Supporting creatives in uncertain times

It’s been widely talked about that 2025 has been a challenging year for the film, games and television sector, and although there have been many celebrations and successes there has also been much uncertainty. But in the words of BAFTA chair Sara Putt “through it all BAFTA’s mission to inspire, support and celebrate talent, to enrich culture and to level the playing field remains unwavering…. It has never felt more vital.”

So, what do Sara, and Deputy Chair Hilary Rosen, think about one of the big issues facing the sector right now – socioeconomic inequality – and how is BAFTA playing its part in helping to address it…

Sara Putt: “It’s really, really difficult for people to get into the industry and we know this is getting worse. I think it is probably most difficult for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

“With all the work that BAFTA has done over the last few years to really enrich our community and make our community more diverse and inclusive – and on our targets around disability, ethnicity, gender, we’re really making progress – when it comes to socioeconomics it’s really slow work.”

Hilary Rosen: “Socioeconomic inequality is a battleground. We can do so much more with our collective energy and enthusiasm. The work is never done and actually at the heart of BAFTA is the amazing ability to tell hugely interesting stories and in the end it’s all about the storytelling.

“The more people we can bring into our space who can tell more interesting more diverse stories, if we can play our small part in that journey I think that’s very, very exciting. It feels very privileged to be able to do that.”

Hilary Rosen: “I think for me the sense of being able to make things better and stand up and use my voice and make some kind of significant kind of inroads into making a more equal and kind of tolerant and broader and more diverse landscape has always really appealed to me.

“I think a lot of the things I did as a younger woman in television was about trying to level the playing field for women. I think far be it for me to say there is no longer any inequality between genders [but] I think there’s much less of it… there have been a lot of women who have come before us who’ve really done incredible things. So I feel that battle to a degree has been fought but there are so many other spaces and places where we need to do better and I think BAFTA is just a fantastic charity where more senior people can come in and we can roll up our sleeves and we can really make our mark.”

Sara Putt: “It does it feels like a real privilege doesn’t it. I sort of wake up pretty much most mornings and think ok how does BAFTAs existence make the industries we work in a little bit better of a place and I think everybody connected with us works to the same motivation.”

Sara Putt: “BAFTA is more vital than ever, what we do is more vital than ever, creating those pipelines into and through the industry and what we’re looking at is how we scale up, how we increase our impact. Thanks to generous donations we are able to do so much [but] we still need to do more.

“We invest in creativity and then we celebrate that creativity and we award that creativity. It’s really important that we bring people from all different backgrounds into the industry not just because it’s the morally right thing to do, because it affects the stories that we are able to tell it affects the richness of the landscape.”

Hilary Rosen: “We’ll always be telling stories and I think BAFTA will always I hope be honouring the most excellent stories that are told in the most brilliant and compelling way but I do think we need to look at where those stories come from and whose making them.”

• In 2025 BAFTA was proud to announce an increased number of bursaries. Their support will help the next generation of filmmakers, games designers, actors, producers, editors, and more who face financial barriers to break through and progress in their careers. Find out more about the Prince William BAFTA Bursary and UK Scholarship Programme.
• BAFTA’s Invisible Barriers Report provides guidance and recommendations to assist hirers in the screen industries to support individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds to progress and sustain a career within them.
• As a charity we run a range of talent programmes championing creatives and practitioners across the screen industries, regardless of background or life experience – offering tailored career support to over 3000 people every year.
• We recently spoke to Jemma Gander, one of the participants on our BAFTA Elevate programme about class diversity in the industry, who offered her own personal perspective. BAFTA Elevate is a bespoke programme of professional development which offers mentoring, tailored masterclasses and networking opportunities to individuals from underrepresented backgrounds.