Earlier this year, we announced the return of OSD’s New Initiatives Fund thanks to support from the Garrick Charitable Trust. We were thrilled to receive an incredible number of applications from our Alumni with a huge variety of projects at different stages of development.
Every single project we have been introduced to throughout the application process has been wonderfully original and well-organised professional projects. So much so that narrowing down the field for the interview stage was a real challenge. Evidence, if we ever needed it, of the quality of work our Alumni produce and of the need for greater support for early career creatives.
The shortlisted projects were invited to the interview stage in July, and from that shortlist, we’re very excited to announce today the three projects that have been awarded funds from the New Initiatives Fund 2025.
Introducing the New Initiatives Fund Recipients
Dayenu
Dayenu is a short film which follows the uneasy friendship between Cathy, a British Jewish woman, and Karol, an Austrian woman. Two generations ago, Cathy’s grandmother was saved by Karol’s family and escaped from Innsbruck during the Holocaust. When she returns to her Grandmother’s homeland, Cathy stumbles upon a figure in the snow, and unanswered questions from the past force themselves into her present.
Written by Gráinne Dromgoole, 2021 graduate of the One Year Course, and co-produced by Coline Atterbury, also a 2021 graduate of the One Year Course. Together, Gráinne and Coline will be portraying Cathy and Karol. The story was born out of a trip Gráinne and Coline took together to Austria and is deeply connected with their identities as British-Jewish and Austrian-British creators.
Other members of the Dayenu team are as follows:
- Patrick Fitzgerald, Director – a Jewish-British director currently enrolled on the Screenwriting MA at National Film and Television School.
- Hannah Collins, Producer – a Jewish-British producer who won the UK Jewish Film Short Doc Fund for a previous project, and currently works as a Script Editor for Quay Street Productions.
- Max Brunner, Director of Photography – a cinematographer with an extensive list of credits, including wins for his short films at BAFTA, BIFA and OSCAR-qualifying film festivals.
The film is planned to be shot in early January 2026 on location in Austria, with a location recce happening this November.
Mickley Lane
Mickley Lane is a searing portrait of familial and romantic intimacy, where the unspeakable is spoken, and nothing is as black and white as we want it to be. Set in an isolated flat on the edge of Sheffield, where Fran and Max are forced to confront the wreckage of their relationship. Blending verbatim with original writing, Mickley Lane is an emotionally charged exploration of coercion, control, and the desperate need to be believed.
Written by Eleanor Cross, 2023 graduate of the One Year Course and co-produced by Eleanor and Gregor Roach, also a 2023 One Year Course graduate. Mickley Lane‘s cast includes Eleanor and 2021 Three Year Course graduate Callum Cronin.
Other members of the Mickley Lane team are as follows:
- Esalan Gates, Director – a 2022 graduate of Mountview, Esalan is a BroadwayWorld UK nominee for her production The Waiting Room. Other credits include Maybe I Should Stop? (Camden Fringe) and Showcase (Southwark Playhouse).
- Arthur Campbell, Co-Producer – an actor and graduate of the University of Oxford, Arthur is co-founder of Second Quarter productions alongside Gregor Roach.
The play is part of this year’s Camden Fringe with performances from the 22nd to the 24th of August at the Hen and Chickens Theatre. You can get tickets to Mickley Lane here.
Looking ahead, the Mickley Lane team are planning a regional tour of the show, taking the play back to its Northern roots.
Youth In Flames
Youth In Flames is a visceral one-woman play set amid the 2019 Hong Kong protests. We meet Millie, a British girl living in Hong Kong, as she searches for a sense of home whilst the city in which she lives fights for its own identity. Blending euphoric techno with the intensity and chaos of a city on the brink, enter Millie’s world, where being an outsider has always been the norm.
Written and performed by 2023 Three Year Course graduate Mimi Martin and directed by 2023 Three Year Course Graduate Jessica Whiley. Youth in Flames also features voice-over from 2023 Three Year Course graduate Hari Kang. The play is inspired by Mimi’s experience growing up in Hong Kong and her connections with friends and family who were impacted by the 2019 protests.
Other members of the Youth In Flames team are as follows:
- Guy Martin, Sound Designer – a graduate of the Northern Film School specialising in sound design.
- Ciara Moss, Theatre Technician – a graduate of the Central School of Speech and Drama, Ciara is a lighting designer and sound engineer who has worked with venues such as The Southwark Playhouse, Trafalgar Theatre, and on the West End musical Operation Mincemeat.
Youth In Flames is up at the Edinburgh Fringe for the whole month of August, with tickets available here.
Room For More?
The panel were incredibly impressed with the work of all three of the successful projects. To be able to support such interesting, dynamic, and varied projects is what the New Initiatives Fund is all about
Alongside the three projects mentioned above, we wanted to briefly congratulate Ruby Crephin-Glyne, the writer and performer of another shortlisted project.
Ruby’s project, a self-penned one-woman musical, was successful in securing all its necessary funding from Arts Council England, and so Ruby graciously removed herself from the New Initiatives process.
A huge congratulations to Ruby, and we hope to share more about her project in the future!
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about Dayenu, Mickley Lane, and Youth In Flames! The professionalism of all our applicants was outstanding, and OSD wishes everyone the very best with the continuing development of all the projects involved in the New Initiatives Fund application process.
Congratulations to Gráinne, Coline, Eleanor, Gregor, Mimi and Jessica! We can’t wait to hear more about your projects as they develop from here.