Directors Digest — Thursday 14 June 2018

This week’s Digest is heavy on the facts, as Sheffield Doc/Fest brought some newsworthy panels, and HBO start a fund for non-fiction storytelling.

Meanwhile, public service broadcasting is on the agenda and BAFTA announce a Best Director category at their Academy Children’s Awards. Read all about it below. 

Television

Deadline reported on our panel at Sheffield Doc/Fest, where TV producers and filmmakers discussed how to tackle bullying and harassment in the industry. 

The BAFTA Academy Children’s Awards will now include a Best Director category. (BAFTA)

Netflix has signed up to the BANFF diversity initiative for five years. (TBIVision)

The BBC and Channel 4 have come together to call for the protected prominence of public service broadcasting.  (Digital TV Europe)

UK members of the European Documentary Network are lobbying to keep the UK in the Creative Europe programme after Brexit. (Screen International)

Meanwhile, TV directors discussed their greatest challenges with The Hollywood Reporter. 

Film

Film School Rejects argue that fetishizing celluloid is bad for film preservation. 

A study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has concluded that film critics are, by a wide margin, predominately white and male.

The French animation industry received a boost as a result of an international tax rebate. (Variety)

HBO and the Independent Filmmaker Project has launched a fund for non-fiction storytelling, encompassing film. 

Indiewire have compiled a selection of early short films by Hereditary director Ari Aster, freely available to watch. 

Are you a member with an opinion on one of these stories? Is there an issue affecting directors that you think isn’t getting enough attention in the media? Why not write for us and make yourself heard — email [email protected] with your article idea.