News for directors, directly for you.
In the news this week, Sheffield DocFest announces its 2026 line-up, Screen Alliance Wales and Creative Wales launch a new directory for film and television productions seeking skilled crew, and new partners join ScreenSkills’ Training Passport scheme, the digital record of standardised and industry-approved training and accreditation for freelancers.
HEADLINES
- BBC Public Services, All3Media and Banijay UK sign up as partners to ScreenSkills’ Training Passport scheme, the first cross-industry initiative to provide a digital record of standardised and industry-approved training and accreditation for freelancers. (Broadcast)
- Noé Debré, Ismaël El Iraki, Felipe Gálvez, Atsuko Hirayanagi, Juho Kuosmanen, Emanuel Pârvu, Carine Tardieu, and Magnus von Horn are the eight directors selected to pitch feature projects in development to private investors at the 2026 Marche du Film’s Cannes Investors Circle. (Festival de Cannes)
- Sheffield DocFest announces its 2026 line-up – Andrea Arnold joins for a conversation exploring the blurred boundaries between fiction and documentary, and this year's Guest of Honour Maxine Peake joins Paul Sng for a discussion on how working-class voices are represented in the media and on screen in the age of populism. (Screen Daily)
- Screen Alliance Wales, in partnership with Creative Wales, launches Wales Production Directory, a new database that establishes one central, comprehensive resource for film and television productions seeking skilled crew across the nation. (Televisual)
- The government has named former Channel 4 chair Ian Cheshire as its preferred choice to chair Ofcom. (The Guardian)
INDUSTRY VOICES
- BBC insiders reflect on Tim Davie's legacy and the task ahead for Matt Brittin, who takes over on 18 May. (Deadline)
OBITUARY
- Paul Seed has passed away – the actor and versatile television director shaped some of the most influential British series of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including the BBC political thriller House of Cards. (The Guardian)