Debbie Howard

Debbie directed all twenty episodes of season two of Broadcast Award-winning THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GRANDPA for Saffron Cherry which earned her a Rockie Nomination. She has directed both EMMERDALE and CORONATION STREET having completed her 18th block of DOCTORS for the BBC. Debbie's new BFI Network funded short film SAFE was produced by Rachel Robey at Wellington Films starring James Nelson Joyce and Laura Bayston. It won Best Director and Best Screenplay at the BAFTA qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival and Best Actor for James Nelson Joyce at Seville Indie Film Festival. Debbie was an actor for twenty-five years before moving into writing and directing when she founded Big Buddha Films. Her award-winning shorts have screened worldwide, including PEEKABOO starring Lesley Sharp and Shaun Dooley. She made the critically acclaimed and BIFA long listed feature doc STILL LOVED and was then commissioned to make ABSENT FROM OUR OWN WEDDING by Real Stories. She is in production on feature doc LIFTED and in development on two feature films - WAITING, with early development funding from the BFI Network and COLD with Wellington Films. She is also in development on comedy series HITCHED and sci fi drama THE RETURN. Debbie was selected for the 2014 WFTV Mentoring Scheme and completed Filmonomics with Birds Eye View. She is keen to champion other women in the film industry, an influencer for Reclaim the Frame and a full BAFTA voting member.