Lorna Nickson Brown

Actor / Writer / Director

Biography

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]

Credits

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

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

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

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

Biography

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]

Credits

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
A silent man is lifted out of a life of exploitation through an unexpected bond with guard dog, Sabre, and the healing power of nature.

• 41st Flickers’ Rhode Island Film Festival, Providence, USA (2023) – WINNER, Breaking Boundaries Grand Prize
• The British Short Film Awards London (2023) – WINNER, Best Supporting Actress, Paula Wharton
• Big Syn International Film Festival, London (2023) – the world’s largest sustainability film festival – WINNER, Best UK Short Film by a Female Director
• International Film Festival The Hague, Netherlands (2023) – WINNER, Best Film
• International Sound & Music Film Festival, Croatia (2023) – NOMINATED, Best Score, Jonathan Escoto Brown
• The British Short Film Awards, London (2023) LONGLIST – Best Score, Jonathan Escoto Brown
• International Film Festival The Hague, Netherlands (2023) – HONORABLE MENTION, Best Actor, Sid Phoenix
• Catania Film Festival, Italy (2023) – HONORABLE MENTION, Best European Short
• Sao Paulo International Film Festival, Brazil (2023) – SEMI FINALIST, Official Selection
• San Jose International Film Festival, California, USA (2023)
• Bakunawa Film Festival, Philippines (2023)
• 17th British Shorts Film Festival, Berlin (2024)
• Yountville International Short Film Festival, Napa Valley, USA (2024)
• Venezia Shorts, Italy (2024) – Semi-finalist
• Kino London Short Film Festival, UK (2024) -Semi-finalist
• British Urban Film Festival, London, UK (2024) – Official Selection

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)
• FICBUEU – Best Actor Award (2021) – WINNER
• Royal Television Society Midlands Award (2023) – NOMINATED
• Aesthetica Short Film Festival (2020)
• This is England: Rouen Film Festival (2020)
• British Shorts Berlin (2021)
• International Festival Signes De Nuit (2021)
• Aswan International Women Film Festival (2021)
• Bolton International Film Festival (2021)
• Margate Film Festival (2021)

FIGURE Choreographed and Directed by Lanre Malaolu

Lead Producer
Figure is an award-winning experimental film about boys growing up without fathers. It explores how early detachment from a father figure affects emotional growth and engagement with the world. Through a dynamic fusion of physical theatre and hip-hop dance, the film follows two young men as they search for answers both outside and inside themselves.

*Official selection includes:
• Aesthetica Film Festival, York (BAFTA-Qualifying) 2018
• New Renaissance Film Festival, London (Winner: Best Dance Short Award) 2018
• Lights Dance Film Festival, Toronto (Winner: Audience Choice Award) 2018
• Hackney Short Film Festival (Winner: Best Narrative Drama Award) 2018
• Zanzibar International Film Festival 2018
• Afrika Film Festival 2018
• Afrikana Film Festival 2018
• Short Sounds Film Festival 2018
• 24fps International Film Festival 2018
• Beatfreeks: Festival of Audacity 2018
• Spill Festival 2018
• Melanin Box Festival 2018
• Frame Rush, The Place, 2019
• Short Fuse 2019,
• BFI Soul Film Festival, 2019
• Dance Umbrella Film Festival, Barbican, 2019

Film

Production Company Notes
COLD BLOW LANE Swamp Light Productions in association with Blue Shadows Film

Producer
An experimental art film, written and directed by Penny Andrea. Starring Susan Lynch, Adam El Hagar, Ken Nwosu and Grace Chilton.

• Winner of Best Narrative Feature at Liverpool Underground Film Festival 2020
• Winner of Lift-Off Feature, Global Premiere 2019
• Official Selection at Working Title Film Festival, Vicenza 2019

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
Stage play produced by Birmingham REP in partnership with the Butterfly Thyroid Cancer Trust for The REP’s New Writer’s Foundry Festival, during Associate Artist residency at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 2018.
Butterflies is one woman’s autobiographical journey through thyroid cancer, and beyond. It explores the commonly associated feelings of ‘butterflies’ – anxiety, anticipation or fear, and the journey of reintegration after a cancer diagnosis.

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
THIS CITY IS OURS (S2)
2025
Left Bank / BBC One

Shadow Director, Saul Dibb / November 2025

SILENT WITNESS (S29)
2025
BBC Studios

Shadow Director, Martin Smith / May 2025
Shadow Director, Nichola Wong / August 2025

SAVE ME Sky Atlantic/World Productions

Shadowed Producer, Patrick Schweitzer.
Television BAFTA-nominated TV Drama

Lorna Nickson Brown
Lorna Nickson Brown
Voices
Download CV Contact agent