Brand new docu-series brought to audiences by ITN productions for BritBox UK, Secrets of the Spies delves deep into a world of secrets and lies; from James Bond to Ian Fleming, Kim Philby to Sergei Skripal… the world of espionage is one of blurred lines where fact is often stranger than fiction; a world of murder, betrayal, romance and duty.
To explore this fascinating world, Secrets of the Spies will feature interviews with former spies and their family members, police officers, forensics experts, historians, authors and more to offer unique perspectives of this complex and enigmatic topic.
Chris Scurfield edited episode 1 entitled ‘Deception’ which examines what kind of person becomes a spy, and the qualities the very best possess, assessing the methods, techniques and character of the most notorious spies in British history, in both fact and fiction. Those featured include Polish double agent Roman Czerniawski, who played a major role in the allied deception prior to the D-Day landings in Normandy, and the infamous Cambridge Five.
Watch the first episode Tuesday 9th August at 9pm on ITV. Trailer available here.
This six part series will follow the unique relationships between the staff, players and their families at the South London based Crystal Palace F.C. Academy to reveal the work that goes in to developing the next generation of footballing talent. Filmed over twelve months, the series captures the hopes and dreams of the Academy squads, club coaches and staff who help the young players achieve their potential. Aged between eight to eighteen, these players are all striving to complete the life-changing journey from grassroots football to Premier League star.
The series was commissioned by Jonah Weston who said: “The Premier League is the richest football league in the world. But getting there is an intense journey where few succeed. I’m excited to be able to share that journey with the Channel 4 audience, as we follow the hopes and dreams of the boys giving everything for their shot at the big time.”
Charlie Webb who edited the Parents episode said “I really enjoyed working on the series and the parents’ episode which had its challenges as we were following the kids and their parents, it was a challenge to interweave both their threads as we had double the characters but think we did it well and got to enjoy both their journeys”.
The series starts Thursday 11th August on Channel 4 at 9pm.
The shortlist has now been revealed. Nominations will be announced on 21st September and we are excited to see lots of familiar projects in the shortlist!
The Missing Children, True Vision & Nevision for ITV has been shortlisted in both the Televisual Best Current Affairs Documentary and the Best History Documentary category. Congratulations to Ella Newtonwho edited this feature length documentary about the scandal of Ireland’s Missing Children the Tuam mother and baby home. Following relatives, survivors and adoptees to uncover the truth about what happened behind the closed doors of Ireland’s most notorious mother and baby home.
Gazza, Episode 1- Haviland Digital, Mark Stewart Productions, Western Edge Pictures & BBC is shortlisted in the Red Bull Studios Best Sports Documentary category. Graham Taylor said on cutting this documentary about the iconic footballer Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne. “ Taking on the life of an icon is always tough, and people will bring their own expectations to the story. But in the end you have to chose what story you want to tell, and what the life of your subject tells you about the world we live in. The resulting film is bold and subversive, yet warm and nostalgic, asks more questions than it answers and was a dream project for a documentary film editor.” Gazza is also shortlisted in the Netflix Best Documentary Series category. Gazza is currently available on iPlayer.
The Channel 4 Best Constructed Documentary Series see’s three familiar projects:
Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star, Wall to Wall Media for BBC. Tom Savage enjoyed editing one of the episodes from this glossy series seeing amazing transformations and stunning creations from aspiring artists competing to become Britain’s next make-up star.
Idris Elba’s Fight School- Workerbee & Green Door for BBC.Abraham Teweldebrhan and Steven Struthers worked on this documentary series where Idris Elba, former kickboxer himself, will provide seven disadvantaged young people from across the UK with lessons in discipline, focus and determination by putting them through an experimental boxing school, in an attempt to give them the tools to change their fortunes.
Blair and Brown- The New Labour Revolution BBC Studios for BBC2 is nominated in the Netflix Best Documentary Series. From the ashes of the 1983 election, two new MPs Tony Blair and Gordon Brown dare to dream of making Labour electable again. The series charts the rise and fall of New Labour, featuring interviews with Blair, Brown, Campbell, Mandelson and their close aides. Jen Hampson edited episode 1 of this archive documentary series.
Joe Lycett vs. the Oil Giant, Rumpus Media for Channel 4. Creda Wilsonedited this single documentary where Joe Lycett takes on Shell, as he investigates whether the oil giant is as eco-friendly as its advertising makes it out to be. Available to watch on All4.
Congratulations to everyone involved on these projects!
The shortlisted docs will now go to the Grierson Trust panel of judges to decide on the four nominees and winners in each category. The nominees will be announced on 21 September. The Grierson Awards ceremony will take place on the evening of 10 November 2022 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank, London. Good Luck everyone!
In this 6-part documentary series, we go behind the scenes at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and its sister garden at Wakehurst to reveal more secrets and discover new wonders of this much-loved institution. Over a year, cameras witness the changing seasons and meet the teams who care for the plants, create the incredible displays, perform world-changing scientific research and have to deal with everything from catastrophic storms to more than two million visitors a year.
Editor Glenn Furmanskicut Episode 2 of the series is which is packed with stunning plants, uplifting characters and tons of specialist factual content!
James May is hitting the road again for a new series of his travel show but this time, he’s off to Italy.
James travels across the country, starting with the Sicilian capital of Palermo and ending in the Dolomites. Exploring the culture, food, industry and sport, the series will take May to almost every region of Italy as he visits some of the most picturesque backdrops in the world.
Charlie Webb who cut one full episode and worked on a second episode really enjoyed it and said it was one of the most fun edits he’s done. “I really enjoyed how diverse the series was which allowed for a lot of creativity within the edit. From cutting sport to cooking sequences, to history and epic montages of Italy’s stunning landscapes knitted together by the dry humour of James May, what’s not to love”.
The series starts Friday 15th July on Amazon Prime
Freddie Flintoff is going back to his hometown of Preston to start a cricket team for underprivileged children in the area. His goal is simple: to prove that anyone can find camaraderie, confidence and success playing the sport he loves. Freddie is setting out to change their lives and the future of the game he so adores.
Charlie Webb edited this new series and commented: “it was a really fun and heart warming series to work on. It was great to tell the boys stories and show their journeys and progression. There’s funny moments and sad moments, so great to cut a range of emotions on top of some stylised fast pace cricket sequences.”
This ground-breaking and captivating feature length biopic retells the life and achievements of Sir Ranulph Fiennes, heralded as the world’s greatest living explorer by the Guinness Book of Records. After being the first man to circumnavigate the Earth from pole to pole and discovering a lost city in Arabia, this personal piece takes the audience beyond the record-breaking exploits to meet the complex character grappling with triumph, tragedy and mortality.
Charlie Hawryliw edited this tour de force observational documentary, with exclusive access to the man himself and working in collaboration with the BFI National Archive to access Fiennes’ personal film collection, covering decades of expeditions, as well as contributions from life-long friends and colleagues, Explorer tells the definitive story of the man behind the adventurer.
Don’t miss the special Premiere screening at the BFI on Monday 4th July with an extended intro presented by Sir Ranulph Fiennes himself and director Matt Dyas.
Produced by Universal Pictures and available in cinemas from 14th July. Watch the trailer here.
Dubbed as the heaviest boxing match in history, in March 2022 two of the strongest men in the world took to the ring in Dubai, in what was a dramatic climax to one of the most bitter rivalries ever to hit the sporting world.
Since the fight’s announcement in 2020, former World’s Strongest Man champions Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall and Hafthor ‘Thor’ Bjornsson (better known as Game Of Thrones’ The Mountain) had been locked in a battle that was about more than just winning – it was about honour, and above all, revenge.
Charlie Hawryliw edited this documentary which has exclusive and intimate access to Eddie and his family in the months leading up to the fight and at the main event itself, Eddie Hall: The Beast vs The Mountain follows the highs and lows and all the laughs and tears, as Eddie balances a young family with a punishing and obsessively strict training regime, all the while battling to keep his mental health in check.
After receiving hundreds of hacked messages from a murder-for-hire online site, true-crime obsessive Yinka Bokinni journeys deep inside the dark web to find out if it’s possible to anonymously order someone’s death. The hacked message shows hundreds of people all over the world have been ordering hits online. This isn’t gangland score-settling, either, but seemingly ordinary people who want friends, partners, work colleagues dead.
In part two, Yinka identifies a target from hacked messages in New York State, and tracks him down to see if he’s still in danger and if she can help work out who’s behind the proposed hit.
Jen Hampsonedited part two, when asked about the edit, she said “I really enjoyed working for Story Films, it was a bloody brilliant team on this production!”. Well that is certainly nice to hear !
You can watch parts one and two of How to Hire a Hitman on Monday 20th from 10pm on Channel 4
Fri 24 Jun UK Premiere – Episode one showing at 9pm on Sky Documentaries
Building on a long-running and ongoing investigation by journalist Lucy Osborne and The Guardian, this powerful testimony and archive documentary series will reveal how some of the biggest names in modelling agencies were involved in the darker side of fashion. A group of women who were promised stardom, but were instead abused, tell their stores, while there is also a link made between the agents and sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Franco worked across this 3 part series for nearly 6 months, we spoke to him about the edit and he shared that some of the challenges were trying to balance the legal restraints whilst being mindful of keeping the emotive human story.
With four women sharing details of the sexual abuse they faced, this is going to be a difficult but important watch.
Scouting For Girls: Fashion’s Darkest Secret will launch on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW on Friday 24 June.
Raw TV for Netflix Director: Jamie Crawford Editor: Chris Duveen Chris Duveen spent nearly 9 months working on this three part feature archive documentary which delves into the controversial Woodstock ’99 festival, an event so disastrous that it was labelled “the day the music died”. The festival set… Read More
Editor: Graham Taylor – Episode One Director: Mark Henderson 9.30pm BBC 2 Wall to Wall Media AIDS: The Unheard Tapes uses personal testimonies to tell the story of the HIV epidemic in the UK from the early 1980s until the mid 1990s as experienced by the UK’s gay community,… Read More
Editors: Belle Borgeaud and Steve Flatt South Shore Productions for Channel 4 Wednesday 25th May 9pm George Clarke’s Flipping Fast follows six teams from across the UK who think they have what it takes to make the big time as property entrepreneurs. Guided by sibling property experts… Read More
BBC Productions for BBC Two Editor: Adam Mitchell & Matt Scragg Time to choose your next holiday destination! Browse the catalogue of the most incredibly hotels in the world with this new series of Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby in which columnist Giles Coren and… Read More
