Private Project

Unconscious Bias

During a corporate training session on unconscious bias, an ambitious entrepreneur goes head-to-head with an overeager and out-of-touch instructor.

  • Jacquie Drager
    Director
    Just Ask for It (2018), Irish (2023), Ash (2022)
  • Jacquie Drager
    Writer
    Just Ask for It (2018), Irish (2023), Ash (2022)
  • Andrea Whyte
    Producer
  • Elaine Ivy Harris
    Producer
    Frankie, Underwater (2024), Irish (2023), Highs (2022), Ash (2022), No Second Chances (2022)
  • Calvin Roy
    Producer
    The Promised Land, DNA, Dreamer
  • Mark Denessen
    Producer
    Another Round (2020), The Commune (2016)
  • Elina Saleh
    Key Cast
    "Sammy"
    Lie Low (2019), The Loss Adjuster (2020)
  • Sam Locke
    Key Cast
    "Matt"
    The Way (2024)
  • Dave Bibby
    Key Cast
    "Bob"
    Knuckledust (2020), Eye Spy (2013)
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes 42 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 24, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Jacquie Drager

Jacquie Drager is a Writer, Director, and Intimacy Coordinator who splits her time between London UK, the UAE, and Canada. Having come from a background of construction engineering and business, Jacquie draws from the experiences she had in a heavily male-dominated work culture and tells stories through film about intelligent and complex women – many of whom don’t see themselves often represented on screen.

Her first professional short film, Just Ask For It, premiered at Austin Film Festival and was acquired by Air Canada for their inflight entertainment. Her follow-up project involved shooting two comedy short films, Ash (premiered at Underwire Festival) and Irish, amid the Covid pandemic, finding synergies to complete them simultaneously. 

Jacquie was recruited by Netflix EU for their Intimacy Coordinator global program and trained with Safe Sets (South Africa).

Jacquie is presently writing a TV miniseries and developing multiple feature length screenplays, including Love You, Don’t Like You, which she plans to direct.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I wrote Unconscious Bias after coming across a piece of research that completely floored me. We’ve long known that female investors are more likely to back female founders, and many women entrepreneurs have leaned into that strategy. But new research shows a frustrating twist: raising a first round from female VCs actually makes it twice as hard for women to secure a second round of funding. Investors assume they only got funding because of gender, casting doubt on their success. That sinking feeling — how am I ever supposed to make this work? — became the spark for this film.

I wanted to explore these biases through a sharp, funny, and painfully relatable story — one that engages audiences with humour while allowing the deeper themes to land beneath the laughter.

Co-funded by the Creative Europe MEDIA programme, Unconscious Bias is a UK/Belgium coproduction and was filmed in London.