Women in Film and TV’s Four Nations Mentoring Scheme is accepting final applications for the 2026 cohort until this Monday, 8th September 2025 at 5 pm.
Designed for mid-career women working in film, television, and creative media, the scheme offers an opportunity for career acceleration in an industry where women remain underrepresented in leadership roles.
The scheme brings together mentees from across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, including 20 mentees from across the South of England and 8 mentees from the North of England, plus 7 each from Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Over a six-month programme, mentees will benefit from one-to-one mentoring with senior industry professionals, alongside peer-to-peer training and tailored career and personal development workshops.
The 2026 programme will feature an impressive group of industry leaders of the calibre of the 2025 roster as mentors which included Cecile Frot-Coutaz from Sky, writer and actor Charlie Covell, location manager Emma Pill, Bad Wolf’s Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner, Quay Street Productions’ Nicola Shindler, Merman’s Rebecca Parkinson, Cinematographer Sophie Darlington, Suann Rochester from Wild Child Animation, Hello Halo’s Wendy Rattray and Netflix’s Senior Manager for Production Training and Industry Engagement EMEA, Alison Small and Content Creative, Jon Mountague among others.
Netflix continues its support for the Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales cohorts through its Fund for Creative Equity. The England scheme is supported by the BBC, Channel 4, EON Productions, Panalux and Panavision, Pinewood, Sara Putt Associates, the Women’s Network at NBC Universal and UKTV while SAN (Screen Alliance North) supports the North of England cohort.
Leading the scheme is WFTV’s Director of Mentoring, Sarah Wright, former Group Director of Acquisitions and Sky Cinema, UK & ROI, at Sky, with Mentoring Producers Helen Bullough in the North of England, Sarah McCaffrey in Northern Ireland, Hazel Marshall in Scotland and Hannah Corneck in Wales heading up their respective nations.
WFTV’s Director of Mentoring, Sarah Wright, said, “I can’t emphasise enough what a career – and life–changing opportunity our WFTV Four Nations Mentoring Scheme represents. The bespoke training we offer, together with the peer-to-peer learning, added to that all-important mentoring relationship, makes our programme truly unique in the media industry. I can’t wait to find our new mentees for 2026!”
Katie Bailiff, CEO of WFTV, added, “We are delighted to bring back the Four Nations Mentoring Scheme for 2026. The scheme is a cornerstone of WFTV’s mission to champion and support women in the screen industries. Mentorship such as this is an important opportunity for many women across our industry to grow and be nurtured in the next steps of their careers. We are proud to be able to offer these opportunities to women in the industry and across the four nations and encourage more representation in the film and TV sector.”
The application deadline for the 2026 Four Nations Mentoring Scheme will close at 5 pm on Monday, 8th September 2025.
Jon Creamer
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