FRESH CUTS: ITV ANNOUNCE PROGRAMMING FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH SLATE
After more than a hundred submissions, ITV today reveals the five producer/directors who have been commissioned to create films as part of the Black History Month 2022 Fresh Cuts strand.
ITV opened submissions for the Fresh Cuts strand, which gives rising Black filmmakers the opportunity to get their first ITV commission, in March 2022 with a callout for producer/directors to pitch innovative, contemporary ideas capturing Black Britishness.
The commissions for Fresh Cuts include Our Jubilee (w/t), an alternative social history of Britain through the stories of Black Britons in the Queen's Jubilee years, directed by Jason Osborne. Jason transitioned to the world of film after spending time in various corporate roles.
He is an inaugural recipient of the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund and co-founder of Project Must Entertainment, an independent production company focused on documentary, scripted, factual entertainment, digital and music projects.
Louise Coleman’s film The Bottom Line (w/t) explores the popularity of controversial Brazilian Butt Lift surgery. During the pandemic, Louise co-founded Verbatim Film Agency, a creative film and video collective which represents individuals from Black and Minority Ethnic communities and underprivileged backgrounds.
Yemi Adegbulu explores tattoos in black culture in Ink to Skin (w/t). In 2022, Yemi was funded and mentored by The Roundhouse for her directorial debut ‘Keeping Grandma’ – a documentary based on her family’s eight-year fight to keep her grandmother in the country.
Daniel Dempster is the creator of Everyone Can Rap (w/t) in which everyday people are taught to rap in order to help express themselves. Daniel is passionate about celebrating black talent. He has previously worked on shows like The Rap Game and Chasing The Dream.
Black British and Basketball (w/t) is a documentary created by David Adeyemi that follows the journey of two basketball players and their teams battling through the Ball Out 3 x 3 basketball tournament, highlighting the importance of the sport in black communities and its place in the UK sporting landscape. David has worked in production for over six years. He earned his first TV credit through Mama Youth Project.
Tim Carter, CEO of MultiStory Media, said: “There’s nothing more exciting than identifying and promoting the next generation of rising stars and new voices, and MultiStory is privileged to be building a relationship with these talented directors”.
Nahrein Kemp, Creative Diversity Partner, ITV said “We are very proud to partner with ITV Studios and Multistory Media and to work with these 5 talented Filmmakers. Fresh Cuts represents the best of ITV- bold, distinct and exciting. We can’t wait to see what our audience thinks of the films.’