Director and producer Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours, The Reader) and Sonia Friedman, the theater producer behind such West Finish hits as Harry Potter and the Cursed Youngster and Stranger Issues: The First Shadow, have boarded A Good friend of Dorothy, a brief movie starring Miriam Margolyes (Harry Potter, The Age of Innocence) and Stephen Fry (Gosford Park, Wilde) as govt producers.
Supported by Age U.Ok., the film marks the filmmaking debut of writer-director Lee Knight, who additionally serves as an govt producer on the quick.
A Good friend of Dorothy follows “Dorothy (Margolyes), an aged girl dwelling alone, whose sudden friendship together with her younger neighbour, JJ (Alistair Nwachukwu), begins when his soccer lands in her backyard,” reads a synopsis.
Following a number of award wins at qualifying festivals all year long, the mission is now eligible for each the very best live-action quick movie on the 2026 Academy Awards and the BAFTA for finest British quick movie, based on the inventive staff.
“Seeing it for the primary time was a revelation. In simply 20 minutes, we expertise the sweep of entire lives — a narrative that’s each deeply transferring and profoundly uplifting,” mentioned Daldry, a three-time Oscar nominee and three-time Tony Award winner. “As a director myself, I understand how uncommon it’s for a debut to reach so absolutely fashioned; it feels just like the work of an artist with a lifetime of expertise. What Lee has created is, fairly merely, a mini masterpiece.”
Sonia Friedman
Courtesy of Sophe Gladstone
Friedman added: “I’m proud to assist a piece that can resonate far past the display, sparking conversations about loneliness, friendship, identification, and the facility of artwork to alter hearts and minds. Above all, I hope it reminds us of the extraordinary influence that even the smallest acts of kindness can have on our lives.”
In regards to the assist of the 2 large names, Knight mentioned: “I’m thrilled to have Sonia and Stephen on board. I’ve admired their careers for a few years; they’re true game-changers on the planet of storytelling. Their dedication to championing distinctive voices and amplifying pressing, important narratives is deeply inspiring.”
He added: “Sonia produced my very first performing job, and he or she additionally produced The Inheritance by Matthew Lopez, which Stephen directed, a play that had a deep influence on me, and is an underlying theme inside my movie. Having their assist now feels extremely full-circle.”
Producing the mission below Knight’s Filthy Beautiful Productions banner, in affiliation with A Marlow’s Manufacturing, Double Cube Movies, and Namesake Movies, are James Dean, Scottie Fotré, and Max Marlow. The chief producers are Knight, Daldry, Friedman, Harry Burnett Rae, Gordon Cameron, Charles Gordon, Nicky Hale, Soumia Majumdar, Nichola Martin, Elliott Linger, and Ingrid Tarrant.