How BAFTA’s Breakthrough Program is Helping to Launch a New Generation of A-List Talent

BAFTA has announced their long list of nominees eligible for its 2022 awards ceremony.

And while for many BAFTA is synonamous with their glitzy awards, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, is also a non-profit with philanthropic and mentorship programs that aim to engage and help bolster talent all year long.

One of those initiatives is BAFTA Breakthrough.

With cohorts for the US, the UK, and India, the program supports emerging talent with a year-long, individually-tailored mentoring program, focused on catapulting talent to the next stage of their careers.

A ten-member jury, which included directors Bruce Miller and Colin Trevorrow and actress Rutina Welsey, selected the following creatives for the BAFTA Breakthrough USA class of 2021:

Anna Franqueso-Solano, cinematographer
Bao Nguyen, director, documentary
Cheyenne Ford, production designer
Dominique Nieves – writer/director
Joshua Grier, Mike Grier, Hunter Schmidt, games
Hikari, writer/director
Orlando Perez Rosso, composer
Sarah Lampert, writer
Siqi Song, animator
Stephanie Economou, composer

CEO of BAFTA Los Angeles, Matthew Wiseman, spoke with Awards Daily about BAFTA’s efforts to champion young talent, the Breakthrough Program and the importance of mentorship.

Awards Daily: Matthew, I’m assuming that most of our readers aren’t as familiar with the BAFTA Breakthrough program or aren’t aware that there’s a U.S. contingent. Can you, in your own words, tell them about it?

Matthew Wiseman: Sure, I’d love to. It’s interesting because if you tapped anyone on the street on the shoulder and said, “What do you know about BAFTA?” you can get a million different answers, and that applies both in the U.S. and the UK.

Obviously, in the UK, BAFTA is a household name. People grow up, and they know precisely what BAFTA is through the prism of the awards ceremonies. The reality is, as important as those awards ceremonies are, they are small moments in the year where we’re celebrating those at the peak of their careers with those beautiful gold shiny masks. Those are five days a year for us, and yes, they’re a significant five days a year. It’s part of our DNA to celebrate excellence, but it’s only five days a year. The reality is most of our year is supporting people on their journey to that moment.

So, taking kind of a step back and looking at BAFTA’s year both in the US and the UK. A lot of our time is spent supporting talented individuals from all walks of life through their journey in the industry. The support first begins at grassroots levels with schools and high school programs. It then follows them through college with our financial aid and scholarships, student awards, and then further into their careers. It continues through our newcomer’s program that supports international filmmakers and colleagues making a move to the U.S. or things like our BAFTA Bridge series, which helps underserved communities in Los Angeles and then supports them through their journey. We have massive classes and panels, Q&As,  mentorship and networking. So, Breakthrough kind of fits on that spectrum. It fits on that journey through an individual’s career, and it certainly leans towards someone’s professional career.

The criteria to qualify for Breakthrough certainly is at that breakthrough moment, that breakthrough year, that first credit, that first script that sold, or that first big title and supporting them over that crucial stage. You know, there’s all sorts of evidence and all sorts of studies about the difficulty of getting that second film and that second script and that second job. So this is really at that part of the life cycle of somebody’s career.

And to your question about, you know, the BAFTA’s presence in the US and the UK. Clearly, in the UK, BAFTA, as I said, is a household name. It’s something everybody grows up knowing. It’s been a part of the fabric of the UK for decades. Fellow members of BAFTA founded BAFTA LA and BAFTA New York. They found themselves living and working in the U.S. and realized there was such a transient flow of industry professionals coming from the U.S. back to the UK that it makes sense to have entities and physical entities in the US. It grew from there, and now there is a global footprint of different entities and different offices around the world.  So it made sense for Breakthrough US to launch because we had such a significant footprint in America. As a membership organization, about 20% of our members were living and working in the US, and that’s just a reflection of the nature of the entertainment industry.

AD: Let’s say that I am selected as a BAFTA Breakthrough.  what does that mean? What happens after you’ve been chosen, and what does the mentorship and guidance look like?

MW:  It’s a great question because one of the unique things about the Breakthrough program is that it’s not a one size fits all approach. Your experience through the Breakthrough program may be entirely different from somebody else’s. We do that by making sure that we have one-on-one meetings with all those participants to discuss what they want to get out of the program. For some, it’s about the profile, It’s about the stature, It’s about the connection with BAFTA, For others, it may be more bespoke, and they will have specific individuals that they would like to meet with. We can’t get into the specifics of what we’ve done for certain individuals, but generally speaking, it’s been a bespoke program, and I think that is one of the strengths of Breakthrough. We have other things that are more general and more about access to events and access to schemes. Whereas Breakthrough is explicitly created for those individuals, so your experience will be what you want it to be. We would have that kind of conversation and set up meetings with the types of individuals you would like to meet to, as they say, slingshot your career to the next level and next stage.

AD: I noticed that there are individuals in the gaming industry as well. I was curious about that because with BAFTA, I think of film and television. How did the gaming portion come about?

MW: That’s interesting, and I’ll say there’s no G in BAFTA as an acronym. But, BAFTA spans the three sectors of Film, Games, and Television. As you say, most people probably think of BAFTA as film first, which if you look at the history of BAFTA, it was initially founded as the British Film Academy.

Television is a huge component of what we do. Games are certainly the youngest in terms of the sectors, but it’s a well-established part of what we do. We’ve had the Games Awards; I think back 20 odd years. Before that, we had something called Interactive Awards, where games came from. And I’m glad you brought it up because it’s such an important part of our DNA to reflect games as an art form and sit it alongside the art forms of film and television. And it’s easy for us to think in silos as those three art forms. The reality is there’s so much crossover within the practitioners if you’re an actor, and you may be voicing a character in a video game or motion capture performance. If you’re a composer, you’re probably equally working on scoring a game and a TV show and a film. You know, it’s not just the kind of leisure activity necessarily, it’s about the art and the craft behind that. It’s truly important for us and games are reflected in all of our new talent programs.  Last year, we officially put in awards for games and immersive content.

AD: Of course, we want to encourage anyone who is interested in the BAFTA Breakthrough program to apply. I’d like to take that a step further, what advice would you give apsiping applicants? And what is that ‘X-Factor’ in someone’s application, that makes them stand out to you?

MW: I think you’ve said it well, in terms of X-Factor, because sometimes it’s difficult to define. You are looking for that something that is there, the indication of talent, opportunity, and progress. I think observing someone on that trajectory, you can see that they have the potential. Even early on, if someone’s talented, you can spot that they’re talented. It’s often the support that they need that BAFTA can provide them. I think as well as obviously the talent, it’s also asking, “Is BAFTA in a position that we can help this person?” There are lots of new talent programs. They’re all very good and serve their particular purpose. So I think when BAFTA is looking at the participants for Breakthrough, it’s, “What’s BAFTA’s role here? Can we supercharge this person’s career and be that kind of conduit to the next level that they need?” So it’s twofold. It’s about the talent and how BAFTA can support that person.

AD:  To that end, are there any upcoming projects that you would like to highlight or anything coming up that you’d like to highlight? 

MW: I’d love to elevate the awareness of what BAFTA does. It’s no surprise, and this is not a criticism, that we get a lot of attention around the awards. They’re exciting and glamorous and glitzy, and that’s why we’re in the business. We love it as well. As I said, the reality is, we work tirelessly year-round within our membership and our committees, driving the industry forward and through these programs. So I think elevating your awareness of what BAFTA does and that,  we are a group of individuals. We are a group of members. We’re not a company with shareholders to report to. We’re a community of practitioners who have come together with the same belief in the organization’s mission and deliver it in different ways in the US and the UK.

So, you know, I’d love us to get to a point where if I tap that person in the street and say, “Tell me what you know about BAFTA.” And 50% of the time, they say, “Oh, the newcomer’s program, the student awards, Breakthrough, BAFTA Bridge, your mentorship schemes, and the awards as well. We’re a nonprofit and we’re here year-round doing all this work.

AD: You know,  I keep thinking back to mentors that I’ve had in my life and my career, and what I think a good mentor is. So for you, how would you define that? What do you think makes a sound support system?

MW: Yeah, that’s a great question. I mean, I can only speak from my own experiences. I think it is about the open door, whether that’s opening the door to one meeting, one coffee or one conversation, or someone who will always be at the end of the phone 24/7. You know, people have different needs and different expectations. So I think it’s kind of like that spirit. I think it’s just that open door and the willingness to listen and support and lend advice and be very transparent and truthful. You know, the industry is difficult to work your way through and navigate. I think having someone who has gone through that journey.

There’s sometimes a misconception of a mentor being this kind of Guru, with all this abundance of wisdom. Whereas sometimes a mentor could be someone who’s like, one step ahead of you on that journey. You need that one year, two years, three year kind of horizon and to have someone who’s more recently gone through the same journey you have. That can be equally important as an established industry name.

it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. If you are to bottle the spirit of mentorship, I think it’s just about being truthful, having an open door, and access.

Learn more about BAFTA Breakthrough and see the full list of international participants.