Our Story

Kate Hodgson and Justin McDonald founded Elevator Productions in Liverpool in 2017, bringing together world-renowned talent and emerging voices to develop scripted narrative content and produce independent film and television with commercial appeal.

Elevator's first project, A MODERN MAGICIAN, a short film directed by Mark Heller features Primetime Emmy, Golden Globes and Olivier Award wining actor Brian Cox and was selected in competition at many film festivals including the BIFA qualifying Manchester International film festival, Liverpool International film festival, Soho film festival New York, Dam Short film festival and Sci-Fi London.

Their next film FIST was written by Lee Mattinson, directed by Andrew McVicar and supported by the BFI Network. In 2023 FIST received a nomination for Best British Short at the BAFTA qualifying London Short Film Festival and received a nomination for Best Short at the Royal Television Society Awards North East and The Borders where it won the Best Actor award for drama performance of the year. Other festival selections include BAFTA and BIFA qualifying Bolton film festival and BIFA qualifying North East International film festival, Sunderland Short film festival and Soho film festival New York.

Elevator's third short film NETTLE DAY was also supported by the BFI Network and stars Kate Dickie with newcomers Yazmin Kayani and Lewis Pratt. It premiered at FilmQuest 2024, which is one of the world's largest and most prestigious genre film festivals. It is written and directed by debut filmmaker Jack Nicholls.

Elevator also Associate Produced BFI backed short I KNOW A PLACE which has just been selected in competition at OSCAR, BAFTA and BIFA qualifying Leeds International Film Festival 2024. It was also nominated for best short at Women X Film Festival where it received the best director award for Theresa Varga. It is written by Adam Bennett-Lea and stars Amelia Clarkson and Alicia Forde.

Elevator recently wrapped on short film PATRIOTS which is written and directed by Gavin Scott Whitfield. It is now in post-production with announcements to follow soon.

Alumni of Creative UK's Creative Enterprise scheme, Elevator Productions are working towards their first feature film with a slate of scripted projects that are in development for film and television. Kate and Justin have also been invited to join BAFTA as Connect members.