Our Film Talent Development team works to deliver the following priorities in the English regions:
- to nurture emerging and established filmmaking talent by supporting the development of their work, their skills and their ambitions;
- to encourage a diverse and engaging on-screen cultural identity for the English regions;
- to foster self-confident, well-connected and sustainable filmmakers and filmmaking hubs;
- to stimulate innovative creative and commercial approaches to filmmaking;
- to promote the talent and creativity of the English regions to the world.
To do this, we provide advice, brokerage and practical help to filmmakers in developing and producing their projects.
View our Winter 2012 Talent Development brochure, promoting the films and filmmakers that we are currently supporting with development funding.
We also offer financial support through our Advantage Media Production Fund, Development Fund and Film Networks Fund. Read details on these funds by clicking on the tabs at the top of the page or by visiting the Funding page.
Creative England has awarded a total of £150,000 to support and promote filmmaking activities in the English regions in the latest round of its Film Network Fund.
View all the supported Film Networks.
For more information contact talent@creativeengland.co.uk.
Creative England unveils its first talent development brochure, promoting the films and filmmakers that we are currently supporting with development funding.
The brochure, which is available to view online, showcases 36 feature film projects from an exciting array of first and second-time filmmakers as well as from more established talents such as Terence Davies.
Some of the brightest regionally-based directing talent appear including Andrew Haigh (Weekend), Nick Whitfield (Skeletons), Mohamed Al-Daradji (Son Of Babylon), David Whitney (Kandahar Break) and Shona Auerbach (Dear Frankie), as do award-winning shorts directors Esther May Campbell and Deborah Hayward, cross-over artist Joe Magee and musician/filmmaker Cosmo Jarvis.
As well as original screenplays, supported projects include adaptations of Girl Missing from the teen novel by Sophie Mackenzie and Boxy An Star from the cult novel by Daren King, and documentaries such as the North Korean-set The Lovers and The Despot from director Robert Cannan (Three Miles North of Molkom) and Paa Joe: Dead, not Buried from rising star Benjamin Wigley.
in association with:
Elevator – Now Closed
Elevator will give up to 15 award-winning makers of live action, documentary or animated shorts support to make the leap to feature films. Supported by Creative Skillset, this scheme will provide the selected applicants with bespoke skills training and mentoring, alongside on-going career development, advice and guidance to help accelerate their careers to the next level.
Elevator is aimed at producers, directors and writer/directors who have won recognition from one or more top international film festivals* and will teach you how to maximise the attendant industry interest and progress from short to long-form films.
By taking part in the Elevator programme, you will be able to access high level training courses and talent labs, mentoring, professional shadowing, industry networking support as well as assistance to attend industry markets and festivals. Each package of help will run for up to six months, with an additional six to seven months added on to review progress and offer further advice.
The programme has been developed in association with Creative Skillset as part of A Bigger Future 2 to meet, nurture and promote the brightest talent from across the English regions.
*Applicants must be able to demonstrate recognition from one or more of the following industry/market events during the 2010/2011 or 2011/2012 seasons. Recognition is defined below:
- Academy Award®: Won or been nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Short Film or Best Animated Short Film.
- Annecy International Animated Film Festival: Won the Annecy Cristal or Special Jury Award for short film.
- BAFTA®: Won or been nominated for a BAFTA for Best Short Film or Best Animated Short Film.
- Berlin International Film Festival: Had their short film selected for the Berlinale Shorts Competition.
- Cannes Film Festival: Had their short film in the Official Selection for the Festival de Cannes, Directors Fortnight and Critics Week. (Please note that this does not include the Short Film Corner).
- Cartoon D’Or: Nominated for the Cartoon D’Or.
- Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival: Won the Grand Prix, Special Jury Prize, Best Animation or Audience Prize in the International Competition.
- Edinburgh International Film Festival: Won Best Short Film.
- Encounters Film Festival: Won Best British Short, British Animated, Animated film or Brief Encounters Grand Prix.
- European Film Academy: Won or been nominated for an EFI for Best Short Film.
- Hiroshima International Animation Festival: Won the Grand Prize or Hiroshima Prize.
- Hot Docs: Won Best Short Documentary.
- IDFA: Won Mid-Length Documentary competition.
- Locarno: Won Golden Leopard for Best International Short Film.
- British independent Film Awards: Won Best British Short
- London Short Film Festival: Won Best Film
- Ottawa International Animation Festival: Won the Grand Prize for Best Independent Short Animation.
- Rotterdam International Film Festival: Won the Tiger Award for Short Film.
- Sundance Film Festival: Had their short film selected for the Short Film Competition.
- SXSW: Won ‘Best of’ category.
- Tribeca Film Festival: Won Best Narrative or Documentary Short.
- Venice Film Festival: Won the Premio Orizzonti award for short film.
- Virgin Media Shorts: Won Grand Prize for Best Short.
The Development Fund
Please Note: The deadline for applications to the Development Fund is midday on Friday, 31 May 2013. New funds to support talent development, production and business growth will be launched in Autumn 2013.
The Development Fund is open to individual writers, writer/directors and/or producers based in the English regions for the development of all types of feature films, including animation and documentary. Applications are also invited from writer/director/producer teams. Funding is available for the costs of developing a screenplay (or the equivalent for documentaries) such as research costs, writer’s fees, script editor/developer support and script readings.
Funding is also available for screenplays that are ready to be presented to potential financiers, to help with budgeting, scheduling, casting, producing teaser trailers/pilots, and other expenses associated with raising finance and generating sales and distribution interest.
The Development Fund totals £250,000 in its current round and applications are welcomed on a rolling basis.
Awards will range from £2,500 to £25,000.
For more information contact: talent@creativeengland.co.uk
Advantage Media Production Fund
JANUARY 2013 UPDATE
Dancing on the Edge. Six part period drama from Ruby Films for BBC.
The Advantage Media Production Fund was set up in 2007 to support the development of the West Midlands as an economic hub for filmmaking in the UK and to provide access to finance for SME’s active in this sector.
It is financed through a combination of European Regional Development Funding (ERDF), UK Government-sponsored Regional Development Funding (RDA) and recoupment from the earlier West Midlands Production Fund.
Investments into feature film and television production have so far included: Nativity 1 & 2, Tormented, Soulboy, Special People, Hustle, and Dancing on The Edge.
Originally managed by Screen West Midlands, operational control of the Fund was transferred to Creative England in late 2011.
Creative England issued a call for projects in May 2012 and made investment offers to two projects. The first of these, Here & Now, shot in autumn 2012.
Subsequent to these investments, the Fund still has remaining capital to invest, topped up by recoupment income from its previous investments.
Who can apply?
Here & Now – Small But Tall Films
The Fund can only accept submissions from production companies who have been actively trading for six months or more, have a permanently staffed base in the West Midlands[1] and are a qualifying SME under existing EU definitions[2]
Companies must have a strong track record in the production of moving image content.
Projects are expected to have a strong connection to the West Midlands, through content, location and/or talent.
What is the deadline?
This is a rolling fund so there is no deadline for submissions. It will continue to operate until all investment monies have been irrevocably committed.
What can I apply for?
You may apply for an investment into the production of television drama or a feature film. The Fund is not currently looking to support short films or games.
Individual investments will typically be between £50,000 and £150,000 and must be matched with at least an equal amount of private equity on identical terms.
Full details of the AMPF’s financial and spend requirements are available from Creative England on request.
How to apply
In order to express your interest in the Fund, please contact ampf@creativeengland.co.uk in the first instance, using ‘AMPF’ in the subject header.
[1] Defined as Birmingham, The Black Country, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.
[2] http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/files/sme_definition/sme_user_guide_en.pdf
Film Networks Fund – Now Closed
The Film Networks Fund is available to networks and organisations whose work supports and promotes filmmaking activities in the English regions. Funding is available for a range of eligible activity including provision of editorial and technical support for emerging talent looking to produce work, delivery of networking, screening and industry speaker events and master classes, and provision of peer-to-peer support, mentoring, training and advice.
The Film Networks Fund is a fixed call with £150,000 to award. Awards range from £2,500 to £25,000, and the deadline for applications was 30 January 2012.
Download the Film Networks Fund guidelines
Creative England has awarded a total of £150,000 to support and promote filmmaking activities in the English regions in the latest round of its Film Network Fund.
Audience on Demand
The Audience On Demand programme from Creative England, Film London and Creative Skillset is designed for feature filmmakers who need to identify the appropriate distribution and sales route for their project and identify and target their audiences through either the traditional avenues or by using new innovative distribution models.
Participants will need to demonstrate their entrepreneurial skills, their dedication to a sustained career working within the UK industry through a well presented development slate and show evidence of a proactive nature, all of which will see them thrive on this programme.
Read news of the programme’s launch here.
The programme will consist of a combination of classroom presentations and practical individual project work with industry mentors. These will be presented during three two-day workshops with a final pitch day and networking session in London, where teams will present and receive feedback on their final developed packages.
The programme will ensure participants meet the right experts, distributors and digital agencies to make a sustainable difference to their film business and careers going forward.
Click here for the application guidelines.
DEADLINE: 5pm, February 20, 2013
Through the enhanced ifeatures initiative, Creative England supports the development of 16 projects and the production of three films on budgets of £350,000. Based originally in Bristol, the initiative which began life in 2009 has now widened its net to a search for stories that reflect England. Creative England is leading the expansion alongside its partners the BFI Film Fund, BBC Films, and the Skillset Film Skills Fund.
Even though the scope is now broader iFeatures holds firm to its founding principles and is still hungry for films that can capture a sense of place, and even time. Looking for England’s most imaginative and compelling stories from its brightest filmmakers, the initiative looks to champion films which show the way we live today, with tales that will challenge, move and entertain audiences across the world.
There were two consecutive development programmes, in summer 2012 for 16 projects and in the autumn 2012 for eight projects, before three films were green lit in January 2013.
The original iFeatures films are now all complete. Encompassing a wide range of genres and audiences. All three are represented by Content Film for UK and International sales.
Follow iFeatures on Twitter and Facebook.
Status update:
iFeatures2 received more than 350 applications received from filmmakers across the English regions.
After a series of development programmes, three films have been greenlit:
- The Goob
- Norfolk
- Spaceship
Visit the iF on Film page on the ifeatures website to be part of the filmmaking community.
iF on Film is our way of sharing information about the whole filmmaking process, and the pages will be regularly updated with new blogs from our team and also interviews with other filmmakers.
Add to Google
