3 Minute Wonder is a short Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 television slot that broadcasts first time director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

s' three-minute TV programmes in the middle of the channel's weekday primetime schedule. It offers first-time directors and assistant producers the opportunity to air their work to a large audience, and in doing so, to take a first step into the competitive UK film industry.

The 3 Minute Wonder strand is part of the Channel 4's 4Talent initiative to help new talent break into the very competitive UK television industry. Other projects in the scheme include FourDocs and the Channel 4 Sheffield Pitch

Channel 4 Sheffield Pitch

The Channel 4 Sheffield Pitch is an annual competition sponsored by British public-service television broadcaster Channel 4, which seeks to offer one new documentary maker the chance to make a film for the company...

 documentary competition.

Channel 4 offers new directors £

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

4000 and their assistance in making their shorts which are then broadcast at 7.55pm every weekday.

The films shown on the series are primarily documentaries

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 that generally highlight a current issue that is not in the public eye, for instance synesthesia

Synesthesia

Synesthesia , from the ancient Greek , "together," and , "sensation," is a neurologically based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway...

 or domestic abuse.

It has previously featured Karl Pilkington

Karl Pilkington

Karl Pilkington is a British podcaster, author, television personality and former radio producer. He is best known for the Sky travel series, An Idiot Abroad, which was also presented in the United States on the Science Channel, in Canada on Discovery Channel and in Australia on One HD, and The...

 in a series of 4 and was mentioned on the Ricky Gervais Show.

Other Channel 4 schemes which support new directors include the Channel 4 Education series My Crazy Life, currently in its second series (5x30) airing June 2007.

External links

• 3 Minute Wonder at Channel4.com