'Swim Sistas' film still Courtesy of Candid Broad Productions Naomie Harris narrates Swim Sistas, a short documentary directed by actress and author Catherine Joy White that was designed as a “poetic and visually rich love letter to water, sisterhood, and the resilience of Black women across generations.” Hannah Congdon’s short doc The Long Away Game tells the story of a female Afghan refugee soccer player finding a home and community in Yorkshire, England. And Julie Magnaudet’s comedic short The Contraception Fair, starring Alex Rider‘s Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́, Derry Girls‘ Kathy Kiera Clarke and The Baby‘s Amber Grappy, follows a young woman who wants to stop taking the birth control pill, only to find herself at the “Female Contraception Fair,” an imaginary place where female contraceptive methods compete for her attention and pressure her to make a choice.
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Three films by three female directors, backed by one female-led production company that is focused on character-driven narratives that surprise that has one badass name: Candid Broads Productions.
Founded in 2020 in London by French-British actress and producer Oriane Pick, who serves as CEO and founder, the company’s team also features producer Anaïs Ferrato. The goal, as Candid Broads says on its website, is “to bring unspoken truths from underrepresented communities to the forefront of the entertainment industry” and “ensuring diverse female representation both in front of and behind the camera.”
And it does so by combining “warmth, energy, and cinematic flair” and championing emerging filmmakers.
With a slate of shorts that has made waves under its belt, the production company has started to transition into feature-length filmmaking and is eyeing a move into series, while continuing to make shorts.
Pick and Ferrato talked to THR about Candid Broads’ vision, its move into new areas, and why they aren’t afraid to highlight the importance and value of diversity and inclusion at a time when there has been a political backlash against them, especially in the U.S.
Candid Broad Productions CEO and founder Oriane Pick Courtesy of Kim Hardy How did the company’s name come about? “We wanted to make sure to highlight that the company is really female-centric, and we didn’t want to call it ‘chick,'” Pick recalls. “But we thought ‘broads’ seemed cool. And ‘candid’ came because we’re both French, so we’re very blunt sometimes, probably a bit too much at times. But we love being honest, and we thought having ‘candid’ in there would really work. So we’re essentially the honest chicks.”
The Candid Broads brand is also meant as a signal to creatives and creative partners. “There are a lot of people who are not saying things the way they are, or hiding a little bit what the reality is,” Pick tells THR. “But we say to every writer and director who works with us. It is a very tough industry. We need to have a really thick skin. We’ll get lots of nos, but then we’ll get a yes, and the yes that we’ll get will just make up for all of the nos. So, one of the reasons we were so keen on that name for the company is because we never give up. We’re always very honest about what we do, how we do it, and we take people along the journey with us on this magnificent ride.” Female-focused doesn’t mean that Candid Broads won’t do stories about men. “We like casting a bit of a wider [net],” Ferrato tells THR. “We are female-centric, but also did a short film not so long ago called Punching Bag that follows a male protagonist. It’s really all about finding distinctive voices and taking a chance on emerging writers and directors, or sometimes a duo if they’re not the same person.”
Candid Broads is all about new impulses or different approaches. “It’s all about perspective for us,” explains Ferrato. “When we read a script, we [want to think], oh, we haven’t seen that before. It may be something that has been explored, but the voice of that director or writer is bringing something that feels different.”
Anaïs Ferrato Courtesy of Ines Hachou After all, making an impact and taking audiences outside their comfort zones is key to Candid Broads’ mission. “It’s about stories that feel uncomfortable or difficult,” Ferrato notes, adding with a laugh. “We like making things difficult for ourselves.” After all, “it’s about impact. That’s something that we’re really interested in. Whether it’s opening a conversation, breaking stigmas, or eventually contributing to some kind of change. Of course, the impact will change depending on the film. But it has to be organic. We can’t invent it. Nine times out of 10, the story either feels urgent or very personal to the creators. And that’s what we are drawn to.”
Asked about the recent political backlash in the U.S. against such ideas as representation and inclusion, the Candid Broads team is unfazed. “For us, it’s really important that everyone does their duty on it, and that we all make sure that it’s part of every film,” Pick tells THR. “Whether it’s behind the camera or in front of the camera, or the kind of story that we tell, all of that needs to be cohesive. We’re obviously Caucasian women, but we’ve been telling a lot of stories through the eyes of a Black filmmaker about a Black character. Any kind of representation is really, really vital.”
Bottom line: “It’s about finding that gem and pushing stories so that we really make sure that representation is not just a word,” she emphasizes. “It’s something much bigger.”
Adds Ferrato: “There’s a discourse against it at the moment, but for us, it’s always been something quite simple. When you look at who traditionally has had the opportunity to tell stories and who we’ve seen traditionally on screen most of the time, it was the same people or the same type of protagonist. But how much talent and how many stories are we missing when the opportunity isn’t there? So for us, the idea is to provide that opportunity.”
‘The Contraception Fair’ film still, courtesy of Candid Broads Productions Candid Broads actually requires at least gender parity on its sets, but most of the time, it ends up with around 60 percent women without even forcing it, the duo shares. So, what does Candid Broads have on its slate? The company has recently wrapped production on its first feature film, which is also Kieran Bourne’s feature debut, the romantic drama Arthur & Clara, starring CJ Beckford and Mirren Mack. “When a filmmaker and an actress unknowingly run away to the same rural farmhouse hoping to find themselves, they discover they only needed one person to truly see them,” its synopsis reads.
Speaking of debut features, the company has been casting for the coming-of-age comedy Underdogs from writer-director Fabia Martin (The Rev, Six for Gold). Alisha Weir (Abigail, Matilda the Musical) is will star in the story, told through the eyes of disillusioned but determined teens. Underdogs follows two teenage girls in foster care who find themselves on the run in a stolen ambulance in search of family and freedom – only to end up illegally competing at Crufts, the world’s largest annual dog show, held in Birmingham, England. Grappy plays a strung-out social worker who is tasked with getting the girls back home.
Also on Candid Broads’ slate is the first full-length film from Amy Hodge, entitled Am I Nervous, a feature adaptation of her and the company’s short The Date, which earned writer Bethan Marlow a 2024 BAFTA Cymru Breakthrough Award nomination. The short, which starred Millie Kiss, Sinead Matthews and Precious Scott, told the story of Sasha, “a loud-mouthed 13-year-old who goes on her first date but when she gets turned on and takes charge of her own sexuality, it reveals the confusing nature of what girls are allowed to want.” The feature, which the writer and director are co-writing, is in early development with Ffilm Cymru and “follows a teenager and a grandmother as they both embark on their own journey of reclaiming their sexuality,” Ferrato says.
‘The Date’ film still, courtesy of Candid Broads Productions Courtesy of Candid Broads Productions Also in the works is Loud & Clear, the next feature written by Kieran Bourne, which Picks is producing with Alexa Waugh (Cielo).
More shorts are also in the pipeline. Among them is the dark comedy Vag, which will also be executive produced by Slick Films. “It’s a film about vaginismus and the politics of female pleasure and dating, written and directed by Lily Britton,” shares Ferrato. “Vaginismus is a condition that we haven’t really heard about. It’s still something that is quite taboo, nd we wanted to offer a much-needed representation of it when it comes to that film.”
A synopsis for the short reads: “Marianne is 27. She’s successful, vibrant, and – thanks to vaginismus – unable to have penetrative sex. When a promising romance turns sour, she’s forced to explore her own pleasure – something she’s never dared to before.”
Candid Broads is also in development on its first TV series, which is being written by Ali Hughes (Dreaming Whilst Black), but the team isn’t ready to unveil its title or plot details yet. Mischief International is co-producing it, with its founder Maria Ishak as executive producer.
The Candid Broads Productions team behind the scenes of the shoot for ‘Punching Bag,’ courtesy of Inès Leila Hachou Courtesy of Inès Leila Hachou One thing is for sure. The Candid Broads team isn’t sitting on its laurels. “We’re moving into features, bridging the gap between what we know or what we believe the audience wants, but also what the industry thinks they want and the safer choices,” highlights Ferrato. “So, right now it’s about trying to see how we can push that further. And because we have a lot of projects, we want to make sure that we have enough capacity and don’t spread ourselves too thin.”
Concludes Pick: “There are a lot of different things on our slate right now, which is so exciting. We love working on very different stories at different stages, so that we just keep busy, we keep learning and we keep challenging ourselves. A main thing for us is to never get bored.”
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