Michelle Sanders wins Climate Spring's documentary pitch at Sheffield DocFest 2025

We are thrilled to announce that documentary filmmaker Michelle Sanders is the winner of Climate Spring's inaugural Sheffield DocFest documentary pitch. Selected from a pool of 90+ applicants and following an exciting finalists pitch session at Sheffield DocFest 2025l, Michelle will receive £10,000 in development funding to help make their idea a reality. 

Michelle Sanders is a documentary filmmaker focused on stories about climate and nature. She has worked across digital media, campaigns, and documentaries on topics including the loss of arctic sea ice, stopping oil and gas development in the UK, and the emerging debate over deep sea mining. 

She has worked for clients including Fujifilm, 90 North Foundation, The Oscars, The Listening Planet, National Wildlife Federation, and Ffern. She was also a researcher on Netflix's hit documentary Tiger King. 

Michelle's project was chosen by a fanastic panel of expert judges, chaired by Climate Spring's Head of Unscripted, David Leach. Thank you to our judges Emma Loach (BBC Documentaires), Jono Stevens (JustSo Branded Content Studio) Shanida Scotland (DOC SOCIETY) and Harjeet Harjeet Chhokar - Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios.