Watesprite Mentorships

The Watersprite mentorship is a year-long programme designed to pair a Watersprite filmmaker with industry professionals who can guide them at a pivotal moment in their career as they take the first steps towards establishing themselves in the screen industries.

The mentorships sit alongside our awards and are designed to support the career development of underrepresented filmmakers and address inequality in the screen industries, forming part of Watersprite’s objectives to strive towards a more inclusive, diverse future of film and support emerging talent. Each year we offer three mentorships for filmmakers who identify as belonging to marginalised groups or have experienced disadvantage in their careers.

  • Filmmakers who identify as belonging to a marginalised group, including (but not limited to):

    1. Women: including cisgender women, trans women, genderqueer women, and non-binary people who are significantly female-identified;

    2. LGBTQIA+: including individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and intersex;

    3. People who have experienced racism or disadvantage on the basis of their ethnicity. This includes but is not limited to: people of African or Caribbean heritage, people of South Asian heritage, people of East Asian heritage, people of Central Asian heritage, people of West Asian heritage, people of Latin American heritage, and Roma and traveller people; 

    4. People with physical or mental disabilities;

    5. People from a low-income background.

    Applications are also open to those who have experienced a disadvantage due to: 

    6. Age;

    7. Marriage or civil partnership; 

    8. Pregnancy and maternity;

    9. Caring responsibilities;

    10. Religion or belief; 

    11. Regional precedence.

  • After submissions close, an email will be sent to all shortlisted filmmakers inviting them to apply to the mentorship scheme.

  • We try to match mentees with the kind of mentors they are looking for. Suggestions are welcome!