Together TV launches Diverse Film Fund to support diverse short documentaries

• Broadcaster Together TV will open submissions for its Diverse Film Fund on 1st March
• The £50,000 fund will commission five emerging filmmakers who do not yet have a broadcast credit as Director or Producer. Applicants may be working in film or TV or are graduates from a film/TV degree
• Up to £10,000 in production costs will be allocated to each of five short documentaries (up to 10 minutes in durations), with filmmakers mentored and supported during the process
• The theme is “Black British Lives today” with the films set to Premiere during Black History Month in October
• ITV Commissioning Editor and Together TV Trustee Satmohan Panesar to chair the seven-strong judging panel
• TV news anchor Charlene White on the judging panel alongside many others
• Naked’s Managing Director Fatima Salaria is joining the initiative with her colleagues Natalie Rose and Cal Turner being judges and mentors
• Partners supporting the fund are drawn from broadcasters, TV trade bodies and equality charities
• The initiative comes on the back of the Crowdfunding campaign run by Together TV’s Chair and Founder Caroline Diehl last summer, to promote and support more diverse content on Together TV

Together TV has launched the Diverse Film Fund to support the production of new, diverse short documentaries. Filmmakers can submit their treatment for selection by a stellar industry judging panel. Each filmmaker will access to up to £10,000 for production plus mentoring and support throughout the process. In addition, the films will broadcast on Together TV during the Black History Month season in October 2021.

The Fund, open to all filmmakers over 18 years old resident in the UK, is now open. For more information and to submit your treatment click here.

The judging panel, chaired by Satmohan Panesar (Commissioning Editor at ITV and Together TV trustee) will include: Charlene White (Presenter, ITV News & Loose Women), Jasmine Dotiwala (broadcaster, journalist), Natalie Rose (Head of Features at Naked), Cal Turner (Head of Factual Entertainment at Naked), Lynda-Louise Burrell (Creative Director at Museumand), Janet Olaofe (Head of Content and Scheduling at Together TV).

Satmohan Panesar, Chair of Together TV’s Diverse Film Fund said: “I am so pleased that Together TV is launching this initiative. We know how important it is for the TV industry to support new and diverse talent.  This Fund will create a real opportunity for five  filmmakers to produce their work and see it broadcast on national TV. They will also be supported and mentored, a great way to boost their professional and artistic careers.”

Janet Olaofe, Head of Content and Scheduling at Together TV said: “As the leading TV channel for inspiring positive change, we believe that our media needs to represent the diversity and creativity of Britain today in the stories we tell. We have supported emerging talent from across our communities over the years, through commissioning, collaborating, mentoring and broadcasting films as best we can. We are now formalising this into something bigger, better and longer-term through this Fund which we hope will grow and launch In the years to come.. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without the catalysing force of our Chair Caroline Diehl, and without the support of our donors and partners across the broadcast and charity sectors. We are deeply grateful to them, and thankful that we can help five new filmmakers see their work come to life.”