Bafta has shone a spotlight on 20 'trailblazers' working in documentaries and specialist facutal for the fifth cohort of its Elevate scheme.
The individuals, all from minority or underrepresented backgrounds, will undertake a two-year programme of networking opportunities., masterclasses and panel discussions, kicking off with tonight's Film Makers Dinner.
Bafta said it had picked this mix of producers, producer/directors, development producers and directors after its research had revealed a concerning lack of opportunities for individuals from underrepresented groups to progress to decision-maker roles.
Bafta Elevate candidates are selected by a panel of industry experts led by Bafta TV Committee chair Hilary Rosen.
Almost all of this year's candidates are signed up to Talent Manager. Click on the links below to see their profiles.
Ahmed Peerbux
Producer/director of Peter Kosminsky’s upcoming BBC drama about Grenfell
Ali Naushahi
Director of BBC’s Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius
Ayse Toprak
Producer/director at Al Jazeera who also directed Channel 4’s My Name is Happy
Cara Bowen
Producer/director whose credits include Channel 4’s Catching a Killer (True Vision)
Dhivya Kate Chetty
Producer/director of BBC2’s When ABBA Came to Britain (Wise Owl Films)
Eddie Hutton-Mills
Producer/director of Sky doc The House of Barbie (Two Rivers Media)
Georgie Yukiko Donovan
Producer/director who was unit director on Netflix’s Heart of Invictus
Janette Hodds
Casting and Welfare Producer at Woodcut Media
Jemma Gander
Director of Two Step Films’ BBC2 doc The Wrong Man: 17 Years Behind Bars
Laura Gilbert
A series producer who has worked on several Firecrest Films series
Liana Stewart
Producer/director whose credits include Netflix’s Sprint (Box to Box Films) and BBC Wales’ Black & Welsh (ieie Productions)
Margareta Szabo
Producer of BBC Storyville doc A Bunch of Amateurs
Nacressa Swan
A development executive who has worked for Dragonfly North, True North and Candour Productions
Poppy Jay
Director of Channel 4 docs Queens of Rap and Young, Black and Right-Wing and co-host of BBC Sounds podcast Brown Girls Do It Too
Rajesh Thind
Producer/director of Rogan Productions’ Channel 4 series Defiance: Fighting the Far Right
Roxy Rezvany
Producer/director who works across scripted and factual and has been a shadow and second unit director on BBC1’s The Capture (Sid Gentle Films)
Sarah Conner
Natural history producer/director
Stephanie Wessell
Series producer whose credits include MultiStory Media’s ITV show Kate Garraway’s Life Stories
Thomas Macnab
Producer/director and edit producer on Ricochet’s Sun, Sea and Selling Houses
Vanessa Van-Yeboah
Series editor on ITV2’s Big Brother
