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The Trinity Laban alum has formed production company Bennu Creative House

New multimedia production company Bennu Creative House is now opening its doors to build innovative artistic concepts encompassing content across film, television, theatre, and digital media.

The company was formed in May 2020 by Trinity Laban alum Shelley Maxwell alongside: Clement Ishmael, Candian composer and worldwide musical supervisor of Disney’s award-winning musical The Lion King; Michelle McGivern, Director of Wright and Murray Creative arts agency; and Celise Hicks, the resident dance supervisor of Disney’s The Lion King on the West End.

Shelley comments –

“We are a company motivated by diversity, representation and equality and we intend to curate, produce and develop work to reflect that. Inclusivity and freedom to thrive are at the core of our vision. We are a home where artists can grow and be supported from ideas to final creation.”

Jamaican-born Shelley completed her Masters in Choreography at Trinity Laban in 2007 and has gone on to forge a career as a successful Movement Director, Choreographer and writer, receiving the award for Best Choreographer at the inaugural Black British Theatre Awards (BBTA) in 2019 for her work on Equus.

Bennu Creative House’s first project is Pocket Com, a series of comedy sketches that partners with theatres or arts organisations in order to create charitable revenue for them while also creating jobs within the industry for actors, writers, directors, film crews and postproduction teams.

The first series, entitled PIVOT, is delivered in partnership with the Kiln Theatre and launches on Friday 25 September. It will be made available for free across all the social media platforms associated with Bennu Creative House, the Kiln Theatre and the actors Shobna Gulati, Lucian Msamati, Fisayo Akinade, Dickon Tyrrell and Hiba Elchikeh.

Watch Shelley’s interview: