Knix, Catalyst collaborate on feature documentary film initiative
Details
Editor
| 05 May 2023
Content company for women creators Catalyst and direct-to-consumer intimate apparel company Knix have launched The Knix Fund Catalyst Docs for Change Project to self-finance and produce female-forward stories that ignite conversation and provide inspiration.
Catalyst JuliesFinalJ 4May2023
By partnering with like-minded filmmakers, the initiative will look to fully fund feature documentaries about issues and stories that matter and speak to women, with the aim of igniting meaningful dialogue, breaking historical barriers, ending stigma and mobilising change.

Putting the launch of the project into context, the companies said both the entertainment and intimate apparel industries have historically been centred around ideals and behaviours that are not true to women’s voices and stories. The new project was born out of a mutual desire to expand on the idea that representation matters in all forms and spaces and that for meaningful change to happen, conversations need to take place that lead to action.

Catalyst was founded in response to gender inequality in its industry, noting that only 25% of content is created by women despite representing half the audience. It added that the proven power of film to act as a driving force for change makes the medium especially interesting to Knix and its founder as it continues to build on the work it has done to break barriers, end stigma and build community in many areas including body diversity, age, fertility, female entrepreneurship and menstruation to name a few.

The Knix Fund Catalyst Docs for Change Project will officially launch at the Banff World Media Festival in June 2023. Knix founder and president Joanna Griffiths and Catalyst founder Julie Bristow (pictured) will participate in a moderated conversation on 14 June, during which the project’s objectives will be explained and explored. The project will be open for submissions and Catalyst/Knix will then commission the most promising one and move it into production and distribution.

The Feature Doc Project also reunites Griffiths and Bristow, who worked together at CBC in the early 2000s and have continued to support each other’s entrepreneurial endeavours. Both women, together and separately, invest in early-stage companies helmed by female entrepreneurs.

“As a brand we view ourselves as storytellers and know the impact that storytelling can have on how we view the world and see ourselves,” said Griffiths. “This initiative will help us make a lasting impact on some of the overlooked issues affecting women and help spark the conversations that need to be happening now. I am so proud to be starting this important journey in uncovering the untold stories that affect women and helping them get the attention, focus and importantly financing they need to come to life.”

“The values of Knix and the thought-leadership that Joanna has provided on so many women’s issues align perfectly with Catalyst’s mission to open eyes, minds, and hearts with unapologetically brilliant storytelling by and about women,” added Bristow. “To achieve a more inclusive world, we need more stories led by women creators. Sometimes the only way to catalyse change is to challenge legacy business models by investing in new paradigms. This partnership does just that. We will ensure important stories get told because we’ll finance them.”