Funding

A pool of scholarships are currently available for female leaders across the UK’s film and television sector. Women & Leadership International is administering this national initiative to support participation in “Executive Ready”, a practical and targeted leadership development course. The campaign is providing women with grants of up to £1,000 to enable participation in the programme.

For more industry opportunities, visit our news page.

Looking for funding for your first feature-length documentary film? Apply to The Whickers Film & TV Funding Award for the chance to win £80,000.

This Whickers award was created to build on the legacy of award-winning broadcaster Alan Whicker. The Whickers awards supports emerging documentary filmmakers to tell original and director-led stories with honesty, professionalism and wit. Their flagship award, the Film & TV Funding Award, is currently open for applications. It has available a main grant of £80,000 and a runner-up contribution of £15,000. The Whickers award is free to enter and open to documentary talent anywhere in the world. This Film & TV Funding Award is one of the most significant international grants for directors working on their first feature-length (50 minutes+) documentary film. Deadline for applications have been extended to 14 February 2019.

How to apply

Well in advance of the deadline, you should go through the full application questions to prepare your answers according to the requested word limits. You may also need to gather the required links and information. You can expect to answer questions on the following:

• Title, logline, up to 300 words on how your project meets the criteria
• Personal and contact details, your role in the project, details of a referee who can confirm that this is your first 50+ minute documentary film
• Password protected link to teaser footage, publicity and deadline agreements
• Your treatment, up to 2000 word synopsis of your project, an estimated budget of various elements in production and post-production of the film. Also, any existing funding or plans for future funding, details of your production company (or project account/fiscal sponsor), details of your executive producer and confirmation that your project complies with our majority sponsor criteria.
• Your background in documentary making (if any) as well as 50 words each on how you gained film-making skills, what inspires you, how the funding will benefit your project and why people would really love your film.

For more information on the Whickers award please visit the Whickers website or contact Production Manager at The Whickers, Phoebe Hall at: phoebe@whickerawards.com.

Follow this link to find the application.

Judging

Shortlisted filmmakers will be notified in April 2019, and will pitch their projects at Sheffield Doc/Fest in June 2019. Whickers award winners will be announced at the Doc/Fest ceremony.

Source: ScreenSkills.com

See more industry opportunities and news here.

Uncertain Kingdom has remarked that in 2019, Britain will be on the brink of a momentous new decade. The 2020’s will see the making or breaking of nations, unions and the Earth itself. However given the long lead times on features, they believe the filmmaking community could miss out on a chance to engage and comment.

To bypass this, the group is using short films – with faster turnaround, lower budgets and greater creative freedom- to ensure filmmakers can contribute to the conversation. The Uncertain Kingdom will give 20 filmmaking teams up to £10k each to make a short film. These films must be entertaining, original and relevant to the UK in 2019. Whether political or personal, macro or micro, all of the films must give a bright flash of insight into how the filmmakers see the UK now.

The Uncertain Kingdom is aimed at experienced filmmaking and storytelling teams with confidently executed, accomplished work under their belts. Up to ten teams will be selected via an open application. Filmmakers have final cut, with the Uncertain Kingdom team having minimal involvement in script development and the edit. There’s no training element to the project, so candidates need to be confident they can deliver. Producers and directors must have completed at least one short film (together as a team or individually). If you have significant experience in theatre, TV, artist moving image or other area of storytelling and you have an idea for a film, your application is welcome.

The Uncertain Kingdom is an inclusive project and actively encourages applications from people of all backgrounds. If you are a filmmaker with an idea, please read the Uncertain Kingdom’s guidelines. Please also get in touch if you have any queries. Applications open on Monday 14th January 2019 and close at midnight on Sunday 3rd February.

Source: theuncertainkingdom.co.uk

To see more industry opportunities and funding, visit our news page.

Film Hub Midlands is creating more opportunities for audiences across the Midlands to engage with the widest range of film in as many places as possible with its Pitch Pots initiative. The fund is open to exhibitors throughout the year, and will close once the available funds have been awarded. Below is an outline of the project:

Film Hub Midlands’ Pitch Pots are available to help support a risk and try something new. Whether you are new to film exhibition and want to put on your first screening or an established cinema or community screen who wants to trial a new type of programming, we want to help audiences in the Midlands engage with the widest range of film in as many places as possible. We will be prioritising proposals that seek to engage with new and diverse audiences and that can amplify regional cultural opportunities. All of our projects must be open and accessible. In order to reach the widest possible audience through our supported projects, we are committed to the BFI Diversity Standards.

The standards can be broken down broadly into the following four areas:
● Industry access or training (ensuring that we offer accessible opportunities through our projects and organisations).
● On screen (diverse narratives, cast and places depicted).
● Catering for audiences (provision of disability access, specialist projects for target audiences, providing for specific UK regions etc).
● A diverse crew (exploring who makes the films we screen and offers project leadership).

The total amount attributed to this scheme is: £10,000 for proposals to deliver activity from June 1st – March 31st 2019. We will review each budget submitted individually, but broadly, we can support screening costs, marketing & promotion project coordination and curation. we are anticipating making awards up to £1,500. To download guidelines and to apply, visit the site.

Source: filmhubmidlands.org