We Are Parable has formed the 2026 team through its talent development program, Momentum.
This year, the show, supported by Channel 4 and Sony Pictures Television, received more than 700 applications. 30 Black UK-based filmmakers made the final cut. Of the selected group, 55% are based outside of London, with filmmakers from Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Southampton, Telford, and Wolverhampton. Additionally, women make up 52% of the group.
The team includes Emmy-nominated animation director Alex Zepherin-Pinnock and Ryan Walker-Edwards, the filmmaker behind the BFI short Flare. PERSON>CODE.
Since launching in 2021, Momentum has supported 140 Black filmmakers. The program is funded by Channel 4’s 4Skills development program and is run in partnership with Channel 4’s Creative Equity team and Sony Pictures Television, with financial support from the Sony Pictures Television Creative Diversity Fund.
Advisers for the 2026 program include Nadine Marsh-Edwards’ Greenacre Films (Wealth), BAFTA-nominated producer Danielle Goff (Photos of the Month), HETV and independent filmmaker Stella Nwimo (Top Boy), BAFTA-nominated producer Victoria Thomas, producer/writer Tolu Stedford (Story Blend), BIFA-nominated director-writer Warda Mohamed, and filmmaker Rashida Seriki.
Founded by Anthony and Teanne Andrews, We Are Parable is one of the UK’s leading indie distributors. This company has brought titles like Savanah Leaf’s Mother Earth and Ramata-Toulaye Sy Banel and Adam in UK cinemas.
“What always makes Momentum important to us is that it responds to the full reality of building a career in this industry. Talent is not the issue,” said Anthony Andrews, founder and creative director of We Are Parable, in a statement.
“The question is whether filmmakers have the access, support, confidence, and relationships needed to keep moving forward, especially in an era when emerging filmmakers are navigating rising production costs, dwindling opportunities for approval, and increasing competition for development funding.”
Andrews added: “We’ve seen past cohorts use the program to develop new work, raise funds, attend festivals, and build lasting creative networks. This new cohort represents the next phase of that journey.”
Check out the 2026 Momentum collection below:
Adeyinka Akinrinade
Adeyinka is an actor and creative producer who works across British TV, theater and film. His credits include the British Urban Film Festival, BFI sponsored The Lost Land Girl, and screen roles in Riches (ITV/Amazon Prime), Champion (BBC/Netflix), Top Boy and Silent Witness. He has several short films under his belt and is about to launch his own production company, with ambitions to venture into features and TV series.
Leisha Williams
Leesha (she) is a Black photographer and filmmaker whose work explores identity, memory, motherhood and representation through honest, documentary-led storytelling. With over 10 years of experience, her practice includes digital photography, archival materials and Super 8 film. Currently a professional wedding filmmaker she is now turning to personal art projects that focus on Black motherhood, bullying and reclaiming space through storytelling.
Alex Zepherin-Pinnock
Alex is the founder of Don Dada Studio and an animation director with over a decade of experience, working with the BBC, Tate Britain, Disney and more. Don Dada Studio’s photography for The Guardian’s Give Me Shelter received an Emmy nomination. Alex now runs an animation service studio and is now transitioning to creating original IP.
Alicia Quayson
Alicia is a London-based writer and director who creates bold stories based on the British experience. His award-winning short Motherland established his voice; his first short story Bless You is in post-production. Alicia is currently in production on her first short story.
Aminah Alhamdu
Aminah is a writer, curator and filmmaker of Ghanaian and British-American nationality. He created short films supported by Rural Media and the BFI Network, and wrote four pilots and a feature script.
Andrew Boateng
Andrew is a writer, director and creator working in sci-fi, comics and social reality. Winner of the Edinburgh TV Festival New Voice Award, he has worked with Archery Pictures, Firebird and Bullion Productions, with short films recognized at BAFTA/BIFA qualifying festivals.
Bukola Bakinson
Bukola is a London-based documentary filmmaker whose RTS award-winning No Comprendo explored access to justice. His current project From Detention to Despair explores authority, care and justice in contemporary education.
Pray for Anyanwu
Cherish is a multi-disciplinary composer, DJ, producer and emerging filmmaker whose work explores music, identity, healing and ancestral themes, anchoring female-led narratives.
Elisha Ricketts
Elisha is a writer, presenter and filmmaker based in South London. He wrote, directed, narrated and starred in his first short Survival Mode, which explores trauma, resilience and retrieving narratives.
Hayden McLean
Hayden is a British-Jamaican actor, writer and filmmaker. His debut The Last Dance premiered in 2025 and has been screened at over 40 festivals worldwide, winning numerous awards and qualifying for BAFTA and BIFA. Hayden is about to make the world premiere of his second short film, and is in development for his first feature, a second feature, and a limited series adaptation of his directorial debut.
Imoje Aikoje
Imoje is a London-based filmmaker and development producer, Netflix Documentary Talent Fund student, and founder of Strayborn Ltd, with over a decade of experience across documentary and reality television.
Janet Nagudi
Janet is a Ugandan British filmmaker, writer and artist whose work imagines bold, Afrofuturistic visions of the Black Diaspora and Pan-African community. His first film was made in Birmingham involving local actors, workers, artists and businesses.
Jason C. Nwachukwu
Jason is a filmmaker based between Bristol and London whose work explores family, identity and human connection through the lens of observation, searching for ordinary beauty.
Where They Are Now He’s made short films that have been recognized at UK festivals, and is looking to continue to develop while working on his first feature.
John Kamara
John Kamara is a London-based filmmaker, writer and content creator. He independently produces, directs and distributes his own web series on YouTube, including DEBT, a three-part comedy about a bailiff drowning in debt.
Josiane Kameni
JOSY K. is a UK-based writer and emerging storyteller who creates emotionally powerful narratives based on identity, resilience, feminism, migration and healing. He develops the SEL Collection, a body of literary projects and screen adaptations.
Justin Uzomba
Justin Smith Uzomba is a Hackney-born director-writer who spent ten years in music as Mikill Pane, touring with Ed Sheeran and Mac Miller. His short FITD received high praise from Barry Jenkins. He is represented by Imagine Talent. After writing and directing two short films, he co-wrote a comedy series for C4 YouTube and directed content for Nike SNKRS – building his screen career.
Kodjo Tsakpo
Kodjo is a television drama director with credits across all of the UK’s ongoing dramas. His directing career began in 2018 with the BBC New Directors Scheme at BBC Doctors.
Korrie Powell
Korrie is a London-based film director and writer whose work is based on the diverse constructs of everyday Black life. He has five years of experience in all aspects of advertising and commercial filmmaking.
Martin Blackburn
Martin is a documentarian, film dealer and filmmaker who is currently independently making his first documentary about Raphael, a music curator who is building a global audience with his mixes. He is now directing his first documentary alongside independent projects.
Mevis Birungi
Mevis is a Ugandan-born British actress, writer, director and editor. His credits include His House (Netflix), Nakato (BBC Arts, BFI Network), and editing work on BBC and Sky Kids animation.
Michael Akuagwu
Michael is a London-born multimedia artist who began with surrealist composite photography and expanded into film and mixed media, exploring issues within black British art and design.
Nana-Kofi Kufuor
Nana-Kofi is a Ghanaian British playwright and TV presenter from Stockport. He won a Channel 4/New Writing North award for his series Dana, worked in the Sky writers’ rooms, and contributed to Hollyoaks and Waterloo Road.
Omari Swanston-Jeffers
Omari is an artist, teacher and director whose work includes dance, screenplay, stage and poetry. He has a First Class BA in Creative Writing and a Master’s in Education, and founded Ol’ Man Swanny in 2023.
Ryan Walker-Edwards
Ryan is a Birmingham-born writer, actor and director of Jamaican heritage whose work explores class, gender and race in Afro-Caribbean communities. His short MAN>CODE was screened at BFI Flare, Chicago IIFF and over thirty festivals, receiving an RTS nomination. His work is becoming more and more visible and he has received new commissions.
Shauna Paul
Shauna is a director and video editor from North London specializing in documentary and campaign work, with a raw and evocative visual style.
Simon Stewart
Simone is a Wolverhampton-born video journalist, producer and filmmaker. He has worked for BBC News and ITV Sport, and is currently supporting the UK’s first independent Windrush Commissioner. Simone has just finished shooting short films for World Afro Day, and is transitioning from broadcast journalism to personal filmmaking.
Tayo It was good
Ibitayo ‘Tsaint’ Ibikunle is a Nigerian born filmmaker, cinematographer and creative producer, a UK Endorsed Global Talent. His credits include BBC Africa Eye’s, award-winning Disciples: The Cult of TB Joshua, and his feature 60 Days is in production.
Tkay Boateng
Tkay Sophia Boateng is an emerging producer with four years of experience
Whisper and IMG throughout the UEFA Champions League and Wimbledon. His short Boys & Girls was nominated for Cannes; Castle in the Dark made it to the semifinals of the Rhode Island IIFF.
Winnie Imara
Winnie is a producer-writer from North London and a recent NFTS graduate. His work has been nominated for BIFA qualifying festivals, and he has produced projects for the BBC, Somesuch, Black Girl Fest Studios and Spotify.
