AJ Sykes is a filmmaker with an extensive background in theatre. She originally trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and went on to work as an award winning actor, theatre writer and director before retraining as a filmmaker.

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AJ graduated from Screen Academy Scotland with an MFA in Advanced Film Practice and an MA in Film Directing specialising in Screenwriting.

 

Her  film, Perfect Worlds, the 35-minute science fiction short, has screened at 18 international Film Festivals, gained 28 nominations and won 5 awards including Best Short Film at Amsterdam International Film Festival.

 

AJ directed the short film 'Regrets',  for Asib Akram Films & Chris Martin Films, which has screened at 21 festivals, had 15 nominations and won four awards including Best Short twice.

 

AJ has shadowed directors Gordon Anderson and Isabelle Sieb on BBC/ITV’s 'Shetland' and Douglas Mackinnon on the BBC/Amazon 'Good Omens' and was short listed in 2018 for the BBC Directors Mentoring Scheme. She is currently working on her award winning feature script 'A Perfect World' and the series a global lockdown project called 'A Perfect World Part II' which follows on from the feature.

She is also in pre-production on  'Dandelion' and developing another script called 'If you can keep your head'.

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AJ has also run writing workshop for Film Festival International in London, Nice, Amsterdam and Milan.