Industry Sessions

Turning established podcasts into television shows presents ever more exciting development opportunities.

Dive into the realm of AI to discover how ChatGPT prompts can help to shape your pitches.

Behind the rising popularity of archive-driven feature docs and factual series, filmmakers often struggle for access to the archival materials needed to tell untold stories of conflict, injustice and underrepresented communities.

Join Director of Unscripted Kate Phillips for a discussion about how the BBC is backing British storytelling across its documentary films.

The session, aimed at freelancers, will reveal how the filmmakers captured the powerful memories and lived experiences of some of the last remaining 'Hibakusha', the only people left on earth to have survived an atomic bomb.

A BAFTA session exploring barriers to progression within the documentary industry in the UK.

Channel 4 will once again be offering five new directors the chance to pitch to some of its documentary commissioning team and a live audience.

Russell Brand: In Plain Sight was one of the most significant investigative documentaries of recent times.

Come and meet the first ever elected board of representatives for UK documentary and help form the DFC’s regional chapters.

We'll delve into the vital topic of embracing inclusivity in filmmaking.

Despite the growth in filmmaker-led organisations and increasing calls for structural change, BIPOC producers and filmmakers still face significant challenges financing, exhibiting and distributing their films.

Understanding your audience is the key to delivering shows that cut through in today’s competitive TV landscape.

Join other LGBTQIA+makers and festival guests for an informal networking session, and meet the DocFest industry team who'll be launching a director's development lab for UK-based LGBTQIA+ creatives later this year.

Are you an emerging filmmaker looking to creatively reuse archive film in your practice?

UAL’s AKO Storytelling Institute has a mission to enable storytellers and campaigners to make a greater social impact through their work.

Discover the secrets of successful film marketing in this comprehensive session.

Commissioners often say, ‘If it's good enough, we'll find the money’. But how do they decide which programmes to champion?

Join our interactive panel on mental health in the documentary industry.

In My Wife, My Abuser: The Secret Footage, Richard Spencer shares his extraordinary story of enduring 20 years of severe domestic abuse at the hands of his wife, captured through video and audio recordings in their family home.

The DISCO Network, in partnership with DFC, invites storytellers to dive into the Independence Project – a field-wide endeavour articulating the unique importance of independent documentary to culture, society and democracy.

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral is a new podcast series asking scholars, filmmakers and industry professionals to think on their feet and share their insights about what documentary as an artform is and can be.

The Podcast Pitch brings together six in-development, creative non-fiction audio directors, selected from around the world to sell their ideas in front of a selection of industry experts and commissioners.

A record number of EBU members came together to fund the feature doc ABBA: Against the Odds.

This panel features experienced & successful producers sharing their strategies for raising the ‘right’ money for docs.

Come and meet the team from the Unscripted TV Skills Fund, and discover what opportunities are available to support your professional and personal development.