Storytelling that inspires

Drifting towards international acclaim

After graduating in 1995, Troy started trying to carve out a career in the creative industries. At first, he dabbled in writing and publishing, but even he could see that it wasn’t the right fit.

“I wrote every day, in a disciplined way. I wrote a screenplay, which was terrible, and poetry and short stories,” he says. 

“I didn’t feel ambitious about it.”

Eventually he drifted into an assistant role at Dendy, then a beloved independent film distributor and arthouse cinema chain. It was here that his love of all things story found an unexpected home, emerging as an incredible knack for picking hit films.

At the Cannes Film Festival in 1999, Troy helped Dendy identify and purchase the distribution rights for The Blair Witch Project, Buena Vista Social Club and All About My Mother, all of which went on to significant success. Amelie followed the next year.

So began Troy’s meteoric rise through the international film industry. He co-founded distribution company Hopscotch Films in 2002 and its production arm, Hopscotch Features, in 2009. 

Together, the companies distributed and produced some of the most memorable films of the last 20 years, including Bowling for Columbine, Touching the Void and Mao’s Last Dancer.

“Some people hold onto a story for their whole lives.”

In 2011, Hopscotch was bought by Entertainment One; a few years later, Troy launched Kismet Movies, a distribution company, and production company Brouhaha Entertainment.

At the helm of these businesses, he’s continued his tried and tested approach to film production: picking unlikely scripts, making magical films and sharing stories that sit at the heart of the human experience.

What’s changed, however, is who he thinks about during the production process. Now with decades of experience behind him, Troy says while his films are still very much about the audience, they’re now about the people behind the camera, too.

“Some people hold onto a story for their whole lives, and the act of telling that story helps them and then therefore helps everyone else,” he says. 

Troy recalls the process of producing Lee, a biopic about the life of photojournalist Lee Miller. Miller’s estrangement from her son, British photographer and author Antony Penrose, became the catalyst for a remarkable story.

After Lee passed away, her son found 30,000 photo negatives in her attic from her time as a journalist in the Dachau concentration camp. 

“She had filmed the most horrific things and had suffered her whole life from PTSD that her son never knew about,” Troy says. 

“And so from that point on, he devoted his life to showing her work all over the world. It was his dream to make a film about her.”

It took 11 years, but Troy eventually brought Lee to life in a 2023 film starring Kate Winslet. It grossed nearly $40 million globally and received a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding British Film. Winslet was also recognised with Golden Globe and AACTA nominations.

But for Troy, the real magic of making Lee was the moment he witnessed Antony watch it for the first time.

“It was a very proud moment to show Antony that movie. He was in tears,” Troy says.

“It benefitted him to tell that story, and then the world benefitted from watching it.”

In pursuit of joy

Just how Troy Lum will delight audiences next is the subject of much anticipation. He was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2019 for his contributions to the film industry. To date, the films he has acquired and released have garnered more than 80 Academy Award nominations and generated more than $1 billion at the global box office.

But even as he reaches the pinnacle of his career, his momentum is only growing. The way Troy sees it, there’s no shortage of stories out there waiting to be told.