London, 29th June 2016: The National Film and Television School (NFTS) announced a range of initiatives at its annual fundraising Gala to increase the number of women working professionally in screen directing.
This year’s Gala, which took place yesterday at Old Billingsgate, celebrated Great British Women, a theme chosen to champion high-achieving women in the creative industries while raising awareness of the low percentage working in film despite a healthy gender balance of students at the NFTS and other film schools in the UK and beyond*.
The NFTS is launching three initiatives:
1. A mentorship programme for all female students on the NFTS’s four MA’s in Directing. The mentor will be a director or producer and will be on hand to advise the students, give them feedback and appraise their work.
2. A conservatory directing workshop for women with three years or more professional experience in the arts or a graduate of the NFTS. The programme includes free tuition and access to NFTS facilities and equipment although participants will be responsible for generating costs for their projects and part of the intensive training will include fundraising. All participants will make a short film or series and their work will be screened to agents, managers, producers and executives.
3. A paid internship for all participants of the directing workshop with a director, writer or producer. This year’s Gala committee is co-chaired by Barbara Broccoli, one of the entertainment industry’s most successful female producers and Tessa Ross, who has received a BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema.
Producer and Gala Co-Chair, Barbara Broccoli says: “I am fully supportive of the NFTS's efforts to increase diversity amongst its students and excited by the initiatives announced today to boost the number of female filmmakers but there is more to be done by the industry itself in terms of women especially in light of the recent research conducted by Raising Film. We women in film, especially those in positions of influence need to now really focus on supporting working with families so we don't find ourselves losing valuable, talented and enthusiastic members of our industry.”
Producer and Gala Co-Chair, Tessa Ross says: “The Gala is a great opportunity to applaud the work of the NFTS and its fantastic students, as well as to celebrate the work of the great British women who are blazing a trail through the film, television and games industries. Like Barbara, I champion the efforts of the NFTS to ensure that there is a constant flow of great talent, including women coming into these industries.”
Nik Powell, director of NFTS says: “I am extremely grateful to Barbara, Tessa and the committee for taking time out of their busy diaries to make this year’s Gala a success. The film, television and games industries would not be anything without the stellar contributions women like these are making every day.”
“We take our role as educators extremely seriously and are incredibly proud of our female graduates’ achievements but we know we need to do more to help them make their way in the industry. To this end, I am extremely pleased to announce our initiatives today and the commitment to ensure our ambitions for the programme are realized.”
For more information, please visit https://nfts.co.uk/
ENDS
Contact for further information: Vicky Hewlett, Head of PR and Communications, NFTS: VHewlett@nfts.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
*Across all courses and all film-related specialisms, female representation among female applications has been increasing from 48.6% in 2007 to 53.6% in 2014. (Source: Directors UK) The Directors UK report looked at 2,591 UK films released over ten years (2005-2014). During this time, the percentage of UK films directed by women increased by just 0.6% from 11.3 to 11.9%.
Raising Films 'Making it Possible' survey can be viewed at www.raisingfilms.com
Photo: Current NFTS students who volunteered at the Gala.
About The National Film and Television School
The NFTS is one of the world's leading film, games and television schools. It has been cited by some media as one of the top five film schools globally and by one as the No.1 international film school. In 1967, the government recommended the creation of a national film school for the UK and in 1971 the National Film School opened its doors for the first time focussing on postgraduate education. In the 1980s, the school officially changed its name to the National Film and Television School to incorporate the demand for courses in television production and has since added games to its remit.
NFTS prides itself on producing world-class, award-wining industry leaders. It has more Student Academy Awards (Foreign Category) than any other film school. NFTS students and graduates also regularly win BAFTAs and have won the short film category for the last three years. Other prestigious accolades include the Grierson Award for Best Student Documentary, which NFTS students have won for the last three years as well as multiple Royal Television Society student awards and Annecy Animation Awards. NFTS graduates have gone on to win seven Oscars and 100 BAFTAs with alumni including cinematographer, Roger Deakins (12 times Oscar nominee); BAFTA winning director, David Yates, (best known for directing the Harry Potter films); Oscar winning animator Nick Park (creator of Wallace & Gromit) and Oscar winning composer Dario Marianelli among others. The NFTS is a registered charity (313429). For more information see www.nfts.co.uk
