Women in Film and Television expands Four Nations Mentoring Scheme

Women in Film and TV (UK) has launched its 2024 Four Nations Mentoring Scheme, designed for mid-career women working in film, television and creative media looking to take that next big step in their career.

This year the scheme has expanded to include North of England and introduces a new Mentoring Producer to lead the cohort, Helen Bullough. Although WFTV has always had mentees based in the North of England, by focusing on the region the WFTV Mentoring team has created seven new dedicated places for women based in the North, making a total of 48 places across the UK.

This year’s mentors include Netflix’s Alison Small, Senior Manager for Production Training and Industry Engagement, StudioCanal UK’s CEO Alex Hamilton, ITV’s Director of Creative Diversity Ade Rawcliffe, Two Rivers Media’s Managing Director Alan Clements, Composer Ben Foster, Channel 4’s Head of Drama Caroline Hollick, BBC’s Head of Comedy, Tanya Qureshi, BBC Documentaries’ Lead Commissioning Editor Emma Loach, Lucas Films’ EVP & General Manager Lynwen Brennan, Costume Designer Sophie Canale, NFTS’s Chair Sophie Turner Laing OBE, All3Media’s COO Sara Geater, UKTV’s Director of Commissioning, Hilary Rosen and many more.

48 mentees have been selected from hundreds of applicants from across England, North England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales to take part in the 2024 programme. The scheme will run for six months, during which time each of the participants are paired up with senior industry professionals for one-to-one mentoring alongside peer-to-peer training and bespoke career and personal development workshops.

Netflix continues its support of the schemes in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales through its Fund for Creative Equity, which is dedicated to helping build new opportunities for underrepresented communities within entertainment.

The England and North England schemes are supported by the BBC, Channel 4, EON Productions, Panalux and Panavision, Pinewood and Shepperton Studios, Sara Putt Associates, the Women’s Network at NBC Universal and UKTV.

Katie Bailiff, CEO of WFTV, said “The addition of a dedicated Northern mentor producer in Helen Bullough really strengthens the WFTV Four Nations Mentoring Scheme – I’m delighted to be welcoming our first dedicated Northern cohort and look forward to seeing them fly over the next six months.”

Heading up the scheme is WFTV’s Director of Mentoring Sarah Wright, former Group Director of Acquisitions and Sky Cinema, UK & ROI. Mentoring Producers Hannah Corneck in Wales, Karen Kelly in Scotland and Sarah McCaffrey in Northern Ireland will continue to run the scheme in their dedicated nations.

Sarah Wright said, “I can’t wait to kick off the WFTV 2024 Four Nations Mentoring Scheme. We have a brilliant line up of inspirational mentees and highly experienced mentors who have generously donated their time. The fact that we are able to extend the scheme to offer a new cohort dedicated to the North of England is the icing on the cake.”