As in previous years, a balanced mix of producers, agents, distributors and sales agents from the UK film community were invited to submit titles of unproduced scripts they have most liked and recommended.

Their nominations have been compiled, creating The Brit List 2014. Over 140 scripts were nominated this year, with 34 scripts making the grade.

Every effort has been made to supply accurate information. Apologies for any inaccuracies or misspellings.

9 recommendations

MATINEE IDOL by Richard Galazka (unrepresented)

Producers: Rooks Nest Entertainment

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Summary: Inspired by his favourite rom-coms, a cinephile tries to win a girl’s heart by pretending to be someone he’s not, only to learn that it takes more than grand gestures to turn fantasy into reality.

GATEWAY 6 by Malachi Smyth (JAB Management)

Producers: Sentinel Entertainment

Genre: Sci-fi
Summary: Set in the future, on a war-ravaged Earth, four soldiers man the last bastion – an outpost in a sea-covered continent – awaiting relief or the enemy, whichever comes first. But as the empty weeks turn to months, a paranoia descends that tests relationships to breaking, especially with the arrival of a mysterious boat…

8 recommendations

THE PIER by Jay Basu (42) & David Bowers (Independent Talent Group)

Producers: 42

Genre: Action Adventure
Summary: Family adventure movie set on a British seaside pier. In the vein of The Goonies.

AETHER by Krysty Wilson-Cairns (United Agents)

Producers: Film Nation Entertainment

Genre: Sci-fi
Summary: A device invented for capturing sounds of the past is used to track violent crimes of the present.

7 recommendations

FASTEST WAY DOWN by Philip J Booth (Curtis Brown Group)

Producers: Newscope Films

Genre: Heist
Summary: Set on the ski slopes of Switzerland, a team comes together to steal a lock box full of diamonds that is being transported to a ski hotel to be smuggled over the border.

SICK ROBOT by Paul Valnay (Sheil Land Associates)

Producers: Stigma Films/Met Film

Genre: Sci-fi
Summary: A thriller about a robot in quarantine.

6 recommendations

THE TRIAL OF QUEEN CAROLINE by Matthew Faulk (Dench Arnold) & Mark Skeet (Dench Arnold)

Producers: Working Title

Genre: Historical Drama
Summary: The true story of Caroline of Brunswick’s return to England to face accusations of adultery by her estranged husband, the newly ascended King George IV, and her ensuing relationship with the ambitious young barrister defending her unlikely corner, Henry Brougham.

5 recommendations

THEIR FINEST HOUR AND A HALF (aka THEIR FINEST) by Gaby Chiappe (Blake Friedmann)

Producers: Number 9 Films/Wildgaze Films/BBC Films

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Summary: A love story set against the making of a propaganda film in WWII.

SWIMMING WITH MEN by Aschlin Ditta (Independent Talent Group)

Producers: Met Film/Shoebox Films

Genre: Comedy-Drama
Summary: Comedy drama about a male synchronized swimming team.

COME MONDAY, WE KILL THEM ALL by Michael Kinirons (United Agents) & Jamie Hannigan (Casarotto)

Producers: Currently available

Genre: Noir
Summary: Dublin 1916. The search for the missing daughter of an old flame unexpectedly draws Harry Coyne – a street-wise smuggler – into a labyrinthine world of espionage, betrayal, murder, and ultimately, revolution.

CLEAN by Matt Orton (The Agency)

Producers: Qwerty Films

Genre: Thriller
Summary: A disillusioned city slicker posing as a window cleaner seeks revenge against his manipulative ex-employer, only to find himself implicated in a series of murders and stranded, 400ft up, on the outside of London’s Shard.

4 recommendations

A LITTLE MUSIC by Lydia Adetunji (Knight Hall Agency)

Producers: Shine Pictures UK/Film Four

Genre: Horror
Summary: Psychological horror set in Bavaria 1945, inspired by a true story.

MEN OF STEEL by David Chidlow (Sheil Land Associates)

Producers: Campfire Stories/Bard Entertainment/BFI

Genre: Drama
Summary: The true story of Jimmy Reid and his union colleagues determined to save the Clyde Docks.

THE DEATH ENGINE by Melissa Iqbal (Casarotto)

Producers: Currently available

Genre: Sci-fi
Summary: In a world where forever never ends, Lily lives the perfect immortal life. But when she’s diagnosed with the melancholia, the incurable desire to die, she must call the notorious Death Engine.

SEEKERS by Arinze Kene (The Agency)

Producers: Poisson Rouge Pictures

Genre: Thriller
Summary: Romantic thriller set in London’s migrant community. A cab driver puts his life on the line to help a mother and her teenage son.

MR CHARTWELL by Kelly Marcel (Casarotto)

Producers: Endor Productions/Seemore Ltd

Genre: Comedy Drama
Summary: Winston Churchill’s ‘black dog’ taunts the former Prime Minister as it stalks a lonely young parliamentary librarian. Can Churchill rouse himself for one last battle?

SLAMMER by Alan McKenna (United Agents)

Producers: Carole Sheridan

Genre: Thriller
Summary: A prison-set thriller based on the novel by Allan Guthrie.

BULLDOG DRUMMOND by Tom MacRae (The Agency)

Producers: Beagle Pug/BFI

Genre: Action
Summary: A reboot of the classic novels by Sapper.

VIVLING by Sameera Steward (Independent Talent Group)

Producers: MGR Films

Genre: Biopic
Summary: The intimate character study of an iconic film star’s prevailing passion through her silent battle with mental illness.

OVER THE BAR by Hugh Travers (The Lisa Richards Agency)

Producers: Dan Films/Deadpan Pictures/Irish Film Board

Genre: Comedy Drama
Summary: An American football coach who falls from grace is forced to hide in Ireland, only to find himself training a local Gaelic football team.

KILLER CV by Joy Wilkinson (Berlin Associates)

Producers: Jeva Films

Genre: Thriller
Summary: A wannabe journalist and CV writer discovers a potentially explosive story while interviewing an executive at a chemical firm.

3 recommendations

TRANSMISSION by Joe Alexander (Valerie Hoskins Associates) & Andy Amfo (Valerie Hoskins Associates)

Producers: Beck Farhall & Sarah Radclyffe

Genre: Drama
Summary: The relationship of two brothers set against the backdrop of the early Garage music scene.

OUTSIDE THE WIRE by Rowan Athale (42) & Rob Yescombe (Curtis Brown Group)

Producers: 42/Automatik

Genre: Sci-fi
Summary: In the near future a young remote drone operator is sent out into the field with a newly-developed android soldier as his commanding officer. As the soldier starts to suspect that the android has turned rogue, he is forced to think for himself and disobey orders for the first time in order to save himself and the world.

THE SCIENCE OF LOVE AND LAUGHTER by Sam Baron (Curtis Brown Group)

Producers: Currently available

Genre: Comedy-Drama
Summary: Comedy-drama about love, loss and companionship: a neuroscientist, trapped in the wrong relationship, finally decides to ask his wife for a divorce – but before he can, he discovers she has cancer. He becomes determined to save their marriage – but is that the right thing to do?

THE GEE GEES by Kevin Barry (Aitken Alexander Associates)

Producers: Element Pictures/Irish Film Board

Genre: Comedy Drama
Summary: A father and son horse-racing team have one last chance at winning big, but this pair are born losers and the odds are against them.

SHE WHO BRINGS GIFTS by Mike Carey (Ki Agency)

Producers: Golden Arrow Pictures/BFI

Genre: Sci-fi Thriller
Summary: 10-year-old Melanie could be the end of the human race, but she might just be a new beginning.

LION by Luke Davies (UTA)

Producers: See-Saw Films/The Weinstein Company

Genre: Drama
Summary: The true story of Saroo, who after being separated from his family in the lands of India at the age of 5, grows up in Australia to eventually embark upon a quest to find his mother using Google maps.

HHhH by David Farr (Curtis Brown Group)

Producers: Adama Pictures/Legende Films

Genre: Political Wartime Thriller
Summary: Based on the book of the same name by Laurent Binet, the true story behind the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the most dangerous man in Hitler’s cabinet known as the “Butcher of Prague”.

SILENCERS by Matt Greenhalgh (Independent Talent Group)

Producers: Origin Pictures/BFI

Genre: Thriller
Summary: Two mismatched, unarmed cops break the rules to take down the armed gangs of Manchester.

MARINADE by Jeff Povey (Valerie Hoskins Associates)

Producers: Dan Films

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Summary: Bridget Jones meets Ghost in this comic cooking caper.

ALICE IN LA LA LAND by Tamzin Rafn (Casarotto)

Producers: Oakheart Films

Genre: Comedy
Summary: A Geordie girl discovers her real Dad is a Hollywood A-lister.

SONIA by Nick Stafford (The Agency)

Producers: Montebello Productions

Genre: Thriller
Summary: A dangerous woman with nothing left to lose decides to settle some scores.

THE INVERNESIAN by Simon Stephenson (Knight Hall Agency)

Producers: Rooks Nest Entertainment

Genre: Comedy
Summary: Two estranged brothers set off on a road trip around Scotland in search of youth hostels, brotherly redemption and somewhere they can bury a body.

THE NINE LIVES OF LOUIS WAIN by Simon Stephenson (Knight Hall Agency)

Producers: Shoebox Films/SunnyMarch

Genre: Biopic
Summary: An emotional tale of love, art and obsession following the rise and fall of the eccentric Louis Wain, the Victorian painter of cats.