Global streamer Netflix announced August 21 at the Edinburgh Television Festival that its Documentary Talent Fund will return for its third year in a bid to provide opportunities for under-represented filmmakers in the UK and Ireland.
The call is open to all UK and Ireland residents and will give five filmmakers, and their teams, the chance to make a short documentary film with a budget of £30,000 each. All teams will operate under the guidance of Netflix and other filmmaking professionals. The brief for these short documentaries is “You’re never gonna believe this…”
Nelesh Dhand, Manager, Doc Series, UK comments: “Following the success of the first two years of the fund we are thrilled to be bringing it back to continue our work supporting the next generation of documentary filmmakers. We are searching for applicants from all backgrounds but with some experience with filmmaking. This is a great opportunity for teams to get in front of the Netflix team and we will be doing everything we can to support them throughout the process.”
During the first two years of the fund, 15 short films have been produced with over 60 festival screenings. Iranian Yellow Pages, made by Anna Snowball & Abolfazl Talooni, and Black Stroke, a film by Olivia Smart, have been shortlisted for Best Documentary Short at this year’s Grierson Awards – with the latter also receiving a nomination for the Broadcast Digital Award for Best Short Form Documentary 2024. Two Mothers, a film by Anna Rogers and Zlata Filipovic, won Best Documentary at FastNet film festival. Turn Up The Bass, directed by Ted Evans and executive produced by Caroline Williamson, has had seven festival selections, while Love Languages, directed by Jason Osbourne, made last year’s BAFTA Longlist for British Short Film. Alumni have also gone on to make their first features, have been nominated for numerous other awards and have become BAFTA Connect members.
Kate Townsend, Director Documentary Features said, “For this third year of the initiative we will be focusing our search on directors and producers who truly want to work in, and remain, in the documentary field. We are looking to nurture and empower the future generation of documentarians and help support them in the next stages of their careers.”
Townsend will lead a team of industry professionals who will form the judging panel to select this year’s recipients. This will include Aloke Devichand (Head of Documentaries, Mindhouse, Executive Producer The Final: Attack on Wembley); Andy Mundy Castle (Director, White Nanny Black Child, Founder DocHearts); Anna Higgs (Chair, BAFTA Film Committee); Danny Moltrasi (Senior Shorts Programmer at Raindance); Bao Nguyen (Director, The Greatest Night In Pop); Felicity Morris (Director, Tinder Swindler, Don’t F**k With Catsand American Nightmare), Lyttanya Shannon (Director, Sweet Bobby); Nicky Varley (Head of Production, Curious Film), as well as Cai Mason, Awards & Talent Relations; Zainab Ali Khan, Original Documentaries and Chris Hooper, Director of Marketing for Series and Docs at Netflix UK.
Elisabeth Hopper returns as Lead Producer of the fund for the third year, alongside producers Georgie Yukiko Donovan (Unit Director, Heart of Invictus) and Daisy Ifama (Netflix Doc Fund alumni 2021/22).
Throughout the year, the chosen teams will take part in Netflix hosted workshops covering all aspects of production including legal, creative, HR, production and finance. In their finished forms, each documentary must be between 8-12 minutes long and will live on Netflix See What’s Next YouTube Channel.
Molinare supporting teams by providing post-production services at a reduced cost, plus access to their Online post facilities.
Entries will be open from August 21 to September 27 2024. For the first round, applicants will be required to submit a logline (one sentence); a short synopsis and a creative statement about their documentary idea. Further details on how to apply can be found at www.netflixdocfund.co.uk.
The final docs will be launched in June 2025, and will be showcased at an event attended by industry figures to help our talent expand their networks and advance their careers.
Applicants must be a UK or Ireland resident. Only one application will be accepted per person.
The Year 2 Films are available to watch on Netflix’s Still Watching YouTube Channel. The films are:
- Anna Snowball & Abolfazl Talooni – IRANIAN YELLOW PAGES, Trying to make his new life in London a success, Reza places an advert in an eccentric newspaper and discovers the Iranian community hidden in plain sight.
- Anna Rodgers & Zlata Filipović – TWO MOTHERS, An unusual bond compels an Irish mother to travel to war torn Ukraine in order to bring her former surrogate and her family to safety.
- Caroline Williamson & Troi Lee – TURN UP THE BASS is the inspirational story of Troi Lee, a deaf DJ, founder of “deaf rave” and pioneer of the UK’s deaf music scene. Troi and his team of deaf producers, DJs, MCs, sign singers and dancers will turn up the bass as they celebrate 20 years of deaf raving.
- Logan Rea & Krishna Istha – SPERM DONORS WANTED! follows a transgender performance artist as he interviews hundreds of potential sperm donors live on stage in a quest to find the ultimate connection, one that will enable him and his partner to start their family
- Olivia Smart – BLACK STROKE, Drowning isn’t an option as three people tackle their biggest fear.
