Actor, writer, TV presenter and comedian Lenny Henry who recently launched a campaign for greater diversity in film and television, is to introduce the National Film and Television School’s Gala, ‘The Great British Film, Television and Games Event – Striving for Diversity Nirvana.’
The NFTS' annual fundraising Gala, held on June 18th at Old Billingsgate, London, this year celebrates and supports diversity in the British film and television industry. Baroness Floella Benjamin, OBE, is chairing the Gala committee, which includes Ade Adepitan (Paralympic medalist and television broadcaster), Alrick Riley (NFTS graduate, Bafta - winning director of Hustle, Hotel Babylon and Spooks), Simon Blagden, MBE (Chairman, Fujitsu, UK and Ireland); James Clayton (CEO, Ingenious Investments); Alex Graham (founder of Wall to Wall TV); Judith Chan (Director, Media Banking Division, Coutts & Co); Ashley Tabor (Executive President and Founder, Global Group) and Nik Powell (Director NFTS).
The NFTS is strongly supporting Lenny Henry's nation wide campaign to increase diversity on our screens by calling for a change in the law to boost the number of black and minority ethnic (BAME) workers in British broadcast media.
The Gala aims to raise funds for the school to enable greater opportunities for women, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME), LGBT and people with disabilities to study at the NFTS through scholarships and its outreach programme. This includes an NFTS Scout who will seek out talented British young people of all backgrounds to encourage and help them apply to the NFTS, as well additional facilities once they start at the NFTS.
The school already provides £650,000 a year in scholarships to UK students and the Toledo Scholarship, established by Producer Duncan Kenworthy (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill) has awarded £150,000 to enable talented newcomers from the UK’s ethnic minorities to fast-track their ambitions and join the British film industry. However, the NFTS is committed to doing more.
Nik Powell NFTS Director said: “The NFTS endeavours to attract a diverse body of students to ensure that their rich mix of experiences, hopes and aspirations are reflected in the great films that get made at the school and continue to be made by our alumni. But we are aware that more can be done to increase the numbers of people from diverse backgrounds in influential positions behind and in front of the camera.”
The NFTS is proud to have as the Gala’s main industry sponsor Ingenious, the biggest independent investor - alongside publicly-funded BBC, Film4 and BFI - in British film and television for 15 years. Ingenious has been a major supporter of the NFTS, both financially and creatively, since its founding, supporting everything from new buildings to new courses and most recently the groundbreaking ‘Creative Business for Executives and Entrepreneurs’, the first ever business course across TV, film, theatre, music, publishing, games and online entertainment, as well as the NFTS initiative ‘Into Film.’
Broadcast and Screen magazines are the media partners for the NFTS’ Gala this year, whose sponsors are Microsoft and Ingenious, and the drink sponsor is Cobra Beer.
For more information about the Gala contact Dominique Cadiou, the NFTS’ Head of Development email dcadiou@nfts.co.uk or visit the NFTS website http://nfts.co.uk
