The TV Collective has picked the 50 mid-level TV professionals from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds it will support for the second year of its Breakthrough Leaders programme.
The scheme is designed to tackle what the TVC calls the “frozen middle” who feel they are not getting the opportunity to step up to the next level.
This year’s participants, all of whom have been in the industry for at least eight years, include Gogglebox series editor Amina Badresingth, Louis Theroux: Forbidden America director Daniel Dewsbury, Dragonfly series producer Farah Qayum, BBC Studios Events executive producer Sangeeta Bhaskar, producer Nelson Adeosun and Multistory Media series producer Zinia Scroggs.
They will each be allocated an industry champion and will undertake a programme of bespoke career coaching and masterclasses created by TVC founder Simone Pennant and industry coach Remy Blumenfeld.
Pennant said that more than 40 of last year’s inaugural cohort said the scheme had progressed their career in a meaningful way, with some going on to land senior job promotions or setting up their own indies.
They include ITN Productions head of development Fatima Shafiq, producer-director Beya Kabelu, who has stepped up from assistant producer, and factual programme maker Dani Carpanen.
See the full list of this year’s participants here.
