The Grierson Trust

Established in 1972, The Grierson Trust champions factual filmmaking and is responsible for the annual British Documentary Awards, the biggest event in the UK documentary calendar. More commonly known as the Griersons, the awards commemorate the pioneering Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson (1898 – 1972), famous for Drifters and Night Mail and the man widely regarded as the father of the documentary. The awards recognise and celebrate documentaries from Britain and abroad that have made a significant contribution to the genre and that demonstrate quality, integrity, creativity, originality and overall excellence. The Trust also plays a critical role in talent development, running a series of training schemes that develop under-represented industry skills and support new entrants from diverse backgrounds. Each scheme is tailor-made with the support of industry professionals from major broadcasters, independent production companies and more, to ensure that trainees are provided with the skills to make them job ready, and are given the opportunity to undertake practical work experience. The current three schemes are: Grierson DocLab, supported by The Rank Foundation and Netflix. Grierson DocLab In Focus: Production Management and Grierson DocLab In Focus: Editing, both supported by Netflix.