Woodcut Media Alum Launches New Production Company

Derren Lawford, former creative director of Woodcut Media, has launched the new production company DARE Pictures.

DARE Pictures will focus on creating a range of premium content for the U.K. and international market, with diversity and inclusivity at its core. The London-based company will produce documentaries, drama, film and podcasts.

Lawford’s DARE currently has a number of projects in development with talent from Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and North America, with announcements to come.

During his seven-year tenure at Woodcut Media, Lawford oversaw development and strategy and secured commissions, co-productions and program finance opportunities. He executive produced a trio of documentaries that sold to Netflix: Generation Revolution; Mandela, My Dad and Me; and Cut From a Different Cloth. Other notable EP credits include Fiennes: Return to the Nile, The Ivy and Football: A Brief History by Alfie Allen.

Over the last five years, Lawford has also independently helped develop and mentor more than 20 feature documentary filmmakers and projects worldwide.

Lawford said: “DARE Pictures is primed as a new breed of production studio that takes a progressive and transnational approach in uncovering impactful ideas, whilst shining a light on creative talent across multiple cultures and backgrounds from around the world. It’s both a bold and boutique approach to developing, producing and financing incredible stories, which is why DARE is positioned as a unique hub where independent and commercial creators can come together united in a commitment to compelling and premium programming with purpose. As a company, we stand for diversity, allyship, representation and empowerment and endeavor to reflect those values in everything we do.”