Rocliffe is a production company facilitating the pool of available talent by providing a series of events, notably the New Film Forums and the monthly New Writing Forums.

With more than 8,000 members, Rocliffe is run by Pippa Mitchell and Farah Abushwesha and a team of dedicated volunteers, it is currently funded by script entry fees and door receipts. It was founded by Farah in 2000.

We have had an extremely successful first ten years, and with the support of BAFTA we plan further expansion in our second decade. We’re considering proposals for potential sponsors and looking at opportunities to take the New Writing Forum to New York and LA.

The work we feature is diverse - the people we work with and feature are new and seasoned - professional actors; development focused discussions generated by the readings; exposure to and advice from experienced industry members; feedback from an audience and an invaluable method to test out new concepts and material. Given the often isolating nature of the industry, our forums create the ideal environment for networking.


Rocliffe has produced three short films:

Chicken Soup - adapted from one of director Farah Abushwesha’s father’s short stories, Chicken Soup suggests that enlightenment can come under the oddest of circumstancess. Funded by B3/UKFC and featured at more than 50 International Film Festivals

No Deposit, No Return - a ten-minute romantic comedy co-written by John Edwards and Dallas Campbell and directed Dallas Campbell starring Trevor Fox and Sian Reeves. Funded by UKFC Completion Fund.

The Welcome Committee was commissioned by The European Commission, CICEB and The British Council to celebrate the enlargement of Europe directed by Justin Dickel and stars Timothy Bateson, Tracy Kearney, Eamon Geoghegan and Stephen Ventura.


Rocliffe is committed to encouraging networking at all levels and to strengthening the network through our members in order to facilitate the company's goal of attracting the brightest in the industry.