Female Voices - Short Film Fund
A short film fund focused on supporting female* filmmakers and raising awareness of under-representation and discrepancies in pay and positions between men and women in the film industry.
*a person, who identifies as female.
The next Female Voice is now live in partnership with Female Film Club & Festival Formula.
Previous Winners
What Are We Doing?
First Flights wants to find the next big thing in female* filmmakers.
With a financial grant of $10,000 and a direct pitching opportunity to a development deal with one of the UK’s largest Independent finance and production companies, Goldfinch. We believe that every voice deserves to be heard.
We will take one filmmaker to create a concept film for either their first or second feature film. The fund will act as a development platform to support the filmmaker and their short as a proof of concept for a feature film of up to a £1M budget.
2025 submissions can also win an extra $1700 Mentorship with Female Film Club and £1300 Festival Strategy Campaign with Festival Formula.
*a person, who identifies as female.
Why Now?
Female filmmakers remain underrepresented in the film industry, and this project continues to be a response to that lack of representation.
Recent studies show that across 17 years (2007-2023) and 1,769 directors of top-grossing films, only 6% were women. In 2023, women comprised just 16% of directors working on the top 250 grossing films, a slight decrease from 18% in 2022.
Progress is happening, but slowly. At the 2021 Academy Awards, Chloé Zhao became only the second female director in the history of the Awards to win Best Director. Since then, Jane Campion won in 2022, becoming the third woman to receive this honor.
However, significant disparities persist. In 2023, 83% of the top 250 films had no women directors, 86% had no women composers, and 94% had no women cinematographers.
We are building the foundations to change that today, and you can be part of it too.
It's time to champion the best up-and-coming talents the film industry has to offer and springboard them forward into the history books. Join us in supporting initiatives that aim to help women, trans, and non-binary filmmakers bring their stories to the screen.
Statistics
Of the 100 highest-grossing films in 2020, 70% of films employ fewer than five women in the key positions of director, writer, executive producer, producer, editor or cinematographer*.
- 80% had NO female directors
- 73% had NO female writers
- 41% had NO female exec. producers
- 26% had NO female producers
- 72% had NO female editors
- 94% had NO female cinematographers
Less than 6% of all positions across the C-Suite, Boards and Executive Teams were held by a woman of color.
*Stats from the '2020 Celluloid Ceiling Report'
Kirsty Bell
Kirsty Bell - Goldfinch CEO | Director | Producer
The founder and driving force behind Goldfinch, Kirsty is that rarity of being both a qualified lawyer and accountant. Passionate about independent film and well aware of the financial difficulties that producers face, she founded Goldfinch with the aim of helping independent filmmakers. Bell has successfully funded over 250 film and TV projects over the last 4 years and has assisted over 10 new first-time directors create their first film.
In 2020, Bell directed her debut feature film entitled ‘A Bird Flew In’ - one of the UK’s first films to be shot straight out of lockdown - which has seen her awarded ‘European Breakout Director of the Year’ and ‘Best Female Director In Feature Film’ from Capri Film Festival and Vancouver Independent Film Festival respectively. The film has seen festival awards success winning Best Cinematography at Vancouver Independent Film Festival and being nominated for Raindance Film Festival’s ‘Best UK Feature’ and Evolution Mallorca Film Festival’s ‘Best International Feature’
“Of the 250 highest-grossing films in 2020, 67% of films employ fewer than five women in the key positions of director, writer, executive producer, producer, editor or cinematographer. As such, we are compelled to address the gender imbalance in the film industry and proud to be making a small step towards supporting a new generation of female filmmakers, in the hope that other organisations will follow suit. There are incredible stories waiting to be told and new voices waiting to be heard – we’re excited to meet the next generation of filmmaking talent.”
Nick Sadler
Nick Sadler - First Flights CEO | Producer
Nick Sadler is an Oscar® and BAFTA winning executive producer and the founder and CEO of First Flights Media Ltd, the film development program run in partnership with Goldfinch Entertainment.
Nick worked on bringing independent feature films to UK theatres such as Pandorica, Redwood, Dark Beacon and Iron Sky : Coming Race. Every Film Label release has been written, produced, edited and bought to the big screen in under 12 months. The films have been selected for and won awards at festivals such as Frightfest, American Horror Film Festival and New York Film Festival.
He is also Executive Producer across all films produced through the First Flights Short Film Fund. Through his Short Film Fund he has executive produced over 18 short films in just two years, selected for over 100 festival awards, including award-winning ‘The Impatient Man’ and Oscar and BAFTA winning ‘An Irish Goodbye’
Karen Bryson
Actor | Director | Producer
Louisa Connolly-Burnham
Actor | Director | Producer
Victoria Thomas
Writer | Speaker
Elizabeth Blake-Thomas
Director | Author
Isabella Blake-Thomas
Producer | Actress | Writer
Nicole Lieberman
Producer | Mentor
Liza van der Smissen
Actor | Producer | Mentor
Jacquie Lawrence
Writer | Producer
How It Works
Female Filmmakers* Login to submit your project information.
*A person, who regardless of their sex assigned at birth, identifies as female.
Project submissions will need to include:
- Project details: title / genre / location / budget / funding amount sought / intended production date
- A logline (up to 30 words)
- A synopsis (250 words)
- A directors vision – creative ideas and information on why the story is important and who it is for (250 words)
- A completed script (no more than 30 pages)
- A biography of the director. Links to the director/writer/producer IMDB pages if available
- A budget (template provided)
- Optional: look book and sizzle reel
Please see our FAQ section for deadline dates and other details on the fund.