We exist because talent is never the problem. We train, develop and empower the next generation of Black filmmakers: young people who've been told this industry isn't for them, and those rebuilding creative careers after migration. We remove the structural barriers that ability alone cannot overcome.
— Ibitayo Ibikunle, Founder & Creative Director
Our Community
We don't just run workshops. We build sustained pathways. Every programme strand addresses a specific, documented barrier that prevents Black and underrepresented young people from entering and progressing in the UK screen industries.
All surplus is reinvested. No profit is distributed. No exceptions.
Hands-on, accessible training that puts professional tools and real industry knowledge into the hands of people who have never had access to either.
Structured pathways — mentorship, career navigation, residencies and production support — from first curiosity to professional readiness.
Platforms, screenings and spotlights that build visibility for Black creative work and ensure Black stories reach the audiences they deserve.
Professional Tools. From Day One.
From Session 1, participants handle professional equipment as active practitioners, never observers. Built for people who have never had the opportunity. Not those who already have access.
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Founder & Creative Director
Ibitayo Ibikunle is a Nigerian filmmaker from Lagos who built a 10-year professional career in Nigeria before relocating to the UK in 2021 and rebuilding that entire career from the ground up. He navigated an industry with no playbook for people who arrive without existing connections, without capital, and without anyone who looks like them in the room.
"I didn't just learn filmmaking. I learned how the industry works and I realised most Black young people never get access to that knowledge at all."
He went on to earn UK Global Talent recognition in film and television, producing internationally award-winning work including his documentary Home Away, which tells the story of rebuilding identity and purpose after migration. That film is now central to our Parent & Family Engagement work.
Made In Black Studios is the organisation he wished had existed. It is now registered, incorporated, and open.
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A regular, accessible platform for films by Black and underrepresented filmmakers work that deserves an audience beyond the festival circuit.
Explore ScreeningsFollow us for weekly opportunities, behind-the-scenes content, Talent Spotlights and community updates across every platform.
Our clothing builds visibility and belonging. Every purchase is reinvested directly into our programme strands.
Shop NowGrants, training, screenings, programme updates and our monthly Talent Spotlight direct to your inbox.
About Us
Made In Black Studios is a grassroots, community-led organisation rooted in the belief that Black voices belong in every frame of UK film and television. Not as exceptions. As standard.
We exist to equip young people from Black, migrant and underrepresented communities with the skills, mentorship and pathways needed to build sustainable careers in the UK screen industries. We address the structural gap that talent alone cannot bridge.
Ibitayo Ibikunle grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and spent a decade building a professional filmmaking career before relocating to the UK in 2021. Starting over — rebuilding ten years of work, networks and credibility in a new country — he navigated an industry with no playbook for people who arrive without connections or capital.
He earned UK Global Talent recognition in film and television, producing internationally award-winning work including his documentary Home Away, a film about rebuilding life and identity after migration. It is now screened as part of our Parent & Family Engagement work.
Made In Black Studios is the organisation he wished had existed when he arrived.
Removing barriers to participation and opportunity for those the industry has historically overlooked.
Increasing the visibility of Black talent in front of and behind the camera, at every level.
Centring the community in everything co-designing programmes, sharing resources, building collective progression.
Acknowledging that equal treatment is not enough. We target our work where the structural need is greatest.
Clear, supported pathways from first engagement to sustainable employment in the UK screen industries.
Made In Black Studios CIC is governed by three directors all unpaid, all committed to the community benefit mission. Every decision is made in the interests of the people we serve.
Founder & Creative Director
Filmmaker from Lagos, Nigeria. 10 years building a career in Nigeria, then rebuilt it all in the UK. UK Global Talent-recognised. Award-winning. The lived experience behind everything Made In Black Studios does.
Director
Director
Our programme strands are being launched progressively starting with our flagship ShootYourShort programme and expanding as we grow. Each strand addresses a specific, evidenced barrier to access and progression in UK film and television.
For funders and partners: Our eight programme strands have been developed from the founder's direct lived experience navigating the UK screen industries as a migrant filmmaker who rebuilt a 10-year career from the ground up. They represent an interconnected ecosystem from first access through to professional career and are being launched progressively. We welcome partnerships supporting specific strands or the organisation's overall development.
Our signature filmmaking access lab for people who have never had the chance to engage with the industry professionally. Participants work with professional equipment from Session 1 as active practitioners, never observers. They leave with footage, a certificate and clear next steps into the industry.
Outcomes: confidence with professional tools, practical skills, industry demystification, progression-ready participants.
Training & Skills · Beginner AccessA regular, community-rooted platform for films by Black and underrepresented filmmakers. Not a competition, not a festival. A communal space where work is shown, discussed and celebrated, with structured Q&A, peer feedback and networking between filmmakers and industry guests.
Outcomes: visibility, peer networks, audience building, sustained community engagement.
Screening & Visibility · All LevelsStructured one-to-one mentorship pairing emerging Black filmmakers with working industry professionals. Addressing a fundamental inequity: industry knowledge is passed informally and unevenly, systematically disadvantaging those without existing connections and networks.
Outcomes: professional confidence, industry navigation skills, sustained career support.
Mentorship & Industry Access · All LevelsDedicated sessions covering what the industry assumes people already know commissioning, pitching, funding, agents, contracts, pricing creative work, and building a financially sustainable career over the long term. Rarely taught, but always assumed.
Outcomes: professional literacy, financial sustainability, informed career decisions.
Professional Development · IntermediateA sustained programme for emerging filmmakers ready to develop a specific project. Participants receive time, space, equipment access, mentorship and peer collaboration producing work ready for commissioners, funders and festival programmers.
Outcomes: developed project, commissioner-ready pitch, professional portfolio piece.
Advanced Development · Emerging ProfessionalPractical support enabling emerging Black filmmakers to actually make their films, not just learn about filmmaking in theory. Equipment access, crew connections, production guidance, script feedback and post-production support, removing the financial and logistical barriers to completion.
Outcomes: completed films, portfolio development, real production experience.
Production Support · Emerging ProfessionalBringing our programme strands directly into schools, colleges, youth organisations and community venues particularly those serving high concentrations of Black and immigrant young people. Reaching them before self-doubt and lack of information closes doors that should be wide open.
Outcomes: early-stage access, curriculum-linked delivery, widened participation in screen industries.
Education Partnerships · Young PeopleEvents addressing one of the least-named barriers: resistance from immigrant households rooted in financial anxiety about creative careers. Using screenings of Home Away to open honest, informed conversations with parents about what creative careers actually look like.
Outcomes: family understanding of creative pathways, community trust, reduced participation barriers.
Community Engagement · FamiliesNot a competition. Not a festival. A communal space where films by Black and underrepresented filmmakers are shown, discussed and celebrated. Shorts, features, documentaries, works-in-progress all welcome.
Coming SoonOur inaugural community screening event. Films by Black filmmakers across Greater Manchester and beyond. Q&A, networking and celebration. Get on the list.
A dedicated strand for documentary films by Black storytellers. Stories of migration, identity, community and resilience told with honesty and craft.
Touring editions taking Made In Black Screenings to schools, libraries and community venues across Greater Manchester. Accessible and free to attend.
Black filmmaker with a film? We want to hear from you. Made In Black Screenings is built for work that deserves an audience.
Submit Your FilmOur screenings are open to everyone. Sign up to the mailing list to be first to know about upcoming events.
Get Notified
Every week: grants, opportunities, training and resources for Black and migrant creatives. Every month: a Talent Spotlight a Black filmmaker profiled in full. A community resource and a growing archive.
Each month we profile a Black filmmaker a written interview documenting their work, their journey and their advice for the next generation. Over time, this becomes a permanent archive of Black talent in UK film & TV. A record that has never fully existed. Until now.
Know a filmmaker who should be featured?
Nominate a Filmmaker
Grants, open calls, funded residencies and commissions currently open for Black and underrepresented filmmakers in the UK. Updated weekly.
From Lagos to Manchester. From 10 years in Nigeria to starting over. A personal reflection on why Made In Black Studios had to exist.
The networks are informal, the funding is opaque, and the rules aren't written anywhere. Here's what we wish we'd known from day one.
A short video from our team on what the screenings are for, who they're for, and what we hope they become.
We curate training opportunities so you don't have to search. What's available right now in Greater Manchester and online.
The BFI funds Black filmmakers but the application process is opaque. We break it down step by step, no jargon.
Made In Black Studios is powered by community financially, practically and creatively. There is no passive observer here. Choose how you show up.
Our clothing is a visible statement of solidarity and a direct contribution to our programme strands. Every purchase is reinvested into training, screenings and mentorship. Buy for yourself. Pass one on to someone in your community who needs to feel this belongs to them too.
Print-on-demand sustainable, no excess stock. Shop launching soon.
Wear your support. Simple, bold, made to last.
Coming soonBuilt for community. Designed to be passed on.
Coming soonCarry the work with you everywhere.
Coming soonBuilt in Black. Worn with pride.
Coming soonIn-kind donations are as powerful as financial ones. Training space, professional equipment, editing software licences if you can offer it, contact us. Every contribution goes directly to our participants and is properly acknowledged.
Make an OfferFilmmaker, producer, editor, agent, casting director or industry professional? Your knowledge changes careers. Share it as a mentor, workshop leader, panellist or script feedback reader. One session can open a door that stays shut for years without it.
Get InvolvedAny amount goes directly into our programme strands, screenings and community work. Every pound reaches the people we exist for.
Made In Black Studios is built with the community, not just for the community. Whether you're an emerging filmmaker, an industry professional, a school, a funder or an organisation, there is a way for you to be part of what we're building.
You are exactly who we exist for. Whether you've never touched a camera or you're developing your first project register your interest and we'll connect you to the right programme strand.
Open to: young people from Black and underrepresented backgrounds across the UK, migrant and immigrant filmmakers, anyone who has been excluded from mainstream creative pathways.
Register InterestYour knowledge and networks are what our participants need most. Volunteer as a mentor, lead a session, give a career talk, sit on a panel or provide script feedback.
Looking for: filmmakers, producers, editors, writers, directors, agents, casting directors, commissioners, distributors anyone willing to share what they know.
Become a MentorWe deliver our programme strands directly into schools, colleges, youth organisations and community venues particularly those serving high concentrations of Black and immigrant young people.
We offer: curriculum-linked sessions, career talks, assemblies, sustained engagement programmes and community screening events.
Explore a PartnershipFor funders and commissioners: Made In Black Studios CIC is a registered community interest company delivering measurable social impact in film and television education, access and representation. We deliver for young people from Black, migrant and underrepresented backgrounds across the UK. We welcome discussions about partnership, grant funding, co-delivery and long-term investment in our programme strands.
Get in Touch
Made In Black Studios CIC
Registered No. 17185100
Piccadilly Business Centre
Unit C, Aldow Enterprise Park
Blackett Street, Manchester M12 6AE
info@madeinblackstudios.com
07932 742 431
For funders & commissioners: We welcome expressions of interest in partnership, sponsorship and grant collaboration. Please use the form or email us directly and we'll respond within 3–5 working days.
Made In Black Studios CIC · Company No. 17185100 · Registered in England and Wales · We aim to respond within 3–5 working days.
