The Soldier On Smithdown Road

BIO Barney Pell Scholes is a writer and filmmaker from Liverpool, now based in London. His script for The Soldier on Smithdown Road won the 2023 Pears Short Film Fund at UK Jewish Film. He co-wrote the script for Grown in the Dark, an animated short film that won funding through the BFI 2022 Short Film Fund and is currently in production. He was featured in the BFI Network Talent Guide 2021-2022 for the South East of England. Together with his filmmaking partner Thomas Harnett O’Meara, he co-wrote and co-directed Ourselves Alone, an award-winning short film that has been selected for multiple UK and international film festivals.

BIO Thomas Harnett O’Meara is a London-based director who has won numerous awards and made films for some of the world's biggest brands. After working on Wes Anderson’s Oscar-nominated Isle of Dogs, Tom directed a short film version of The Wind in the Willows for The Wildlife Trusts, featuring David Attenborough and Stephen Fry, winning a British Animation Award. Tom made his feature film debut when he animation-directed the star-studded Roald and Beatrix: The Tale of the Curious Mouse - Sky One’s Christmas Special. The film went on to have Sky’s highest ever Christmas broadcast viewing figures.