Saatchi & Saatchi has unveiled the shortlist of global talent selected for its 2025 New Creators’ Showcase (NCS) – marking the 35th year of the agency’s platform. 

This year’s NCS celebrates the power and beauty behind the creative partnerships that shape our industry – and honours the unique, unfiltered, and sometimes messy relationships that spark ideas and drive progress.

The 2025 shortlist spans short films, music videos, adverts and animation, from emerging voices representing the next wave of global storytelling talent. 

The 2025 New Creators are:

• Billy King
• Saman Aminzadeh
• Luna Carmoon
• Louise De Nexon
• Jonny Look
• Lea Thurner
• Above Ground
• David McShane
• Lauren Maya Davis
• Shona Heath
• Tanner K Williams
• Caleb Femi

Now in its 35th year, the Saatchi New Creators’ Showcase has evolved to match the shifting pulse of the industry. Today’s showcase was presented by Saatchi & Saatchi chief creative officer, Franki Goodwin, who was joined by Jonathan Kneebone, co-founder of art and directing collective The Glue Society and shortlisted director, Billy King, for a candid conversation exploring the creative relationships that make great work possible

As part of this year’s session, the agency also premiered A 35-Year Love Affair, a new short film created by Saatchi & Saatchi as a tribute to the collaborative relationships that fuel creativity. 

Franki Goodwin commented, “The 2025 New Creators Showcase is celebrating its 35-year relationship with new creators by exploring the most powerful creative relationships they have with their collaborators. Whether it’s a particular alchemy with a producer, a DoP, a composer or a client, it’s these trusted partnerships that enable a creator to take risks, make mistakes and do things that have never been done before. I can’t wait to launch another reel of creators this year and play a small part in the matchmaking of the creative relationships that will build their future careers.” 

Meet the 2025 New Creators’ Showcase creators

Billy King: CUTLERY ANTSLIVE

Regally named, Derbyshire-raised Cannes Lions-winning director. Witty and unorthodox concepts bolstered by serious storytelling and craft. A clever creative who knows how to make things happen. Bold writing. Contemporary aesthetic. Timeless palette. A youthful spirit with a mature approach. Daring ideas, deftly executed. Also loves a hug.

Saman Aminzadeh: THE SHIRT

Saman Aminzadeh is an Iranian-Irish filmmaker from Bradford. From assisting and shooting 2nd unit for Daniel Wolfe & Bradford Young, among others, he has risen as a critical British filmmaking talent. 

A key creative force behind the 2023 multi-award-winning Channel 4 Idents, Saman wrote and directed two of the series and collaborated on the overall vision. His work for JD Sports and the EE Euros also spotlights Saman’s ‘humanity-first’ instinct, tapping into contemporary subcultures for evocative portraits. They are triumphantly authentic snapshots that connect diverse audiences through honest storytelling and cultural insight.

From his unique perspective on traditional family constructs, he redefines what the nuances of ‘family’ really mean today, to a nation’s collective responsibility, calling out racism and hatred whenever it’s witnessed. Or a documentary short, Wheels, for The Face, on how Bradford’s controversial car subculture unites people across race, religion and gender in a place known for its social divisions. To what is often presented as the darker side of real life, Saman always shines a light of relatable joy and hope. 

Luna Carmoon: Here’s The Thing

Carmoon’s bold and evocative storytelling has made her a standout voice in contemporary filmmaking. Growing up in South London, her passion for filmmaking can be traced back to her early childhood, spent primarily with her grandmother, who had a love for horror. Together, they would spend hot summer days with the curtains drawn, watching disturbing supernatural TV specials and horror movies on VHS, a ritual that profoundly shaped Luna’s artistic vision. 

Her love for cinema only grew as she reached her teenage years, where she would often watch three movies a day. Luna Carmoon first captured attention with her short films, including SHAGBANDS, which explores the complex world of teenage girls navigating identity and violence in South London. Her ability to blend deeply personal narratives with universal themes has been lauded by critics and audiences alike. 

This talent was further recognised with her debut feature, HOARD, which premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, where it won three prizes at Venice Critics’ Week. Carmoon recently directed two back-to-back music videos for the band Fontaines D.C., including Here’s The Thing, which won Gold at Kinsale Sharks and silver at both Ciclope and UKMVAs. 

She was also recognised in BAFTA’s 2024 Breakthrough Talent list and was nominated for Outstanding Debut Director at BAFTA’s 2025 awards for her film HOARD. She was also named in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for 2025.

Louise De Nexon: Antimony

Louise de Nexon is a director based in New York City. Born in Paris, she moved to New York when she was 13. Growing up between two culturally rich cities gave her the urge to tell meaningful and culturally ingrained stories, as well as develop her eye for powerful aesthetics.

Jonny Look – Write a Song About Heartache

Jonny Look is a Los Angeles-based director and writer, originally hailing from Cleveland, Ohio. His work fearlessly explores absurd and unconventional ideas, which makes it incredibly special. In addition to creating short films, such as Write A Song About Heartache and Getting In A Van Again, Jonny Look also produces music videos, having directed videos for The Fruit Bats, Cloud Nothings, and many more. He has an innate ability to make things that have never been seen before, in a captivating and twisted way, while keeping a sense of whimsy and humour.

Lea Thurner: How Wonderful

Lea Thurner was born in Munich and has been a storyteller since she was able to speak. She had her first opportunity to turn this passion into a professional context and worked as a copywriter in an advertising agency. Lea quickly realised that the medium for her stories had to be film, and so she has been studying advertising direction at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy. Since then, she has been continuously gaining experience as a director of commercials, short films and music videos in Berlin, Munich and Copenhagen. In 2023, she was part of the Hollywood Workshop Master Class at UCLA, where she didn’t see a single star on the street for over four weeks and consumed over 350 iced coffees.

Above Ground: Sincerely Sha, Hef

AboveGround is a Lithuanian-born, London-based director and photographer known for his music videos and experimental documentaries. With over a decade of experience, he explores music and underground culture across multiple media. Shooting mainly on film, he blends the staged with the unpredictable.

David McShane: Bonfire

David is a director and animator based in London. His award-winning shorts have premiered at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival (Solar Plexus) and the 63rd BFI London Film Festival (Come). He also works as an animator on projects spanning documentaries and art-house shorts, to BAFTA-winning TV shows and Disney+. His work is particularly interested in themes of queerness, technology and disconnect, often told through the lens of fantasy.

Lauren Maya Davis: Songbirds

Lauren Maya Davis is an award-winning British writer-director who brings a visceral emotionality to her work through her arresting cinematic style.  Her ability to infuse thought-provoking stories with rare artistic vision showcases her deep understanding of expressive storytelling and a dedication to craft. 

She is a self-taught writer dedicated to exploring human behaviours and the language of emotion in contemporary worlds. Her scripts have received recognition from the industry’s new writer platform, including Screencraft, Outstanding Screenplays and the International Page Screenwriting Awards. 

Her passion for directing and ability to harness powerful storytelling have been recognised at the 2025 Young Directors Awards in Cannes, the 2024 CICLOPE Festival of Craft in Berlin, the 1.4 Awards in London, and best short film at select US film festivals. 

Her work has been screened at the Directors Guild of America in New York and the Barbican in London, and her project, Songbirds, is currently exhibiting at the Museum of the Mississippi Delta in Mississippi. 

She has a degree in Motion Graphic and Film Design, studied Cinematography at the American Film Institute, and she is currently based between London and California. 

Shona Heath: Eye Ear You

Shona is the production designer who won an Oscar for Poor Things. She has also created some of the most memorable fashion photography from the past two decades. Her style is confident and playful. She experiments with the use of materials and always with a feminine approach. She draws inspiration from the people and the art around her, stretching and distorting motifs from the natural world to create her unique landscapes. Often taking a humorous approach to everyday domestic life or the concept of luxury, her work is characterised by a lightness and sense of fun that she is renowned for.

Tanner K Williams: Shiversucker

Tanner K Williams is a queer, ex-Mormon director and photographer using repulsion and nostalgia to digest conversations of mental health, trigger social reeducation, and disintegrate myopic religious expectations of sex and gender. Their anti-triumphant body of work enables viewers to grapple with difficult-to-approach religious and political issues by providing a familiar, albeit uncomfortable space. Gaudy absurdity contrasts with heavy, lived-in human experiences to present a satirical harmony of the unpleasant and the charming.

Tanner has developed a niche and relatable language that satirises traumas and critiques hate groups in a nuanced, poignant way. Tanner’s recent standout music video, Shiversucker, for Madge, won three golds at this year’s Ciclope Festival of Creativity, demonstrating the filmmaker’s raw talent and fresh, intentional approach to meaningful visual storytelling.

Caleb Femi: Time Travels Memories

Caleb Femi’s creative practice spans film, photography, fashion, art and poetry. To date, he has direct shorts, fashion shows, brand campaigns, TV episodes, music videos, and author books. 

His short, Giraffe, was selected for Sundance Film Festival, and he’s directed episodes of Industry (HBO/BBC) and Champion (NETFLIX/BBC). A frequent collaborator of the late Virgil Abloh, Caleb directed multiple Louis Vuitton films and Abloh’s final runway presentation. He’s helmed further campaigns for Bottega Veneta, Mulberry and TikTok. 

His latest advert is the rambunctious Playdate (EE). Caleb collaborated closely with Sampha across his Lahai LP campaign, including co-direction of its lead film and live direction of his 2024 Alexandra Palace show. A Dazed 100 shortlist, Caleb’s photography has been featured in Magma and Louis Vuitton’s Virgil Abloh book. His stills illustrate POOR’ his Forward Prize-winning poetry debut (PRH, 2020). 

His new novel-in-poetry, The Wickedest, (4th Estate, 2024) has received international praise for its cinematic, life-affirming qualities from publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian and Dazed.