Hot Shots 2025: Imaan Labad

“The minute Imaan Labad walked into my o ce for an interview, I knew she was a special person,” says Candour Productions chief creative o cer Anna Hall. “She has remarkable and rare qualities: she is funny, kind, empathetic, passionate about giving unheard voices a voice and feels the urgent need to call for justice in all her work.”

Labad came to Candour via a competitive Screen Industry Growth Network placement in 2021 and played a vital role in the company’s Sheffield DocFest Northern Docs pitch in 2022, before quickly transitioning into a trusted researcher in development and on projects such as Panorama: Beyond Reasonable Doubt and 33 Families: One Big Build and Britain’s Most Luxurious Train Journeys.

In 2023, she was promoted to AP midproduction on Groomed: A National Scandal, where she built trust with survivors of trauma to make them feel heard, safe and respected.

“Imaan has blown me away in how she has handled working with very traumatised contributors,” says Hall. “Going the extra mile, taking calls at all times of day and night, she always puts their needs above her own.”

Becky Ford, the indie’s head of development, hails Labad’s “extraordinary blend of editorial flair, emotional intelligence and fearless drive”.

Raised in Bradford with no industry connections, Labad has stayed grounded while bringing a bold creative eye, and is now a shooting AP on a new four-parter after receiving a Channel 4Skills Step-Up grant.