Q&A: In Conversation with the team behind Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power

Leigh-Anne Pinnock burst into the world of pop music after winning X-Factor with Little Mix in 2011. Now they are one of the world’s biggest girl bands. Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power is a one-off BBC Three documentary that follows Leigh-Anne as she confronts her experience as the only Black member of Little Mix and as a Black woman in the music industry.

We’re joined by the Director Tash Gaunt, Producer Kandise Abiola and Executive Producer Sam Bickley with host, 

Akua Gyamfi, to discuss the making of the documentary, exploring the key themes and working with Leigh-Anne to film frank conversations on Black representation in the music industry.

Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power is available now to view on BBC iPlayer. 

Tash Gaunt is a self-shooting Producer/Director who has worked on various multi-award-winning programmes such as BBC's flagship series Ambulance and Hospital as well as Channel 4's Crime and Punishment. Having worked her way up through the telly ranks to Producer level she was selected as one of the Edinburgh Television Festival's ‘Ones To Watch’ in 2018 and was then given the opportunity to attend the NFTS as part of the BBC’s female directors course which helped her subsequently make the move into directing. She thrives on projects that don't shy away from complexity and looks for opportunities to tell extraordinary stories in new and interesting ways. Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power is her debut single film.

Kandise Abiola started in the television industry as an intern 15 years ago. She is now an award-nominated producer. Kandise is highly organised, motivated and versatile, and has worked on numerous productions, including Battle for Britain’s Heroes, Gogglebox, Manhunting With My Mum, Reggie Yates: South Africa, Touchdown USA and Race Riots. Kandise worked on the Grierson Award-nominated film Terms & Conditions: A UK Drill Story, editing and producing two sequences that made the final cut. She organised and researched the appropriate footage to help tell the story concisely and at a fast pace.

Sam Bickley, Executive Producer and TV Development Consultant has worked as a commissioning editor, creative director and executive producer, making popular factual, fact-ent and drama. She joined the BBC in 2010. Appointed Head of BBC Three’s Docs and Features department. She was also Acting Controller of Three in 2014.  Previously a commissioning editor at Channel 4. She currently works as a freelance exec producer and TV development consultant.  She is passionate about mentoring, the impact of unconscious bias on freelancers and the gap between mental health support and production. She works on projects for The Film and TV Charity and Creative Access in these areas.

Host, Akua Gyamfi has over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, with a career spanning fashion, film, television, theatre, print, and online media. In 2012 Akua founded The British Blacklist a platform that celebrates the talents of British Black creatives across Screen, Stage, Literature, and Sound. She also produces podcasts Your Aunties Could Never (popular culture, and TBB Talks (interviews with Black creatives from around the globe). Alongside writer/producer Leon Mayne, Akua is the co-creator/co-exec producer and host of the industry round table series The Circle. In 2019 Akua joined forces with Soul Film, The New Black Film Collective, and We Are Parable to launch the S.O.U.L. Film Festival, an annual event that showcases the best of Black filmmakers and content creators from the UK and the wider Diaspora.

Event Schedule:

17:55: Please join the webinar waiting room

18:00: Host leads conversation

18:45: Attendee Q&A opens

19:00: Finish

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