Culture

Breaking in: The struggles of industry behind the lens

1 Mins read

Capturing true stories through video is timeless. So why is it so difficult for young filmmakers to break into the documentary film industry? 

Each year, hundreds of budding filmmakers across the UK are making documentaries. So how is it only a portion of them are being seen by a wider audience? And why is it so challenging for documentary filmmakers to break into the industry? Is it a matter of funding or equipment, or is it who you know that’s the key to success? 

Having spent 30 years in the documentary film industry, Tim Usborne shares his insights on what he thinks the problems might be and how young filmmakers can better improve their chances of landing a job. On a positive note, he indicates where the industry is moving towards in the future and the exciting new surge of documentaries currently being commissioned.

MA documentary film students, Eefaa Hassan and Lena Mohammed have both had, first-hand, recent experience of how taxing the job finding, and funding, process can be; sharing their experiences of the challenges they’ve faced and how they think we should “rewrite the rules” in the industry. 


Featured image by KAL Visuals on Unsplash.

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