This partnership represents a landmark moment for gender equity in film financing, combining two Cannes-born organizations to create sustainable pathways for underrepresented filmmakers. The collaboration offers grants, philanthropic access, and private investment through a dual-jurisdiction nonprofit structure spanning the U.S. and Greece.
Insiders note this year's Cannes features only five women among 22 Palme d'Or contenders—a damning stat that reveals how little has actually changed despite years of industry DEI pledges. Sources say Primetime founder Victoria Emslie and BTTL's Daphne Schmon have been quietly working together for months, but the glacial pace of progress is fueling urgency.
The partnership was announced May 19, 2026 at Cannes Film Festival. Current collaboration includes 'Last Train Home' from BIFA-nominated writer-director Jessi Gutch starring Emma D'Arcy, with double Oscar-nominated Shoshana Ungerleider serving as executive producer under BTTL's fiscal sponsorship.
This isn't charity—it's a structural intervention. When only five of 22 Palme d'Or contenders are directed by women, the problem isn't talent shortage; it's that the money gatekeepers still aren't opening doors. This partnership is betting it can change who holds the keys.
Hollywood has a financing problem, and nobody wants to admit how badly it's broken for anyone who isn't a straight white man with the right connections. That's why Tuesday's announcement at Cannes matters: Primetime and Breaking Through The Lens have unveiled a strategic partnership designed to tear down barriers that have stalled careers before they ever got started. The two organizations are combining Primetime's model of bundling in-kind production support, star talent and private finance with BTTL's dual-jurisdiction nonprofit infrastructure—the latter carries 501(c)(3) status in the U.S. and operates as a registered social support charity in Greece.
The result: filmmakers gain access to grants, philanthropic donors and private investors through channels that have historically been nearly impossible to penetrate for women and non-binary creators. "Primetime and BTTL were both born at Cannes, from a shared conviction that lasting change begins at the financing stage," said Daphne Schmon, founder and CEO of Breaking Through The Lens. "Our partnership builds a natural bridge from short form to long form, supporting women and non-binary filmmakers at the moment so many careers stall.
With only five of the 22 Palme d'Or contenders this year directed by women, it is clear this is a systemic issue still that needs addressing." Schmon didn't soften her message: "We must re-examine our own biases. Nothing changes unless we change something." The numbers she's citing aren't abstract. Five out of 22.
That's roughly 23 percent of Cannes' most prestigious competition slot directed by women in 2026—a festival that prides itself on being the industry's crown jewel. The math reveals exactly why organizations like BTTL and Primetime exist: not to hand out participation trophies, but because the current system has been gatekeeping for so long that entire categories of storytellers have been locked out of rooms where decisions get made. The partnership formalizes ongoing work on "Last Train Home," a project from BIFA-nominated writer-director Jessi Gutch starring Emma D'Arcy.
Primetime founder Victoria Emslie is producing alongside Cat Marshall of Commonplace Films, with double Oscar-nominated Shoshana Ungerleider—also an MD and founder of End Well—serving as executive producer under the BTTL fiscal sponsorship arrangement. That's not a small list of names; it's a signal that serious players are putting their credibility behind this effort. Primetime's community-driven reinvestment model is also evolving in real-time.
Following Cannes, founder members will vote on how to allocate funds earmarked for the annual cohort, with options including film funds and development grants—founder membership remains open year-round. It's a structure that gives money decisions to people invested in outcomes rather than legacy studio executives who may or may not care about diverse voices. "Storytelling has always been a vehicle for connection, resistance and understanding our shared humanity," Emslie said.
"If that tapestry does not include voices from marginalized communities, both on screen and behind the camera, our collective perspective becomes narrower and less resilient. Finding new and innovative ways to finance these projects is essential, not only to tell great stories, but to protect the richness of our collective imagination and to ensure the future we shape reflects the full spectrum of the human experience." Primetime's inaugural fund winner, "Truckload," is currently running in the short film corner at Cannes.
Directed by Aella Jordan-Edge with Emslie and Arpita Ashok producing, the film stars Jodie Whittaker and Evie Jones—who also wrote the script, drawing on her experience of becoming a disabled adult. It's exactly the kind of project that historically gets overlooked: a first-time or emerging filmmaker telling a story from lived experience, without a franchise name attached. The Cannes Film Festival runs through May 2026. Whether this partnership signals genuine structural change or just another well-intentioned announcement remains to be seen—but given that only five women made the Palme d'Or competition this year, the urgency behind it is impossible to dismiss.
