The way the fund is structured and implemented would develop trends taking place in international cinema on a number of levels; it would offer encouragement to emerging talent across the U.K., and capitalise on the benefits offered by new technology, both in making films and delivering them to the audience. The aims of the fund are to:
- Unearth and develop new talent
- Attract established talent working outside the mainstream
- Further the use of new technology in production and distribution
- Encourage innovation in form and content
- Develop talent and infrastructure in the regions and nations
- Attract a wider range of audiences and to educate them
- Broaden the range of films on offer
- Ensure equality of opportunity and promote social inclusions and cultural diversity
- Challenge audiences
- Guarantee the effective distribution and exhibition of films backed by the fund
The Film Training Fund
As the world-wide film industry grows and the pace of technological innovation increases, and as more countries offer fiscal or other incentives, the future success of the U.K. film industry will depend increasingly on developing new skills and nurturing new talent.
The DCMS Film Policy Review Group and its subsequent Action Committee successor, identified a number of priorities in the field of training. A number of these should be supported by money generated by the Skills Investment Fund (SIF). However, SIF resources are not capable of financing all the training related to scriptwriters and development, and production skills.
The Film Council will, therefore, initially distribute Lottery funds of £1milion each year to help pay for:
- Training for business executives, producers and distributors with emphasis on the development and enhancement of business skills
- Training for scriptwriters, script editors and development executives
The Film Council will work with Skillset to identify additional training needs and gaps in the skills base, which will form part of the Lottery funded film training strategy.
The Film Council
To enter the ever-growing industry that is film, one of the hardest obstacles to overcome can be pulling together the funding needed to produce the film or even lacking the talent to make it. This is why the institution known as the Film Council, set up a program where budding film-makers of all age, race and background could get the skills required and the ever-important funding needed to produce a film.
Applying for Film Council Training and Production Funding
The Training Fund
The Film Council has allocated £1million annually to support training. The primary aim of the Training Fund is to work with its associates to maintain and develop the skills base of the industry. In the 3 years following its inception the fund will support training for two key areas:
- script writers and development executives;
- business executives (mainly producers and distributors).
In the latter, there is particular focus on training in project development, marketing, business and entrepreneurial skills, and raising the level of awareness of the international marketplace.
The Film Council will be working in partnership with Skillset – the National Training Organisation – to manage elements of the fund and to establish a joint steering group to move work on the development of a comprehensive training strategy for the film industry forward.
Film Training Bursary Scheme
The Training Fund has set up a competitive bursary scheme for professionals working in the U.K. film industry. Bursaries are available for formal training outside of the U.K. and will provide up to 50% of the total costs of attendance to a maximum of £500
Production Funding
The Film Council set-up three different production funds, each one having a different purpose:
- Development Fund
- New Cinema Fund
- Premiere Fund
Before applying for funds for their project, film-makers need to make an informed decision on which fund best suits their needs. For an individual project, the Film Council will not release funds from more than one fund at any one time. Advice is available to film-makers as to which fund is most appropriate to apply to which will help speed up the release of funds to the film-maker.
The Development Fund
The fund primary aim is to broaden the quality, range and aspirations of film projects within the U.K. and the talent being developed. To be more specific, the objective of the Development Fund is to raise the quality of screenplays produced in or from the U.K. through strategically targeted development initiatives engaging with the industry at first on a project by project basis. Over a period of time (and only natural growth will dictate the timescale), the fund will build creatively focused relationships, with a breadth of talent, ranging from “first-timers” to experienced practitioners. Investing in projects at every stage of their development, the fund also seeks to lay the foundations for British film companies to grow sustainable businesses.
The fund also intends to announce plans for establishing a number of “slate funding” relationships with a limited number of film companies.
General Guidelines
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
Funding of up to £10000 can be made available to individuals but funding in excess of this £10000 threshold can only be made out to companies.
Submissions to the Development Fund are encouraged for ventures intended to reach the widest range of cinematic audiences both in the U.K. and abroad. Although the Film Council will consider under-writing the entire development of certain projects (dependent on the audience potential and level of private commitment required), it will normally expect the producer to supply funds towards the cost of the development either directly or by the arrangement of co-funding through third party investors.
Film-makers wishing for development funding are urged to apply at an early stage. In this way, should the producer be successful in their application, it will put them I a stronger position in relation to sourcing other funding and/or partners – if one investor thinks it a good idea, others will too (entrepreneurs hate to see opportunities to make money slip by them). The fund works with the Business Affairs and Finance departments of the Film Council at every juncture of every project.
Development Funding
The annual budget for the Development Fund is £5million. Decisions for funding are taken by the Head of the Development Fund who is currently Jenny Borgars*.
(*Correct at 4/12/01)
The Film Council reserves the right to fund projects in a number of ways, however, the funding will normally be provided by the Film Council in the guise of investment
Funding is available for all stages of development, right up to pre-production and the Fund can agree to under-write costs such as:
- Writer’s fees
- Writer’s research fees
- Reasonable overhead costs of the producer (capped at 15% of the total Film Council investment
- Producer fees
- Producer’s reasonable legal fees
- Script readings/editors
- Executive producer/mentor
- Budget
- Schedule
- Casting
The Fund would also under-write other legitimate development costs but this is purely at the discretion of the fund.
Funding will usually be advanced in stages and commitment to the second and also to any other subsequent stages will be subject to Film Council approval of the previous stage and a submittal of the next stage’s budget.
Applications for further funding for the same project may be rejected at any stage of the development process at the unquestionable discretion of the Film Council. Nevertheless, the Film Council may, again at its discretion, commit to funding all stages of the development of a project in one application subject to Film Council approvals at each relevant stage.
Development Budget
There is an expectation from the Film Council for a draft development budget or a statement of costs which should be based on industry norms and market rates to accompany any application for development funding.
Development Slate Funding
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
Development Slate Funding is only available to companies
As far as this fund is concerned, the Film Council targets companies looking to develop slates of feature films for the international market. The primary objective of the funding is to aid in the construction of more sustainable business in the production sector, mainly through:
- Providing a stable environment for production companies to focus on the progression of commercially viable projects
- Supplying companies with adequate training to greater improve the skills base
- Present companies with more options in sourcing financing and production partners
- Strengthening the infrastructure within production companies
The Film Council will also consider applications from companies with the ability to show a strong and realistic creative and business vision for the growth of their activities. Submissions from levels of production companies ranging from new to the up-and-coming to the relative veterans with strong track records have also been considered.
In order to reflect the range of companies and the diversity of their activities and forthcoming projects, the terms and amount of funding available for investment purposes by the Film Council are negotiated on a case-by-case basis. The funding covers a slate of projects and will be made available to companies for up to and including a three-year period with pre-arranged review periods. Drawdown of funding will be on a project-by-project basis in accordance with the approved budget for each project (and may also cover certain overheads but these will be pre-approved by the Film Council)
New Cinema Fund (NCF)
This fund encourages new and unique ideas, innovative approaches and unheard voices. The fund intends to finance films with passion and verve that have the ability to connect with a broad range of audiences.
Above all, it is the primary objective of the New Cinema Fund to support and cultivate creativity, innovation, new talent and “cutting-edge” filmmaking. The fund has an especially strong commitment to supporting work from the regions and also from the ethnic minorities. Feature film production is central to the fund’s role.
In addition, the fund intends to capitalise on the benefits offered by new technology in the making and showing of films. The fund will, therefore, be working closely with established and “emerging” new media content providers and distributors, and will actively explore new forms for delivery of films to the public.
Supporting the making of “pilots” is another objective of the fund, in order to illustrate a project’s potential for feature film production and to aid in raising finance.
General Guidelines
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
Once again – like the Development Fund – funding is only available to companies.
Projects applying for funding from this fund will be assessed principally on their creative merit and their capability to fulfil the New Cinema Fund’s aims and objectives. The fund will work with the Business Affairs and Finance departments of the Film Council to fully assess a project. In addition to the fundamental elements of the application, the production company will also need to present a convincing vision for its project, in terms o creative direction, financing, distribution and marketing. The production company will also need to meet the requirement of demonstrating an ability to be instrumental to the realisation of such a vision.
Just because a company has made an application to the New Cinema Fund, a mere in interest in the project from the fund is not enough to guarantee funding. Should the fund believe that more development is needed on the project then, with the consent of the production company, the fund will recommend an application to the Development Fund for funding. In such cases, the funding decision will be made in the Development Fund by the Head of Development. Should a referred development application be successful, the New Cinema Fund will still continue to liaise with the production company and the Head of the Development Fund throughout the development process.
As mentioned earlier, the Film Council’s different departments will offer advice on which fund would be the most appropriate for application for funding. If the New Cinema Fund deems a project is unlikely to receive its support, or the fund is simply unsuitable for the project, the fund may perceive the project to merit consideration by the Premiere Fund. In such instances, the New Cinema Fund may refer the application to that fund on behalf of the production company but, once again, this will only be possible with the company’s consent.
In addition, the NCF may, purely at its own discretion, fund the production of a “pilot” to better gauge the project’s potential for production funding and demonstrate the potential of a project to prospective co-financiers.
Production Funding
The NCF has a budget of £5million per annum and decisions for funding are taken (similar to the Development Fund) by the Head o the NCF, Paul Trijbits* in conjunction with the two deputies with specific designated responsibilities for the nations and regions, and for cultural diversity.
(Correct at 4/12/01)
Those projects which are unlikely to obtain financial aid from the fund are those deemed not to have the potential to secure a U.K. theatrical release or a high profile television/electronic broadcast with an acceptable [to the fund] distributor or broadcaster.
The usual percentage that the Film Council will contribute is in the region of 15% and 50% of the film’s budget. However, in the instance of digitally produced, lower-budget films, the Film Council may, again at its own discretion, be able to contribute a larger percentage of the budget. As usual, the funding provided by the Film Council will be by way of investment.
The production company may be backed by the NCF in raising the budget and, at the judgment of the Film Council, may commit to funding a project for a fixed period and for a fixed amount without al the financing elements being in place. This funding commitment will be conditional upon all the outstanding financing elements being in place ahead of the expiry of this commitment which will in any event be subject to review at regular 3-month intervals
The New Cinema Fund will enthusiastically liaise with public film funds equivalent to the Film Council outside the U.K.
Pilot Films
The NCF will also back the production of ‘pilots’ as a further assessment of the potential of developed projects for production funding by the New Cinema Fund and/or other possible co-financiers. The Film Council will under-write the customary direct production costs (excluding ‘above-the-line’ costs) of normally up to £7500 for a pilot film. The funding of pilot films will normally take the form of an investment which is repayable to the Film Council (with a 50% premium) upon commencement of principal photography of a feature film based on, or connect to, a pilot film.
Development Buy-Out
It is customary for the Film Council to be repaid any development funding that it has advanced from the Development Fund out of the budget plus a 50% premium on the first day of principal photography.
The Film Council requires an agreed profit participation in respect of development funding in projects which convert into productions financed by the Film Council. The Film Council’s participation will normally be drawn from the producer’s share of the net profits.
Interest, Fees and Overheads
Where gap financing is in place, or where sales are being discounted, it is unusual for the Film Council to “foot the bill” for any interest other than bank interest. In exceptional circumstances, interest may be charged by the a co-financier, in which case the Film Council will expect to receive interest on a pro rata pari passu basis (using all reasonable endeavours to ensure that all such payments are not drawn from the budget but are recouped from revenues).
Similar to under-writing the cost of interest other than bank interest, the Film Council will not often agree to fund overheads other than production overheads and also in similar fashion to the interest, where an overhead is charged by a financier, the Film Council will again expect to receive an overhead fee on a pro rata pari passu basis.
Industry Fees
There is a certain level of expectation on the part of the Film Council for the budget to contain a provision for appropriate trade association fees. An appropriate contribution to the Skills Investment Fund is a compulsory budget line item.
Film Council support for Short Films
The Film Council has a plethora of films and film related schemes with the intention of creating a maintainable and lively film industry within the U.K.
The New Cinema Fund is currently establishing an exciting and impressive programme of short film schemes in order to develop and nurture emerging film-making talent.
New Cinema Fund/FilmFour Lab Joint Shorts Scheme
The New Cinema Fund and the FilmFour Lab have both invested around £250,000 a year to be portioned among four major schemes encouraging directors, producers and other creative talent to push their artistic boundaries. In the first year of the scheme, the four areas earmarked for investment were:
- Cinema Extreme
- Comedy
- Internet/viral
- a Completion Fund for shorts
Neither the Film Council nor FilmFour Lab will be accepting any applications directly for these schemes but will instead be working with production companies to administer and supply the schemes.
NCF – Digital Shorts Funded Locally
Certain organisations in each region of each nation in the United Kingdom have been selected by the New Cinema Fund to work in partnership to aid film-makers to make innovative, progressive shorts using digital technology. Each of selected organisations will support a minimum of 8 digital films per year with a production budget of around £10,000 per film. Individual film-makers would apply directly to the partner organisation for funding.
Premiere Fund
The objective of the Premiere Fund is to play a meaningful creative and business part - from creative development of projects through to marketing and distribution - in the production of feature films that can attract audiences world-wide.
The Film Council is looking to blend a mix of flexibility, vision, enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit traditionally associated with the private sector of the industry. It is aiming for this goal by investing in commercially viable feature films. Equally, a key objective of the fund is to assist experience and expertise across the British film industry to a greater extent by way of specific film investments. Also, another target of the Film Council is to play a significant role in assisting the development of sustainable British Film businesses skilled enough for long-term growth.
General Guidelines
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
Funding is only available to companies and not to individual film-makers.
The Film Council urges companies looking for funding from the Premiere Fund to get in touch with them from an early stage, preferably prior to the commencement of negotiations with potential financing and distribution partners.
Just as the New Cinema Fund is known to do with projects that it is interested in, the Premiere Fund will recommend, providing it feels that further development is required, of course, that an application be made to the Development Fund. Once again, this action will only be taken with the prior consent of the production company. Again, in such cases, the final funding decision lies with the Head of Development. In similar fashion to the NCF, should a referred application be successful, the Premiere Fund will continue to mediate with the production company and the Head of Development during the development process.
Once more as the NCF does for the Premiere Fund, should the judges feel that success in funding from the Premiere Fund is unlikely, it will (but only with the production company’s approval), refer the application to the New Cinema Fund.
In order to gain financing from this fund, the Premiere Fund will, by and large, expect the production company to have secured, or at least be in the advanced stages of securing a director and the principal cast of the film.
Production Funding
The yearly budget for the Premiere Fund is £10million and decisions for funding are taken by the Head of the Premiere Fund, Robert Jones*
(*Correct at 4/12/01)
Funds will only be made available to support those projects which are deemed commercially viable. Using a reputable sales agent, it generally expected by the Film Council that the production company to have secured worldwide distribution or representation at international markets, also with a guaranteed, ‘meaningful’ theatrical release in the U.K. However, in truly exceptional circumstances, the company need only demonstrate a commercially viable post-delivery distribution strategy.
Alternatively, the fund could assist the production company in increasing the budget and also, at the sole discretion of the Film Council, can commit to funding a project for a fixed period of time and for a fixed amount without the need for all the financing element s being in place. There is a proviso to this commitment, though, and that is that for this commitment to be honoured, all the remaining financing elements must be in place prior to the termination of this commitment. In any event, it is subject to review at three-monthly intervals.
Although there is no pre-set limit to the Fund’s cash contribution to a film’s budget, it will carefully evaluate each project on its own merits, paying particular attention to the level of confidence (in the form of how much is invested) shown by private sector funding as match funding.
Development Buy-Out
When being repaid any development funding that is has advanced from the Development Fund, the Film Council will usually take this out of the budget, plus a 50% premium on the first day of principal photography. A pre-arranged profit participation is required by the Film Council in regards to development funding of projects, which subsequently become productions financed by the Film Council. The participation of the Film Council will normally be derived from the producer’s share of net profits.
Interest, Fees and Overheads
Where gap financing is in place, or where sales are being discounted, it is unusual for the Film Council to under-write any interest other than bank interest. In exceptional circumstances, interest may be charged by the a co-financier, in which case the Film Council will expect to receive interest on a pro rata pari passu basis (as it would do for the New Cinema Fund).
Similar to under-writing the cost of interest other than bank interest, the Film Council will not often give its backing to fund overheads other than production overheads and also in similar fashion to the interest, where an overhead is charged by a financier, the Film Council will again expect to receive an overhead fee on a pro rata pari passu basis (again similar to the NCF).
Industry Fees
There are expectations from the Film Council for the budget to include a provision for appropriate trade association fees. Again, just like the New Cinema Fund, appropriate contribution to the Skills Investment Fund is a compulsory budget line item.
To conclude, the main sources of film financing from the Film Council are from the three individual funds set-up within the Council:
- Development Fund;
- New Cinema Fund; and
- Premiere Fund.
Although created with very different objectives in mind, they are all essentially different sections of the one Film Council and act as such. Advice is available from each Fund and inter-fund referrals are available with a production company’s consent (e.g. from the Premiere Fund to the NCF and vice versa, and also from the NCF and Premiere Fund to the Development Fund). The Film Council’s support for short films is a branch of the New Cinema Fund but this does not necessarily mean that it cannot be obtained by those production companies with the impression that an application to one of the other funds would be more appropriate for their needs. All projects are assessed on a case-by-case basis and so by applying to one fund does not mean they cannot gain funding from another (it should be made clear at this point that funding can only be gained from one fund at a time and referring an application can only be achieved through the permission of the production company and an inter-fund referral made by the Development, New Cinema or Premiere Fund).
There is the significant drawback concerning these funds and that is that it is only obtainable by companies and not individual film-makers with the exception of the NCF which has the nurture and development of new talent as one of its primary objectives.
Private Sector Sources
With the two major sources of film financing within the U.K. dealt with, we move onto the lesser known methods of funding, starting with financing from the private sector. There is really only one source from the private sector worth mentioning, and that is sponsorship.
Sponsorship
Commercial sponsorship offers the potential to attract some significant financial and ‘in-kind’ support. However, finding sponsorship can be a time-consuming exercise and it is often under-estimated just how much time is required to organise sponsorship deals. Sponsorship is normally part of the general promotional expenditure of a business and although that can encompass a sense of corporate or social responsibility, it is not philanthropy or a gift. Some companies have been known to make charitable donations sums tend to be small or negligible and access is often restricted to small, individual company or community groups.
When approaching a company for sponsorship, careful consideration must be given as to what you as a production company, can offer them in return. Relatively small or local companies might be prepared to put modest sums into festivals in return for minor promotional credit in the local area. However, it is more usual that companies will be attracted by an on-screen credit. Companies will be most interested in supporting projects that are aimed at an audience section to which the company is trying to market their products. They might, for example, be interested in reaching the student market as this is a more difficult market for them to reach.
Often, companies will be more willing to provide support ‘in-kind’, as opposed to actual financial backing. For example, it is one less expense to go on the budget if a venue or a brewer can be found who is willing to offer their premises/beer for free for the ‘wrap-party’ or the opening night celebration in return for public recognition. Similarly, recognition could be offered to the airline that offers to fly the equipment for the production free-of-charge. It is important to remember that finding funds to make a film production does not necessarily mean finding money for it. However, it is worth making a note of all in-kind support as it can be used as partnership funding and it is always useful to know the true cost of a production for future reference.
When money is required to be raised, charitable trusts are often available to the budding young film-maker and even more so for voluntary groups and organisations wishing to work on community projects. Many large companies establish trusts which are often most active in the region in which their Head Office is located or their manufacturing centre is based.
Different trusts have varying and often very precise rules of eligibility: many will not consider an application unless the applicants themselves are a registered charity and an even greater number won’t make grants to individuals.
An important point to note when considering sponsorship as a form of funding is that a quick turnaround cannot be expected on the application. Companies have issues to address which they see as more important than sponsoring a film and trusts may hold meetings as infrequently as once or twice a year.
Public Sector Sources
So far, we have considered all other sources of financing that can be called upon to produce a film within the U.K. This leaves only one sector from which finds can be gained in order to produce a film – the public sector.
When approaching any publicly funded body for support, it is always worth remembering that a production company will have to prepare a case for funding which is as detailed, if not more so, as the case that would be put together for private sponsorship. If anything, these bodies are more stringent in their monitoring as they have to be publicly accountable for any monies spent and often have to produce performance analyses of their funded clients.
A Brief Overview of the U.K. Arts and Film Funding System
The Arts Council of England (ACE) was restructured in 1998 and much of its funding has been delegated to the 10 English Regional Arts Boards (RAB’s), while most funds for film have been transferred to the national body for film – the Film Council.. (At the time of writing, further structural changes were being considered and in some places were under-way which had the aim of merging the ACE with the English RABs).
The U.K. nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) have funded agencies dedicated to supporting industrial and cultural film production and exhibition: the Film Council, Scottish Screen, Sgrîn, and the Northern Ireland Film Commission respectively. As the regional arrangements for film in the U.K. is under constant review with the aim to improve and ease access, at the time of writing, these 4 agencies were under review and development; although, the earlier sections on the Film Council still hold true. It is, however, anticipated that there will be an integrated screen agency in each of the Government office regions, funded directly by the Film Council. These will assume a similar responsibility to the two already existing regional agencies in London and the South-West – the London Film and Video Development Agency and the South-West Media Development Agency. Both of these organisations offer various exhibitions based schemes.
Regional Arts Boards (RABs)
Regional Arts Lottery Programme (RALP) Support is available for arts projects, small scale capital and organisational development. Grants range from £2,000 to £100,000 and in some instances higher for projects involving all three elements. The programme aims to support 5 areas of work:
- access;
- education;
- production and distribution;
- investment in artists; and
- development to help build sustainability of arts organisations
Application for funds will be assessed on a project-by-project basis and in accordance with 5 criteria:
- quality of artistic and educational activity;
- public benefit;
- ability to manage a project;
- contribution to regional and national priorities; and
- financial viability.
Awards For All
Awards For All is a scheme jointly administered by the Heritage Lottery Fund, ACE, Sport England and the National Lottery Charities Board. The scheme offers a one-stop-shop service, distributing grants of between £500 and £5,000 to community and voluntary groups for arts, charities, sports or heritage activities. Priority is given to organisations with a turnover of less than £15,000 per annum.
Local Authority Funding
Local authorities in the U.K. contribute substantially more funding for the arts than any other agency. The funding sources and budgets vary significantly from one council to the next and in some authorities arts budgets have been cut significantly where they are not regarded as priority. The names of departments that should be contacted also vary but film or film festival funding is often accessed via arts, tourism and leisure departments or an economic department.
