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Dating app Bumble is getting closer to making its mark in the content game after narrowing down the shortlist for its female film fund.
The company, which runs the eponymous dating app that only permits women to start a chat with their male matches, launched The Female Force, offering five filmmakers £20,000 (US$27,000) to make a short film, in May.
It has narrowed this down to ten filmmakers with five of them set to be revealed in August, with their films launching in January. The filmmakers are: Alexandra Blue, Christine Hartland
Daisy Stenham, Emma Moffat, Emma Wall, Georgina Yukiko Donovan, Helena Sutcliffe, Karen Turner, Oluwaseun Shey Osibowale and Pratyusha Gupta (projects below).
The scheme is being overseen by stars including Guardians of the Galaxy and Elementary star Ophelia Lovibond and Black Mirror star Georgina Campbell, who is currently starring in Syfys DC Comics series Krypton, as well as radio presenter Edith Bowman, who is chair, Kate Kinninmont, Chief Executive, Women in Film & TV, Fortitude star Nicholas Pinnock, Helen Bownass, Entertainment Editor, Stylist Magazine, Emily Phillips, Features Editor, Grazia Magazine and Bumbles own VP International Marketing & Communications Louise Troen.
Bowman says, “The fight for Women to have equal rights and opportunities has to be taken seriously. The film industry has been in the spotlight for many months and although there has been a great deal of change and positive steps in the right direction, there is still a long way to go. We need parity across the industry. We need to see more stories by women, about women and told by women. Initiatives like The Female Film Force will give women from all backgrounds the opportunity to tell their story and be supported by the film industry throughout the process to hopefully launch into the industry and/or develop further.”
Troen added, “We have been overwhelmed with the level of innovation and talent that these ideas have demonstrated thus far. We have loved consulting with various formidable women across the film industry to decide on this shortlist, to invite to our pitch day at the end of July. We cannot wait to meet you all. You are incredible. You have made us laugh and cry, and we are so excited to help bring some of your film ideas to life.”
THE FEMALE FILM FORCE:
Alexandra Blue (Producer); Laurie Nunn (Writer)
LUNA. Luna just got her first period. To make matters worse, Luna is about to go through another very different change as well, unearthing her familys dark secret. Puberty really bites!Christine Hartland (Producer); Isabel Anderton (Writer/Director)
BABY FACE. An 11-year old discovers boxing and finds an escape from HER real world.Daisy Stenham (Writer/Director); Romy Waller (Producer); Nkem Egbuchiri (Producer)
CAFÉ COLUMBA. A wry comedy drama about a struggling twenty-something writer Marlow, who falls for a girl, a new waitress at the café where they both work, Esme.Emma Moffat (Writer/Director); Tilly Coulson (Producer)
A BATTLE IN WATERLOO. During the Battle of Waterloo, a soldiers wife searches for her missing husband in the nearby forest and must resort to extraordinary measures to survive.Emma Wall (Writer/Director); Jo Halpin (Producer); Claire Byrne (DOP)
PAT. Set in 1975, Pat tells the story of a mother who stays connected to her son in New York through the only phone in the village.Georgina Yukiko Donovan (Director/producer); Yoko Ishitani (Producer)
AMA DIVERS. The story of the Ama divers – the last of Japans women of the sea and their fight to preserve their 3,000 year old way of life. (Documentary)Helena Sutcliffe (Writer/Producer); Emily Bray (Director); Milly Garnier (Writer/Director); Jenn Thomas (Producer)
THE LEAVING PARTY. In an overcrowded and aging Great Britain, a heroic matriarch must escape a government-decreed death sentence before her eightieth birthday arrives.Karen Turner (Writer/Director); Jess Mehler (Animator/Producer); Julia Claxton (Set Designer)
PAUSED. A fifty-five year old woman receives an unusual gift. (Animation)Oluwaseun Shey Osibowale (Producer/AD); Damilola Babalola (Director); Louise Ogunnaike (Writer); Funke Alafiatayo (DOP)
HATIMA. Presented with a dubious life changing opportunity, an international student faces the challenge of making a decision that could alter the course of her future.Pratyusha Gupta (Writer/Director); Hatty Hodgson (Producer); Alexa Waugh (Producer)
ASEFA. A young Afghan immigrant girl is forced to confront issues of identity, gender and freedom, risking friendship and family, in an attempt to find herself.
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