Israel – Gaza: Into the Abyss

This deeply emotional film follows a small number of Gazans and Israelis through the most dramatic and tragic year of their lives. Using personal and previously unseen footage, it tells the story of the war in Gaza and the October 7 attacks through deeply emotional stories from both sides of the conflict. In Gaza, the film follows three individuals, from their reaction to the events of October 7th to the start of the bombing by the Israeli military to the loss of family members that all three suffer. In Israel, viewers witness footage of the interviewees as they and their family members are attacked by Hamas on October 7th, and follow their lives through the year - including as hostages and, in one case, as a reservist soldier. The film provides a devastating portrait of the conflict as a whole and examines the cycle of violence that affects ordinary Israelis and Palestinians.”

Financial Times: ☆☆☆☆ Heartbreaking. 
The Times: ☆☆☆☆ Essential viewing.
Daily Mail: ☆☆☆☆☆ An extraordinary, unflinching, fastidiously even-handed piece of filmmaking.
The Telegraph: ☆☆☆☆ A powerful film.
iWeekend ☆☆☆☆ A devastating film.

Director: Robin Barnwell
Producer: Toby Fitzpatrick
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp
Executive Producer: Tom Giles
Film Editor: Guy Creasey


the manhattan alien abduction

A woman claims to have been abducted from her bedroom in Manhattan. This docuseries explores whether it was an elaborate hoax — or proof of alien life.

The Brooklyn Bridge Abduction, which allegedly happened to a woman named Linda Napolitano in November 1989, when she was taken from her apartment in Lower Manhattan. She reported the incident to UFO researcher Budd Hopkins, who later claimed to have found over two dozen witnesses who saw Napolitano that night floating above her building. Hopkins, who used hypnosis techniques to help Napolitano recover memories of the alleged abduction, was married at the time to filmmaker Carol Rainey, now a vocal doubter of the incident. The series chronicles Napolitano’s relationship with Rainey and Hopkins, the case’s journey into the mainstream press, and the widespread public scepticism surrounding it.

Directors: Daniel Vernon, Vivienne Perry
Producer: Robin Ockleford
Executive Producers: Darren Kemp, Peter Beard, Bruce Fletcher, Sam Hobkinson
Film Editors: Adam Finch, Anton Short


MARIUPOL: THE PEOPLE’S STORY

Told and filmed by the people of Mariupol, this is the deeply personal story of the destruction of a modern European city. The film follows a handful of residents as they film themselves from the start of the invasion to the devastation of their city two months later. Those featured lived through the devastation, recording what was happening around them after most international journalists had left. It is a story of war crimes and suffering but also a story of amazing courage, incredible daring in escape and of undaunted spirit.

Financial Times: ☆☆☆☆☆ ‘This documentary makes for overwhelming, upsetting viewing. But it is a rare example of a film that merits the use of the imperative “must watch.’ 
The Times: ☆☆☆☆☆ ‘If this was relentlessly harrowing to watch, the least you felt you could do was to show these survivors respect by hearing their stories to the end.... All I can say is please do watch it. 
Daily Mail: ☆☆☆☆☆ ‘Powerful’ 
The Guardian: Essential viewing
The Mirror: ‘Harrowing and intense... Nothing brings to life the horrors of war more than the personal stories of those who survived it.’ 
The Telegraph: ‘Intensely personal’ 
The Sunday Times: ‘Superb television’ 

Director: Robin Barnwell
Producer: Hilary Andersson
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp
Executive Producer: Tom Stone
Editor: Karen Wightman


CHERNOBYL: the lost tapes

The story of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster told exclusively through dramatic and newly discovered footage filmed by Soviet crews at the time. A hoard of brilliant new archive plays out with audio interviews with key survivors and participants.

Director: James Jones
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp
Editor: Rupert Houseman
 
Winner: Broadcast Tech Award, Sound
Winner: RTS Craft Award, Sound
Winner: Cinema Eye Honors, Outstanding Broadcast Film
Nominated Broadcast Digital for Best Documentary
Nominated Broadcast Awards, Single Documentary
Nominated Cinema Eye, Best Broadcast Film
Nominated International Documentary Awards
Long-listed Grierson Awards, Best Documentary
Nominated Venice TV Awards, Best Documentary


THE BOX

Detective Chris Loudon re-opens the cold case murder of a 16-year-old in 1976. DNA leads to a suspect who liked to photograph young women and was a rape suspect. When Loudon finds a box of photos of naked girls, he wonders when they are all victims and whether he has stumbled across one America’s biggest serial killers.

Mail on Sunday: ☆☆☆☆ ‘This chilling tale is an account of humanity at its worst, but also testimony to the dogged persistence of one detective determined to find justice for the victims.’ 

The Future of The Force Blog: ‘Gripping, harrowing, and totally engrossing, Paramount Plus' documentary series The Box will have you holding your breath until the mind-blowing conclusion.’ 

Director: Robin Dashwood
Series Producer: Sarah Foudy
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp
Executive Producer: Daniel Pearl

Editor: Jared Evans + Mike Duley


look away

Look Away confronts the darker side of rock and a subject the music industry has glossed over for years: abuse against women.

For the first time, women some of whom were groomed in their teenage years offer an unfiltered account of their experiences as they share some of the abuses and exploitation that were tolerated in the music industry in the 70's and 80's. These women share their encounters with powerful music names like front men Steven Tyler and Axl Rose, and Kim Fowley, manager of fledgling teen group The Runaways.

Look Away addresses how the music industry fostered a culture where the abuse of women was normalised.

The Guardian: ☆☆☆☆ ‘an intelligent film’ 
The Telegraph: ☆☆☆☆ ‘a timely and often harrowing exposé
The Financial Times: ☆☆☆☆
The Sunday Times:this is a simultaneously powerful and angering film.’ ‘enlightening’ 

Nominated BAFTA for Emerging Talent - Sophie Cunningham, Director  
Nominated Broadcast Digital,  Best Documentary
Nominated Broadcast Awards, Single Documentary

Director: Sophie Cunningham + Ben Steel
Producer: Sophie Cunningham
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp
Editor: Peter Norrey 


Surviving 9/11

9/11 re-examines the defining moment of the modern world. It’s a film that lives in the ordinariness of the day before the first plane struck and on the simple but life affirming human interactions after the attacks began – binding ordinary people into a moment in history that they weren’t able to comprehend at the time. With 20 years distance, how do they make sense of what they lived through and what clues about the ramifications of 9/11 can we glean from their ongoing lives?

Director: Arthur Carey
Producer: Cheryl Hockey, Sarah Foudy, Saskia Rusher  
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp 
Cinematography: Axel Baumann 
Editor: Joby Gee  


The Riots 2011: One Week in August

Ten years after cities across the UK were gripped by a week of chaos and looting, this feature documentary is a cinematic and revelatory exploration of the largest social unrest in the country for a generation.

Produced and Directed: James Jones 
Cinematographer: Olivier Sarbil
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp 
Editor: Rupert Houseman 

"Outstanding ... remarkable programme"  - The Times *****

"Superb"  - Telegraph 

"Meticulous"  - Observer 

"Insightful, balanced and moving"  - Mail *****


EXPOSED: THE CHURCH’S DARKEST SECRETS

A powerful series that charts a cover-up that went to the highest levels of the Church of England with scripted drama and survivor testimony. Bishop Peter Ball is the most senior member of the Church to be prosecuted for sex crimes. This series charts how survivors attempted to uncover the truth of his crimes for decades, and how the Bishop escaped justice by using influential friends in the establishment including the Prince of Wales.

Radio Times: ‘How did a known abuser, a friend to Prince Charles and other establishment figures, escape justice for so long?’

The Guardian: ‘Harrowing’
The Sunday Telegraph: ‘Sometimes the monsters hide in plain sight. That’s the message behind this devastating film… It’s a shocking story that will only get darker as the scale of the cover up is revealed’.

The Observer: ‘A harrowing tale of a major abuse of power’

GRIERSON Shortlisted 2020

Director: Ben Steele
Producer: Esther McWatters
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp
Editor: Franco Bogino, Andy Worboys, Leigh Brzeski 


LOVE & HATE CRIME

This returning award-winning series focuses on the rising tide of hate crime in the US. Each episode goes inside an ongoing murder investigation to ask just how dangerous it is to be ‘different’ in America today. This timely series explores how quickly love can turn to hate, and how some of America’s most heart-breaking murders are fueled by fear of the unknown. The films delve into the complex issues of gender, race, sexuality and mental health with incredible access to the accused, law enforcement, and the US court system.

Radio Times: ‘A sensation’
Broadcast: ‘A masterclass in beautiful and thought provoking film making’

BROADCAST Digital Winner 2018
GRIERSON Nominated 2018
Royal Television Society Nominated 2019
LA TCA Television Critics Assoc. 2018
Sheffield Doc Fest 2017


Director: Ben Steel + Simon Gilchrist 
Series Producer: Elliot Swinburn
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp
Editor: Alex Fry, Finlay Milne 


THE $50 MILLION ART SWINDLE

This feature-length documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Vanessa Engle tells the remarkable story of a charlatan New York art dealer named Michel Cohen, who swindled over $50 million from the art establishment in 2001 before going on the run, never to be seen again. Eighteen years later, Vanessa tracks him down and persuades him to tell his extraordinary story, in a highly entertaining crime caper, which is also a rich exploration of greed, motive and morality.

The Guardian: “Fabulous; a stonkingly good romp”
Independent: “Extraordinary story of greed, motive and morality”
Daily Mail: “The biggest swindle the art world has ever seen”

GRIERSON Nominated 2020

Director: Vanessa Engle 
Producer: Billie Shepherd 
Cinematography: Johann Perry
Editor: Joanna Crickmay


IN MEMORIAM

An intimate feature documentary that goes inside three mass shootings to explore heroism, grief, enduring love and human resilience in the face of almost unimaginable tragedy. Survivors, first responders and relatives of the dead share their most intimate secrets from the day their lives changed forever.

The Guardian: “This documentary features harrowing testimony... It is hard not to see this as a call for radical regulation”

HIFF 2020
LA TCA Television Critics Assoc. 2020

Director: Ben Steel + Sarah Foudy 
Series Producer: Sarah Foudy 
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp 
Editor: Franco Bogino 


THE GREAT BRITISH SCHOOL SWAP SERIES

In this constructed documentary series a white school and a Muslim school swap pupils in a radical experiment to see what happens when children from segregated areas mix for the first time. The series examines what it means to be British and learns whether the children can find more that unites them than divides them. With many areas of Britain effectively segregated, these children see if they can begin to solve a problem the adult world has failed to fix.

The Guardian: ‘Plenty of telly-worthy moments … enough to give you hope’

GRIERSON Nominated 2019
Royal Television Society Nominated 2019

Director: Martin Fuller  
Series Producer: Heenan Bhatti 
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp 
Editors: Finlay Milne, Jamie Bull, Drew Hill


THE CHAMELEON KILLER

Two feature length films explore the hunt for a serial killer that leads to a nationwide search and a brand-new approach to solving crime. Deep in the woods of New Hampshire police find barrels with the remains of unknown and mutilated victims.

The hunt stretches to California as detectives unravel a nationwide web of abuse and murder created by one man with many fake identities. We follow the police investigation over thirty years, culminating in extraordinary contemporary developments in the hunt for the killer’s true identity and those of his victims.

Director: Ben Steel + Simon Gilchrist 
Series Producer: Sarah Foudy + Elliot Swinburn 
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp 
Editor: Peter Norrey 


MEET THE LORDS

The House of Lords has granted exclusive and unprecedented access across an entire year for this observational documentary series. Filming behind the scenes with extraordinary characters, at a time of huge political turmoil, we present the inner workings of this incredible institution.

Daily Mail : ‘Quietly devastating’
Radio Times: ‘Dramatic’
The Guardian: ‘A TV first’
The Times: ‘Remarkable’
Daily Telegraph: ‘Engrossing’

Director: Adam Hopkins 
Series Producer: Emma Whitlock, Tim Strizaker, James Jiles
Executive Producer: Darren Kemp
Editor: Andy Llyod, Tony Robinson, Andrew Rushton