Hot Shots 2026: Clio Symington

For Clio Symington, winning the Channel 4 First Cut pitch at last year’s Sheffield Doc Fest was proof that perseverance pays off.

“As a woman in factual television, building confidence and opportunity as a shooter took longer than it should have, and I was often steered towards producing rather than directing,” she says.

“I’ve had to learn how to communicate what I need clearly and confidently,” she says, and has refused anything get in the way of becoming the shooter and director she wanted to be.

Clio has built up ten years of experience on sensitive access-led projects, including Dragonfly’s Ambulance and Candour’s Essex Millionaire Murders.

Two major BBC docs - Sarah Everard: the Search for Justice, and Love and Loss: the Pandemic Five Years On – marked a turning point. The former took two years of dogged navigation of privileged police contact and significant legal and compliance issues, while the latter involved supporting 12 bereaved contributors through an emotionally demanding film.

Clio’s now at Rogan Productions, developing ideas for her First Cut and producing a series for a major stream that she took from development to commission.

Dragonfly executive producer Lucy Morgan is excited to see Clio’s future as a director.

“Clio’s incredibly smart, sensitive and thoughtful – she’s curious, rigorous and considered with a keen directing eye.

“Her genuine and instinctive empathy inhabits the very DNA of her rushes. While her storytelling finds the very heart of a scene, the style of her shooting reflects the absolute feeling of it.

“Clio’s perceptive directing style is matched by responsible and insightful producing that allows her contributors space to inhabit their own stories fully. The way she gives contributors a voice, and viewers genuine insights, feels natural and refreshing.”