Saturday Film School with Elliot Grove
If you are serious about making films but still trying to understand how all the pieces of the industry fit together, there are few better places to spend a Saturday than in a room with Elliot Grove.
I have worked closely with Elliot for more than 20 years, learning from him and collaborating with him on ways to support the independent film industry, and during that time I havoc Fe also taken several of his courses myself.
What has always impressed me about Elliot’s teaching is how much practical knowledge he manages to pack into it. You are not simply hearing theories about filmmaking or being told how the industry is supposed to work, because the emphasis is firmly on what you actually need to know if you want to write, direct, produce and ultimately get your work in front of an audience.
Elliot is, of course, the founder of Raindance and later founded the British Independent Film Awards, so it is fair to say that he knows his stuff. Over the years some pretty significant filmmakers have passed through Raindance courses too, including Christopher Nolan, Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn, which gives you some idea of the creative community that has grown around Raindance since Elliot started it in 1992.
What perhaps gets mentioned less often is that Elliot is also a genuinely nice guy who has spent decades encouraging filmmakers at every stage of their careers. Independent filmmaking can sometimes feel like an industry deliberately designed to make newcomers believe everyone else knows a secret they have somehow missed, and Elliot has always been particularly good at stripping away that mystery and making the business feel understandable and accessible.
Learn filmmaking in a day
The Saturday Film School is Raindance’s most popular filmmaking course and has earned an impressive 4.84 out of 5 rating from 90 customer reviews. It condenses an enormous amount into a single day, with four sessions covering screenwriting, film directing, film producing and, finally, that perennial question of how you actually break into the film industry.
The beauty of the format is that you get to see filmmaking as a connected process rather than a collection of isolated disciplines. Understanding what a producer needs makes you a better director, understanding directing changes how you think about a screenplay, and understanding the realities of the industry helps you make better decisions about the projects you choose to develop in the first place.
For someone considering their first film, it is a remarkably efficient introduction to the business, while people who already have some experience can use the day to fill gaps in their knowledge and see their own role from a wider perspective. Having attended several of Elliot’s courses over the years myself, I can say that there is invariably something useful to take away, particularly because his teaching is grounded in decades of actually working with independent filmmakers.
The next Saturday Film School
The next course takes place on Saturday 19 September 2026 from 10am until 5pm UK time at the Raindance Film Training Centre, 10a Craven Street, London WC2N 5PE, close to Charing Cross and Embankment stations. For those who cannot make it to London, the entire course can also be attended live online via Zoom.
For anyone attending in person, there is another important part of the Raindance experience after the teaching finishes. Networking drinks take place in the pub at the end of the day, giving participants the chance to meet other filmmakers, continue conversations from the course and potentially find future collaborators, which in an industry built so heavily around relationships can be every bit as valuable as what happens in the classroom.
The standard course price is £145, with a 10 per cent early bird discount available until one month before the course begins, bringing the current price to £130.50. Raindance Create members can attend for £49, Raindance Connect members receive a 30 per cent discount, and the course is free for Raindance Pro+ members.
If you are looking for a practical introduction to filmmaking, want to understand more about the parts of the process outside your own speciality, or simply fancy spending a day absorbing more than three decades of independent filmmaking experience, Elliot’s Saturday Film School remains a very good place to start.
And if you would like a taste of Elliot before spending a Saturday with him, you can watch our video below.