We have some amazing talent that can take the next step and we’re going to do our best to help them. Because women support and champion other women, our first priority was to establish a new mentoring and development programme where some of Scotland’s best female filmmakers could pass on their knowledge to emerging talent. We’re thrilled to announce that this programme, called New Voices, launched in July 2020 and is very successful in building the confidence, contacts and industry knowledge of our female documentary filmmakers.  Some of the outcomes for the first group of nine New Voices participants include: 

• 10 meetings lined up with commissioners and funders
• 5 successful funding proposals
• 5 new TV commissions
• 4 participants accepted onto other training courses
• 4 participants were working on new feature-length documentaries
• And being on New Voices either ‘improved’ or ‘substantially improved’ the films they were working on

We also launched the Women Direct(ory) as a means of raising the visibility of the women in our industry and connecting them with paid work opportunities.  

Access to funding is also key for women. Unpredictable income and low film budgets stop women training, meeting caring costs and getting their films made. Our next priority is to establish a new grant fund for women making documentaries.  

We know young women are voracious producers and consumers of media. Through a wider outreach programme – community workshops, careers fairs and talks – we will attract double the amount of women, especially from marginalised backgrounds, to join us to learn about the art and business of documentary and to make stories that need to be told.