Anthony McGowan is one of the most widely acclaimed young adult and children’s authors in the UK. His books have won numerous major awards. In 2020, he was awarded the CILIP Carnegie Medal for Lark. He was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal with Rook and won the Booktrust Teenage Prize and the Catalyst Award for Henry Tumour. His YA novel The Knife that Killed Me was made into a critically-lauded film in 2014.
Northern English actor Dario Coates has been working in the industry since he was 15. He has lent his voice to computer games, including Cyberpunk 2077. Dario trained at Italia Conti. As an actor, he has worked extensively in both theatre and television. Recent credits include The Girlfriend Experience for the Starz Network, Quality Street for Northern Broadsides and Simon Stephens’ County Music at the Clapham Omnibus. His awards include a best actor award for Trailing Dirt at the San Francisco short film festival and an Offie Award for the one man show SID.