Monday 5 June

Ela Griffiths

Having massively overpacked, I set off to Cardiff train station and met Sumaya to catch our train up to Buxton. It was a relatively long but nice journey, rolling through the sunny British countryside. A big shout out to the Scots, who definitely won the prize for the longest trek for DocLab. We were met at the train station by Yen and Sylvia from The Grierson Trust who spun us back to our residential home for the next couple of days, nattering about the upcoming Sheffield DocFest on the way.

After meeting everyone properly and settling in, we spent the rest of the afternoon doing a couple icebreaker exercises – cue the team bonding circle photo. We were also introduced to Grierson DocLab alumna Ben McGeorge-Henderson, who has spent the last couple of years in development. Then it was time for dinner, Sylvia is an excellent cook, and if she ever sets up a supper club, I would be first in line.

We then went on a post-dinner ramble and met a chatty farmer and a very curious horse. Growing up in west-Wales I’ve always been surrounded by nature, so watching city people navigate the countryside is funny. There’s definitely some satirical documentary in there somewhere.

I think a lot of us were feeling a bit nervous about our upcoming pitches, so the rest of the night was spent putting the finishing touches on our presentations.

Coleen Brennan

Early on Monday morning, I set off from my flat in Edinburgh to go to the train station. The weather was beautiful and sunny, and I was excited for a few days in the countryside. I rehearsed my pitch for tomorrow on the train, the nerves were kicking in! When I arrived in Manchester, I met with my other Scottish DocLab crew, and we boarded the train to Buxton. It was so nice to finally meet everyone in person rather than over Zoom. When we arrived in Buxton, Yen picked us up in her car, and we headed along to the house.

We were the first ones to arrive at the house and met Ben McGeorge-Henderson, who would be with us for the first few days. Ben was previously on the scheme and has recently finished working at BBC Studios in development, so it was really interesting to hear about his career and how he got to where he is. When the rest of the group arrived, we did some team-building exercises, one of which involved building a slide for a ball using just tape and paper. I was very happy that my team won! We created a simple, portable design and were done faster than anyone else. Maybe engineering should be my route instead of TV…

Sylvia prepared a lovely dinner for us, with a lovely selection of salads and vegetarian dishes. We had some wine with dinner and then went for a walk around the countryside with everyone. The sun was glowing in the sky, and everyone was having a great time getting to know each other! Along the way we bumped into a farmer who seemed very confused as to why we were all there, as well as a horse who took a liking to Lucas.

Day one was mainly travelling and getting to know each other. I am looking forward to the rest of the week with such a great bunch!

Lucas Tong

Buxton! In person! Grierson Doclab 2023… let’s goooo!!!!!

The seven exclamation marks featured in that first line only captures a fraction of the excited anticipation I felt sitting onboard the train from London to Buxton. Spoiler alert: despite this blog only covering Monday, day one, I will confirm now that the training residential did in fact live up to its expectations... and some.

Before we got stuck into some team building ice breakers, we gathered outside for a well-earned post travel cuppa and our first in person introductions with the 2023 Doclab cohort. Next, we set goals and expectations for the week before descending on the dining room for a grand group meal! After a delightful dinner (thanks Sylvia), washed down with some grape juice, we set out on a much-needed stroll to catch the day’s last light. At the end of a beaten public footpath, I got chatting to a local farmer, Andy, who was adamant that before we leave, we take the local trail that loops down the valley, along the river, and back to our basecamp. Being a keen hiker who always has an ear to the group for a local’s recommendation, I scrawled down his (somewhat vague and convoluted) directions into my phone, determined to return later that week and give it a crack! Another spoiler: we successfully navigated the route later on, it was gorgeous. Big thanks to Andy.

For the rest of the evening the cohort mostly slugged off into our comfortable corners to cross the Ts and dot the Is on our much-prepared pitches we would deliver on Tuesday. That’s all for today - over and out!

Tuesday 6 June

Dhillon Clark

The first full day of the DocLab residential began with the group pitching our ideas to an industry panel that included Raul Niño Zambrano, the Creative Director of Sheffield DocFest. The process gave us a chance to pitch a documentary film or an idea for a factual TV format. We then received feedback on our ideas, as well as the pitches themselves. It was great to listen to everyone’s pitches and see how people’s ideas have developed since we first heard them during the online training week.

Once the pitches were complete, we enjoyed a thought- provoking screening of Orlando von Einsiedel’s Evelyn. Having made a number of powerful documentaries, including Virunga (2014) and The White Helmets (2016), it was interesting to see Einsiedel’s take on an autobiographical documentary. The film follows him and his family as they discuss the loss of Evelyn, Orlando’s younger brother, twelve years after his death. Set against a stunning rural backdrop, the film is a touching portrait of a family coming to terms with their grief.

After the screening, we went for a walk in the countryside that surrounded our accommodation in Buxton, which provided the perfect environment for an informal reflection on the screening.

The day concluded with a well-deserved pub meal.

Marion Midaye

Tuesday was our first full day in Buxton. After being made to feel at home by the lovely Grierson team. We had a chance to get to know the other trainees in person the evening before, which was a nice touch.

The day started promptly with our pitches (in person!) where the panel included two external guests. This pushed me a little out of my comfort zone to be pitching in front of two new faces.

Pitching in person gave us an opportunity to push ourselves further in terms of delivering a complete presentation, as unlike online, we were able to include a PowerPoint and we were standing in front of everyone.

We then spent some time watching a film as a group and sharing our thoughts. This was great as hearing how what others take from the same film was interesting and put things into perspective on how details resonate differently among audiences.

Throughout the day, we had our one-to-ones, discussing our strengths, weaknesses, going through CV's and what area of factual interests us the most. This was a useful time to get some guidance and advice on next steps and just made us feel extremely supported.

The evening was filled with a fun and competitive game of Werewolves, which was the perfect group bonding activity and we all got to see a more competitive side of many of the trainees.

Nerea Zambrano

Pitching day! (Read that exclamation as some way between excited and nervous!)

Contrary to the Z-list position my surname usually relegates me to, I presented first this time. Shoving the nerves down, I stood up to pitch a family and food-related documentary idea, with The Guardian’s YouTube series in mind as a platform. It was a great opportunity to have professionals give their input into what would and wouldn’t get commissioned, how the actual presentation went, and generally just hearing the interesting stories other trainees brought. While daunting, Raul and Ben really struck a balance, with feedback that wasn’t sugar coated but still very much constructive. Pitches are definitely on my Sheffield DocFest must-see list now.

Next on the schedule was a screening of Evelyn, a feature-length documentary that sees a family hiking trip retracing the life of a son and a brother after his suicide. After the credits rolled and silence filled the air, taking in the emotional weight of what we just watched, we talked about the film, and Carol shared some behind-the-scenes gems from past Q&As with the director. Seriously, I’m pretty sure she’s talked to every director and doc-related person in the industry.

We were in the Peak District, so we had to take a nice countryside walk. It’s not everyday that you are surrounded by views straight out of a Monet. This is making me consider taking up hiking now…

To end the day, we went out for dinner at a nearby pub, and came back to our home for the week to play Mafia, which became a Buxton classic. Again, there were loads of recommendations added to my watchlist, but The Traitors has to be somewhere at the top.

Wednesday 7 June

Lucy Cosslett

Wednesday began with another really amazing night's sleep (what do they put in the water in Buxton?) and a sigh of relief as we had pitched our ideas, and they all went really well. I had a cup of tea outside while looking at the sheep that kind of looked like they were part of Spy in the Wild, a BBC One documentary series that plants imposter robotic animals alongside their live counterparts to study them. This became very creepy very quickly, so I joined everyone in the sitting room to watch some documentaries. We watched Fake News Fairytale, Orion: The Man Who Would Be King, and I found myself talking about mushrooms again as I shared a clip from one of my favourite documentaries, Fantastic Fungi.

Next up, we had another lunch that can only be described as religious before we moved out into the converted cow shed for a chat with Cal Batemen. Cal is a former Grierson DocLabber turned Documentary Producer with lots of really interesting insight into the industry. We left the chat with a new found appreciation for cable ties, baseball caps, notebooks, pens, and concealer.

Our next activity was a development task where we shared our ideas about other non-fiction content we’d like to make. I pitched a feature documentary about the recent orca attacks off the coast of Gibraltar, with the star of the show being Gladys, the traumatised orca who is seeking revenge against boats and passing this behaviour on to her children. In groups, we developed this idea further. Phebe was an absolute technological wizard, and Mel was discerning in the headhunt for orca experts, which ultimately led to a Malteser-based victory.

Hannah Ramezani

The day begins by huddling in the main house to watch Peter Middleton’s Notes on Blindness short, a New York Times Op-Doc from 2014. It’s a delicate film, with a beautifully constructed scene where it begins to rain in the protagonist’s kitchen. Carol then leads a discussion about different methods of re-creative storytelling. Tomorrow we get to talk to Peter Middleton on Zoom, and it’s exciting to learn how the scene was made: in an East London warehouse on a set built on pallets, and a floor that fortuitously drained into the river.

We disband, and take turns being interviewed for a video to be screened at the Grierson Awards. I then have a meeting with Tanya. We talk about how the training has been going, discuss the placement and mentorship goals, and she offers a lot of helpful advice, telling me to go for a funding application even if just as an exercise to hone my pitch. We also have a good laugh about our enmity from last night’s high-stakes game of Werewolves.

We then split off into groups and are tasked with an issue-led pitch: combing the internet and various unlikely news publications for a good story, and then presenting to the group. Naomi suggests the four (as then) missing children in the Amazon, but I’m cynical and think it’s a no-go. Two days later, they’re found, and I lose Naomi her big-budget scoop of the year. In the end, we go for Chinese secret police stations in the UK, and it’s interesting thinking about the story in the context of more high-tech surveillance systems.

In the evening, we take a long walk through the Peak District in the sun. Ela and Lucy guide us through a herd of cows and their terrifyingly jacked-up bull. We go back to the house for another of Sylvia’s stunning, epic-scale home-cooked meals. It was such a special time, in a beautiful place with lovely people; I learnt so much about pitching and development and ended the day feeling really encouraged.

Sumaya Abdi

The residential program was in full swing on Wednesday, soon proving to be the busiest of the week. After breakfast, we delved into a screening of Notes on Blindness, a poignant short film chronicling one man's journey through sudden vision loss. The emotional narrative left a lasting impression on us, prompting a thought-provoking discussion on personal reflections and the filmmaking techniques that effectively immersed us in the experience of blindness. Subsequently, we watched the final two screenings selected by our peers, Fantastic Fungi, chosen by Lucy, and Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story picked by Naomi.

Following a quick break, we gathered in the Cowshed for a development exercise led by Carol. Split into groups of three, I was teamed with Lucas and Nerea to develop three documentary ideas. After dispersing throughout the estate to flesh out our concepts, we reconvened in the Cowshed to vote on which idea we should pitch to the group. Lucas's compelling suggestion emerged as the popular choice: a docu-series exploring the experiences of white-passing mixed-race people in the UK.

Upon returning to the Cow Shed we were greeted by Cal, former Grierson DocLab Alumna, who shared with us an overview of his previous work in digital documentaries. Finally, to round off the day, I was interviewed by our lovely Marketing and Communications Manager, Hannah on my experience with DocLab so far (spoiler: I’ve loved it!).

 

Thursday 8 June

Phebe Brand

After an intensive week of deep-diving into development and pitching in the idyllic countryside of the Peak District, the last day of our in-person training had arrived. We swiftly returned our bedrooms to their original states and checked out, grabbing a final cup of coffee and heading to the Cow Shed for a Q&A with Peter Middleton, following our screening of Notes on Blindness. I was especially interested in the process of transforming the original film into a VR experience, and the collaborative process with John’s family after his death. Peter discussed the difficulties in navigating this, but in working with the family, the film ultimately became a piece of John’s legacy.

Following this, we all gathered for lunch, savouring our last bites of Sylvia’s cooking, and returned to the Cow Shed for a comprehensive briefing on navigating and preparing for Sheffield DocFest. Sylvia covered the logistics of booking screenings and navigating the website and gave us advice on which industry events would be most beneficial, before going into depth on how to get around the festival and make the most out of our time in Sheffield. We then all grabbed our luggage to head to Buxton station, ready for the next adventure in a week's time. I can’t wait to put everything I’ve learnt this week into action and make the most of my time in Sheffield, all while seeing some amazing new documentaries.

Melanie Rawson

Thursday, our last day out in the Peak District, was a whirlwind of information and celebration. We all clung to the final idyllic moments in the countryside and somewhat resisted going back to the ‘real world’.

We started off the day by virtually welcoming our final speaker, Producer and Director of Notes on Blindness, Peter Middleton. It was amazing to learn how Peter found out about John Hull’s original audio diaries, which he used to come to terms with the loss of his sight, and translated these into various storytelling projects, including a short, a docudrama, and a VR experience. It was also reassuring to hear that Peter and fellow filmmaker James Spinney had taken a somewhat unusual route into the documentary industry, coming from a visual arts and commercial background, previously making music videos and TV adverts.

We then went on to pitch the ideas we had developed in our groups of three the day before. My group pitched an investigative feature on the recent orca attacks, which focused on getting to the bottom of why this group of orcas isare targeting boats and what this means for us in the future. We received some encouraging feedback, and I loved the process of bouncing thoughts off of one another, gradually shaping an idea into a programme with an intentional format, style, and audience.

Next was a presentation from Yen, discussing how to set ourselves targets for our future careers and how to navigate our upcoming meetings with our mentor. It’s clear that Yen really wants the best for us all as trainees and works incredibly hard to make sure we get the most out of each element of the DocLab scheme. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that we couldn’t be more thankful for all the guidance the Grierson team has given us so far and the overwhelming sense of reassurance that comes from knowing we don’t have to navigate the early steps of our careers alone.

After our last supper, another amazing lunch made by Sylvia (which we all stole the recipes for) it was time to prepare for DocFest. Sylvia gave us the inside knowledge she had gained after years of working at DocFest, and I started putting together a military-precision spreadsheet schedule of must-see talks, pitches, industry events, and, of course, documentaries. It already feels like there are not enough hours in the day to experience everything I want to do across DocFest, but even if I don’t get to do it all, I know it will be an incredible week in my home city.

Naomi Grant

Thursday was our last day in Buxton. The town was blissful, the sheep were in mountainous view and we were given one day of glorious sun. I enjoyed the quietness but I did soon miss the hive of the city and the sweet, consistent sounds of police sirens. Buxton was a chance to disconnect, and I did TRY to spend less time on my phone so I can fully embrace the experience.

After a week full of pitches to creative directors, development exercises and endless rounds of Werewolves. Thursday was our last day. The day was spent unwinding and packing – triple checking that not even a hair clip was left behind.

Sylvia cooked yet another amazing meal and then I had my one-to-one with Yen. Away from the group she was able to provide me with personal feedback and advice, which was really insightful. She gave me practical tips (which I actioned as soon as I got back to London). We then had a session with Slyvia on all things Sheffield Docfest. She provided insight to the must-see sessions and her tips on navigating the festival!