“One of the most notable achievements of my career was to be awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA) in August 2000 to research the lack of black producers in film and television industries in the UK. The NESTA fellowship required that I appoint a mentor to support me as I strived to meet my personal and creative objectives. I asked Maureen Salmon to fulfil this role during the first year of my research. By the end of the first year I had made a documentary about the black film festival in Burkina Faso, written the first draft of my report Pitchblack, produced a documentary for Badejo Arts, worked as researcher on a Channel 4 programme about British entrepreneurship, finished a year on the National Film and Television School’s Advanced programme, and had been offered middle-management positions at both the BBC and Channel 4. In my opinion, Maureen Salmon is a gifted coach.”

Paula Gjesdal
Filmmaker and author of Pitchblack: A report on the commercial value of Black producers working in British television