Early March 2027

Kirsty Bell, founder & CEO of Goldfinch and co-founder of DREAMTOWN, initially qualified in law, then became a chartered tax adviser and strategic tax partner for a top ten firm before the age of 30. Now recognized as one of the UK’s leading filmmakers, Producers and Executive Producers of well over 100 feature films, including the 2023 Best Short Film Oscar and BAFTA winner ‘An Irish Goodbye’.

As the founder of Goldfinch in 2014, Bell demonstrates the viability of private investment in the independent film sector, pioneering new avenues for creative visionaries. She has facilitated the financing of over 300 film and TV projects, guiding more than 20 first-time directors in bringing their cinematic visions to life and is co-founder of Goldfinch’s First Flights programme. Her directorial debut feature film “A Bird Flew In,” starring Jeff Fahey and Sir Derek Jacobi, was selected for over 30 festivals, accumulating an impressive tally of 28 award wins and 30 nominations to date.

Madeleine Cotter is a literary agent at WGM Atlantic Group, representing screenwriters and storytellers across film and television. With a diverse media background, Madeleine has a keen eye for discovering and championing exceptional writing talent.

Born in Sweden, Madeleine's multilingual and multicultural upbringing - spanning Africa, South America, Middle East and Europe - has given her a solid understanding of global storytelling traditions and market trends and, furthermore, her travels have also allowed her to develop an international perspective, connecting writers with opportunities across borders and ensuring their work resonates in both domestic and international markets.

Madeleine originally trained and worked as a journalist and editor on local newspapers as well as in Bermuda before moving to the Daily Mail. Her journalistic experience has given her a sharp editorial instinct, making her highly adept at identifying compelling narratives and understanding the power of storytelling. This background has enhanced her expertise in narrative fiction and adaptation of projects, which enables her to guide writers in developing their work for the screen.

At WGM Atlantic Group, Madeleine represents a diverse roster of screenwriters, from emerging voices to established talents, and has worked with leading production companies and commissioners including Channel 5, Sky, Silver Reel, Future Artists Entertainment, Asacha Media, Green Door, O’Sullivan Productions, RTE, ITV and BBC to name a few. Notable current projects she has sold and helped develop include the Channel 5 children’s show THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GRANDPA, the Sky Cinema feature ROBIN AND THE HOOD, and the upcoming Idris Elba film ABOVE THE BELOW, set for international release in May.

Madeleine is a dedicated advocate for writers, and passionate about shaping the future of entertainment by creating opportunities for emerging as well as established voices on a global scale.

Niall Johnson has been writing and directing movies for over 30 years.

He came to Hollywood’s notice in 2003 with his spec supernatural script WHITE NOISE, starring Michael Keaton, which opened in January 2005 at #1 in the UK and #2 in the US, where it broke the box-office record at the time for the biggest January opening for a non-sequel.

In that same year, 2005, Niall wrote and directed the black comedy classic KEEPING MUM, starring Rowan Atkinson, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas (winning the London Film Critics 2006 Best Actress Award award), and Patrick Swayze. Niall adapted the script from an original by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo (Nobody’s Fool, Empire Falls)—winning them the 2006 HBO Comedy Festival Best Screenplay Award.

Niall’s other credits include: wife-swapping comedy-drama THE BIG SWAP (1996); traditional haunted house TV-Movie THE GHOST OF GREVILLE LODGE (1999), starring Prunella Scales and George Cole; MUM’S LIST (2016) the critically-acclaimed true story weepie romance based on St John Greene’s best-selling memoir, starring Rafe Spall and Emilia Fox; and the Western-styled adventure story THE STOLEN (2017) set in New Zealand’s 1860s Gold Rush, starring Alice Eve, Jack Davenport, Graham McTavish and Richard O’Brien.

Niall was a writer on the visually-striking animated drama-documentary feature ANOTHER DAY OF LIFE, based on the memoir by Ryszard Kapuscinski about the Angolan civil war of the mid-1970s. It received its World Premiere at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and was voted Best Animated Film at the European Film Awards.

His most recent work is the Family Fantasy Adventure movie LEGEND HAS IT, starring Rupert Everett, Tamsin Grieg and Emilia Fox and an array of up-and-coming British acting talent. Niall has also been lead director on the new comfy-crime British-Greek TV show THE SUNSHINE MURDERS for Paramount+, debuting on the UK’s Channel 5 in Summer 2025.

Born and raised in Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, Niall’s passion for movies is a result of a childhood spent producing epic remakes of the likes of PLANET OF THE APES, STAR TREK, DOCTOR WHO and BATMAN with his brother and a silent Kodak 8mm film camera—the most notable recurring feature of these being his mother’s laundry hanging on the washing line in the back-yard!

Niall has been a Rocaberti mentor since 2019.

Prior to co-founding the management/production company Fictional Entity in January 2017, Chris Deckard spent over seven years working with and representing talent at major agencies such as ICM Partners and WME. He has worked closely with traditional and new media buyers to find and develop content for domestic and international audiences. In addition to helping cast and package numerous features and series, he has evaluated thousands of scripts for actors and directors. Chris graduated from Cornell University and earned his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School.

Fictional Entity’s clients have been named to The Black List, The Hit List, The Young & Hungry List, The Blood List and been lauded by the PAGE Awards, the International Emmys and placed as finalists in The Heath Ledger Scholarship and the Academy Nicholl Fellowship The Academy Nicholl Screenwriting Awards, the AWG, ADG, SPA, and AACTA. Clients have written, directed, starred, and produced in numerous formats, including features, TV, virtual reality, and podcasts, independently and for companies like Netflix, NBCUniversal, AMC, Legendary, Meta, Marvel, Fremantle, SyFy, the CW, Warner Bros., Amazon, Blumhouse, Comedy Central, BBC, the ABC Australia, Foxtel, TruTV, Super Deluxe, Hallmark, CBS, Lifetime, E!, and MSNBC.

Chris has advised clients through multiple successful series pilot and pitch sales. He and his business partner were non-writing Executive Producers on a series pilot that sold to a major US network in 2021. In 2024, Fictional Entity client highlights include: a book-to-series pitch sale to Netflix, a first-time writer/director’s feature film entering production, the release of three series from first-time writing Executive Producers, and a feature film release.