Final judges announced for 2020 Film & TV Funding Award

Joining BBC Storyville’s Mandy Chang and Netflix’s Kate Townsend, we have now confirmed our final judges for the 2020 Film & TV Funding Award. We welcome back Consultant Editor here at The Whickers, Jane Mote, plus Dogwoof’s Oli Harbottle and Sheffield Doc/Fest’s Patrick Hurley. We are also thrilled to announce our latest addition, multi award-winning and Oscar nominated producer Gary Kam!

Jane Mote is a journalist, storyteller, TV executive, and a champion for the power and accessibility of documentary. As Consultant Editor for The Whickers, she nurtures and supports new audio and film documentary-makers who share a curiosity for the world. She has helped develop filmmakers at Docs by the Sea (Bali), MyDocs (Malaysia), AND – Asian Network of Documentary (Busan) – as well as leading documentary training in Uganda and for the BFI in London. The former UK MD of Al Gore’s documentary channel Current, and Executive Editor at BBC London, Jane has also worked for Discovery, Turner, BBC Worldwide, UKTV and the Africa channel. She is Director of UK-based beechtobeach ltd

Oli Harbottle is the Head of Distribution & Acquisitions at Dogwoof, where he has worked since 2006. He was part of the original team who made the decision to specialise in documentaries the following year. He is responsible for acquisitions and overseeing all film releases, which in recent years have included successes such as The Act of Killing, Blackfish, The Look of Silence, Cartel Land, Weiner, Life, Animated, Dancer, Whitney: Can I Be Me, and Mountain. Oli is now also actively involved in the sourcing of projects for Dogwoof’s new production fund. 

Patrick Hurley runs Sheffield Doc/Fest’s international Marketplace connecting filmmakers with industry Decision Makers to get new documentaries made and seen. He also oversees the Festival’s all year talent development programmes. Formerly Distribution Manager at Dogwoof from 2012-16, Patrick has worked closely with filmmakers, producers and partners on a diverse slate of over 100 documentary releases including The Act of Killing, Blackfish, Cartel Land, Concerning Violence, The Confession, Dior and I, Dreamcatcher, Leviathan, The Look of Silence, Planet of Snail, Speed Sisters, Ken Loach’s The Spirit of ‘45 and Michael Moore’s Where to Invade Next. Prior to working on documentaries, Patrick studied Economics and subsequently taught Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney.

Gary Kam is one of the leading documentary producers in Asia and is the first ever Korean documentary producer nominated for an Oscar for his recent film In the Absence. It also won the Grand Jury Prize at DOC NYC 2018 & AFI Docs 2019 and was officially selected for IDFA in 2018. Gary produced Planet of Snail which was the first Asian documentary that won Best Feature-Length Documentary at IDFA in 2011. His recent filmography includes Breathing Underwater (2016, Special Jury Award, CGV Arthouse Award / the Jeonju Int’l Film Festival, Korea), and Crossing Beyond, the official Olympic film for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. 

Mandy Chang is the Commissioning Editor of Storyville, the BBC’s pioneering global feature documentary strand. It showcases the world’s best documentaries – dealing with big issues of our time and with stories that resonate universally. For over 20 years, Storyville has aired acclaimed films such as: India’s Daughter, City of Ghosts, Blackfish, Death on the Staircase, OJ: Made in America, Notes on Blindness and Man on Wire. Many of these films have won Oscar, Grierson, Emmy, Peabody and other prestigious awards. 

Kate Townsend commissions original documentaries out of the UK for the global streaming platform Netflix, which has over 150 million members. Kate has worked across titles such as the Emmy nominated Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, historical courtroom drama documentary series The Devil Next Door, and documentary crime thriller Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer. Prior to Netflix, Kate was Commissioning Editor of the BBC’s Storyville, where her credits include A Syrian Love Story, Pussy Riot, Notes on Blindness and India’s Daughter. She’s twice been nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy, and won the RTS award for Best Current Affairs Documentary for BBC Two’s Power To The People.

See more about our judges here.

Looking to fund your first full length documentary? Find out more about our Film & TV Funding Award here. Deadline for submissions has now been extended to midnight GMT on Monday 10th February 2020.

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