Lorna Nickson Brown is an award-winning director, producer, writer, actor and practitioner based in Birmingham, UK.

Under her newly formed Birmingham-based production company, Copper Thread Productions, Lorna is developing television dramas and features, concentrating on female-focused stories for international audiences that are entertaining, multi-layered and, ultimately, filled with optimism. 

As a creative producer and director, Lorna crafts and brings to life stories that reflect the realities of the world while also imagining a better place. Her work is characterised by its emotional truth and distinctive atmosphere. She portrays the lives of people who live on the margins, or in times of crisis, showing their resilience and how there is light in darkness, hope in adversity. She explores the simple beauty and wonder of the world, and the magic that exists in places where no one wants to look. Her goal is to help audiences feel the marvel of life. 

Lorna produced and directed the award-winning BFI NETWORK short, NED & ME, (2021). Described by Mike Leigh as "beautifully directed," the film was selected in the 2021 International Competition at the Academy-Award qualifying, Clermont- Ferrand Film Festival and was nominated for a Royal Television Society Midlands Award. Her recent short, DOG RUN, won the Breaking Boundaries Grand Prize Award at the Academy Award-qualifying, 41st Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival. The film has picked up multiple awards at festivals internationally and is now available on Apple TV. It was chosen by ShortsTV in their 'Best of 2024' showcase and BAFTA qualified for consideration at the 78th British Academy Film Awards.

She is currently working on a narrative feature film project, THE NET, a British-Philippines co-production, with R&D development funding from the British Council.

Lorna’s approach to directing is informed by her training at the acclaimed Drama Centre, London. Studying under Vladimir Mirodan and Annie Tyson in The Laban-Malmgren System of Character Analysis and the Stanislavski Method, Lorna developed a fascination with character psychology and the internal and external aspects of the self. Her research revolves around acting psychology, in particular the psychology of transformation in acting, and the role social media plays in the modern actor’s self-perception.  In 2024, she was invited to present her research at the Annual Stanislavsky and Psychology symposium presented by The S Word, in partnership with the University of Malta.

She was recently selected for DIRECTORS UK Inspire Programme 2025 cohort, where she is being mentored by BAFTA-nominated film and television director/producer, Saul Dibb.

Her recent acting credits include, THE JETTY (BBC One), directed by Marialy Rivas and THE BOYS IN THE BOAT (MGM), directed by George Clooney.

Lorna was selected for BAFTA Connect and by Creative England as one of ten female filmmakers for its inaugural Industry Equals: Women in Screen incubator. Lorna is an alumna of Saïd Business School and University of Oxford’s Women's Leadership Development Programme, BFI Creative Producer’s School, BFI NETWORK Writers Treatment Lab, BAFTA Crew, and Birmingham REP Foundry Associate Artist Programme.

She is represented by United Agents.