Who doesn’t love a list? We certainly do, and are delighted to present our 2025 iteration of The Brit 50, Screen Inter­national’s survey of the top 50 UK-based production companies that are currently the most actively engaged in originating, developing and making feature films for local and international distribution.

Scroll down for the full line-up

We last published this list in 2018, and the intervening years have been some of the most turbulent ever for the industry – not least for independent producers who have had to navigate the rise of the streamers, the pandemic and its ongoing impact on cinema attendances, changing audience tastes, Hollywood strikes, and so much more. And yet, amid the myriad challenges, UK producers have continued to use their drive, passion and ingenuity to keep making exceptional features that find favour with festivals, critics, audiences and awards bodies.

Dynamic producers are crucial to a healthy film ecosystem – the fact that not everyone in our industry appreciates their importance may be a sign of difficult times, but Screen will always have their back.

One senior industry figure said when I mentioned we were publishing a Brit 50 for 2025: “Fifty companies? That should be easy.” They couldn’t have been more wrong. The team started discussing a potential list in January, and we didn’t settle on the final selection until mid-September. We could have changed the title to The Brit 75 or The Brit 100, but we’ve stuck to 50, while also showcasing a few additional companies that work almost exclusively in documentary or animation, or that are talent-led and foster projects mainly on behalf of that talent. As in 2018, we have also flagged rising stars in ‘Ones to watch’, companies with the potential to graduate to the main Brit 50 next time – six companies made the leap this time. (Look out for these additional lists later this week.)

Our 50 chosen companies for 2025 include 26 new entries, and are a mix of familiar names and new faces; of outfits with dozens of employees and one-person bands; of producers who focus mostly on UK storytelling and those who bring a more international focus. As we did in 2018, we have left off public funders, sales companies and distributors, many of which are actively engaged in production but also have broader priorities for their businesses. In the main, our Brit 50 are people and companies for whom producing films (and sometimes television) is the be-all-and-end-all of their professional lives.

We reached out to every company on our 2018 list — for anyone who still uses it as a guide, if there are companies missing this time, in many cases they asked not to be included given they are in a period of transition or have segued to new ventures. All lists are subjective but we feel confident that months of research and direct canvassing has created a clear-eyed overview of 50 very cool companies driving a vibrant film production landscape in the UK.

Matt Mueller, editor-in-chief

For profiles of all 50 companies, click on the links below:

The Brit 50

Profiles by: Ellie Calnan, Ben Dalton, Tim Dams, Charles Gant, Stuart Kemp, Geoffrey Macnab, Wendy Mitchell, Matt Mueller, Orlando Parfitt, Mark Salisbury, Mona Tabbara, Louise Tutt 

 

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