Public pitch proves successful in Sheffield
20 November 2008
Lambent Productions and Renegade Pictures were the successful companies out of five pitches made on the night to a panel of international broadcasters and Wellcome Trust decision-makers in front of a packed live audience.
Each of the two projects now has £10 000 to further research and develop their early-stage ideas to the point of making proposals to broadcasters.
The Wellcome Trust’s Broadcast Development Awards support the development of broadcast proposals in any genre that engage UK audiences with biomedical science and its impact on society in an innovative, entertaining and accessible way.
The scheme is open to broadcast professionals and other organisations or individuals working on broadcast projects based in the UK or the Republic of Ireland. Applicants are usually affiliated to organisations but can apply as individuals. Partnerships between broadcasters and other professionals such as scientists, ethicists and educators are especially welcomed.
The winning proposals were: ‘Brighton to Lusaka’, pitched by Lisa Fairbank at Lambent Productions; and ‘Supersurgeons: on a knife edge’, from Kate Vines at Renegade Pictures. A third project was given conditional approval for a grant.
The next deadline for applications for Broadcast Development Awards is 9 January 2009. Applicants will not have to face a public grilling this time, although the popularity and success of the event may well lead to a similar process at next year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest.
Image: The Broadcast Development Awards panel at the Sheffield Doc/Fest; Wellcome Images
Contact
Michael Regnier
Media Officer
Wellcome Trust
T +44 (0)20 7611 7262
E
m.regnier@wellcome.ac.uk
Notes for editors
More information about the Wellcome Trust’s Broadcast Media Strategy can be found at our Public Engagement pages.
The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending over £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.