Based in the UK and want to learn from the best and brightest in the film business? Listen up. Female Film Leaders is an industry forum that “aims to equip up-and-coming female film industry executives with the inspiration and advice they need to compete successfully at the highest echelons of the film industry,” according to the nonprofit’s official site.
The initiative invites prominent figures working in the film industry to speak candidly about their extensive careers and the lessons they’ve learned along the way to a small audience of junior industry executives. Sessions, held every few months, are free to attend. “Bend It Like Beckham” helmer Gurinder Chadha and BFI Head of International Isabel Davis are the latest industry leaders to sign up for the forum, ScreenDaily reports.
Producer Tessa Ross (“Suffragette,” “Room”) and Amanda Nevill, Chief Executive of the BFI, are among those who have taken part in the series this year. Speakers from 2016 include Alison Owen from Monumental Pictures and Katie Goodson-Thomas from Fox Searchlight.
The forum was founded by Emma Dutton, partner at UK production outfit Sharp House, Emma Yap, junior acquisitions executive at NBC Universal, and Yana Georgieva, international sales manager at Bankside Films.
Chadha’s latest film, “Viceroy’s House,” is currently playing in the UK. The period drama centers on the final months of British rule in India. Next, Chadha will helm “Song for a Spy,” about a female Indian World War II spy. She’s also branching out into TV, with plans to “tell stories about people on the margins, or hidden histories and voices, and [bring] them to the fore.”
For more information about Female Film Leaders and upcoming events, head over to their site.
