ITV returns to the Fresh Cuts strand with new content….
This year, marking an ITV first, the selected talent will produce/direct compelling short-form series which will air on ITVX and ITV’s digital channels as part of programming for Black History Month, and this year also for UK Disability History Month.
Richard Botchway, Commissioning Editor at ITV:
“Fresh Cuts has been a fantastic route to giving new talent their first network credits and I’m excited to be a part of this year’s series. The new short-form approach is intended to create engaging, more easily shareable content, with the potential to attract younger audiences and bring greater visibility to the series, wherever audiences choose to view their content. We’re also really excited to be working with Faraz at Gold Wala and Rich at Postcard Productions, in their first commissions from ITV.”
As well as the move from single hours to short-form series, Fresh Cuts 3.0 welcomed aspiring directors to apply with or without an idea of their own, to produce content for this year’s strand. Making their directorial debut for ITV, the selected producer/directors for Black History Month 2024 are Moses Ssebandeke with his profile series Alter Egos, Sammy Ofori-Attah’s Black Magic with Trixy, and Destiny Williams’ light-hearted Dogs of Grime.
For Disability History Month 2024, programming includes Stephanie Symington’s makeover series Date My Nan, Richard Walker’s Disabled talent-led chat show Unfiltered Women and Molly Dennis’ cooking show Takeaway or Fakeaway.
Fresh Cuts is funded through ITV’s £80 million Diversity Commissioning Fund, which launched in 2022. Over the past two years, Fresh Cuts has provided opportunities to eight directors, earning a BAFTA nomination along the way. Among them is Jason Osborne, whose first network documentary commission for ITV was nominated in the Emerging Talent: Factual category.
Ade Rawcliffe, Group Director of Diversity and Inclusion at ITV:
“We’re proud to support new and emerging black and disabled talent as ITV champions authentic storytelling from fresh perspectives. With a notable gap in Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent talent at the Producer/Director level, expanding Fresh Cuts to mark Disability History Month allows us to support underrepresented talent in our industry.”
