One Stop Doc Shop

The One Stop Doc Shop aims to encourage and support an inclusive array of novice women & non binary filmmakers into the documentary film world.  

The process of developing, producing or directing your first film can be overwhelming, especially if you’re based outside the M25 and don’t have any connections in the industry. Myriad courses are available but often they can be costly and aren’t always inclusive.

This online platform will provide a free, comprehensive overview of the documentary filmmaking process from start to finish. It will include podcast interviews with high-profile directors, live Q & A sessions with established industry producers, film funders and festival experts, and a series of blogs that will guide you through the creative process from finding your story to the business of getting it seen.

One Stop Doc Shop is a Wheesht Films Production, made possible with the support of the Screen Alliance Wales, Ffilm Cymru Wales and BFI Network with funding from the National Lottery.  

Follow us on social media for the latest updates & details on when our content drops.

The series is available to download on all major podcast platforms.

Episode 1 features artist and documentary filmmaker Jeanie Finlay. With an eclectic body of work under her belt, Jeanie’s portfolio includes the Emmy nominated feature Games of Thrones: The Last Watch, Bifa winning feature - Orion: The Man Who Would Be King, Bifa nominated feature Seahorse, and Bifa and Grierson nominated feature The Great Hip Hop Hoax.

In addition, Jeanie has also filmed behind the closed bedroom doors of teenagers in Teenland for the BBC, as well as directing feature docs on the last surviving record shop in Teeside and the lowest budget pantomime in Nottingham for BBC Storyville. And last but not least, she also filmed Goths on a cruise ship!   

Driven by a passion to tell small stories quietly, Jeanie is interested in shy people and uses her camera as a loudhailer. 

If you want to watch Jeanie's award winning films, or read more about her work, click here.

Listen to the episode here

Download a copy of the episode transcript

This episode, our featured guest is multi-award winning Syrian activist and filmmaker Waad Al- Kateab. Her first feature length documentary, For Sama, filmed over five years captured her life in Aleppo under the Assad regime. 

Released in 2019, the film received a 6 minute standing ovation and picked up the best documentary award at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2020 it was shortlisted for an Oscar, and made BAFTA history by racking up 4 nominations and  scooping up Best Documentary Film Award. 

Waad has also received personal multiple recognitions for her work as an activist and filmmaker, including the IDA Courage Under Fire Award. 

If you want to watch Waad's award winning film, or get involved with Action for Sama click here.

Listen to the episode here

Download the transcript here

This episode, our featured guest is the multi-award winning producer and director Lindsey Dryden. Her producer credits include the feature documentary Unrest, winner of the Sundance Special Jury Award, which was also shortlisted for an Oscar nomination - and the Emmy award winning series - Trans in America. 

In addition, Lindsey has also gathered a host of directing accolades for her feature documentary Lost and Sound, as well as her portfolio of short form films.  A proud founding member of the Queer Producers Collective and Forward Doc,  Lindsey is interested in telling stories that explore unconventional experiences of the body. 

If you want to watch Lindsey's award winning films, or read more about her work, click here.

Listen to the episode here

Download the transcript here

This episode, our featured guest is Jayisha Patel, an award winning filmmaker who works at the intersection of cinematic film and VR. In 2020, Jayisha was hailed by Screen Daily as one of the Stars of Tomorrow and her films have premiered at Sundance, the New York Film Festival and the Toronto International Film festival. 

Her first short film, A Paradise, was nominated for 37 international awards. Her film Circle was nominated for a student Bafta, and her first VR experience Notes to My Father, won the UN Women’s Global Voice Award for Best 360 film. 

Jayisha seeks to give a platform in particular to women of colour who are fighting stereotypes, in bold and unconventional ways.  

If you want to watch Jayisha's award winning films, or read more about her work, click here.

Listen to the episode here

Download the transcript here

This episode, our featured guest is Simisola Akande, an award winning filmmaker that has to date created intimate and personal films that reflect her unique worldview. 

Her breakthrough short Ojumo Ti Mo won the BFI’s Who We Are film competition in 2020. It also picked up Best Documentary and Film of the Year awards at the Watersprite Film Festival whilst her first short, Du Du, took home Best Experimental Film at the BFI Future Film Festival. 

If you want to watch Simisola's award winning films, or read more about her work, click here.

Listen to the episode here

Download the transcript here

This episode, our featured guest is multiplatform artist, and BAFTA winning producer and director Professor Victoria Mapplebeck. 

For the last two decades, Victoria has experimented with the frontiers of documentary and creative technology, focusing on telling stories in small intimate spaces. 

Her first smartphone short 160 Characters won Best Documentary at the 2017 Short of the Week Film Awards. Her follow up doc Missed Call, filmed on an IPhone X, picked up a Bafta and a Broadcast Digital Award. 

In 2019, The Waiting Room - a VR project that captured her experience of breast cancer from diagnosis to recovery won the IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling. 

If you want to watch Victoria's award winning films, or read more about her work, click here.

Listen to the episode here

Download the transcript here

This episode (click here to listen), our featured guest is BAFTA nominated producer Elhum Shakerifar. Her multi award winning credits include The Reluctant Revolutionary, The Runner, A Syrian Love Story, Even When I Fall, Almost Heaven, Island, Of Love & Law, A Northern Soul and Ayouni.

In addition, Elhum has received a multitude of accolades as a producer over the years and continues to work innovatively to bridge the gap between UK festival visibility and distribution.

We talk about her unconventional route into the world of producing, the importance of inclusivity and visibility in storytelling, the myriad challenges facing producers when working in precarious situations, as well as the importance of defining what success means to you as a filmmaker.

This episode, our featured guest is the multi award winning director Kathryn Ferguson.

After a decade of focusing on short-form work centered on identity, gender politics and community, Kathryn's first feature documentary NOTHING COMPARES about the iconic musician Sinéad O’Connor premiered at Sundance in 2022. The film screened globally and went on to win multiple awards including Best Feature Documentary and Best Debut Director at the BIFA’s, as well as clocking up not one but two Emmy nominations.

Later that same year, Kathryn was also awarded the BFI & Chanel award for Creative Audacity for a first-time feature director.

Kathryn and I discuss her journey into the documentary world, navigating the leap from commercial work to long form docs, as well as the kind of films she hopes to make in the future.

If you want to watch Kathryn's award winning films, or read more about her work, click here.

This episode, out featured guest is double BIFA winning director Alice Russell.

Her first short film, Men Buy Sex, won the SIMA Creative Activism Award and got Vimeo Staff Picks Best of the Month. Her second short film, Agents of Change was selected as a festival focus at Sheffield DocFest whilst her third short film Terra Incognita followed a team of female activist’s scaling the back of reefer ships in the Antarctic.

In 2022, her debut feature doc, If the Streets Were On Fire had its world premiere at the 66th BFI London Film Festival where it came second in the Audience Award, before going on to scoop up the Best Feature Documentary and the Raindance Maverick Awards at the BIFA’s in 2023.

Alice and I talk about her passion for telling authentic stories and finding charismatic characters who inspire her, the importance of trusting your gut, as well as the challenges that arise when you juggle projects over many years. As an aside, we also discussed our shared love of icebergs!

If you want to watch Alice's award winning films, or read more about her work, click here.