direct another short doc, PXSSY PALACE, by Converse who chose me as one of 25 female community leaders for their Spark Progress campaign. My debut feature film as a writer-director is currently in development with the BFI.
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Skills
  • Digital Media
  • Film
  • Visual Arts
  • Author
  • Critic
  • Screenwriting
  • Video
  • Creative
  • Proofreading
  • Web Content
  • Popular Culture
  • Excel
  • Office
  • Word
  • Writing
  • Directing
  • Public Speaking
  • Script Editing
  • Script Reader
  • Treatment Writing
Education
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    BA(Hons) Theatre and PerformanceLeeds University
     - Leeds, United Kingdom
    First Class Honours
Awards
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    Eye Want Change Smartphone Filmmaking Competitioneye want change
    My short documentary about the importance of self-care for young black womxn, made on an iPhone, won first place. It has been screened at the ICA and the V&A Museum.
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    Betty Box and Peter Rogers Comedy Writing ProgrammeLondon Comedy Film Festival
    I was chosen to take part in the Betty Box and Peter Rogers Comedy Writing Programme. Run by LOCO, the CTBF, and in association with Big Talk, I was funded to develop my TV comedy pilot script which deals with race in post-Brexit Britain.