Press Release
TELEVISUAL FACTUAL FESTIVAL TEAMS UP WITH DIRECTORS UK FOR PANEL SESSION
1 November 2017
Directors UK, the professional association of UK screen directors, is proudly partnering with Televisual to host a panel session at the Televisual Factual Festival for the second year.
The session Directing Factual: Looking After Contributors will explore the relationship that directors build with their contributors, how they gain their trust and how directors support their subjects throughout the shooting process and beyond. The session will take place on Tuesday 14th November, at 16:10pm, at BAFTA.
Taking part in the panel will be three established factual directors; Ashok Prasad (Frontline Doctors, Cutting Edge, Dispatches, This World, Horizon), Kirsty Cunningham (A Killing in My Family, Protecting Our Foster Children, Ambulance), and Olly Lambert (Abused: The Untold Story, Syria: Across The Lines, Mum and Dad are Splitting Up, The President v The Press). The session will be chaired by director Alicky Sussman (Why Are We Getting So Fat?, Horizon, Guts: The Mysterious World of the Human Stomach).
The panellists will discuss persuading people to talk about sensitive subjects for your programme, building sincere relationships with them, how much responsibility a director has in looking after the psychological welfare of their contributors and should these ethical concerns affect the way that docs are cast, produced and edited?
During this session, the panel will discuss their own ways that they have developed these relationships, as well as useful tips and advice for factual filmmakers.
Laura Adams, Head of Member Services at Directors UK said: “As an organisation that represents screen directors working in all mediums, it’s important that we recognise the important role that directors’ play within the factual genre. We hope that this session and our work at such events help our members and filmmakers to expand and explore; learn about new developments and trends, and gain an insight into other areas of the industry, and build connections with peers, production companies and commissioners, which we hope will lead to new opportunities in the future.
“We’re pleased to be at The Factual Festival again this year, and look forward to working closely with the Televisual team and building our relationships with this vibrant community.”
The Televisual Factual Festival is the UK’s leading business forum for factual television producers and film-makers. Held at London’s BAFTA headquarters in Piccadilly, across two days – Tuesday 14th Wednesday 15th November – the Festival is a hub for programme makers to find out about the here and now of factual TV.
The session Directing Factual: Looking After Contributors takes place on Tuesday 14th November, at 16:10pm, as part of Televisual Factual Festival. This session will be followed by a drinks reception to close the day.
Passes for the session, and the whole festival are available to purchase from the Televisual Factual Festival site, www.televisual.com/festival
** ENDS **
DIRECTING FACTUAL: CONTRIBUTORS PANELISTS
Kirsty Cunningham - Freelance Director
Kirsty Cunningham is a BAFTA nominated director with over twenty years of experience of securing and maintaining difficult and sensitive access, often with children and young people. Most recently she has worked with child bereavement charity Winston’s Wish on A Killing in My Family, Channel 4 which featured eight families who had been bereaved through murder or manslaughter. Prior to that Kirsty worked with Dorset Children’s Services and Cafcass on Protecting Our Foster Children, BBC2. Kirsty is currently working on the second series on Ambulance, BBC1 and a documentary about young people who have been sectioned BBC2.
Olly Lambert - Documentary Filmmaker
Olly has worked as a freelance director for nearly 20 years, and has made over 40 films for Channel 4, the BBC and PBS. His work tends to focus on ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events, often in areas of conflict. He and he has won over a dozen international awards, including an Emmy, two BAFTAs and an RTS.
Ashok Prasad - Freelancer Producer/Director
Ashok is a documentary filmmaker who has made prime-time factual programmes for all the main UK channels including BBC, ITV, C4, and Sky as well as US Broadcasters. He started in TV as a BBC production trainee and has since directed films for strands such as C4’s Cutting Edge and Dispatches, BBC’s This World, Horizon and Everyman. Recent documentaries include Frontline Doctors, BBC One about the humanitarian response to the refugee crisis, Has Political Correctness Gone Mad, Channel 4 fronted by Trevor Philips, The Nick a real-life Hill Street Blues, ITV and A Little Bit OCD fronted by Jon Richardson (C4). His work puts human stories at the heart of each film and spans observational documentaries, specialist factual and current affairs. At the start of his career, he worked on the Emmy award winning two-part historical documentary The Cuban Missile Crisis.
Alicky Sussman - Freelancer Producer/Director
Alicky is a freelance producer/director with 20 years’ experience in the industry. She has filmed all over the world and made a wide range of specialist factual and observational films, as well as produce interactive and digital content. Her work combines complex subject matter with emotionally sensitive stories. Recent documentaries include Why Are We Getting So Fat? and Hair Care Secrets for BBC2’s Horizon strand and Guts: The Mysterious World of the Human Stomach presented by Dr Michael Mosley (BBC4).
ABOUT THE EVENT
· The Televisual Factual Festival is the UK’s leading business forum for factual television producers and film-makers. Held at London’s BAFTA headquarters in Piccadilly, across two days – Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th November 2015.
The Directors UK session Directing Factual: Looking After Contributors takes place on Tuesday 14th November, at 16:10pm.
· Passes for the whole festival are available to purchase from the Televisual Factual Festival site, www.televisual.com/festival
ABOUT DIRECTORS UK
· Directors UK is the professional association of UK screen directors. It is a membership organisation representing the creative, economic and contractual interests of over 6,500 members - the majority of working TV and film directors in the UK. Directors UK collects and distributes royalty payments and provides a range of services to members including campaigning, commercial negotiations, legal advice, events, training and career development. Directors UK works closely with fellow organisations around the world to represent directors’ rights and concerns, promotes excellence in the craft of direction and champions change to the current landscape to create an equal opportunity industry for all.
· Further information can be found at www.directors.uk.com
· To become a member of Directors UK for access to training, benefits and discounts, please visit www.directors.uk.com/join or contact us directly at [email protected]
· Directors UK Social Media handle: @Directors_UK
Author
