Grierson DocLab is run in association with the Rank Foundation, and this year is also supported by core industry sponsor, Banijay. The programme placements are run in partnership with 19 of the UK’s leading production companies. Each Grierson DocLab trainee will receive a work placement within these UK production companies where they will build on their training, develop their skills and gain knowledge and industry contacts to become ‘job ready’ for a range of entry-level roles and ultimately a career in documentaries and factual.

The Grierson Trust is committed to working with its partners throughout the industry to identify and develop talent from under-represented backgrounds who can bring new stories and perspectives to the documentary form. More than 180 Grierson DocLab Alumni have now been through various iterations of the scheme, and many have gone on to work across the TV industry in varied roles and at different levels including producing and directing, development, casting, and research, with the continued support of the Trust.

Sylvia Bednarz, Managing Director of the Grierson Trust said: “A key part of the Grierson Trust’s remit is to develop and support diverse voices within the documentary industry, and to contribute to a more vibrant, inclusive, and dynamic documentary landscape in the UK. We are grateful to be supported by the Rank Foundation and Banijay, and are thrilled to be working in partnership with 18 of the UK’s leading production companies to provide mentoring, training and hands-on work placements to another cohort of young people looking to their start careers.”

This year’s trainees are: Lena Elghamry (London), Tawana Gandiyah (Bristol), Jessica Lees (Liverpool), Lucy Lawson (Sawbridgeworth), Sara Michelangeli (Bromsgrove), Bea Montgomery-Christy (Brighton), Esme Ramlal (London), Ren Scott-Bridge (Brighton), Martha Slater (London), Alice Stewart (London), Mia Versluys (Bracknell), and Edie Wood (Worthing).

Eloise Millard (2018 Grierson DocLab trainee) who worked as an AP on the BBC Two documentary series Inside Our Autistic Minds which won the Best Science Documentary category at the 2023 Grierson Awards, said: "Nothing has changed my life more than Grierson DocLab. Last year, I stood on stage as a Grierson winner, just five years on from being a trainee in the audience who knew nothing about making TV. The bespoke training, the incredible networking opportunities, and ongoing support the Trust provides has given me a career I never could've dreamed of. Grierson alumni are enormously valued and sought after in the industry, and it's been such a joy to see my fellow trainees shape, diversify, and lead British documentary filmmaking."

Production companies supporting Grierson DocLab 2024 programme include new for this year Dorothy Street Pictures, Fulwell 73 Productions, Passion Pictures and KEO Films, alongside previous partners BBC Studios, Blast! Films, Box to Box Films, Dragonfly TV, Lightbox, Minnow Films, Nutopia, Raw TV, Rogan Productions, The Garden, True North, TwentyTwenty, Wall to Wall, Wise Owl Films (part of All3Media), and Wonderhood Studios.

Liesel Evans, Creative Director, Raw TV said: “We love having the DocLab trainees at Raw – they are always full of enthusiasm and energy and are a delight to work with. Over the years, we have ended up employing several of the graduates of the scheme and they have always excelled. We’re delighted to be supporting the scheme again this year and long may it continue!”

Alongside the Grierson DocLab: New Entrant programme, the Trust also runs three Grierson DocLab specialist programmes: Editing and Production Management in partnership with Netflix, and Archive Producers in collaboration with Prime Video Pathway.

Amongst the Grierson DocLab Alumni are: Eloise Millard (2018) who worked as an AP on the BBC Two documentary series Inside Our Autistic Minds which won the Best Science Documentary category at the 2023 Grierson Awards, Chandler Pierre (2020) a Researcher on BBC Studios’ Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World, which was nominated in the Best Music Documentary category at the 2023 Grierson awards, Cherish Oteka (2016) who won the Best Short Film BAFTA in 2022 for their documentary, The Black Cop; Poppy Goodheart’s (2013) Channel 4 First Cut short, The Boy Who Can’t Stop Dancing was shortlisted for a Rose d’Or 2022 in the Best Arts Category; Lauren Dawkins (2022), was credited as a Researcher on Kathy Burke’s most recent Channel 4 doc series, Growing Up; and Ermias Asfaw (2021) who produced the short documentary, The Archive: Queer Nigerian Project, funded by BFI Doc Society.