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PROGRAMME:

10:00 – 11:00
Roundtable with BFI NETWORK Talent Executives
Have you heard of the BFI Early Development Fund? Are you aware of it, but unsure of what makes a good application? Join this roundtable with our BFI NETWORK Talent Executives to ask your questions about what it looks like to receive Early Development Funding and learn more about BFI NETWORK offerings for filmmakers in the South East.
Please Note: This is a separate session and requires separate registration. As spaces are more limited, please ensure you are definitely able to attend, or cancel your ticket if you can no longer attend, so that we can allocate your ticket to someone else.

11:00 – 11:30
Arrivals and registration
Pick up your pass for the main Industry Day, and arrive early to have the chance to chat to other participants over tea or coffee.

11:30 – 12:45
Session 1: Short Film Screening + Filmmaker Q&A
Join this screening of BFI NETWORK-funded short films, made by filmmakers from the region who were also successful in securing BFI Early Development Funding to develop their feature length script treatments. This session will give you access to insights about filmmaking and what the experience of developing your story with BFI NETWORK support is like, as well as the opportunity to ask questions about the funding process.

12:45 – 13:30
Break
Please note that no lunch is provided. The Cloisters Kitchen & Garden café, next door to the venue, provides food, and there are many other shops within a couple of minutes' walk of Vicars’ Hall.

13:30 – 15:00
Session 2: Making Your Story Work
This interactive workshop with script editor Jessica Jones will provide practical knowledge about how to craft and pitch a feature length project. The session will cover how to develop and structure your story idea to make it distinct and stand out in the industry, including what to put in a logline, how to write a compelling synopsis, and how to make the most of limited funding application wordcounts.

15:00 – 15:15
Break
Teas and coffees will be provided.

15:15 – 16:30
Session 3: In Conversation with Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor
This session will be an extended Q&A with Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, director and writer of Dreamers, her BIFA-longlisted debut feature. Joy will share her journey into film, discuss her projects so far, offer advice on best practices for entering the film industry, and share what she wishes she’d known when first starting out. There will be a chance for audience questions as well, providing insights and guidance that demystify paths into the industry.

16:30 – 18:30
Networking drinks (optional)
Venue: Fernleigh, 40 North St, Chichester PO19 1LX
Join us at Fernleigh for free networking drinks and mingle with other emerging filmmakers in the area! This supportive and collaborative environment will be an essential opportunity to form meaningful and lasting connections for future projects and funding applications.

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SPEAKERS:

Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor
Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor is an award-winning director and producer and founder of Joi Productions. She produced the box-office hit Blue Story (2019) and Aml Ameen’s Boxing Day (2021), the UK’s first all-Black Christmas film, and was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow and a BAFTA Breakthrough in 2020. As a director, Joy’s short For Love (2021), supported by BBC Film, premiered at the BFI London Film Festival where it was nominated for Best Short, before screening in competition at SXSW, Aspen, Outfest and BlackStar amongst others, winning multiple awards. Her debut feature Dreamers (2025) premiered in the Panorama section at the 75th Berlinale, where it was nominated for the Teddy Award, and went on to compete at BFI London Film Festival for the First Features Sutherland Award. Dreamers was also longlisted at the BIFAs for Best Debut Director and Writer. With Dreamers, Joy has established herself as a bold new voice in British cinema, crafting intimate, lyrical stories that centre underrepresented voices while reaching audiences worldwide.

Jess Dadds
Jess Dadds is a filmmaker from South East England. His films have screened at various BAFTA and Academy Award qualifying festivals, such as Aesthetica, Oberhausen, Montreal Du Nouveau Cinéma (FNC), Encounters, PÖFF and LSFF. Jess’ short film I am good at karate was awarded a Special Mention at Encounters Film Festival due to how the film “explores the complex intersections of class, mental health and coming of age, with a strong self-assured visual style”. Jess is currently developing his first feature project, supported by BFI. Jess is represented as a Writer & Director for Film & TV by Gabriel Blair at Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.

Michael Mante
Michael Mante is a British Ghanaian writer/director. He has directed numerous short films with support from the BFI NETWORK and Channel 4, with his BFI NETWORK short Sandpaper being nominated for Best UK Short at Raindance Film Festival in 2020. Michael is a filmmaker determined to interrogate and subvert archetypes from within his diasporic heritage onto larger and expressive cinematic forms.

Lily Woodcock
Lily is a producer based in Bristol. For the last 5 years Lily has worked with Aardman as Senior Production Coordinator on feature films and series, including BAFTA winning Wallace & Gromit Vengeance Most Fowl. Lily began her career in production working in television on a range of series spanning animation, live-action and documentaries. Alongside this Lily is a director of Bear Behind You, a filmmaking collective based in Cornwall, through which she produced Spines (2023), a short film funded by BFI NETWORK and Falmouth University’s Sound/Image Cinema Lab. The team have continued their work with BFI NETWORK since being awarded Early Development Funding on their debut feature film. In 2025 Lily was selected for BFI NETWORK’s Beyond Shorts cohort, a career development scheme for South West based producers and directors.

Jessica Jones
Jess Jones is a Script Editor, Creative Coach, and Development Producer with over a decade of experience working across film and television development.
Her career has included development and commissioning roles at the BFI Film Fund, BBC Drama, Channel 4 Drama, Amazon Scripted Originals and Paramount Television Studios International, where she served as Head of Development and worked across projects in development and production, including the BAFTA-nominated The Gold (BBC One/Paramount+). Alongside her in-house roles, Jess has script edited multiple feature projects as well as BIFA- and BAFTA-nominated shorts.
Jess currently consults for a partnership between Sony Pictures Television and City Football Group, and is developing projects with companies including Left Bank and Hot Sauce. She also works as a Script Editor and Creative Coach, supporting writers, directors and producers to develop both their projects and creative practice, and writes the Substack newsletter The Script Editor.