Talent Talk: Pillion

Join us for a discussion with British writer-director Harry Lighton, who makes his feature directorial debut with PILLION (Un Certain Regard).

Speakers:

HARRY LIGHTON | Writer-director
PILLION

LEE GROOMBRIDGE | Producer
PILLION

GARETH SCALES | Editor
PILLION

NICK MORRIS | Director of Photography
PILLION

Moderator:

WENDY MITCHELL | Journalist and film festival consultant

About the speakers:

HARRY LIGHTON | Writer-director
PILLION
Harry Lighton is a British writer-director based in London. In 2017, he co-wrote and directed short film Wren Boys, which went on to be nominated for Best British Short at the 2018 BAFTAs. It was also nominated for a BIFA, won Best UK Short at the UK Film Festival, and had its US Premiere at Sundance. In recent years Harry has worked in various capacities with director Oliver Hermanus, on Living (director’s assistant), Sky/AMC series Mary & George (directing 2nd unit) and an upcoming biopic of Alexander McQueen (writer).

LEE GROOMBRIDGE | Producer
PILLION
Lee Groombridge is a BAFTA-nominated producer working across film and television. His career started in music videos, where he produced seminal music videos for Daniel Wolfe, including The Shoes’ Time To Dance starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Paolo Nutini’s Iron Sky, which won the Grand Prix at SXSW (2015). He graduated to film via Ifeatures, an emerging filmmakers initiative, through which he produced THE GOOB, which had its world premiere at Venice Days (2014). Recent credits include Thomas Hardiman’s Medusa Deluxe (BBC/A24), which premiered at Locarno 2023, Series four of the Seth Meyers, Fred Armisen, and Bill Hader helmed TV series Documentary Now! (TIFF, 2023)and Andrea Arnold’s Bird (BBC, MUBI), starring Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski, premiered in competition at Cannes 2024 and was nominated for “Outstanding British Film” at the 2025 BAFTAS. His latest film is Pillion (BBC/Picturehouse/Freemantle)Harry Lighton's directorial debut starring Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård.

GARETH SCALES | Editor
PILLION
Born in the UK and raised in Vancouver, Gareth attended Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design and graduated in 1999 with a Major in Film and Video. After relocating to Toronto to attend the Editor’s Lab at the Canadian Film Centre, he has since moved to London, England where he happily resides. Some of his work includes Douglas Coupland’s first feature film script, EVERYTHING’S GONE GREEN (TIFF '06), Bruce McDonald’s THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS (Opening film, Panorama Program Berlin '07), Dominic Cooke's THE COURIER (SUNDANCE '20) and Aleem Khan's BAFTA and BIFA winning film AFTER LOVE. In television, he has edited dramas including Penny Dreadful, The Hollow Crown - War of the Roses, Peaky Blinders, The Pursuit of Love and BBC's The Hour, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA.

NICK MORRIS | Director of Photography
PILLION
Nick Morris is a cinematographer based in London. His career started in music videos, commercials and short films. Notable highlights include much-decorated short film Wren Boys (dir. Harry Lighton), which received nominations for Best Short around the world and at both BAFTA and BIFA. Sudden Light (dir. Sophie Littman) screened in competition at Cannes and was also nominated at BIFA. Nick's first move into long-form came with shooting Block 2 of Nicôle Lecky's miniseries Mood, which went on to win multiple BAFTAs including Best Miniseries. Since then, he has shot the opening block of Netflix's Everything Now, as well as the entirety of Sweetpea Season One for Sky Atlantic. His work on Sweetpea has since been recognized with a nomination for Best Cinematography in a Television Drama (UK terrestrial) from the British Society of Cinematographers.