Women of the Sea – the panel
Women of the Sea Film Fund presented by Finisterre x LSFF is about changing the narrative in surfing and filmmaking Award winning NY Director Karen Song won WOTS film fund in 2025 with her pitch for Surf, Eat, Repeat – a mantra for life and a journey through New York’s diverse surf culture via shared meals, shared stories & cold waves. She joins the jury for 2026 sharing insights from both sides of the process.
What does it take to make a film? It takes grit, determination, focus, creativity and passion, combined with the scope to think laterally, broadly, clearly and deeply. The ability to dig deep, to believe in yourself and your ideas is as essential as humility, good humour and the unerring understanding that it takes teamwork, real teamwork to create something good. But above all else to make a film, it takes a good idea and a good story told well.
We’ve been delighted by the number, quality, diversity and scope of the pitches we’ve received from women filmmakers in UK, Ireland, USA and Canada for the 2026 Edition Women of the Sea Film Fund presented by Finisterre x LS/FF. It’s a testament to the abundant creativity that exists in our community and just what we are capable of when given a platform to showcase it.
The winning submission will receive a £10,000 grant to help bring their story to life and the finished film will have its world premiere on the big screen as part of London Surf /Film Festival. To help select the winner, we’ve assembled a judging panel of brilliant and inspiring women who are leading lights in their areas of story telling and filmmaking. Our panel is comprised of surfers and Emmy award winning producers, champions of gender equality, award winning filmmakers and writers, as well as brand leaders, who all understand just what it takes to bring a story to life, from all aspects and angles.
Women of the Sea judging panel. Lauren L. Hill is a professional surfer, writer and director who has spent the past decade exploring new waves and documenting surf cultures around the world through an eco-feminist lens. She’s also a pretty good bodysurfer… Image: Dave Rastovitch
Meet the Panel
Cassie Bennitt is a BAFTA and Emmy Award winning Showrunner and Executive Producer. A gifted storyteller, she is renowned for producing compelling and narrative-driven documentaries with heart. From bringing the behind the scenes drama of Formula 1 in the Netflix hit series Drive to Survive, to following Simon Cowell as he puts together a new boy band in her latest Netflix show Simon Cowell: The Next Act, her career has taken her on adventures all over the world. With a passion for surf culture, Cassie also loves riding motorbikes. She has three bikes that she adores – even when they break down. Which happens a lot.
Karen Song is an award winning filmmaker and proud New Yorker. She has directed and produced everything from branded content and commercials to documentaries, music videos, experimental shorts – and everything in between. Her projects in development and production firmly center and make visible women subjects and diverse communities. Her feature documentary Sundays at Café Tabac celebrating ‘90s lesbian nightlife, media visibility, and activism told through the lens of the legendary eponymous party in NYC’s East Village is currently in post production. In 2025 Karen was the recipient of the WOTS Film Fund for her film Surf, Eat, Repeat. A surfer and second generation Korean-American filmmaker, this is joyous and intimate journey through New York’s diverse surf culture via shared meals, shared stories & cold waves. It had its UK premiere at LS/FF in 2025 and is currently on its film festival circuit.
Lauren L. Hill is a professional surfer, writer and director who has spent the past decade exploring new waves and documenting surf cultures around the world through an eco-feminist lens. She develops projects that revolve around the power of storytelling to build community and inspire action to protect our planet. Based near Byron Bay, amongst the saltwater country of the Bundjalung nation, Lauren hosts The Waterpeople Podcast and recently authored She Surf: The Rise of Female Surfing, a celebration of the women stretching the boundaries of the sport and art of wave riding. As well as being immersed in creative endeavours, she makes spends ample time in the ocean with her family.
Bronwen Foster-Butler is the Chief Marketing Officer at Finisterre and brain child of the Women of the Sea Film Fund. She is a passionate storyteller and champion of gender equality – which she balances with her love of memes and Romantasy novels. Her work focuses on building a conscious brand with a positive environmental and social impact.
Demi Taylor is a writer, an award winning impact producer and filmmaker and the Director of LS/FF. As co-founder of Approaching Lines creative agency, she has spent the last two decades bringing to life the stories that matter in print, on screen and in person. She produced the award-winning, industry-changing environmental documentary The Big Sea, and has written best-selling books on surf and travel and documentaries about youth culture’s pioneers. She produces events, films, tours and happenings finding the hook, the line, the story. She has a thing for surf mats and yellow surfboards.
Women of the Sea in Conversation L to R // LS/FF Director Demi Taylor, Award winning filmmaker Karen Song, Bronwen Foster-Butler CMO Finisterre