Short Film Context - Part 2

The Short Film Context – Part 2

Funding and Support

The UKFC was a non-departmental body run outside the government and mainly by public sectors. It was set up in 2000 by the Labour government to promote the UK film industry. To support short filmmakers and short filmmaking, it had three direct funding opportunities that people could apply for them being: Development Fund – To broaden the quality, range and ambition of film projects being developed in the UK. It had 12 million in lottery funding in which to help filmmakers of all experience levels develop their ideas and screenplays into viable feature films, be they fiction, documentary or animation, up until the moment they were ready to get production finance. New Cinema Fund - Supported emerging talent and established filmmakers working outside the mainstream, focusing on the most innovative writing and the most gifted directors. The fund had £15 million of Lottery money to invest over three years and funded eight to ten feature films each year. It had a strong commitment to supporting work from the nations and regions, from black, Asian and other minority ethnic filmmakers and encouraged the use of digital technology in the production, distribution and exhibition of films. Premiere Fund - Invested £8 million of Lottery funding per year into mainstream, commercially-driven films encouraging the involvement of British creative talent in a range of films to attract audiences the world over. The position and role of the BFI prior to the creation of the Film Council, was that it should concentrate on developing the appreciation of filmic art, rather than creating film itself. Thus control of educational film production passed to the National Committee for Visual Aids in Education and the British Film Academy assumed control for promoting production. The role and position of the BFI has changed since it took over the job of the UKFC since it was shut down by the government, it’s current role and position, is to still keep records of British TV and film in archival records but it took over the main role of the UKFC to distribute funding to filmmakers. The UKFC still continues to exit but not as a separate body but a merged one, it still lives on as a department within the BFI where it still can focus on it’s previous jobs such as supporting schools, and the education of film. The Regional Screen Agencies that Film Council funding was delivered through are 9 regional agencies divided up over the United Kingdom that help and provide funding for the filmmakers specifically located in their constituency, this is why their roles are incredibly complex and span multiple elements, such as pin pointing the specific cultural, economic and social objectives. Funding for shorts, is handled by the BFI in a way that anyone can apply for funding with an application form they can fill out online but there is no specific guarantee of funding being granted. Funding for short films has changed since the power structure of national film agencies changed in very early January of 2012 where the BFI decided to hand over the handling of the distribution of funds to Lighthouse a Brighton based arts company. As a short film maker I could apply for the BFI/Lighthouse short film fund, I could also apply to the RSA for my region being Screen South, I could also apply Local council or a charity depending on what the theme of the short was. Plus I can also apply for funding if being in a production scheme or a competition, or even if I needed some funding to have full completion of a short.