ScreenSkills is the industry-led skills body for the screen industries – film, television (including children’s, unscripted and high-end), VFX (visual effects), animation and games.  

They are supporting economic recovery and future innovation and growth across the whole of the UK by investing in the skilled and inclusive workforce who are critical to the global success of the  screen sector. For the latest training, including free online learning on issues including COVID-19 and addressing bullying and harassment, visit their Opportunities directory. You can find more resources, including masterclasses and the stories of others who have benefited from training, bursaries and mentoring, on the Resources pages.

ScreenSkills is funded by industry contributions to our Skills Funds and with National Lottery funds awarded by the BFI as part of its Future Film Skills strategy to help people get into the industry and progress within it. 

Visit the ScreenSkills Opportunities directory

Principal photography will commence at locations in and around Birmingham in December for upcoming feature “Footprints on Water.”. Indian thespian Adil Hussain (“Star Trek: Discovery, “Life of Pi”) and British actor Antonio Aakeel (“Eaten By Lions,” “Tomb Raider”) will headline the British Indian film.

Written by Neetha Syam (“Thaara”) and to be directed by Nathalia Syam, “Footprints on Water” will tell the story of an illegal immigrant father in the U.K. who is frantically searching for his missing daughter while trying to avoid the police radar. Through this search, the film will portray the lives of immigrants of various nationalities who arrive in the U.K. hoping to turn their lives around.

Hussain will play the father, and Indian actor Lena Kumar (“Anveshanam”) will portray his wife, who is the missing girl’s stepmother. Another Indian actor, Nimisha Sajayan, who was the lead in 2019 Venice Film Festival title “Shadow of Water,” will play the daughter. Aakeel plays the role of an Afghani refugee.

The film is produced by Mohaan Nadaar’s London-based outfit The Production Headquarters, whose credits include several U.K.-India features, including the upcoming, Scotland-shot “Rat on a Highway” featuring Bollywood star Randeep Hooda (“A Suitable Boy,” “Extraction”).

“This story is written by two sisters and it feels like its their first-hand experience that they have painted in words,” Hussain told Variety. “I trust that they will be able to transform words into intense and moving visuals. I feel the truthfulness in their endeavor. The dreams, the hope, demolition of the dreams, the realization as to what are the most important aspects in life, are very engagingly interwoven in the narrative. As immigrants of Indian origin brought up in Britain, we’ve had a ringside view into the lives of various people, their cultures and ethnicities,” Nathalia Syam told Variety. “Neetha’s script will be visually approached by elements of realism. Through the plot of an illegal immigrant father’s search for his missing daughter, we raise the question of what happens, when the invisibles go missing.”

Source: variety.com

This BFI Network short film funding programme supports fiction projects with directors based in England and is run in partnership with the BFI NETWORK Talent Executives who work with filmmakers on the delivery of funded projects. For directors based outside England or for filmmakers looking for documentary funding opportunities, please see our Funding Finder.

This fund supports the production costs of fiction shorts, in both live action and animation. BFI Network wants to support short films that respond to our core objectives which are to support:

• The early careers of ambitious filmmakers;
• Filmmaking that takes risks on talent, form and content;
• Work that recognises the quality of difference – in perspective, in talent, in recruitment;
• Work with cultural relevance or progressive ideas;
• Work from filmmakers based throughout the nation, not just in traditional industry centres.

BFI Network supports standalone short films and this can include projects that have the potential, further down the line, to be developed into other forms or formats (e.g. a feature film, content in serial form). The fund is intended to stimulate new ideas and stories, so it doesn’t support adaptations of existing material. We welcome applications for amounts throughout the available budget range up to a maximum of £15,000. We are seeking applications for films of any length up to a maximum of 15 minutes.

BFI Network funding is accompanied by creative oversight of the short film by a BFI NETWORK Talent Executive. As well as working with filmmakers prior to and during production, the Talent Executives may be able to advise you on:

• finding screening opportunities regionally and further afield;
• ways to meet potential collaborators for your project;
• festival strategy for your film;
• other means to gain industry exposure for your work.

APPLICATION TIMELINES

Changes are being made to the way that we manage and assess applications to the Short Film fund in England. From October 2020 onwards the fund will open for two six-week application windows in the Spring and Autumn of each year. From 2021 onwards we will publish the application dates six months in advance so that filmmakers can plan their applications, polish their draft scripts and find collaborators in good time.

The dates for the next two application windows are as follows:

Autumn 2020

Spring 2021

BFI reserves the right to amend any of these dates where necessary.

GUIDELINES

Please read the full funding guidelines before you complete the application form.

READ GUIDELINES

AUDIO GUIDELINES

The Short Film Fund audio guidelines are in the process of being updated, please check back soon for the revised guidelines.

APPLYING

Before you proceed to the application form via the link below you will be asked to create an account. Following submission of the application to the BFI, applicants will be sent a unique application reference number for their records.

If you have already submitted an application and would like to review it at any point, you can log into your account here.

You will need to submit a budget for your short film using our budget template which you can download here.

Preview the BFI NETWORK Short Film Fund application here.

APPLY NOW

ASSISTANCE DURING THE APPLICATION PROCESS

We can provide assistance to applicants who are D/deaf, hard-of-hearing, Disabled or neurodiverse people, and people with sight loss, where this support is needed in order for someone to make an application to the Film Fund. Visit Access support for BFI Film Fund applicants for information.

FINDING COLLABORATORS FOR YOUR PROJECT

If you are looking a writer, director or producer to work with on your project, click here for some ideas on how to do this.

Source: filmhubmidlands.org

For more industry information, visit our news page.

Or add us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

The British government has formally announced the creation of a Global Screen Fund aimed at partially replacing Creative Europe’s MEDIA funding following the completion of the Brexit transition period at the end of the year. The $9.4 million fund was confirmed as part of a major spending review setting out Britain’s post-Brexit economic plans as it deals with the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of a major spending review on Wednesday, which set out plans for the British economy post-Brexit as it deals with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed an initial pot of £7 million ($9.4 million) for the Global Screen Fund, which was first proposed over the summer.

In 2018, the U.K. received $14.5 million in MEDIA funding.

The British Film Institute, which has been calling for $22.8 million, highlighting how MEDIA funding has aided both U.K. exhibition and distribution and British films in Europe for more than a decade, is set to administer the fund. It argued that the sector would likely shrink by 10 percent, costing up to 1,200 jobs, with no replacement arranged.

“Today’s £7 million for a pilot Global Screen Fund announced as part of the Government’s Spending Review is a positive result for the independent screen sector in what we appreciate is a challenging fiscal climate,” said BFI CEO Ben Roberts. “Given the significant contribution of film, TV and video games to the UK economy and our position in the global market, we welcome this new funding which will enable the industry to further grow international partnerships, build on export opportunities and increase our return on investment.”

Simon Crowe, chair of Film Export U.K., added: “Well-reasoned arguments do not always prevail but, thanks to detailed understanding within BFI and receptiveness at [the culture ministry], the case for this support has been compelling. We were really grateful to see other sectors of the film industry endorse our view that independent films are incubators for the talents of the future. These films need nurturing to develop and to reach audiences around the globe.”

Caroline Norbury, CEO of the Creative Industries Federation, said: “Confirmation of a Global Screen Fund to replace Creative Europe MEDIA is welcome news, but urgent clarity is needed on what will replace Creative Europe Culture and other EU-funded programmes.”

Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), one of the largest NHS Trusts in the country, is currently recruiting workers for the Covid-19 vaccine programme.

Local people from across Birmingham and Solihull are being sought to take on the job of a lifetime. Birmingham and Solihull has been one of the hardest hit areas in the country, and Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on lives, health and the economy. The UK Government and its medical and scientific advisors have been clear that the only safe and sustainable way out of the Covid-19 pandemic is through a vaccine. The Covid-19 vaccine programme is going to be the single-most important activity we can take part in to restore our health, economy and livelihoods and it is going to require a workforce dedicated to the vaccine programme to help us recover fast in all areas of our lives. As well as seeking people with recent clinical experience to return to practice as vaccinators, those vaccinators will not be able to do their job without an army of non-clinical supporters behind them who will come from all walks of life with differing ranges of skills, but with a common life-saving purpose of recovering our community from this pandemic. We will need, to name but a few:

•         Drivers

•         Administrators

•         First-aiders

•         Coordinators

•         Organisers

•         Care workers

•         Marshalls

•         Logistical movers and handlers.

We will be providing full training and induction so a commitment to the programme is the main essential criteria, and from there we will work with individuals to identify where their skills and experience can best be put to use.

Duration :                 Mid December  – March 2021

Venues:                    There are planned to be 5 venues ;Millennium Point, Aston Villa Football Club, Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham Airport and the NEC.

How to Apply:          If you are interested in applying please email the inbox;  covidvaccineworkforce@uhb.nhs.uk  stating the following:

• The position you are interested in applying for (max of 3),
• Your preferred venue (max of 3)
• The hours  per week you would are available and the days that you would be available to work ( vaccination centres will be open 7 days a week for 12 hours per day)
• Within your expression of interest you need to provide details of the skills and experience you have that would be applicable to the roles you are applying for.
• Please can you also provide details of how you found out about the vacancy  ( was it through a referral from an organisation you’re working with)

On submission of your email  a member of the recruitment team will then contact you to discuss the information you have provided.

Source: www.solihullforsuccess.com

Here are the nominees for the RTS Midlands Awards 2020. The RTS Midlands will be celebrating the TV and broadcasting industry across the Midlands. Categories include Award for Best Animation, Best Popular Factual Series, Best Drama (sponsored by Film Birmingham) and Best On-Screen Personality. 

The ceremony will be streamed live on Wednesday 25th November. Register here.

Acting Performance – Female

Acting Performance – Male

Animation

Breakthrough (Off Screen)

Breakthrough (On Screen)

Craft – Post Production

Digital Creativity

Documentary

Craft – Production (sponsored by Create Central)

Drama (sponsored by Film Birmingham)

Factual and Specialist Factual

Factual Entertainment / Popular Factual Series

Journalist of the Year

News Programme of the Year

On Screen Personality

Promotional

Short Form

Writer

Register here to view the awards on November 25th at 8pm!

Source: www.rts.org.uk