Watch previous WFTV online webinars here
MARCH events
Q&A: THE TEAM BEHIND UKTV'S WOMEN ON THE FORCE
Speakers:
Emma Bullimore | Journalist
Helen Nightingale | UKTV Senior Commissioning Editor
Harriet Leaf | Producer/ Director
Anna Evans | Associate Producer
PC Uzma | North Yorkshire Police.
As part of our programme of events to mark this year’s International Women’s Day, we'll be hearing from some of the female team behind UKTV's second series of Women on the Force.
Hosted by Emma Bullimore, we’ll be joined by Helen Nightingale, UKTV Senior Commissioning Editor, Harriet Leaf, producer/ director, Anna Evans, associate producer and PC Uzma from North Yorkshire Police.
The documentary series offers a rare look into North Yorkshire Police, exploring the reality the women on the force face at work and how that balances with their everyday lives out of uniform. The panel will be discussing the new series and sharing behind the scenes insight to the production.
MASTERCLASS: TV to Change the World: How to make presenter-led campaigning films have impact on and off the screen
Speakers:
Dominique Walker | Executive Producer
Dr. Chris van Tulleken | Doctor at UCLH & BBC’s Science Presenters
Katie Bailiff | CEO, WFTV
Executive Producer Dominique Walker has been at the forefront of producing popular factual campaigning films for the past twenty years.
She series produced the BAFTA award-winning Jamie’s School Dinners which famously led to a fundamental overhaul of the food kids eat in schools. At Channel 4 she commissioned a number of successful campaigns including Fowl Dinners which pressured most of the major supermarkets into withdrawing battery farmed eggs. For the BBC Dominique exec produced both the RTS winning environmental film Drowning in Plastic which exposed the devastating impact of plastic pollution on wildlife and two series of The Doctor who Gave up Drugs with Dr Chris van Tulleken - a series which campaigned to wean Brits off prescribed drugs.
In this exclusive WFTV masterclass Dominique Walker and TV presenter Dr. Chris van Tulleken talk about their latest film for BBC1 which questions the role the food industry and ultra-processed food in the alarming rise in childhood obesity.
They will share their collective wisdom about how producers and presenters can collaborate to create powerful TV campaigns. They will unpack some of the editorial, legal and ethical challenges which present themselves when making films that change the world one school dinner, battery farmed egg, plastic bag, or anti-depressant at a time.
INSPIRATIONAL WOMEN: ESTHER RANTZEN - LIVING WITH GRIEF
Speakers:
Dame Esther Rantzen DBE
Rebecca Burrell | Award-winning Producer/ Director
Katie Bailiff | WFTV CEO
Dame Esther Rantzen, now eighty, has been on our television screens since the early seventies and has had an extraordinary career from 21 years on BBC’s That’s Life! to being the founder of the charities ChildLine and The Silver Line. We talk to Esther about her new Channel 5 documentary Living with Grief where she examines her own feelings of bereavement by enlisting the help of six people who talk unflinchingly to her about their experiences of loss.
WFTV CEO, Katie Bailiff will be joining Esther and director Rebecca Burrell for a conversation about Esther’s personal journey during the making of Living with Grief . They’ll also be discussing Esther’s experience of being a woman working in television for half a century and the changes that she’s seen and been a part of, sharing what she’s learnt along the way.
Q&A: In conversation with emerald Fennell, writer-director of PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Speakers:
Emerald Fennell | Writer, Director and Producer
Wendy Mitchell | Journalist
PLEASE NOTE: The screener link for Promising Young Woman is no longer available. Promising Young Woman is available to watch on Sky.
From ground-breaking Academy Award® nominated writer/director/producer Emerald Fennell (Killing Eve), Promising Young Woman is a bold, new vision that has ignited a debate starring Academy Award® Nominee Carey Mulligan as ‘Cassie’; a wickedly smart but singularly focused woman, who in order to overcome events from her past, lives a double life by night. Following an unexpected encounter, Cassie is given the chance to right the wrongs of the past. Nominated for 5 Oscars and 6 BAFTAs, the film also stars Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Chris Lowell, Molly Shannon, and Connie Britton.
Join WFTV for a conversation with Emerald Fennell, writer-director of the BAFTA and Academy Award® nominated, Promising Young Woman.
Emerald will be sharing behind the scenes insight to the making of the new genre-bending film, which fuses elements of romantic comedy and thriller to spotlight longstanding gender issues through a story of female power.
Film spoilers will be revealed during the talk so all members should watch the film prior to the Q&A event.
IN CONVERSATION WITH THE TEAM BEHIND FRAMING BRITNEY SPEARS
Speakers:
Samantha Stark | Director
Liz Day | Senior Story Editor
Mary Robertson | Executive Producer
Zing Tsjeng | VICE UK Executive Editor
The meteoric rise and disturbing fall of Britney Spears has devolved into a Kafkaesque court battle that has reawakened her fandom and raised pressing questions about mental health and an individuals' rights. Produced by The New York Times and Left/Right and released on Sky Documentaries in the UK, the new documentary Framing Britney Spears re-examines her career and offers a new assessment of the movement rallying against her court-mandated conservatorship, capturing the unsavoury dimensions of the American pop-star machine.
In this WFTV event live from New York and LA, Director Samantha Stark, Senior Story Editor Liz Day and Executive Producer Mary Robertson will discuss the experience and process of making Framing Britney Spears, unpacking some of the editorial and ethical challenges and addressing the immense public response to the film. Chaired by VICE UK Executive Editor Zing Tsjeng.
Q&A: In conversation with on screen stars of Pieces of a Woman
Speakers:
Vanessa Kirby | BAFTA award-winning actress
Ellen Burstyn | Emmy, Tony and Academy Award-Winning Actress
Emma Jones | Correspondent for BBC Talking Movies
Pieces of a Woman first premiered on stage in Poland in December 2018. Playwright and screenwriter Kata Wéber worked alongside her husband and frequent collaborator, director Kornél Mundruczó to bring the story to the stage and following the season felt like the subject matter and themes of the story could be developed further for screen.
Together they adapted the story to film and Netflix’s Pieces of a Woman, which follows a Boston couple whose lives change when their home birth ends with unimaginable tragedy. In this event we are joined with Vanessa Kirby, who plays pregnant Martha and Ellen Burstyn who plays her Mother, Elizabeth. Hosted by Emma Jones, Vanessa and Ellen will be talk about preparing for the roles, the one-take 24 minute birth scene and their experiences with the shoot.
Writers’ Group: Developing TV Movies with Rebeca Hughes and Kayley Loveridge from Reel One Entertainment
Speakers:
Rebeca Hughes | Scripted Development Executive, Reel One Entertainment
Kayley Loveridge | Scripted Development Coordinator, Reel One Entertainment
In conversation with Christina Pickworth, Rebeca Hughes and Kayley Loveridge from Reel One Entertainment will be talking specifically about developing TV movies, what that process looks like and putting a spotlight on making sales-driven content while maintaining creative balance.
They’ll also be giving advice on writer dos and don’ts when developing TV movies, as well as sharing what they’re looking for in terms of new pitches. There will be an opportunity for questions from the audience after the talk.
Headquartered in Montreal with offices in London, Los Angeles and Vancouver, Reel One Entertainment is one of the most prolific independent producers and distributors of scripted programming in the US and international market. Delivering over 80 titles each year, their main focus is TV movies in the Thriller, Romance and Christmas genres, with a recent foray into scripted TV series.
Meet the Commissioner: Mandy Chang, BBC Commissioning Editor of Storyville and Head of Documentary Acquisitions
Speakers:
Mandy Chang | BBC Commissioning Editor of Storyville and Head of Documentary Acquisitions
Have you got a fantastic idea for a ground-breaking documentary or series? Would you like to find out the best way to get your programme proposal commissioned?
WFTV Chair, Liz Tucker will be in conversation with Mandy Chang, BBC Commissioning Editor of Storyville and Head of Documentary Acquisitions, finding out what makes great television and what you need to do to get that elusive commission.
Mandy’s recent commissions include: Whirlybird: Live Above LA; Red Penguins: Murder, Money and Ice Hockey; Into the Storm: Surviving to Survive and The Hunt for Gaddafi’s Billions.
In conversation with the on and off screen stars of The Crown; Season Four
Speakers:
Gillian Anderson | Award-winning film, television and theatre actress
Emma Corrin | Actress
Suzanne Mackie | Executive Producer
Oona O Beirn | Producer
Edith Bowman
Season four of The Crown brought new characters to the screen as it tells the story of Queen Elizabeth's reign in the 1980s, with Emma Corrin portraying Lady Diana Spencer and Gillian Anderson as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Both who have recently won Golden Globes for their roles, Emma winning Best Actress in a TV series - drama and Gillian winning Best supporting actress in a TV series, limited series or TV film.
In a conversation hosted by Edith Bowman, Emma and Gillian will be joined by executive producer Suzanne Mackie, producer Oona O’Beirn and costume designer Amy Roberts to speak about their experience on the latest season. The panel will discuss the process of preparing for the roles, the challenges and joys of producing such a wide-ranging historical drama and the importance of costume to create characters and accurately portray such public figures.
Marking a moment in time with three of the 2021 BAFTA Lead Actress nominees
Speakers:
Bukky Bakray | Actress
Radha Blank | Actress
Wunmi Mosaku | Actress
Akua Gyamfi | Founder, The British Blacklist
The 2021 BAFTA Nominations were a moment of celebration for women of colour in the Lead Actress category, with four out of the six nominations going to Black women.
WFTV and the British Blacklist are bringing together these actors, Bukky Bakray (Rocks) - winner of the BAFTA Rising Star Award, Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version) and Wunmi Mosaku (His House) with host, Akua Gyamfi (British Blacklist) to mark this historic year with the nominations and discuss keeping the momentum going for the future. We’ll hear how they feel about being a part of history, celebrating this important moment in their careers and their hopes for true representation both onscreen and behind the scenes.