The UK Film Council and British Film Institute were public organizations that funded and supported the UK film industry through various means such as lottery funds. The UK Film Council distributed over £160 million to 900 films before closing in 2008, after which the BFI took over its role. The BFI continues to fund short films and new filmmakers through lottery funds and grants ranging from £2,250 for shorts to £40,000 for features. Emerging filmmakers can also receive funding from additional sources like regional film organizations and crowdfunding websites.

1. Part 2 – Short film Context:
Funding and Support
By Grace Johansson

2. The UK Film Council was a
public body set up in 2000 to
help develop and promote the
UK Film Industry. The council
was owned by the secretary of
state for culture, media, and
sport, and it was governed by
a board of 15 directors.
Films selected by the UK
Film Council were funded
using sources such
as the National Lottery
Fund.
As of 30th June 2008, the UKFC had over
90 members of staff, and had distributed
more than £160 million to over 900 films
using lottery funding.
Maya Vision International worked
together with the UK Film Council to
create the UKFC Completion Fund. The
UKFC funded the projects whilst Maya
Vision International was in charge of
managing the projects and the
exchanges between the filmmakers
and the funders.
Originally around 8 – 10 films got a share of a £50,000 fund from the
completion fund. However, from 2008 onwards, a £70,000 budget was
awarded to 14 of the most promising UK Short Films. The UKFC
Completion Fund ran from 2002 – 2009, and all the films selected for the
2003 slate were also co – funded by Film4 and were screened on Channel
4 and Film4, additionally, some of these films can still be viewed on the
Film4 website.
The UKFC said their aims were: “To stimulate a
competitive, successful and vibrant UK film
industry and culture, and to promote the widest
possible enjoyment and understanding of cinema
throughout the nations and regions of the UK. The
UKFC had a mandate that spans cultural, social
and economic priorities”. This is different from
when the UKFC first started as then their aim was
to create a “sustainable UK Film industry”.
All films chosen for the completion fund were
showcased at the Edinburgh Film Festival, and
afterwards they were shown at the Curzon in
Mayfair.

3. The British Film Institute was
founded in 1933, it is a charity that is
governed by a royal charter. The BFI
archive, distribute, exhibit and
educate as a part of their work.
The BFI remit states “We combine
cultural, creative and industrial roles,
bringing together the BFI National
Archive and BFI Reuben Library, film
distribution, exhibition and education
at BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX,
publishing and festivals”.
At the BFI Southbank, there are many
facilities for films. Films that have been
funded by the British Film Institute lottery
fund can be viewed on four different screens
that hold a variety of audience numbers.
After the UKFC was closed down, the British Film
Institute took on the job of selecting and funding
new short film projects, and choosing the films
that stand a chance of becoming successful once
completed. The BFI uses National Lottery Fund as
a source of funding for new filmmakers to
complete their projects. They also use this as a
way of increasing the audiences who can enjoy
original UK film that otherwise wouldn’t get as
much attention from the public.
FilmForever is the BFI plan lasting from
2012 – 2017, it covers all aspects of BFI
activity and is funded by grants from the
department of culture, media, and sport, as
well as the National Lottery Fund, and a
reliance on earned income fundraising
growth and new entrepreneurial activity.
Seven Psychopaths was given a grant of £64,933 by
National Lottery Fund from the British Film Institute
on the 7th March 2012 to use for production. This is
one of the most successful projects the BFI has given
money towards and it has been a worldwide success
in chain cinemas which gained recognition for the
British Film Institute due to the help they gave the
filmmakers.
The Girl with All the Gifts is a part of the
2015/2016 BFI Lottery Fund.

4. As a way of funding as many UK Film projects as possible,
the BFI work alongside many film companies that offer
grants for emerging filmmakers. Currently there are
grants available specifically for shorts, as well as grants
that are only for feature films that require more funding.
These grants are given to ‘new’ filmmakers, writers,
directors or producers to help with shorts, features or
just professional development.
‘New’ filmmakers are described as any filmmaker with
little or no professional experience, or industry support.
However, they must have a history of self – funded, or
student films, theatre, radio or visual arts.
Another way the BFI supports emerging
filmmakers is by holding summer
workshops for 15 – 25 year olds to help
them learn about filming techniques and
the styles of films, there are also screenings
held throughout the summer to widen the
variety of film genres young people watch.
Through Net.Works over
£3,000,000 is invested in
emerging filmmakers and their
projects. This has lead to:
- Over 62 feature films being
supported.
- Over 160 shorts being
created because they now
have the money they need.
- As well as this, it has lead to
a few emerging filmmakers
to start developing their first
feature.
For short films, the grants available range from
supplying a maximum of £2,250 to supplying a
maximum of £50,000. For the feature length, longer
films, the grants range from £6,000 to £40,000+
which is a large budget for an independent film,
however compared to Blockbuster films it is not that
large.

5. London Calling Scheme
According to the London Calling
short film scheme, they “help to
nurture and champion the capital’s
most exciting breakthrough
filmmaking talent with a
comprehensive package of
production funding, training and
expert mentoring”.
In 2016 the London Calling
scheme will produce 20 new
short films. The organisation
usually funds up to 15 short films,
giving funds of up to £4,000 for
new and emerging filmmakers.
The London Calling Plus strand of the
organisation supports BAME (Black,
Asian and Minority Ethnic) writers
and directors that have previous
experience. A total of 5 films are
picked and awarded up to £15,000.
London Calling is a partner of the
BFI.Network funding programme,
and run with support from 5 of the
London boroughs (Lambeth,
Redbridge, Southwark, Waltham
Forest, and Wandsworth). The
programme is supported by Panalux
and Island Studios, and Performance
Insurance.
London Calling uses Social Media to help the
filmmakers they are funding and mentoring
promote their projects and spread awareness
of what issues are involved within each short
film being made. This is a way of supporting
new and emerging filmmakers as it helps them
to get the recognition for the hard work
they’ve put in. Also, it can help festivals and
award show organisations to see new films
and make them successful through showing
them and giving awards for talent.

6. Other Funding Sources
Chris O’Falt shares that Wyoming holds a short
film contest every year for anybody to enter, and
the grand prize is $25,000. This amount of money
is given as a film fund every year by the contest to
one person to help them create their idea.
Vimeo has a section of it’s
website, named Staff Picks, this
is where film fanatics can go to
find a selection of intelligent,
clever, high – quality short films
that are recommended by the
staff who are film fanatics
themselves.
Vimeo especially attracts
Indie and short film creators
because of the ad – free policy
which makes it easier for
people to watch films, and the
reputation that they have for
producing quality films that
are of a more gritty nature
and are more intelligent.
As a way of funding a short film, Lincoln
partnered with MKC Cars, and Vimeo, to create
his project, it was funded by the companies
because Lincoln agreed that the car could be a
part of the short. MKC said that the car didn’t
have to have an emblem shot in the short but
that it only had to be featured.
Lincoln’s film that worked with
MKC Cars, was called Bloom,
and it was made with shots that
were visually interesting, and
they constructed the shots so
that the visuals and background
told a story as well as the
actors.

7. Another way of funding short
films is for filmmakers to
start up a crowdfunding, or
Kickstarter page. The average
success rate for film projects
is 43% and it is slowly
decreasing. However, short
films have a higher success
rate with 59% of them
reaching their target.
Crowdfunded films are films that are
funded solely by public donations
through websites such as Kickstarter,
GoFundMe, Indiegogo and many others.
Often, the donators can receive a gift
from the page runner and this gives an
incentive for others to donate.
A way of raising awareness for Crowdfunding and public donation
pages is Social Media, and with more people joining sites every year
it is a lot easier for people to share things and get them seen by a lot
of people. The top 3 social media sites are Facebook, Youtube, and
Twitter, all of these are really easy to share links on and they cater
to different groups of people. The networks differ because Facebook
is mostly for people close to you and people you know, Twitter is a
place where you can build up a following and raise awareness to
anybody you want to just in 140 characters.

8. Bibliography
• UK Film Council Wikipedia. N.D. [Online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Film_Council [Accessed:
5/08/16]
• UK Film Council Completion Fund Wikipedia. N.D. [Online] Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Film_Council_Completion_Fund [Accessed: 5/08/16]
• About the BFI. N.D. [Online] Available at: http://www.bfi.org.uk/about-bfi [Accessed: 10/08/16]
• What’s on at the BFI. N.D. [Online] Available at: https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/default.asp [Accessed:
10/08/16]
• Funding Finder. N.D. [Online] Available at: http://network.bfi.org.uk/funding-finder [Accessed: 10/08/16]
• BFI Film Fund. N.D. [Online] Available at: http://www.bfi.org.uk/supporting-uk-film/film-fund [Accessed: 10/08/16]
• BFI Funding award search history. N.D. [Online] Available at: http://www.bfi.org.uk/film-industry/funding-awards
[Accessed: 10/08/16]
• Film London Short film funding. N.D. [Online] Available at: http://filmlondon.org.uk/funding/shorts [Accessed:
10/08/16]
• O’Falt, C. 2016. [Online] How Vimeo staff pick filmmakers got Charles Schwab, Lincoln and Samsung to pay for their
short films. Available at: http://www.indiewire.com/2016/03/how-vimeo-staff-pick-filmmakers-got-charles-
schwab-lincoln-and-samsung-to-pay-for-their-short-films-61877/ [Accessed: 10/08/16]
• Follows, S. 2015. [Online] The Statistics behind Crowdfunding. Available at: https://stephenfollows.com/film-
crowdfunding-kickstarter-statistics/ [Accessed: 10/08/16]
• Most Popular Social Media Sites. N.D. [Online] Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-
instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=most%20popular%20social%20media%20sites%202016 [Accessed: 10/08/16]