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Georgie Yukiko Donovan

@gydonovan

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Documentary director. @bafta Elevate. Producer @netflixuk Documentary Talent Fund. 🌊 Director @besea_risingwaves
Made in Japan. 🇬🇧🇯🇵

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@broadcastnow_mbi has just published my op-ed on the ongoing invisibility of British East and Southeast Asian creatives in UK television.

Writing it felt scary and vulnerable. But I also feel a responsibility to speak up. I have only a small amount of influence in this industry, but I believe we all have a duty to use whatever power we do have to push for change. That means paying opportunities forward, calling in those in power, and working together to build something better.

I know how tough things are right now. So many people are struggling. And when things get hard, there is often a tendency to close ranks. But I want to urge people to resist that instinct. Keep your heart open. Keep your mind open. Pull each other up. Choose collaboration and coalition over fear and scarcity.

This piece is not just about me. It is about a wider pattern of exclusion that continues unchecked. And it is a call to action.

Link in bio ✌🏼❤️

Thanks to @danmaynard @wdment for championing this piece (and everything else I do ❤️) and Rebecca Cooney and Chris Curtis @broadcastnow_mbi for taking it on and platforming it. by @gydonovan

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a year ago

Thrilled to share that I’ve been selected for @bafta Elevate 2025-2026, supported by @dunhill - a programme supporting documentary and factual filmmakers!

This year’s cohort is the first to focus exclusively on documentary and factual storytelling, with BAFTA and Asif Kapadia leading the charge to champion directors and creatives working in this space. The programme provides masterclasses, industry support, and career development to help us push our work forward at a time when nonfiction storytelling has never been more vital- or more challenging to sustain.

It means a lot to be part of this group alongside such brilliant filmmakers, and I’m looking forward to learning, growing, and continuing to tell stories that matter.

Link in bio ❤️✌🏼

📸 BAFTA/Kate Peters @misskatiepeters

👚 @styled_by_sian

#BAFTAElevate by @gydonovan

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2 years ago

Q3 📸🗑️ pt. 2 by @gydonovan

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6 days ago

Q3 📸🗑️ pt. 1 by @gydonovan

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6 days ago

Weird, my wife got married to some dude 🤔

@novak1kate 💖 by @gydonovan

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12 days ago

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A friend asked me the other day how long it had been since we lost my father and in my head, I thought it must be about five years. Then I worked it out and realised it was only three, and that really caught me off guard. It’s strange how grief warps your sense of time. It can feel like no time at all and like a lifetime has passed.

The last three years have been marked by a lot of grief and loss, in different forms. I think the main thing I’ve learnt is that grief isn’t linear. The world seems to move on, but grief is still there. It doesn’t necessarily get easier, you just learn to live with it. It shows up in ways you don’t expect and sometimes doesn’t hit you in the ways you thought it would.

One of the harder things profound loss teaches you is just how much pain you’re capable of tolerating. It’s a realisation I wouldn’t wish on anyone. But I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about the other side of that- discovering that you’re capable of surviving more than you ever imagined.

I think that’s part of what I mean when I say loss changes your DNA. It fundamentally changes who you are and how you see the world. Things that might once have felt huge don’t seem quite as significant. And you’re left with an understanding of your own strength that you didn’t have before.

Three years on, I don’t feel any further away from it. I think I’m just more used to carrying it. by @gydonovan

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17 days ago

2026 Q2 📸🗑️ by @gydonovan

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4 months ago

✨Cat ❤️ Jack ✨The best of times 💍🥂 💃🏻@catherine_alderson_ love you or whatever 🙄 by @gydonovan

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4 months ago

@catherine_alderson_ 🐓💍💖🥂💃🏻 by @gydonovan

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4 months ago

Very proud to be back as Supervising Producer on the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund, and so excited to help announce this year’s brilliant new cohort.

One of the great privileges of this role is getting to support emerging documentary filmmakers as they move from idea to finished film, helping them sharpen their creative vision, navigate the realities of production, and tell the stories only they can tell.

It’s also a role that brings together so much of what I care about as a filmmaker and producer: strong editorial craft, thoughtful creative leadership, and making the industry feel more accessible to brilliant new voices.

In an industry where access and opportunity are still far from evenly distributed, programmes like this feel genuinely important. They don’t just support individual filmmakers, they help expand the kinds of stories and perspectives that reach audiences.

Meet our year 4 filmmakers:
Albie Swingler and Dorottya Székely - “The Garden We Made”

Christine Saab and Rose Palmer - “Luke Finds Fossils”

Amy Sargeant & Gabriela Cavanagh - “Shiptonthorpe’s Summer”

Helen Sanfey and Catherine Donohoe - “Lisdoonvarna: Changing The Algorithm”

Bhulla Beghal and Sima Gonsai - “Factory Dad”

Huge congratulations to all the selected teams. I can’t wait to get started.

For more information on the selected films, head to https://www.netflixdocfund.co.uk/ by @gydonovan

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4 months ago

🪭❤️‍🔥The mightiest of Hooplas 💖🌈 by @gydonovan

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4 months ago

OYAKODON

Unit stills from our most recent @bfinetwork supported short horror film.

Starring:

Yuri @naomijogawa_
Obaachan @kurodaharuka
Young yuri @jennifer.joy.uk
Rachel @fifibat

Supporting Artist @shanshan.wu_33
Supporting Artist @charliewong1638
Supporting Artist @jennifer.joy.uk

Made with our incredible team.

Director @gydonovan
Writer @mikaogai
DOP @dariusshu_
Prod Co @storycompound
Producers @tolustedford @lilyusher17
Production Manager Maryna kalashnikova
Production Assistant @aannoushkaa
1st AD @kathryn1oreilly
Floor Runner @miawilesmakes
DIT @film_shed
1st AC @drevminggod
2nd AC @thejojoplace @joeanthonyluk
Grip @jarvislaurencee
Steadicam @jonohine
Unit Still Photographer @ruthsamuelsphoto
Gaffer @stanlightpro
Spark @johananeugene
Sound Recordist @declanchew
Boom Operator @billyfrancisuk
Hair and Makeup Designer @jin__ong
HMU assistant @judas_pease
Production Designer @irene.k_palette
Art Department Assistant @naomizhang.design
Costume designer @poppybellstyling
Composer @adrianlevng
Editor @drchowman

Supported by @bfinetwork with #NationalLottery funding.

#oyakodon #jhorror by @gydonovan

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5 months ago