“Fiona Lloyd-Davies is one of the most gifted film makers I’ve ever worked with. For thirty years her work has been marked by powerful storytelling, honesty, compassion and the quiet, careful gathering sometimes painful but often inspiring human testimony. I have the highest regard for her integrity as a journalist and her outstanding decency as a human being - qualities that reveal themselves in her films.”
Allan Little, Journalist and Broadcaster, Author of The Death of Yugoslavia
In 2006, Fiona set up Studio 9 Films to continue making the Baghdad Blogger films which she had been making with Guardian Films and BBC Newsnight. The series of filmed reports won an RTS award for Innovation. Fiona also wanted to continue her work in Bosnia for other broadcasters, like Al Jazeera.
Today, Studio 9 Films collaborates with journalists and filmmakers throughout the world, from Myanmar to eastern Congo, to bring stories about global injustice and serious human rights abuses to audiences everywhere. It gives a voice to those who often go unheard, but who show us the power of resilience and the human spirit at its best, having endured the worst.
ABOUT US
Fiona Lloyd-Davies
Studio 9 Films Founder
Studio 9 Films was founded by the award-winning filmmaker and photojournalist, Fiona Lloyd-Davies. She is one of the UK’s most experienced foreign documentary and current affairs journalists, and has been making films about human rights issues in areas of conflict since the early 90s. Fiona’s work has covered stories in Bosnia, Iraq, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Fiona found her way into the genre through an ad hoc trip to Bosnia in the first few months
of the war in 1992 where she landed her first job on Clive Gordon's BAFTA award winning
feature documentary: The Unforgiving. It’s where her passion for exposing human rights issues and bringing stories from areas of conflict to a wider audience began.
Fiona’s film about honour killing in Pakistan, Licence to Kill, made for the BBC in 2000 helped bring about a change in the law in the country and won the RTS Award for Best International Journalism.
Natasha is passionate about production and works as a producer, production coordinator and manager. She is also an experienced script supervisor who has extensive knowledge of the filmmaking process from script development to filming and editing.
With an interest in both fiction and documentary, she has a variety of award-winning short films under her belt. These include short documentary 'SMILE,' ‘Granbad’ that was screened at BAFTA, BIFA and Academy qualifying festivals and ‘The Encounter at Boundless’ which was produced during the pandemic and now has over 270,000 views on Omeleto (YouTube). Current producing projects include 'The Minds of Others'; a feature documentary which about to start it’s festival run, and 'Wilderness'; a horror feature film that is in the development stage of production. Natasha also produces video content and commercials for a variety of high-profile clients both in the UK and abroad. Natasha started working with Studio 9 Films in 2016.
In 2022 Natasha was selected to be a BAFTA Connect member and she has maintained this membership throughout 2023. This prestigious scheme aims to support the next generation of film and television talent through insights from BAFTA winners and nominees, and a community of peers and future collaborators.
Natasha Branson
Production Coordinator
William Sweetman
Researcher
William is an unscripted film researcher with a background in international relations and Japanese language.
He was selected as a finalist at the 2014 Nihongo Cup, a Japanese language speech contest hosted by the Japanese Embassy in London. In 2018, he completed a BA in Japanese with first class honours at SOAS University of London, winning a JASSO scholarship for his year studying in Japan as part of the course. Following graduation, he lived and worked for one year in Beijing teaching English, during which time he took the opportunity to go to the DPRK. His experiences in China, Japan and the Korea peninsula motivated him to study MSc Politics of Asia, also at SOAS University of London where his graduate thesis was written on civilisation and (post)modernity at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
During MSc Politics of Asia, he quite by chance nannied for award-winning unscripted filmmaker Jenny Ash and had his first glimpse into the world of film. Inspired by her energy and commitment to the moving image, William chose to begin a career in film.
William has been working as a researcher for Studio 9 Films since February 2023. He also makes his own short films.