Consultant Readers and Peer Reviewers - BFI Doc Society Fund
Doc Society is recruiting for consultant readers and peer reviewers across all four BFI Doc Society Fund awards opportunities for the 2026-2027 financial year. Doc Society is the delegate partner of the BFI for documentary filmmaking until 2029 and distributes National Lottery funding to filmmakers on its behalf. In total 16 consultants will be appointed for the below positions.
Terms:
Appointment is on a fixed term freelance basis. Consultants are expected to work remotely using their own equipment. Consultants may be based anywhere and will be responsible for their own taxes.
Roles:
The Reader / Peer Reviewer role is an integral part of assessing applications to the BFI Doc Society Features, Development, Immersive and Made of Truth (Shorts) Funds. Readers and Peer Reviewers are asked to give thorough consideration to the applications to be read, watch the material included and provide measured and considered feedback in line with the Fund guidelines.
Within each funding review process we aim to balance the plurality of industry experience, local and international perspectives.
Applications to the funds are made using an online portal, to which you will be given access. Readers work alongside the BFI Doc Society Fund team to offer initial informed external perspectives on applications. Whilst external Peer Reviewers encounter projects at shortlist stage providing three parallel reviews of the shortlisted projects with further specialist opinion including feasibility of distribution, production, and artistic perspective.
Decision-making centres talent, vision, plurality and audience impact. We aim to support projects that are able to address at least three of the key principles of BFI National Lottery strategy.
- Equity, diversity and inclusion - Addressing under-representation in perspective and representation, talent and recruitment, agency and opportunities, widening the range of voices and audiences served.
- Impact and audience - Supporting projects with a strong cultural or progressive impact for audiences.
- Talent development and progression - Supporting early career filmmakers (producers, writers and directors) and projects with a reasonable proportion of early career cast and crew.
- Risk - Supporting projects that take creative risks.
- UK-wide - Increasing the number of projects and filmmakers outside London and the South East, looking at location and representation.
- Environmental sustainability - Addressing sustainability both creatively and practically.
Period of consultation:
Each role is an appointment for applications active in the 2026-2027 financial year.
Readers will be given rolling or a predetermined window of access to materials to enable feedback to be given promptly, and within any specific timeline.
Peer reviewers will be given access to materials for a 2-3 week period, within which we expect your feedback to be added to the relevant section of the portal.
Occasional shorter review deadlines will be communicated to you according to the application timeline.
BFI Doc Society Features Fund
The BFI Doc Society Features Fund supports feature length documentary films, intended for theatrical release with a minimum award of £25,000 and maximum total award of £150,000.
Roles:
- 1 x Reader
- 3 x Peer Reviewers
Term:
The reader is expected to review projects on a regular weekly basis through the year. In total we estimate 75 full applications per year.
The peer reviewers will be appointed on an annual basis to support the review of shortlisted projects from a rolling fund application. The peer review process is intermittent throughout the year and there is no minimum guarantee of the quantity of projects to be reviewed.
Compensation:
Reader: £20 per application, estimated 75 applications distributed through the year
Peer Reviewer: £20 per application, estimated 20 applications distributed through the year
BFI Doc Society Immersive Documentary Fund
The BFI Doc Society Immersive Documentary Fund supports immersive non-fiction works with a minimum award of £25,000 and maximum total award of £150,000.
Roles:
- 1 x Reader
- 3 x Peer Reviewers
Term:
The Reader will have rolling access to applications during the application and review period. They are expected to read every application, and participate in one longlisting meeting with one with the BFI Doc Society Fund team. The term is expected to begin in June 2026 and end in July 2027.
The Peer Reviewers will be appointed on an annual basis to support the review of shortlisted projects from one open call. The peer review process takes place during a focused timeline of review and there is no minimum guarantee of the quantity of projects to be reviewed.
Compensation:
Reader: £20 per application, estimated 75 applications distributed through the year
Peer Reviewer: £20 per application, estimated 20 applications distributed through the year
BFI Doc Society Made of Truth Shorts Fund
The BFI Doc Society fund supports up to 15 short documentary films per year through grants of up to £25,000. Applications are made in response to a time limited open call once per year.
Roles:
- 2 x Reader
- 3 x Peer Reviewers
Term:
The readers have rolling access to applications during the application and review period. They are expected to read every application, and participate in one longlisting meeting with their fellow reader and one with the BFI Doc Society Fund team.
The peer reviewers will be appointed on an annual basis to support the review of shortlisted projects from one open call within a specified 2-3 week period.
Compensation:
Reader: flat fee of £3000. Whilst there is no guarantee of the quantity of applications received per year we estimate on average 330 applications to be reviewed.
Peer Reviewer: £20 per application, approximately 2 week review period, 20 applications estimated
BFI Doc Society RAD Fund and BFI Doc Society Development Fund
The BFI Doc Society Fund supports feature length documentary films, intended for theatrical release with a minimum award of £25,000 for development through the BFI Doc Society Development Fund or up to £5,000 for early stage research through the BFI Doc Society RAD Fund.
Roles:
- 3 x Peer Reviewers
Term:
The peer reviewers will be appointed on an annual basis to support the review of shortlisted projects from two open calls.
Compensation:
Peer Reviewer: £20 per application, approximately 2 x 2 week review periods within the year, 15 applications estimated
How to apply
The opening date for applications is 23rd February 2026
The closing date for applications is March 9th 2026 at 10am GMT.
Candidates will be notified if their application is progressed to interview stage by March 12th 2026
To apply, please follow this link:
https://airtable.com/appekdK4IF8u0rN9k/pag4lsJxEzRbkjSR5/form
and then answer the Equality Monitoring form, available here:
https://airtable.com/appY1JwUIHiTCOk5A/shr2u3iREmhYhoD4l
Equity and Inclusion:
We want Doc Society to be the place where a diverse mix of talented people want to come, to stay and to do their best work. Doc Society’s promotion of diversity and inclusion is clearly reflected in all of our documentaries and across all of our programmes. We are fully focused on equality and believe in diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin and all the other characteristics that make us who we are. For this reason we strongly encourage applicants from under-represented groups.
