A director of dramas such as BBC1’s Call the Midwife and a producer whose credits include Disney+ series Welcome to Wrexham have joined forces to launch a scripted indie.
Henley-based Mermaid Pictures has been set up by Jo Southwell and Sara Gibbings, who initially collaborated on a short film called Echo [main picture] when they took part in Creative UK’s Female Founder programme.
As well as Call the Midwife, Southwell has directed episodes of BBC1’s Doctors and shorts for the Media Trust and ScreenSkills.
Gibbings has run Bristol-based indie Troy TV and is a former head of production for four movie channels at Spanish company Vía Digital. She has also worked on an upcoming sports documentary series for Fulwell73.
Mermaid’s debut project is The Catch, a scripted feature set to go into production next year that carries the logline: “A toxic high - end chef races his rival to Cornwall in search of the rarest seafood of all — a mermaid.”
Southwell said of the film: “As a director, my passion lies in crafting modern myths for the screen, and The Catch aligns perfectly with this.”
