Shooting People, UK filmmaking network, to close after 27 years

Shooting People, the community-led network connecting independent filmmakers in the UK, is to close at the end of October after 27 years.

“Ultimately, Shooting People was never about holding on forever,” said co-founder Cath Le Couteur. “But what continues is the spirit: community, imagination, humour and resilience. You can see that energy in brilliant new grassroots spaces and there’s no knowing where creatives will go next.”

Shooting People provided job information, both for those hiring and those looking for work, listed funding and training resources, and hosted an online space for networking and film discussion among industry members.

The organisation also connected its members with other filmmaking organisations and events, and hosted regular events of its own. It had a  roaming cinema van and once wrote to NASA to lobby for better film selections in space.

“When Shooting People started in 1998 I was fresh out of film school and like many was searching for a film community,” said Asif Kapadia, a former Shooting People member.  “I was there in the early days, in the audience at Q&As, at gatherings in pubs, screenings of shorts, I was on the stage talking about filmmaking.

“There were books, panels, masterclasses, parties, essentially film-related raves! It was always fun, a community, a fantastic ‘just do it’ vibe, which came from above, from the people running Shooting People.”

The website will remain active until the end of October, and will sign off with a final party in November.

Community

Shooting People was founded in 1998 by Le Couteur with the late Jess Search and Stu Tily – initially as an email list between 60 filmmakers. It quickly became an online space and community for anyone who wanted to make a film, to learn from others and share expertise, advice and skills.

“We built Shooting People on solidarity and stubbornness,” said Le Couteur. “Back in 1998, there was no roadmap, just a belief in independent film and a small loan from our grannies. We didn’t wait for permission. That we ran 27 years without institutional support speaks to something simple but powerful: the hunger for genuine community, and people wanting to be part of something real.”

Search went on to establish Doc Society, and remained involved in the running of Shooting People until her death aged 54 in July 2023.

In addition to Kapadia, members of the community to have achieved significant success include Andrew Haigh, Krishnendu Majumdar, William McGregor, Tom Harper, Joe Barton, Rob Savage, Rungano Nyoni, Alice Lowe, Charlotte Regan, Kibwe Tavares, Mahalia Belo, Zawe Ashton, China Moo-Young, Jeanie Finlay, Molly Manning Walker, Jack Thorne, Chloe Zhao, Ben Wheatley, Orlando von Einsiedel and Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor.

Award winners have included Benjamin Cleary, winner of the best live action short Oscar in 2016 for Stutterer; through Edward Watts, co-director of For Sama, winner of the 2020 best documentary Bafta; to Rich Peppiatt, whose Kneecap won the Sundance audience award and went on to take seven Bifas including best British independent film, and the Bafta for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer.

The organisation’s supporters, mentors and judges included Danny Boyle, Stephen Woolley, Sally Potter, Mike Figgis, Paul Greengrass, Christine Vachon, Andrea Arnold, Clio Barnard, Edgar Wright, John Waters, Lena Dunham, Matt Groening, Michael Winterbottom, Paddy Considine and Werner Herzog.

“I was only too happy to support Cath, Jess (sadly no longer with us) and the Shooting People constituency,” said Woolley. “Whenever I turned up at an event over the 27 years, I was always struck by the enthusiasm and passionate good-natured revelry that they fostered. It was closer to the atmosphere of a punk gig rather than a filmmaker gathering. Shooting People were unique in our industry for their inclusive tenacity, and will be missed by a generation who will never know them.”

“I loved being part of Shooting People, I’m gutted to see it go,” added Thorne. 

“Shooting People helped me connect with other creatives when I had no access to the industry,” said Lowe. “It made me feel less alone. That kind of community is invaluable.”

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