Lorna Nickson Brown
Actor / Writer / Director
Photograph: Harry Livingstone
Acting
Film, TV & Theatre
Voiceover
Acting
Lorna Nickson Brown is a director, screenwriter and actress from Birmingham, UK.
She trained at the acclaimed Drama Centre London on the BA Acting degree, winning a Laurence Olivier Bursary Award in her final year.
Lorna’s recent acting credits include Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (Carnival/Focus Features), directed by Simon Curtis; The Jetty (BBC Studios/Firebird Pictures), directed by Marialy Rivas; and The Boys in the Boat (MGM/Smokehouse Pictures), directed by George Clooney.
"Wide-eyed and openhearted" The Hollywood Reporter [LUCY THE HUMAN CHIMP]
"With Lorna Nickson Brown in the role of Janis Carter - it rings true. It's a largely silent performance by Ms. Nickson Brown, but she's our emotional touchstone." The Wall Street Journal [LUCY THE HUMAN CHIMP]
Acting Showreel
Film
| Production | Character | Director | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE | Susie | Simon Curtis | Carnival Films |
BOYS IN THE BOAT | Student | George Clooney | MGM |
THE LEPER | Emma | Hugh Mulhern | NFTS |
CHRONICLES OF COURAGE | Marian | Ernest Mills | Savage Mills |
COLD BLOW LANE | Pam | Penny Andrea | Swamp Light Productions |
TASK 2 | Lorna | Tom Nicoll | Nicoll Film Productions |
AFTER DEATH | Livvy | Gez Medinger/Robin Schmidt | Acheron Films |
BEAUTIFUL RELICS | Evie | Adrian Hedgecock | Inherited Outline |
BRASH YOUNG TURKS | Shaz | Transient Films | Ash & Naeem Mahood |
Television
| Production | Character | Director | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
THE JETTY | Kit | Marialy Rivas | Firebird Pictures / BBC Studios / BBC One |
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT | Ann 1956 | Saul Dibb | Wild Mercury/Banijay |
LUCY, THE HUMAN CHIMP (Emmy nominated) | Janis | Alex Parkinson | Keo Films / Channel 4 / HBO |
BEING BETTER | Teacher | Tom Lawes | BBC New Creatives |
THE FEED | Assistant to the President | Jill Robertson | The Feed Production Ltd/Amazon |
DOCTORS | Angela Donaldson | Debbie Howard | BBC One |
POIROT: THE LABOURS OF HERCULES | Lucinda | Andy Wilson | ITV |
BREATHLESS | Mrs Baring | Paul Unwin | ITV |
HOLBY CITY | Melody | David Tucker | ITV |
DOCTORS | Saffron | Alex Jacobs | BBC One |
Stage
| Production | Character | Director | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
THE MERCIES (R&D) | Ursa | Oliver Dawe | Oliver Dawe / Kiran Millwood Hargrave |
SUBJECT MATER | Young Sister | Oliver Dawe | Paradise in the Vault, Edinburgh Fringe Festival |
BUTTERFLIES | Lorna | Susan Lynch | The Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
OF MICE AND MEN | Curley's Wife | Roxana Silbert | The Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
INTO THY HANDS | Esther | Jonathan Holmes | Wilton's Music Hall |
TITS/TEETH | Gayle | Anna Niland | Soho Theatre |
SERIOUS MONEY | Sherill | Jonathan Mumby | The Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
HIS DARK MATERIALS | Rachel Kavanaugh | The Birmingham Repertory Theatre | |
ANTIGONE | Antigone | Tim Ford | The Young REP - The Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
THE MISANTHROPE | Celimene | Jonathan Martin | Drama Centre |
PARADISE LOST | Libby | Dominic Colenso | Drama Centre |
FUENTE OVEJUNA | Laurencia | Oleg Mirochnikov | Drama Centre |
OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD | Liz Morden | Shona Morris | Drama Centre |
TWO GENTLEMAN OF VERONA | Silvia | Simon Usher | Drama Centre |
Radio
| Production | Character | Director | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
VIOLETS | Birmingham Violet | Eilidh McCreadie | BBC Book at Bedtime |
BUTTERFLIES | Lorna | Paul Dodgson | BBC New Creatives/Rural Media for BBC Sounds |
RIOT GIRLS: KATY | Katy | Emma Harding | BBC Radio 4 |
HOMEFRONT | Queenie | Jessica Dromgoole/Allegra Mcilory | BBC Radio 4 |
THE TRUTH ABOUT ANNA | Ellie | Carl Prekopp | BBC Radio 4 |
Short Film
| Production | Character | Director | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
THE LEPER | Emma | Hugh Mulhern | NFTS |
ROXANE | Younger Sister | Oliver Dawe | Woven Voices |
THE COST OF LIVING | The Tenant | Tom Nicoll | Alter |
THE BOOKSHOP | Spanish Woman | Susan Lynch | StudioPOW |
Film, TV & Theatre
Lorna Nickson Brown is a director, screenwriter and actress from Birmingham, UK.
She was selected by Creative UK as one of ten emerging female filmmakers within the British creative industries, and most recently, she was chosen for the DIRECTORS UK Inspire Programme 2025, where she is being mentored by BAFTA-winning director Saul Dibb.
Her short film, DOG RUN, won the 2023 Breaking Boundaries Grand Prize Award at the Academy Award-qualifying 41st Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival. The film has garnered multiple awards at festivals worldwide and is now available on Apple TV. Her BFI NETWORK-supported short, NED & ME, was included in the 2021 International Competition at the Academy Award-qualifying 43rd Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival and received a nomination for a Royal Television Society Midlands Award.
She is currently in post-production on her upcoming short film, THE NET, a British-Filipino co-production funded by the British Council and the Film Development Council of the Philippines. Filmed in the Philippines and Scotland in August and September 2025, THE NET serves as a springboard for a long-form project currently in development.
Lorna crafts and brings to life stories that reflect the realities of the world while also imagining a better place. Her work is characterised by its emotional truth and distinctive atmosphere. She portrays the lives of people who live on the margins, or in times of crisis, showing their resilience and how there is light in darkness, hope in adversity. Her goal is to help audiences feel the marvel of life.
She is a member of BAFTA Connect and Directors UK.
"Beautifully directed and paced." Mike Leigh [NED & ME]
"Subtle and deeply human. An unflinching look at what it means to live on the margins of British life." Saul Dibb [DOG RUN]
"Strong and unique." Marcelo Martinessi [NED & ME]
"Tender, beautiful, and achingly humane, DOG RUN explores the interconnectedness of all things. A short and expansive piece of cinema." Sunday Times bestselling author, Kiran Millwood Hargrave [DOG RUN]
“ A filmmaker and a film suffused with radical empathy and life affirming lyricism. A poetic reminder of the powerful bonds, and the lie of separation, between humans, animals and the natural world” Tom de Freston [DOG RUN]
Directing Reel
Short Films
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
THE NET 2025 | Copper Thread Productions in association with Bright Light Productions, funded by the British Council and the Film Development Council of the Philippines | Director / EP (post-production) |
DOG RUN | Copper Thread Productions developed with Clermont Ferrand Film Festival x Kickstarter. Available to watch on AppleTV and Prime Video/ ShortsTV | Writer/Director/Producer • 41st Flickers' Rhode Island Film Festival, Providence, USA (2023) - WINNER, Breaking Boundaries Grand Prize Dog Run has been selected by BAFTA albert as a case study and will be released on AppleTV on August 23, 2024. Available to watch on AppleTV and Prime Video/ ShortsTV. |
NED & ME | Copper Thread Productions funded by BFI NETWORK. Available to watch on Prime Video/ ShortsTV | Director and Executive Producer An elderly man meets a young woman in a café, and the deal that follows will alter their lives forever. NED & ME explores the complexity of euthanasia and human transactions. • Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival (2021) |
FIGURE | Choreographed and Directed by Lanre Malaolu | Lead Producer *Official selection includes: |
Film
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
COLD BLOW LANE | Swamp Light Productions in association with Blue Shadows Film | Producer • Winner of Best Narrative Feature at Liverpool Underground Film Festival 2020 |
Radio
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
BUTTERFLIES | BBC Sounds | Radio Writer and Creator Produced by BBC New Creatives / Rural Media. |
Theatre
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
BUTTERFLIES | Birmingham Rep | Playwright and Creator |
JUAN RULFO'S SHORT STORIES | Presence Theatre | Produced stage reading of Luvina, They Have Given Us the Land and You Don't Hear Dogs Barking at The Chalton Gallery, London/Mexican Embassy (Directed by Simon Usher) |
Assisting Credits
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
SILENT WITNESS (S29) 2025 | BBC Studios | Shadow Director, Martin Smith / May 2025 |
SAVE ME | Sky Atlantic/World Productions | Shadowed Producer, Patrick Schweitzer. |