Directors UK is pleased to announce the return of our popular Creative and Strategic Consultancy sessions with Cynthia De Souza.
These confidential, one-to-one video calls are a fantastic opportunity for Full and Associate members to take control of their professional profile and career path in a safe space with an industry expert.
The content of the consultancy sessions will comprise of the following:
- Impartial analysis of a director’s body of work, existing showreel, website and online profile to assess how to best stand out amongst hundreds of others.
- Strategic thinking for how to advance your career towards your chosen goals, including films, TV drama, factual, documentary, comedy, shorts, or proof-of-concept works.
- Development discussion of a passion project, since now is the optimum time to focus, research and generate proposals.
- Creative packaging of projects and strategies for funding/commissioning, including market potential.
About Cynthia De Souza
This consultancy will be led by Cynthia De Souza, a freelance talent and development executive with a consistently strong track record and proven diversity influencer.
Cynthia has assessed over 1,000 directors’ reels and scripts to identify, champion, nurture and produce world-class and award -winning directors and projects.
Her career spans 20 years across the full spectrum of short films, high-end film and TV development and production, broadcast drama commissioning, public sector film funds, global commercial film sales markets, co-production project forums, acquisitions for theatrical distribution and festival exhibition.
Meetings will be held online via Zoom, scheduled by our Skills and Career Development team.
Session Dates
20 October 3 November
Further dates may be arranged later in the year.
How To Apply
Please send the following to [email protected] with the subject line, ‘Creative and Strategic Consultancy Application’:
- An up-to-date CV
- Personal Statement (1 side of A4) – please clearly and concisely detail the areas you would like to discuss during the limited time available with Cynthia and explain why you require this support NOW. Please ensure your personal statement is relevant to this opportunity, particularly the content listed above. Try to avoid providing a biography or too much background context – we should develop an understanding of your career to date from your CV and a bio on your website (if available).
- A brief description of 1 passion project you may have at this moment.
- We will also welcome a link to your website and showreel to accompany your application, but please note these are not compulsory.
This is a competitive opportunity with limited availability, so we recommend reading our application tips article before applying.
The deadline for applications is Monday 5 October.
If you are unavailable for any of the above dates, please specify in the body of your email.
Member Testimonials
“A session with Cynthia De Souza will leave you buzzing. She completely researches your work and career before your meeting, which means that the session is focused on you and changes that you could make to see progression. It’s like a MOT for your career. She’s extremely knowledgeable and everyone should do this with her, at least once. It’s an investment in your career.”
“I had a one-to-one consultancy with Cynthia which was exceptionally helpful. Her in-depth knowledge and experience of the TV & film industry really helped shape various areas of my website, bio, CV, and overall presentation to future employers. Cynthia took the time to watch my work before our session, so we hit the ground running with useful notes on what was working and crucially, what wasn't. Cynthia's down to earth and straight-talking approach is exactly what is needed to identify weak spots in your personal presentation, and I couldn't recommend her enough.”
Diversity
Applications are encouraged from directors of colour, women directors and disabled directors as the industry recognises that all are currently under-represented within the film and television industry.
