Netflix has announced the ten winners for their first ever Documentary Talent Fund. The fund is worth up to £400,000 to be split between 10 aspiring filmmakers. It was created to support up-and-coming documentary creators from across the UK to tell the stories important to them.
Each of the winners will be eligible for between £20,000 and £40,000. This money is to be used to finance the making of the documentary, which includes fairly paying all those working on the project.
The brief given to the aspiring documentary filmmakers was “Britain’s not boring and here’s a story”. The streaming giant promises to give freedom to the writers and directors to illustrate the topics of their choosing, while giving guidance and support to ensure creators are equipped with all the tools needed to create an 8-to-12-minute documentary.
The fund was announced in December 2020, with applications being open throughout January. In March, a longlist of applicants was contacted for further supporting information towards their application, which included a video pitch, and on Friday 21st May a shortlist of 21 filmmaking teams was invited to pitch their ideas to Netflix. Of these, the top 10 pitches were awarded funding, with the announcement made on the 26th of May.
Each of the winning pitches covers an aspect of the diverse and vibrant happenings from all across the UK, with a particular aim to amplify the voices of those from under-represented and niche communities. Subject matters for some of the pitches include: the story of a seal at London’s oldest fish market, Afro-Caribbean barber shops as a safe haven for Black men to converse, and the struggle of rapping with a Northern Irish accent.
Additionally, the fund allowed those with little to no filmmaking experience to have a chance at covering a story that is important to them with the help of the international corporation and their team of experts. The original advert encouraged anyone with a great documentary idea to make a pitch, even if they had never picked up a camera before.
Support will be provided in the form of a mentorship programme under Netflix and WDW Entertainment to help navigate each of the documentary teams throughout the process of the project. Even with all of this help, each team will still be able to retain the copyright of their creations throughout the process.
All of the final documentaries will be launched to the public in January 2022 after a screening event which will be attended by industry professionals in order to help further networking opportunities for the emerging documentary teams.
The films will live on the Netflix UK social media channels, with the potential to be developed further in the future.
Cover Photo by Mollie Sivaram on Unsplash
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