The BFI has launched its new National Lottery Creative Challenge Fund, seeking applications from UK screen organisations and production companies to create and run targeted project development labs for features or immersive projects.

Awarding up to £150,000 to each development programme, this is the first of five rounds of the Fund, which will have a different ‘challenge’ set each time. This round is calling for applicants who can deliver labs for genre-focused project development for new and/or emerging filmmakers.
 

The BFI is aiming to stimulate and energise the development offer for UK indie filmmaking; stimulating a more diverse and broader ecosystem for UK talent. The team wants to hear from applicants across the UK who can create labs designed to maximise the chances of projects securing further development finance and then production funding from a range of sources following completion of the programme.

The ‘challenge’ on this first round is to address the comparative lack of genre projects coming through to public funders.

The deadline for applications is midday on 5 December 2023; more details can be found here. 
 

Director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund, Mia Bays, said: “Developing any kind of film project in the independent sector can be hard – both in terms of access to funding as well as consistent and galvanising editorial and production-focused support. 

“We wanted to diversify the offer, inviting the wider industry to help build a stronger lab and project development ecosystem that can effectively and meaningfully propel strong projects and talented filmmakers forward. We know that open access development support is limited in the UK, so we are investing a chunk of our National Lottery funding to further open up the range of project support available, while also enabling the wealth of experienced industry organisations across the UK to deliver programmes for which they and the recipients get paid. 
 

“Approaching each funding round with a different ‘challenge’ enables us to be flexible and make interventions where we see gaps and opportunities, but also to work with partners who have specific expertise or a reach with particular filmmaking communities. We chose a genre and early career focus for the first round because we wanted to give impetus and resources to a wider range of genre-focused work.”
 

Full details can be found here. 
 

With four further rounds of the Creative Challenge Fund until March 2026, the BFI expects to support a total of over 20 separate project development programmes across the UK. Each ‘challenge’ is identified by the BFI based on data, market analysis, and insights gathered with industry partners, as well as consideration of the applications being made to the Filmmaking Fund.