Amber Templemore-Finlayson and Katie Ellwood, collectively known as Bert and Bertie, respectively,[1][2][3] are British film and television directors. They are best known for directing the film Troop Zero. They also directed a block of episodes for the Disney+ series Hawkeye and Our Flag Means Death. Ellwood is also known individually as the co-creator of The Getaway franchise, the basis for the crime drama series Gangs of London.
Career
Templemore-Finlayson and Ellwood met in 2005 in London when Templemore-Finlayson was making a short film series to go along with The Getaway video game, and Ellwood was the game's writer.[2][4] Ellwood had previously worked for Sony Computer Entertainment as an assistant producer and script consultant.[5] Their first project was the short film Phobias.[4] The two have also directed commercials for McDonald's.[6][7]
In 2019, they directed the comedy-drama film Troop Zero. They were inspired to create it after realizing the social and cultural impact it could have on young girls, saying that they felt "there had never been a film about a group of young girls that go on an adventure to achieve something by working together and succeeding".[8][4] They convinced producer Todd Black at Escape Artists to help, and after being approved by Escape Artists, producer Ted Hope and his Amazon Originals team let them pitch the film.[8] For the pitch, they created Birdie Scout manuals filled with ideas on how to create the film. They also made a "rip-o-matic" of reference movies to give Amazon Studios a sense of "the comic yet emotional tone of the movie", and chose 20 images defining the film they wanted to create.[8] After its completion, the duo were hired again by Amazon to rewrite and direct Eurydice, a retelling of the Greek myth described as "Terminator meets Thelma & Louise."[2]
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the duo were actively developing the biopic feature A Special Relationship written by Simon Beaufoy and set to star Rachel Weisz as Elizabeth Taylor. The heavily-researched film was set to chronicle Taylor's journey from actress to activist through her friendship with her assistant Roger Wall.[9]
In July 2020, it was announced they would direct a block of episodes for the Disney+ series Hawkeye, which premiered in November 2021.[10][11]
In February 2021, it was announced that the two would direct Queen Bitch & The High Horse, a film about the largest municipal fraud in American history.[12]Cate Blanchett and her production company Dirty Films will produce, along with New Republic Pictures.[13][12]
In November 2022, Templemore-Finlayson was set to solo-direct Keke Palmer in the action-comedy Moxie,[15] while Ellwood was announced in May 2023 to be directing the cybercrime action thriller Gargoyle, as well as her own script about Esther Williams' LSD trip.[16]
Templemore-Finlayson and Ellwood directed two episodes of the first season of the Apple TV+ series Silo. Templemore-Finlayson will direct four episodes of Silo's second season.[17] They directed two episodes of the 2023 Apple TV+ series Lessons in Chemistry.
Personal lives
Templemore-Finlayson and Ellwood are from London,[8] and are based in Los Angeles and London as of January 2019.[2] Templemore-Finlayson grew up in Johannesburg,[8] and Ellwood grew up in Leicester, England.[8] They like to call themselves "the Berts".[18][2]
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