Home | Red Herring Story | A film & TV development studio

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Our Story.

Red Herring Story Ltd is a minority-owned, mixed-heritage development studio dedicated to sustainable high-end storytelling for the screen: cross-cultural, globally resonant, rooted in authenticity and place.

As a UK affiliate of the Nordic GRÓ Studios, founded in 2022, Red Herring Story is headquartered in London and bridges UK, Nordic and international co-production ecosystems.

At Red Herring, we believe there’s a smarter way to make high-end drama. Our Nordic-British model blends the cinematic precision and cost-efficiency of Nordic storytelling with the prestige and global appeal of British drama to create thrillers that look premium, feel personal, and travel internationally.

We build stories on atmosphere and character, suspense rather than spectacle, with a production approach that is lean, scalable, and future-proof. By leveraging international funding streams, tax incentives, and a shared culture of co-production, we deliver premium storytelling that’s financially and creatively sustainable. It’s a creative philosophy grounded in sustainability and story. We think of story like Scandinavian architects think about space - nothing wasted, everything intentional. We’re here to redefine what high-end means. It doesn’t require more money, but more meaning. It’s about purpose, precision, and a clear point of view, combining creative vision and commercial viability. We track our production footprint, prioritise inclusive teams, local hires, and cross-border co-production, because sustainable storytelling means both cultural and environmental sustainability.

For every project, the company draws on cross-cultural heritage, investigative storytelling, and a purpose-driven mission to support emerging talent. We develop both original and existing IP with a particular affinity for thriller. We are drawn to diverse drama with bite. We develop stories with a distinctive cultural, social, political, or environmental edge - from grounded thrillers and investigative dramas to dark comedies. We champion new and underrepresented voices who see storytelling as a way to challenge, connect, and change perspective.

In addition to this, Red Herring Story develops innovative unscripted formats, including investigative documentaries as well as formatted reality TV with a thriller twist - merging real-world intrigue with the narrative intensity of high-end drama.

Before branching out into film and TV, co-founder and CEO Torfinnur Jákupsson worked for over a decade as a journalist with investigative storytelling, reporting, and documentary research. This has shaped his approach to storytelling for the screen - grounding fictional along with factual narratives in real-world urgency, layered conspiracies, and high-stakes personal conflicts. Now, with Red Herring Story, he brings that investigative edge to a range of international projects, championing complex, suspense-driven storytelling with a strong sense of place. His first series, TROM (2022) - the first-ever series from the North Atlantic archipelago of the Faroe Islands - was an internationally acclaimed, award-winning eco-crime drama, which put the small fishing nation of the Faroes on the global film & TV map.

Since then, we’ve developed a cross-genre slate of scripted and unscripted projects with partners across the UK, Nordics, Europe, and beyond. We build stories designed to travel and deliver sustainably to diverse audiences around the world.

With Red Herring, the aim is also to help other under-represented first-time writers, producers and directors from diaspora backgrounds to break into the industry. With a fast-expanding slate of projects in development, Red Herring is dedicated to supporting emerging talent, empowering new voices, and fresh perspectives, through their own projects.

Our Team.

Red Herring’s strength lies in its mix - a creative family of different cultures, languages, and identities. We are writers, producers, thinkers, and dreamers from across continents and experiences, united by a shared belief that stories are stronger when they hold many truths. At Red Herring, we are dedicated to telling stories that reflect the world as it truly is: diverse, interconnected, and in motion. We focus on cross-cultural collaboration, authentic representation, and sustainable production, to unite global perspectives with local depth. Our aim is to build bridges through storytelling - proving that difference, when shared with honesty and imagination, can become the most powerful form of connection.

Torfinnur Jákupsson | Founder and CEO | Tor leads Red Herring’s creative and strategic direction, shaping the company’s Nordic-British storytelling identity and slate of original scripted and unscripted projects. As writer-producer and Chief Executive Officer, he brings over a decade of experience in media - from creating the acclaimed eco-crime drama TROM to developing a new generation of socially and environmentally conscious projects. His focus is on building sustainable, story-driven production models that combine artistic ambition with long-term cultural impact.

Samia Lawrence | Co-Founder and COO | As Chief Operating Officer, Samia oversees Red Herring’s operations, partnerships, and organisational growth. With a background in social psychology, sociology, and administration, she ensures that the company’s creative vision is grounded in structure, empathy, and efficiency. Her work bridges people and process - managing daily operations, supporting strategic development, and fostering a culture of collaboration that underpins Red Herring’s creative and entrepreneurial mission.

Aisha Vale | Head of AI / AIO | Aisha oversees Red Herring’s AI-driven development strategy, ensuring that technology strengthens rather than replaces creativity. She supports the team across research, workflow design, and content innovation - embedding ethical, sustainable, and human-centric use of artificial intelligence at every stage of storytelling. Her work helps Red Herring stay at the forefront of how narrative, data, and imagination converge.

Holly Miller | PR & Communications | Holly leads Red Herring’s public relations and media strategy through London-based Percy & Warren, aligning each project’s visibility with its creative and ethical core. With deep experience in international entertainment and brand communications, she manages press outreach, festival campaigns, and industry relations across both Nordic and UK markets. Holly’s work ensures Red Herring’s voice remains clear, credible, and distinctive - translating creative vision into global conversation.

Our AI Ethos.

At Red Herring Story, we see technology as a tool of imagination, not a replacement for it.

Our creative philosophy is rooted in the SAGA principle - Sustainable, Authentic, Grounded, Accountable. It shapes how we choose projects, build teams and measure impact. SAGA is the conscience of everything we do.

From that foundation, we’ve developed a working model called AIM - the AI-Integrated Methodology - a tangible, project-specific framework that guides how we use AI responsibly across development, writing and production. Our AIM is to support writers and producers in the early stages of storylining, structure analysis, research and sustainability planning, reducing creative waste while enhancing creative clarity.

Every AI-assisted process is documented, reviewed and guided by human oversight. We maintain a transparent logbook for each project, ensuring creative control, data ethics and full compliance with emerging industry standards.

To us, AI is not a shortcut. It’s a sustainability tool. A way to free more time for human invention and open the door to new voices.

When Gutenberg’s press appeared, many feared it would destroy storytelling. Instead, it multiplied voices, democratized knowledge, and made creativity reproducible without erasing its soul. AI holds the same potential: it doesn’t invent humanity; it amplifies it. Where the press freed stories from the hand, AI frees them from limitation.

At Red Herring, we treat AI as our modern press. A way to support human creativity and imagination - sustainably and accessibly.

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Why Red Herring?

Red Herring Story wants to lead you somewhere unexpected - to what’s hidden beneath the surface and places you haven’t seen before.

In storytelling, a red herring is a distraction. A false trail. A misdirection that keeps audiences guessing. The name speaks to how deception has always been at the heart of great storytelling. The best thrillers don’t just lead you to the truth - they make you fight for it.

As the fisherman knows, both danger and reward can be found in the unseen. Beneath the surface, there might be a great catch or an empty net. Beyond the horizon, there might be calm waters or a coming storm. A storyteller asks the same questions. What’s lurks behind the immediate and obvious? Who is lying and telling the truth? What hidden forces are shaping the world behind the scenes?

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Roykstovan.

Long before there were screens to flicker with images or pages to turn, stories were told in the heart of the smoky fire-lit darkness of the traditional Faroese home - ‘roykstovan.’

In the Faroe Islands, where the wind howls and the sea takes as much as it gives, storytelling was about more than entertainment. It was about survival and a shared history. The stories told, spoken and sung, weren’t just folktales and myths. They were also warnings about the forces that lurk beyond what we can see - from the depths of the ocean to the towering mountain top - tales of misplaced trust, betrayal, and fate. Dark, deceptive, twisting through layers of mystery and misdirection. About secrets kept too long and the price of revealing them - about what happens when the truth finally surfaces.

In Roykstovan, as we like to call the Red Herring Writers’ Room, we carry forward that tradition - telling stories that are as unpredictable as the Faroese weather.

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A Community.

With Red Herring Story, we are not just building a business - we are building a community of creative talent from diaspora backgrounds.

From our headquarters in London, we currently collaborate with creative partners across the Nordics, Europe, the UK, US, and South America, to create locally rooted stories with international impact - and we are always looking beyond the horizon for new opportunities and new partners-in-crime to join the team.

If you’re a budding writer, producer, director, or just someone with a story to tell, do get in touch. Let’s co-create. Take advantage of the support and development offered by Red Herring and embark on your own journey to bring your story and unique creative vision to life.