UK leadership programme Breakthrough Leaders, serving individuals from Black, Asian and Global Majority backgrounds, is going global as Global Breakthrough 360 (GB360) to match television’s increasingly international nature.
It will focus on Africa and Canada, opening routes to markets, networks and relationships beyond the UK, with cohorts learning about international financing, co-production and cross-border partnerships.
MIP Africa and Canada Media Fund
GB360 has partnered with MIP Africa and the Canada Media Fund. The 2026/27 cohort will travel to South Africa for a supported market visit, meeting creators, buyers, distributors and financiers from across the continent, while the Canadian pact aims to connect UK and Canadian talent and industry networks.
A December Event
GB360 adds a first-ever December event at a “landmark central London venue.” Participants will build relationships with senior leaders, develop a Personal Board of Advisors, and join Leadership Integration Labs led by creative leadership advisor Rémy Blumenfeld.
The Advisory Board
- Katra Simaball of The Akuna Group, founded by Sir Idris Elba
- Tshepiso Sello Chikapa Phiri, founder and CEO of South Africa’s Known Associates Group
- Fred Bhat, who leads YouTube, gaming and creator content at the BBC
- Tim Yaw Struthers, Head of Original Brands & International Marketing at Sky and Senior Advisor, Global Engagement at The National Film Authority of Ghana
- Deep Sehgal, doc maker and creative director who formerly led Motion WPP Entertainment’s Diverse Indies Fund partnership
- Tamara Howe of 22Summers, Elba’s production company
- Sara Putt, talent agent and founder of Sara Putt Associates
Fremantle remains founding partner; ITV, ITV Studios, Channel 4 and 5 all return.
50 Places for 2026/27
The 12-month 2026/27 programme offers 50 places; applications close September 18. Since 2020, more than 250 senior creatives have joined, with earlier cohorts delivering a 30% promotion rate and around 32% now hiring or championing others for senior roles. 68% of alumni cited access to decision makers as the single biggest obstacle to career progression, shaping GB360’s focus on networks, visibility and opportunity.
Founder’s BAFTA Recognition
Founder Simone Pennant, also behind The TV Collective, received a BAFTA Television Craft Special Award earlier this year for her programme work.
“Television, film, digital, gaming, podcasting, brands — these worlds no longer operate in silos, and neither do the leaders shaping them,” said Pennant. “GB360 connects people, sectors and markets with a real reason to work together — so leaders don’t just adapt to change, they help shape it.”
Industry Backing
Ben Frow, Chief Content Officer at 5, said the launch “rightly recognises the shifts in the creative economy.” Tim Carter, MD of ITV Studios UK Unscripted, called creativity and diversity “two sides of the same coin.”
Neila Butt, Creative Equity Lead at Channel 4, said the programme “was making a real difference to the careers of Black and Asian creatives.” Lisa Hardy, People Director at Fremantle UK, called GB360 “an important evolution.”
Sam Tatlow, Head of DEI at ITV, said it had “never been more important for us all to be working together to ensure we develop the leaders of colour of the future.”
Source: deadline.com
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