The history of The Brit List

The very first edition of The Brit List, was published in 2007 by Casarotto agent, Rachel Holroyd, before she handed the reins over to Alexandra Arlango.

And that’s how The Brit List is still produced – UK agents, production companies, distributors and financiers all nominate the unproduced drama scripts that they think deserve to be made and the list is compiled from their recommendations. There’s no voting or competition: just great yet-to-be-made scripts championed by the industry.

By 2018, The Brit List had grown to include TV drama scripts as well as feature film scripts and had come to represent much more than the annual publication of its eponymous list.

Over the 16 years since it was started, 82 scripts from writers featured on The Brit List have been produced, between them generating over $2bn in worldwide box-office and garnering over 130 major award nominations. They include multiple BAFTA and OSCAR winners, such as The King’s Speech (2011); The Danish Girl (2016); and The Favourite (2018).

In 2018, the first TV project to appear on The Brit List, Responsible Child, was made for the small screen, winning 2 Emmys in 2020.

Here’s to the next 16 years and the countless future classics that will start by gaining their well-deserved place on The Brit List.