BBC Film offers associate producer placements

The BBC is offering paid associate producer placements on up to eight of its film productions following a two-year pilot scheme involving hit films Scrapper and Rye Lane.

BBC Film head of production Emma Kayee is heading up the programme, which will have a particular focus on individuals from under-represented groups.

Associate producers will join films as early as possible during late stage development.

They will be involved in areas such as casting, financing and crewing up and will work with the lead producers across the lifecycle of the creative, financial, legal and practical production of a film.

Participants in the pilot stage included Manchester-based producer and screenwriter Radha Bhandari, who was associate producer on Naqqash Khalid’s debut feature film In Camera, which is playing at the London Film Festival. Bhandari has since become a in-house development executive and producer at British film producer Public Dreams.

Kareem Adeshina, meanwhile was associate producer on recent release Scrapper, and took on the same role on The Kitchen, which is the LFF’s closing night gala.

Eva Yates, director of BBC Film, said discussions with producers had led the BBC to commit to “clearer and more inclusive routes of progression for the next generation of producers”.