Your questions answered: BFI Film Fund Twitter Q&A

As the film industry prepares to descend on the Cannes Film Festival, the BFI Film Fund team took part in a Twitter Q&A to answer your questions, give advice and share their plans.

Hello from the BFIFilmFund - Ben Roberts, Lizzie Francke & Isabel Davis, taking your Qs for the next hour via #bfiqa twitter.com/BFI/status/334…

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

what help, support and timescale for pre-production do funding opportunities offer? how trusted are first-time funded filmmakers? #bfiqa

— Joseph C Berry (@boejerry) May 14, 2013

. @boejerry Last yr 25% of our awards went to 1st timers. Funding comes with support and financing advice bit.ly/14WHnkD #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

@bfi What is the most common mistake made in applications to the film fund? #bfiqa

— Emma Sturgis (@emmasturgis) May 14, 2013

. @emmasturgis Apps that are submitted too early; projects not ready creatively or strategically. Also, beware of missing info in form!

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

@bfi Do you prefer to have some funding elements in place on a project, or do you decide on the screenplay alone? #bfiqa

— Sebastian Budner (@sbudner) May 14, 2013

. @sbudner For dev’t funding finance not necessary, for prod’n a common sense finance plan & great filmmaker package are most important.

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

#bfiqa Was inspired to see Paul Wright get into Cannes. How can other Scottish filmmakers get on the BFI radar?

— Mark Glass (@MarkGlass1) May 13, 2013

. @markglass1 Keep connected to @creativescots, come & see us in @edfilmfest. Our new talent network will umbrella Scotland #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

What’s going on with @bfi shorts? There seems to be no open schemes for short film funding anywhere in the UK at the moment. #bfiqa

— Lars T. Moen (@LarsTMoen) May 14, 2013

. @larstmoen Our shorts funds will run through new talent network launching in Sept, teaming w/ national partners. Watch this space #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

When will the international co-production fund open and will it only be used for British directors? @bfi #bfiqa

— Paula Vaccaro (@pauvaccaro) May 14, 2013

. @pauvaccaro It’s open. For UK filmmakers and world-class filmmakers engaging with the UK. Find out more: bit.ly/17Zirbg #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

@bfi @wftv_uk What initiatives, if any, are there to encourage more women in to film and into leading roles- direct/producer/writer? #bfiqa

— Emma Sturgis (@emmasturgis) May 14, 2013

. @emmasturgis No targeted schemes but working hard to ensure women have best representation & improve % of funded writers/directors. #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

. @emmasturgis Look out for projects from @cliobarnard, Amma Asante, Destiny Ekaragha, Joanna Hogg, Lone Scherfig and others #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

#bfiqa is there a list of ‘hot’ subjects which might help us to attract your attention? At what stage is it best to contact BFI?

— Ian Harrold (@IanHarrold) May 14, 2013

. @ianharrold We’re more interested in distinctive voices over ‘hot’ topics. Contact us when you’ve tuned your project best #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

@bfi With development funding, what can you contribute towards?Can I include overheads, legals, office costs in my dev’t budget? #bfiqa

— John Deery (@ohdeerydeeryme) May 14, 2013

. @ohdeerydeeryme Yes you can, here our guidelines for development funding:bit.ly/Xm4ZqQ #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

What networking events are coming up in your calendar? As a post-grad, the next step for me is finding collaborators @bfi #bfiqa

— Joseph C Berry (@boejerry) May 14, 2013

. @boejerry We are at all major UK festivals. See you soon at Doc/Fest, EIFF, Encounters and LFF #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

What will @bfi do to make more British children’s films possible? There seems a lack of interest or hesitancy from UK producers #bfiqa

— Paul Macgregor (@paulmacgregor) May 14, 2013

. @paulmacgregor Children’s films tough to finance, tho we have several in dev’t. Research underway now re challenges & opps. #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

#bfiqa what advice would you give to a filmmaker who has zero experience, equipment and money?

— Alex PK (@Alex_TheAlien) May 14, 2013

. @alex_thealien Our upcoming talent network will help. Meanwhile, try @skillsetssc @ideastap @shootingpeople & watch films galore! #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

Filmaking is about a good team as it is about money. Do @bfi get involved with ‘collaborating’ with its projects further than funds? #bfiqa

— The Wishing Horse(@TWHshortfilm) May 14, 2013

. @twhshortfilm Yes, we have a team who offer support on story, script and production for films we are supporting #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013

@bfi thank you for this Q&A - very helpful. can we expect an article with a summary of best Q’s&A’s? can we expect more of these in future?

— Joseph C Berry (@boejerry) May 14, 2013

. @boejerry Watch this space for summary. Follow @bfiben & he will try to answer a few more. Thks for your questions, tweet you soon! #bfiqa

— BFI (@BFI) May 14, 2013