Channel 4 has made a big call-out for black British filmmakers to produce content for the channels and its social media platforms.
The Specialist factual chief -Fatima Salaria is set to commission a series of short films in response to the recent and tragic death of George Floyd. This has begun with a call-out for black British filmmakers to pitch ideas for short-form stories that will follow, explore and debate racial issues.
The network is looking for a fast turnaround for the creation of the material and is looking to air the content on Channel 4, All 4 and the channel’s social media accounts over the coming weeks.
The first season of short-films, lasting approximately 5 minutes each will be headed by the head of specialist factual Fatima Salaria with Milk and Honey executive producer Lucy Pilkington. This is said to be followed up by longer formed, cross-genre content based around racial issues in modern Britain.
Ian Katz – The Director of programmes for C4 said that the channel has always been committed to representing diversity and “promoting a more tolerant and equal society”.
“We know that like all broadcasters, we have much more to do to make our output truly representative of Britain, and we are working hard on making real sustainable change,”
“The killing of George Floyd and the events of the last week have crystalised into a profound challenge to the way we think about, discuss and act on race issues on both sides of the Atlantic. It is an urgent and potentially transformative debate that we must engage with now, and for the coming months this will be one of our editorial priorities.”
Fatima Salaria spoke on the initiative, stating that it is a great opportunity for black film-makers to “make their voice heard at a crucial time”.
The call-out is aimed at, and open to all production companies and builds on C4’s efforts to work with lesser-known talents. The network has also made a commitment to separating half of what’s left of its 2020 origination and development budget for these production companies.