“Gifted” local director’s film up for two BAFTAs

Sunday 13 January 2019

Award nominations for a local director and screenwriter’s thriller, which was shot in the island and inspired by a real life Jersey criminal, continue to roll in as the thriller scores two BAFTA nominations.

Both ‘Beast’, the feature-length film based and partly shot in Jersey, and its local writer-director Michael Pearce are up for the prestigious awards after the shortlists were announced this week.

This news comes shortly after the Jersey talent was officially made a member of BAFTA.

Pictured: Jersey talent Michael Pearce is enjoying success after success with his first feature-length film 'Beast'.

Pearce’s psycho-thriller, which is inspired by the Beast of Jersey’s reign of terror in the 1960s and 70s, has been nominated for the BAFTA outstanding British film award and Pearce himself has been shortlisted for the outstanding debut award along with the film’s producer Lauren Dark. 

ArtHouse Jersey, formerly known as the Jersey Arts Trust, who provided some funding for the film when Pearce was developing the script for ‘Beast’ as well as supporting cast and crew during preproduction and Jersey shoot say they welcome this “fabulous news”.

Alice Bravery, Producer at ArtHouse Jersey, told Express: “It’s fabulous news that Beast has been nominated for two BAFTAs and six National Film Awards. The nominations are a great recognition of the hard work and artistic quality that went into making the film. Michael Pearce is a gifted writer and director with an impressive dedication to his craft. 

Pictured: ArtHouse Jersey have described the BAFTA-nominated writer and director as "gifted" (

“We are proud to have supported him and the project at an early stage through grants to attend the Torino film lab to develop the script, writing residencies and providing accommodation for some of the cast and crew for the filming in Jersey. 

“Michael remains a fantastic ambassador for Jersey, and this success story is an excellent example of what can happen when dedicated individuals are supported with early investment and access to opportunities. We welcome approaches from others who are working hard to achieve their artistic goals.” 

The BAFTA awards ceremony will take place on 10 February.