David Lyle Foundation back on track for 2023 with new scholarships on offer

Gaby Lafor and Chris Sanders

The David Lyle Foundation (DLF), the international non-profit organisation that helps young executives build careers in the global entertainment industry, is rebooting for 2023 as its inaugural scholarship programme draws to a close.

The first two scholarships were awarded in January 2020 – to Gaby Lafor, director of development consultancy LineLight, and Chris Sanders, development producer at Rare TV – but the programme was frozen until January 2022 because of the pandemic.

Two annual scholarships, each valued at US$10,000, will again be awarded to promising industry professionals along with a year-long programme of education and development designed to fast- track their understanding of the content business.

This includes subscriptions to key trade publications and organisations as well as all-access passes to the world’s leading content-industry events, worth in excess of US$5,000.

“The DLF scholarship programme has provided me with a massive and valuable insight into the business of broadcast television – not only what it means to create programming, but also the importance of certain roles and hierarchies in the machine that is television,” said Lafor.

“Being afforded the opportunity to travel the world has shown me how my domestic industry works and how that feeds into the more general international culture of entertainment.”

Fellow scholarship recipient Sanders added: “The opportunity to meet international producers has opened so many doors for me and accelerated my career in ways I didn’t even know were possible when I applied to the programme back in 2019.

“The breadth of experiences the scholarship provides – from international conferences, subscriptions to the trade press and one-on-one sessions with industry leaders – really helped build my confidence at a crucial time in my career.”

The DLF’s founding partners include Broadcast, C21Media, Edinburgh TV Festival, EMC, FRAPA, Realscreen, Pact, TBI and Reed Midem. Details about how to apply for a 2023 DLF scholarship will be announced in the new year.