Film and TV Funding Award

The Film & TV Funding Award is awarded annually to an emerging filmmaker from anywhere in the world with the most promising pitch for a director-led documentary. The main award is £120,000 with a runner up development grant worth £25,000.

Applications are now closed.

The Podcast Pitch

The Podcast Pitch is a joint initiative with Sheffield DocFest now in its third year. This year The Whickers are giving a £15,000 production award to the winner and £5,000 to a runner up.

Applications are now closed.

Bursary Schemes

We have teamed up with four established documentary development forums in parts of the world where funding is limited due to economic or socio-political reasons. Through them we are awarding a £3,000 bursary each year.

See our partners’ websites for application deadlines.

Photo. Rewriting The Narrative event. Saba Hussain and Christina Hardinge

Sheffield DocFest Podcast Live Events Showcase Previous Whickers Winners

Alongside this year’s pitch competitions, The Whickers was delighted to host two special live podcast events at Sheffield DocFest 2026,…

The Whickers Announces 2026 Film & TV and Podcast Pitch Winners at Sheffield DocFest

And that’s a wrap on another fantastic year at Sheffield DocFest 2026. Now widely regarded as one of the most…

Clare McGinn’s take on ‘Hearsay’ – the quirky Irish audio festival that everyone needs to experience.

It is with kind permission from Clare McGinn that The Whickers are delighted to share this very beautifully written Substack piece about…

Who We Are

The Whickers were established in 2015 to fund and recognise original and innovative documentary. We seek to use the generous legacy of our namesake, pioneering broadcaster Alan Whicker, to support emerging film and audio documentary-makers in the funding and production of director led programmes.