BAFTA announces over £125,000 in grants to 69 talented creatives to help kickstart their careers

BAFTA announced over £125,000 in grants have been awarded to 69 talented creatives to support their career development in the screen arts.  

This year, grants of up to £2,000 each have been made available to 58 emerging creatives including production assistants, costumer designers, writers, game designers, and camera and sound trainees to help them progress in their respective crafts. The grants will go towards essential costs such as driving lessons, specialist equipment, training and relocation costs that might otherwise lock talented people out of a screen arts career.  

The Prince William BAFTA Bursary scheme is named in honour of BAFTA’s President. Kickstarted with the support of film director Paul Greengrass, it is now in its fourth year. More information can be found here. Every year, BAFTA also awards scholarships, with recipients to be announced in the autumn.  

For the first time, BAFTA is also awarding grants to individuals who have been forcibly displaced in collaboration with the Refugee Journalism Project. £30,000 in funding has been awarded to 11 recipients including journalists, editors, directors and videographers.  

The Refugee Journalism Project builds on BAFTA’s recent work with Counterpoint Arts – highlighting the importance of authentic portrayals of refugees on-screen, including recent events with BAFTA award-winning filmmaker and activist Hassan Akkad, a masterclass with BAFTA award-winning director Waad al-Kateab, and ‘Introduction to Filmmaking’ workshops with Deadbeat Films. 

Jane Millichip, CEO of BAFTA, said: “Supporting the next generation of talent is an essential part of our mission. The Prince William BAFTA Bursary Fund is a fantastically effective way to kick-start careers, particularly for those who face socio and economic inequality. The bursaries are transformative for career starters, enabling them to buy an essential piece of kit, secure training, or in some cases it’s as simple as getting driving lessons so they can get to set! There is no shortage of potential in our workforce. Unfortunately, the opportunity to act on that potential is all too often limited by financial barriers. So, I’m delighted to continue The Prince William BAFTA Bursary Fund, thanks to our incredibly generous network of donors and supporters.” 

Prince William Bursary recipient Kaljeven Singh Lally said: “BAFTA is such an important part of our industry. Gaining the recognition and support from this bursary is a strong endorsement and provides a great opportunity. The bursary enables the pursuit of my long-term career goals and ambitions which is not easy to prioritise in these especially trying times for our industry. It helps to lift the financial burden in focussing on progressing towards that end goal.” 

This year’s Prince William BAFTA Bursary recipients include: 

• Theresa Aghaizu, Production Assistant 
• Naveed Amiri, Assistant Producer 
• Sakky Barnor, Editor 
• Mariella Bucci, Costume Trainee 
• Taylor Clarke, Electrical Trainee 
• Imogen Cowan, Sound Trainee 
• Molly Dennis, Assistant Producer 
• Oran Dunn, Filmmaker & Actor 
• Jade Fabiyi, Production Assistant 
• Rebs Fisher-Jackson, Writer/Director & Script Supervisor 
• Shanine Gallagher, Junior Video Production Assistant 
• Holly Glover, Second Assistant Editor 
• Konadu Gyamfi, Director, Writer & Producer 
• Teleri Hughes, Actor, Writer & Director 
• Sam Hume, Writer & Producer 
• Harley Jenkins, Principal Costume Trainee 
• Jere Kadi, Production Runner 
• Diggy Kakoty, Camera Trainee 
• Cameron Keywood, Game Designer 
• Sabab Khan, Director of Photography/Camera Operator 
• Nikki Khosrowpour, Production Runner 
• Jasmine Lindemann, Film Events Producer 
• Rachel Main, Writer 
• Carla Martins, Camera Trainee 
• Carie Martyn, Art Department Trainee 
• Obediah Mayamona, Writer, Director & Actor 
• Rachael McDonald, Assistant Media Scheduler 
• Tasha Middleton, Costume Designer 
• Millie Morgan, Production & Development Assistant Producer 
• Emily Morus-Jones, TV Puppeteer & Puppet Maker 
• Kristiina Oja, Script Supervisor 
• Bianca Parris, Lighting Trainee 
• Phoebe Riley, Costume Maker 
• Paul Roberts, Writer 
• Jameel Shariff, Assistant Producer 
• Kaljeven Singh Lally, Assistant Editor 
• Sharon Sørensen, Character Animator 
• Charmaine Stewart, Art Department Assistant 
• Sofia Tattum, Second Assistant Camera 
• Lauren Taylor, Art Department Trainee 
• Daniella Timperley, Base Production Assistant 
• Lindsay Walker, Filmmaker 
• Ryan Warrender, Second Assistant Sound 
• Max Webster, Game Designer 
• Francesco Zavaglia, Location Assistant/Floor Runner 

The recipients of the Refugee Journalism Project Film, Games & Television Bursaries in collaboration with BAFTA include: 

• Asha Bai, Filmmaker 
• Ivan Baliuk, Cinematographer  
• Oleksii Dudarev, Camera Operator 
• Yuriy Dvizhon , Producer/Director 
• Karima Jamili, Journalist 
• Pavlo Kovtun, Director 
• Viktoriia Levchenko, Photographer/Videographer  
• Razan Madhoon , Filmmaker 
• Fatemeh Najafi, Filmmaker  
• Yaroslav Popov, Filmmaker 
• Natalia Shabalkina, TV Editor 

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• Partner organisations specialising in inclusive recruitment in the screen industries work with BAFTA to reach a diverse group of bursary applicants, as set out here.   
• Last year, BAFTA released a comprehensive new resource titled ‘Invisible Barriers’ to support hirers, executives and practitioners from talent managers to commissioners, producers and games developer leads, to become more class-aware in their practices. The resource is available here. 

The Prince William BAFTA Bursary Fund is generously supported by the Thompson Family Charitable Trust, Hamish McAlpine, the Zilberman Film Foundation, Peter Samengo-Turner and 5451. We would also like to thank all the generous individuals who pledged their support at the BAFTA Gala 2024. 

BAFTA’s mission as a charity is to champion the creative and cultural importance of the screen arts across film, games and television. Through its Awards ceremonies and year-round programme of talent initiatives and learning events that include masterclasses, lectures, scholarships, bursaries and mentoring schemes in the UK and North America, BAFTA identifies and celebrates excellence, discovers, inspires and nurtures new screen talent, and enables learning and creative collaboration. For more, visit www.bafta.org. BAFTA is a registered charity (no. 216726).

The Refugee Journalism Project supports forcibly displaced journalists and media professionals to continue their careers in the UK through training, mentoring and production opportunities. Based at the London College of Communication, the Project offers a programme of activities including workshops, placements and mentoring opportunities to support individuals while developing wider dialogue around refugees in both the media industries and public sphere.