Connecting those who have made it

with those who are on their way

The creative industry is a complex and intertwined network, which can be difficult to navigate for fresh talent. We are here to open up the creative industry, making it more inclusive and diverse by supporting every route to success.

Mentorship as a route into the Creative Industry

Through mentorship, we empower young creatives with information and human connection to better understand the types of career paths available to them.

Awareness

Knowing the creative industry is there; understanding sectors & roles; recognizing it as an option and an attractive place to be.

Access

Being able to get a foot into the door; get an interview, meeting the right people; being referred or approached.

Navigation

How to grow & develop, what career paths and opportunities are there and how to make the most of them.

This space is for diverse young talent overcoming adversity, underrepresentation or lack of privilege

More about Routes in

Talent is equally distributed,

but opportunities are not.

We're on a mission to change that by removing barriers of overcoming discrimination or marginalisation. From culture, to race, gender, neurodiversity, sexual orientation - the creative work of the future hinges on the brilliance of diversity of thought and experiences.

The combined amount of creative vacancies in the UK that are filled by black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) candidates.

Only 11.4% of creative jobs are filled by black, asian and minority ethnic people, and just 11.5% of creative directors in the US are women.

Creatives cite 'lack of awareness of creative professions' as a barrier to a creative education or career.

Our solution

Redistributing opportunities through mentorship

We design and lead bespoke mentorship programs, and talent initiatives for companies/organisations within the Creative Industry. This includes the full journey from recruitment, through to matching, training, events and mentorship support.

See our programmes

Mentee X Mentor stories

Film student Shafiq seeked more experience in filmmaking and production. He got matched with Gijs, founder of film production house Halal. During the programme, Shafiq worked on his own short movie together with Gijs - supporting him within the creative process by finding the right crew for his movie as well actually producing it. Shafiq now has just been been accepted at New York Film School .

Gijs Determeijer X Shafiq Nuijts

Soho Mentorship, Amsterdam.

Mentee X Mentor stories

Yophi, a fashion designer with a focus on sustainable design processes was matched with Willa, founder of the sustainable fashion PR agency W.Green. Together they were able to share knowledge around sustainable practices as well as honing and strategizing Yophi’s own fashion label The Future Mode. Now Yophi is leading classes at Amsterdam Fashion Institute and creating her name for herself as a future of fashion thought leader.

Willa Stoutenbeek & Yophi Ignacia

Mentee X Mentor stories

Iebele empowered Eva to find her voice again and start putting it out there confidently as a creative writer and content creator for her own blog IAMSELLF. Through Iebele Eva took a brave step out her comfort zone and got featured in the summer edition of LINDA magazine.

Iebele V.D Muelen & Eva Rillen

Soho Mentorship, Amsterdam.

Mentee X Mentor stories

Cely is a actress, writer and filmmaker, originally from Puerto Rico. When joining the programme she worked on a variety of side projects showcasing her passion for dancing, singing and composing. Ingrid, helped her enormously with moving forward in her career by submitting several of her works into film festivals, developing her confidence and break into new roles.

Ingrid Jean-Baptiste & Cely Riva

Soho Mentorship, Amsterdam.

Mentee X Mentor stories

Catherine is an artist, illustrator, and designer. Charlie helped her find focus within her broad range of interests and encouraged her to kick-start a project about her anxiety in the hopes of shedding more awareness of mental health.

Charlie Miner & Catherine Hom

Soho Mentorship, Amsterdam.

Mentee X Mentor stories

Gianni has a music collective, who performed at the showcase. Marieke helped him create a brand book and use this to reach out to festivals, since the program they've performed at a number of awesome gigs and festivals with Mariekes support.

Marieke Samallo & Gianni Emanuel

Soho Mentorship, Amsterdam.

Mentee X Mentor stories

Triggered by his own experience with workaholism in our culture and the effect it has on our mental health he started working on his first EP “Eye service” in November 2019. While being guided by his mentor Sydney Miller, the worked hard to write, record and publish his first, very personal pieces in the beginning of this year. Sidney especially supported him by sharing her experience and advice around the in’s & out’s for distribution as well as PR. His EP includes 7 tracks of which two can already be found on Spotify.

Sydney Miller & Michael Ekow Ashong

Soho Mentorship, Amsterdam.

Mentee X Mentor stories

Over the course of the mentorship program Oriane focused on poetry, writing and VA and creating an EP called: Orí based on African Oral History through a feminine perspective. While she was in the studio working on her writing, the mentorship with Risto consisted of revisiting the progress, prioritising actions and discussing how to strategically move towards a finished product through planning and dividing task. Risto’s constructive, down to earth but very empathetic way of mentoring, has changed her vision.

Risto Kuulasmaa & Oriane Sohai

Soho Mentorship, Amsterdam.

Our work has real impact where it matters

View 2021 report