Honorary degree for creative industries champion

A creative producer who has spent more than 25 years widening access to the film and television industry has received an honorary degree from the University of Reading.

Dominique Unsworth, founder of the Slough-based social enterprise Resource Productions CIC, received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters in a ceremony on Tuesday 28 July.

Unsworth founded Resource Productions in 1999 to create social change through art and film. Since then the organisation has supported thousands of under-represented artists and filmmakers across Berkshire with training, work and access to peer networks.

Through Resource Productions, Unsworth helped establish YES: Youth Engagement Slough, offering free weekly activities for young people aged 11 to 25, and the Berkshire Film Office, which connects local councils, residents and businesses to commercial filming opportunities.

In 2023, Resource Productions became a National Portfolio Organisation, receiving regular, multi-year funding from Arts Council England in recognition of its work enabling social change through the arts.

Also since 2023, Unsworth has led Screen Berkshire, a British Film Institute (BFI)-funded skills cluster established in partnership with the University of Reading's Department of Film, Theatre & Television. Screen Berkshire is one of just seven BFI skills clusters in the UK and brings together industry, government, community and education to strengthen routes into the creative industries. 

Unsworth has given oral evidence to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Select Committee on British film and high-end television, and chairs the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce's Screen Sector Workforce Development Partnership. She is the SME Apprenticeship Ambassador for the Department for Education and a member of BAFTA, the British Screen Forum and an RSA Fellow.

As a producer, Unsworth has made more than 100 short films and co-produced the feature film Little English in 2023, made in Berkshire by more than 200 local people. The production also consolidated a new skills training model with support from Rothschild foundation and DWP kickstart and is now known as Create and Credit in Screen Berkshire, which develops the professional experience of talent working on a production.

Unsworth was awarded an MBE for services to skills and a BEM for services to arts, young people and the community.

Dr Shweta Ghosh, from the Department of Film, Theatre & Television at the University of Reading, said: “Dom’s inspiring leadership and in-depth screen sector knowledge has fostered collaborations across a wide range of stakeholders, delivering significant economic and social benefit across Berkshire and beyond.

"Her unwavering commitment to diverse communities in Slough and Berkshire has inspired and supported an entire generation of talent to enter the screen industries. With this honorary degree, we are highlighting and celebrating her invaluable social, cultural and creative contributions.