
Back to All News
Netflix Announces Winners of Career-Boosting Documentary Talent Fund(L-R): Bri Akakpo, Kate Townsend, Jonny Taylor, Julia Nottingham, Tamana Ayazi, Tanisha Artman, Aaron Lynch, Alex Brunati, Jenny Popplewell. Credit: Hoda Davaine @Gettyimages
Social Impact
12 June 2023
GlobalUnited KingdomIreland
Link copied to clipboard
Today, Netflix announces the five filmmaking teams who will receive funding and professional support to make a short documentary on the theme of Connection, as part of the second year of the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund. Following a rigorous application process and thousands of applications, a shortlist of twelve filmmaking teams were invited to Netflix's UK HQ to pitch in front of a panel of industry experts. The successful recipients and their projects are:
Anna Snowball & Abolfazl Talooni - Iranian Yellow Pages, Iranians in London, trapped between two cultures, search for connection by placing weird and wonderful adverts in the Iranian Yellow Pages.
Anna Rodgers & Zlata Filipovic - Two Mothers, An unusual bond compels an Irish mother of twins to travel to war-torn Ukraine in order to rescue the woman who carried her babies.
Caroline Williamson & Troi Lee - Turn Up the Bass is the remarkable story of Troi Lee (aka DJ Chinaman), a deaf DJ and pioneer of the UKs deaf rave scene, as he and his deaf rave team put on his 20 year anniversary show.
Logan Rea & Krishna Istha - First Trimester follows a transgender performance artist as he interviews hundreds of potential sperm donors live on stage in a quest to find the perfect connection, one that will enable him and his partner to start their family.
Olivia Smart - Black People Cant Swim, Drowning isn't an option as three people tackle their biggest fear.
Each team will now be empowered to produce a short documentary between 8-12 minutes long with a budget of £30,000 that will be released on Netflix's YouTube channel in the New Year. As part of the process they will now undergo bootcamp training from specialists at Netflix who will coach and host workshops covering all aspects of production including legal, creative, HR, production and finance. The Netflix Documentary Talent Fund was created to break down barriers of access for emerging filmmakers. The initiative also provides them with a foundation of knowledge as well as hands on training in all aspects of the industry to allow them to flourish within their careers. The fund to date has championed filmmakers from across the whole of the UK and Ireland, with Netflix supporting talent from Wicklow to Hackney and the Midlands to Bristol this year. The recipients of the inaugural year of the fund saw great success with their films. Love Languages, a film by Jason Osborne and Precious Mahaga was longlisted for best British Short Film by BAFTA this year. Jason Osbourne, director, said, Before the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund, my career was in transition. I really was working on belief (in what, I'm not sure) and faith (also not quite sure what in!) that maybe I could work in film and television. What's happened to my career since is entirely down to this fund. Year 1 recipient Tobi Kyeremateng, who made her directorial debut with her film W MB , went on to win the 2023 BAFTA TV Award for Short Form Programme for her next project, How To Be A Person. Fellow fund alumni Beya Kabelu and Shiva Raichandani were also nominated in the same category, for their follow-up work. The ten films from Year 1 have now screened at over 40 festival screenings including Urbanworld Film Festival, Iris Prize, London Short Film Festival and Aesthetica. Kate Townsend, VP Documentary Features, said, Last year's fund was a huge success with filmmakers really making the most of the opportunity and springboarding to other projects and even BAFTA nominations. We are thrilled today to announce our second-year cohort who we are sure will also go on to supercharge their careers too. The five films we have selected to support, each offer a unique take on the theme of connection. From an amazing story about two mothers with a unique bond in Ireland, to uniting communities as part of the deaf rave scene in Hackney, we are very much looking forward to kicking off production on these documentaries and seeing what these filmmakers can achieve. The sky's the limit!
Townsend led a team of industry professionals who formed the judging panel to select this year's recipients. This included Julia Nottingham (Founder and CEO Dorothy Street Pictures); Orlando Von Einsiedel (Oscar and BIFA winning Director, Virunga, The White Helmets, Evelyn and Founder of Grain Media); Tamana Ayazi (Director, In Her Hands); Jenny Popplewell (Director, American Murder: The Family Next Door), Alex Brunati (Blue Cuckoo Co-Founder and Line Producer), Tanisha Artman (CEO SBTV), Jonny Taylor (Original Documentary Film, Netflix), Aaron Lynch (UK Marketing, Netflix) and Bri Akakpo (UK Marketing, Netflix). The final documentaries will launch in early 2024.
For more details about the Documentary Talent Fund visit: www.netflixdocfund.co.uk
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
02/11/2025
Abu Dhabi, UAE November 2, 2025: Space42 (ADX: SPACE42), the UAE-based AI-powe...
01/11/2025
Thunderbolt 3 Now Standard on Symphony MkII - Starting November 11 Beginning November 11, all new Apogee Symphony I/O MkII units will ship with Thunderbolt 3 as...
01/11/2025
How to Expand the Apogee Symphony Desktop with Cranborne 500ADAT Want to expand your Symphony Desktop beyond two inputs? Whether you're tracking a full drum...
01/11/2025
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has published the Financial Report for ...
01/11/2025
tvONE is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Matrox Video, combining CALICO PRO's high-performance video processing with the Matrox ConvertIP Ser...
01/11/2025
CJP Broadcast has joined the Grass Valley partner programme as both a Systems Integration Partner and AMPP Partner. The collaboration enhances CJP's ability...
01/11/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has earned a higher-rated DPP Comm...
01/11/2025
Michael Napodano Appointed New CEO Of Operative Media
Operative today announced the appointment of Mike Napodano as Chief Executive Officer, marking the next s...
01/11/2025
Film industry professionals flocked to Cine Gear Expo Atlanta 2025 at celebrated Trilith Studios in Fayetteville, Georgia, on October 3 and 4. Back for its 6th ...
01/11/2025
Photo courtesy of Peacock and Sky
Christopher Ross, BSC, began his cinematic obsession early. He cites reading Scorsese on Scorsese as a teenager with teaching...
01/11/2025
NEW YORK ITN and the sell-side advertising company Magnite have announced the launch of what they are billing as the industrys first Local Linear TV Private Mar...
31/10/2025
FanDuel Sports Network To Deliver Selected Live NBA, NHL Games to Major Streamin...
31/10/2025
NBC Jumps Out of the Gate in Extended Breeder's Cup Deal With Dual Drones, J...
31/10/2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
30 October 2025
It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Segomotso Keorapetse, an award- winning South African television d...
31/10/2025
IRVING, Texas As station groups move into an era that promises rapid tech, regulatory and economic changes, Nexstar Media Group said its board has extended chai...
31/10/2025
While some analysts have questioned the ongoing economic viability of broacast-TV late night shows amid ongoing declines in linear viewing, new data from Tubula...
31/10/2025
The contentious contract negotiations between The Walt Disney Co. and YouTube TV have resulted in a blackout of Disney-owned programming on the pay TV operator....
31/10/2025
CINCINNATI Video conversion and AV signal distribution specialist tvONE and Matrox Video have struck a strategic partnership, combining CALICO PRO's video p...
31/10/2025
NEW YORK The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) today released a new industry guide that discusses the urgency of adopting new standards that will help advert...
31/10/2025
While some analysts have questioned the ongoing economic viability of late night shows on broadcast TV amid ongoing declines in linear viewing, new data from Tu...
31/10/2025
Berklee Celebrates the Inauguration of President Jim Lucchese In his inaugural address, Lucchese shared an optimistic vision for Berklee's future as a for...
31/10/2025
Back to All News
Family, Food, and Films: Netflix's Dining with the Kapoors...
31/10/2025
The review highlights DPA 4055 Kick Drum Microphone for its compact design, ease of placement, and authentic tone that captures the true character of the drum p...
31/10/2025
The RT Raidi na Gaeltachta Award 2025 will be presented to journalist P il n N Chiar in at the Oireachtas na Samhna in Belfast tomorrow, Saturday 1 November,...
31/10/2025
RT lyric fm is calling for choirs across Ireland to share their festive music-m...
31/10/2025
Three awards were presented to RT Raidi na Gaeltachta broadcasters at the Oire...
31/10/2025
RT continues its proud tradition of championing Ireland's vibrant arts and cultural landscape through its RT Supporting the Arts initiative. This November...
31/10/2025
RT selects Irish independent production company to produce Christian Worship on...
31/10/2025
Amidst Gyeongju, South Korea's ancient temples and modern skylines, Jensen H...
30/10/2025
Midwich has signed a UK and Ireland distribution deal with X2O Media, a worldwid...
30/10/2025
SVG Students To Watch: Sam Newitt, Kansas State UniversityThe South Dakota native thrives in many roles behind the scenes at K-StateHD.TVBy Brandon Costa, Direc...
30/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Swerve Sports' Christy Tanner Explores the Young FAST Channel&...
30/10/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Andy Liebsch, Senior Director, Video Services, Kansas S...
30/10/2025
Diversified Names Paul Lidsky CEO, Expanding Leadership Role After Serving as Bo...
30/10/2025
NBA, Cosm Enter Long-Term Partnership for Shared Reality Production, Distributio...
30/10/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: FanConnect's Brett Crossley on Reimagining the Ga...
30/10/2025
FanDuel Sports Network to Deliver Select Live NBA, NHL Games to Major Streaming ...
30/10/2025
As the year comes to a close, we can feel the invigorating wind sweeping in for ...
30/10/2025
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
30/10/2025
The SGL Carbon site in Bonn has a long tradition of training. For many years, young talent has been successfully trained here, regularly achieving excellent exa...
30/10/2025
SBS, NITV and Screen Australia announce 2025 Digital Originals Shortlist
29 October, 2025
Media releases
SBS, NITV and Screen Australia are excited to unve...
30/10/2025
Jon Rambeau, President of Integrated Mission Systems at L3Harris Technologies, speaks about industrial collaboration at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (A...
30/10/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., October 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) reports th...
30/10/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said he has circulated a proposal for the agency to auction additional midband spectrum in the U...
30/10/2025
PLANO, Texas Technology solutions provider Diversified has named Paul Lidsky as CEO, tasked with guiding the company's next stage of growth, driving market ...
30/10/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems today unveiled ORION stream recording support and seamless integration with BATON Media Player, a combination that lets broadc...
30/10/2025
WILMINGTON, Del. InterDigital today announced the acquisition of Deep Render, an artificial intelligence startup with a team of AI experts focused on video code...
30/10/2025
NEW YORK TAG Video Systems has earned a higher-rated Digital Product Passport (DPP) Committed to Sustainability badge and the Aclymate Climate Wise Silver Tier ...
30/10/2025
IRVING, Texas As station groups move into an era that promises rapid tech, regulatory and economic changes, the Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has announced that its...