First Cut doc strand returns to C4 with a longer and later slot

16 January 2013

The Dreamboys

 

Channel 4 Commissioning Editor Lina Prestwood has commissioned half of the 10 x 60 minute films for the First Cut strand, with more films currently in development. This year, there are changes to the format of this key documentary strand, which showcases films by up-and-coming directors. The running time for future First Cut commissions will increase to 60 minutes and they will air in a later slot on Channel 4 - either 10pm or 11pm.

First Cut demonstrates Channel 4's on-going commitment to new and diverse talent strand presenting original and bold documentary films. It first launched in 2007 and now in its seventh year, the new slot will allow greater freedom to produce more ambitious work and showcase their storytelling and film-making skills.

The forthcoming films will tell the stories of the global Independent Scientology movement; see the world's most prolific streaker attempt to do the best streak of his career; divulge into the UK's booming industry of male strippers; explore the relationships between British women and Jamaican-born men and discover why London's rental market and flat sharing has become more competitive than ever before.

First Cut Commissioning Editor, Lina Prestwood said, "With First Cut occupying an exciting new 60', post-watershed slot on Channel 4, the strand now represents the industry's most significant new talent strand for documentary directors. Commissioned to sit confidently alongside Channel 4's other documentary strands, this initial tranche of First Cut films from five diverse and exciting new directors tackles a huge variety of stories and covers bold new territories in an entertaining and informative way."

Films for the 2013 run will include:

 

The Dreamboys

Male stripping is booming in the UK. Every weekend in most major cities, women are paying to see men get naked. Dreamboys is the biggest male stripping agency of them all and David Richards is in charge - also a former stripper. He claims to know what women want, and is prepared to do whatever it takes to give it to them.  David is on the search for some ‘fresh meat' to join his London troupe and meets the men that come forward to auditions. Who are they, why are they doing it and what impact is it having on their life? Like never before, Dreamboys lifts the lid on this exotic world of sex, fantasy and temptation and shines a light on the private lives of the men whose job it is to bare all.

Production Company: CB Films

Producer and Director: Rachel Tracy

Executive Producer: Malcolm Neuman

 

Flatmates (w/t)

At some point most of us have lived in a shared house or flat, with all that that involves; stolen cheese, weirdo housemates and passive aggressive post-it notes on the bathroom mirror - but we never expected it to last into our thirties.  With the average age a Brit now expects to be able to buy their first home a whopping thirty-eight, Flatmates (w/t) follows some of the so-called ‘Generation Rent' as they brave an increasingly brutal and judgemental rental market where the competition to find the perfect flat, or flatmate, is intense - from speed-flatmating events to elaborate interview processes, Flatmates is filmed in London where 800,000 people currently flat share, often with people they've never met and where we discover that finding somewhere to live can be more like a blood sport than a market place...

Production Company: Sundog Pictures

Producer and Director: Michael Beilinson

Executive Producer: Sam Anthony

 

Scientology 2.0

Scientology 2.0 examines the global Independent Scientology movement and the high level defectors who have publicly renounced their membership of the Church of Scientology.

Production Company: Roast Beef Productions

Producer: Michael Simkin

Director: Joseph Martin

Executive Producers: Mike Lerner and Martin Herring.

 

The Baredevil (w/t)

Meet Mark Roberts from Liverpool - the world's most prolific streaker who has done the Full Monty over 500 times.  Mark, aged 48, is known as ‘The Baredevil' and has no wife, no job, no money and no clothes. The film will unearth what has motivated Mark to take his clothes off with such extraordinary regularity for the last twenty years and just why he is planning his retirement now. From streaking the Superbowl to a local building site, the film features extraordinary archive shot throughout his career and remarkable footage as he attempts to make his final streak the best of his career.

Production Company: NERD

Director: John Farrar

Producer: Tom Latter

Exec Producers: Jago Lee and Dave Sumnall

 

Dating in the Dancehall (w/t)

A film about the world of British women who have chosen to take on every aspect of Jamaican culture from food and fashion to dialect and dance style, in some cases choosing  to exclusively date Jamaican-born men. Reflecting on the very special relationship that has existed between the UK and Jamaica for over 50 years, this film follows a group of British women as they navigate love, friendships, parenting and pop culture in a distinctively  Jamaican style.
Production Company: ACME Films

Producer and Director: Vanessa Van-Yeboah

Associate Producer: Shanthy Sooriasegaram

Executive Producer: Jaimie D'Cruz