‘A career changing experience’: Pentabus’s proven talent pipeline launches new ArtFlicks series. With 1.25 million views already banked, the scheme that launched Kit Withington brings in screen veteran Gary Lewis to test its 2025 cohort against the digital world.
Pentabus has begun releasing its 2025 ArtFlicks series, the new collection of 90-second digital films from its National Young Writers Programme. For anyone who follows our coverage, you’ll know this is a company we champion. In an industry with a relentless metropolitan focus, Pentabus serves as a vital antidote, proving for 50 years that the most compelling new voices are often found far from the city.
This new series, run in partnership with Rural Media, is a perfect example of their modern, effective approach. The ArtFlicks project has already amassed over 1.25 million views, a staggering figure that demonstrates a keen understanding of new audiences. This isn’t just a side project; it’s a core part of their mission, standing alongside acclaimed stage work like Driftwood and digital-hybrid hits like The Silence & the Noise.
The 2025 Slate: From Gary Lewis to Horror Shorts
The professional calibre of the 2025 cohort is immediately apparent. The first film, Drifters, by Scottish writer Eilidh Nurse, stars screen veteran Gary Lewis (Billy Elliot, Gangs of New York).
But the depth of talent is clear across the full slate of eight writers. The series also features:
The Victim, The Flowers and The Reveal by East Anglian writer Emma-Louise Howell, starring Adam Wadsworth (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, West End).
‘A career changing experience’: Pentabus’s proven talent pipeline launches new ArtFlicks series. With 1.25 million views already banked, the scheme that launched Kit Withington brings in screen veteran Gary Lewis to test its 2025 cohort against the digital world.
ANALOGUE: Vol #1, #2 and #3, a series of horror shorts from Welsh writer-actor Jacob Ethan Tanner (recently seen in Backstairs Billy).
Swallow, written and performed by disabled writer Lucy Heathcote.
The Last Excuse by Newport-based writer Mackenzie Steed, starring Cerian Baulch.
Railway, News and Dating Show, a comedy series from Noor Sobka.
Liv, Lash, and Love by Roisin Ann Bonar, a graduate of Pentabus’s Local Young Writers group.
Keepsakes: The Champagne, The Flowers and The Shoes by Katie Walker-Cook.
The Pentabus Effect: Why This Programme Matters
This focus on professional output is what makes the Pentabus effect so reliable. It’s the same 11-year-old system that helped launch writers like Kit Withington, whose Tinniswood-commended play Heart Wall is set for the Bush next year, and Rhys Warrington, who was commissioned for the Welsh National Theatre’s debut season.
The programme’s graduates, along with those from parallel schemes like the Jerwood Writer in Residence (which has fostered talents like Florence Espeut-Nickless), have consistently gone on to earn commissions at the highest levels. The 2025 cohort is clearly aware of this legacy. Mackenzie Steed called the experience “career changing,” while Noor Sobka described it as “an amazing, invaluable opportunity.”
This new series, run in partnership with Rural Media, is a perfect example of their modern, effective approach. The ArtFlicks project has already amassed over 1.25 million views, a staggering figure that demonstrates a keen understanding of new audiences.
Mastering the ‘Ruthlessly Demanding’ Digital Craft
It’s easy for theatre traditionalists to be cynical about social media, but mastering the 90-second digital short is a distinct and brutal artistic challenge. It demands ruthless narrative efficiency, an immediate grasp of visual storytelling, and the ability to hook a viewer in under three seconds. It is, in its own way, a craft as difficult as a one-act play.
This is the “high bar” the press release refers to. As Rachel Lambert, Creative Producer at Rural Media, rightly notes, the TikTok audience is “ruthlessly demanding; thirsty for the new, the bold, and the challenging.”
By putting its writers on this platform, Pentabus isn’t just chasing views; it’s testing their ability to tell a story in its most compressed form. For a writer like Jacob Ethan Tanner, it was a chance to “work in a genre I love, but have never been brave enough to tackle.”
A Chance to Join the Next Cohort
It is this steadfast commitment to nurturing talent—and testing their craft against new mediums—that makes Pentabus so essential. For any emerging rural writers reading this, the company has confirmed that applications for the 2026 National Young Writers cohort will open this winter on the Pentabus website.
Where to Watch the 2025 Series
For now, the focus is rightly on the 2025 cohort and their work. The new ArtFlicks collection continues to roll out over the coming weeks. Pentabus’s Joanna Freeman described the new films in terms that perfectly capture their range and quality:
“In every swipe, a story unfolds – brilliantly told and ranging from the hilarious to the edgy, political and heart-felt. These short digital films present the voices of a new generation…”
We’ll be watching.
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