Funding

If you have been invited to attend a key festival in person please make an application or email francesca.carr@britishcouncil.org. British Council are in regular communication with a range of Festival partners over their plans to stage events, virtually or in real life. Have a look at this regularly updated document here to see who is doing what. 

The Short Film Festival Travel Grant is a partnership between the BFI NETWORK and the British Council.

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The BBC are now accepting applications for this year’s Felix Dexter Bursary. The Bursary, now in its fourth year, aims to develop talented comedy writers who are Black, Asian and other ethnic minority writers or writing duos aged 18 or over. The opportunity, offered by BBC Comedy in partnership with the BBC Comedy Association (BCA), is designed to find writers with a fresh, unique point of view and the potential to help shape the future of comedy, whether within the BBC or elsewhere in the industry. It aims to make a positive intervention to address an under-representation of Black, Asian and other ethnic minority professionals in comedy production across all broadcasting.

Unlike most bursaries that culminate in a one-off prize, this bursary gives trainee writers the chance to focus on comedy, writing full time over six months, while immersed in comedy production. They hone their skills while gaining experience on a range of BBC comedies across radio, TV and online, on panel shows, shorts, sitcoms or comedy entertainment shows – building the confidence needed to take the next step in their career.

To apply for the Felix Dexter bursary, applicants will need to send:

• A sample comedy/sitcom script that is a minimum of 15 minutes and a maximum of 30 minutes in length
• Answers to the application questions as outlined in the full terms and conditions
• A writing CV with a short profile biography

The deadline for applications is 19 March 2021.

Find full application details on the BBC’s Commissioning website

Read more on the BBC’s Media Centre website

Source: www.whickerawards.com

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Creative England have launched the second iteration of Creative Enterprise Evolve – a unique investment-readiness programme for content makers and innovators seeking finance for business growth.

Led by Creative England in partnership with the British Film Institute and UK Business Angels Association, Creative Enterprise Evolve is for high-potential screen-based companies and technology platforms that innovate across video-games, animation and visual effects, immersive media, film and TV and technology platforms that support the screen sector. This is a competitive 6-month programme with just 20 spaces available.

What is it?

Creative Enterprise Evolve is a development and investor relations programme for content makers and innovators who’re seeking investment for business growth.

Who is it for?

Led by Creative England in partnership with the British Film Institute and UK Business Angels Association, the programme is for high-potential screen-based companies and technology platforms that innovate across video-games, visual effects and animation, immersive media and film and TV.

Perhaps you’ve not raised investment before and don’t know where to start or you’ve already in the process of raising and you need some help – the programme will help you to evaluate your business offering, define your investment goals connect you with experts and investors who can help you take your business forward.

What is involved?

The programme is designed by investors and delivered over a period of 3 to 6 months through a sequence of one-to-one sessions, combined peer-to-peer group meetings and pitching platforms to prepare you for your investment round and facilitate investor introductions.

Successful applicants will join a cohort of 20 creative company founders to complete a 4-stage pathway;

• Diagnostic – a review of your business, commercial model, and investment proposition
• Define – set your investment goals and refine growth plan
• Propose – build your investment strategy and investor pack
• Connect –soft introductions to investors and pitch presentation showcase

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply you must;

• be seeking private investment to grow your business
• be able to demonstrate growth potential
• have a draft business plan of how you intend to grow using investment
• have a founding team with a strong track record in the industry
• have identifiable customers and a proven business model
• employ a minimum of three full-time people within the business
• promote the use of storytelling and creativity with your content
• be a screen-based company or technology platform that operate across videogames, visual effects and animation, immersive media and film and TV
• be registered in the UK, preferably within the English regions, outside London

To Apply

Applications close Monday 24^th August 2020 for the programme to start in September 2020.

Apply via the information page here.

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An emergency fund for UK independent productions interrupted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic is now live.

The BFI Covid-19 Production Continuation Fund will award up to £150,000 ($186,000) per project from a National Lottery funding pot of £2m ($2.5m). It will be open for UK independent productions in critical financial need as a result of unavoidable interruption due to the virus crisis, which has seen an industry-wide shut down, and will remain open until May 27. The fund is intended to help cover unexpected additional costs, aiming to ensure producers are in a position to restart when it is safe and practical to do so.

A number of independently financed UK films that were already filming or in late stage pre-production are understood to have incurred significant and unexpected costs in having to shut down as a result of the pandemic. The majority of these productions are, as a result, at serious risk of collapsing, as they may not find other sources of funding to cover these costs. The new fund is focused on ensuring productions can be stabilised, increasing their ability to resume production when social distancing guidance allows.

Ben Roberts, CEO of the BFI, said: “We are focused on restarting the industry as quickly as possible, and central to that is ensuring we have a strong and vibrant independent film sector in the UK, which was under considerable pressure before the shutdown. This fund is part of that work, providing a vital lifeline to independent productions directly and significantly impacted by the lockdown. It aims to ensure the production companies, along with the creatives and crew they were working with, are in a position to restart when it is safe and appropriate to do so, and crucially, encouraging our talented workforce to remain in the sector.”

Who Should Apply?

Applications are invited from independently financed films with a production budget of less than £8m ($9.9m), which are produced by a UK production company and are capable of qualifying as a “British film”, including UK qualifying co-productions (where such costs must relate to UK production elements). All awards from the fund will be recoupable.

The Production Continuation Fund mirrors the financial support already provided to eight BFI-funded features that were filming or in late stage pre-production when they were forced to stand down due to the Covid-19 crisis. These include Benediction, written and directed by Terence Davies and starring Jack Lowden, and Pirates, the feature directorial debut from Reggie Yates.

The fund is part of a package of support the BFI has rolled out to support individuals, organisations and businesses across the sector. The BFI is also continuing to work closely with industry and government to develop and implement a sector-wide strategy for recovery.

Out of its Screen Sector Task Force, a number of working groups are focused on inward investment, independent film, distribution and exhibition, and television and broadcasting. Roberts spoke to Screen this week in a wide-ranging interview about the Task Force and more.

To apply, for guidelines and for eligibility details, visit www.bfi.org.uk/continuationfund.

Source: www.screendaily.com

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The Jack And Ada Beattie Foundation is offering help to those affected by Covid-19 across London and Birmingham. The Foundation was founded in 2011 by notable Brummie and advertising executive  Trevor Beattie, and assists causes with an aim to  “fight against inequality in all its forms, and proudly display the Beattie family trait of defiance in the face of adversity.” In its history it has provided grants to individuals and organisations with needs and aspirations falling under the theme of dignity, freedom and sanctuary.

Those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic may be eligible for the Tons of Help Fund.

Tons of Help Fund

Other Jack And Ada Beattie Foundation initiatives

Bank of Mum And Dad: Interest-free, charges-free, bank-free loans for people who need them most. 12 months to pay back. And the sooner the loan is paid back, the sooner it can be passed on to someone else in need of dignified financial help. Find out more here.

Grant Programme: The funding priorities for charities and individuals are Dignity; Freedom and Sanctuary. These are aimed at small, but important battles. Backing achievable ambitions. Assisting the vulnerable and marginalised facing social injustice and inequality. Find out more here.

The Uncertain Kingdom is a collection of twenty short films from twenty directors about the UK now. The films were commissioned in the spring last year and delivered through the winter.  They are currently commissioning a twenty-first film specifically on the topic of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK. The film should open a unique and insightful perspective on the pandemic. As with all The Uncertain Kingdom films, it must be entertaining, original and relevant to the UK now.

Here’s more information from Uncertain Kingdom:

The final film

The film must be possible to produce while respecting government advice on the pandemic. It will be commissioned in May and must be delivered by 3rd August 2020.

Once again, we will give the chosen filmmaking team or individual filmmaker up to £10,000 to produce their film.

This final film will not be included in the online release of The Uncertain Kingdom but will be included in the community screenings when they take place.

What kind of film are we looking for?

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