Applying for BFI National Lottery Expanded Screen funding

Contents 

1. About this funding
2. Aims of funding
3. Check if you’re eligible
4. What you can use the funding for
5. How we’ll measure success
6. How to apply
7. What happens after you apply
8. Getting a decision
9. Conditions of funding
10. Appendix A: Abridged list of BFI delivery materials

1. About this  funding 

The BFI Filmmaking Funds invest National Lottery funding in a diverse range of work with creative merit and ambition, which the commercial sector is unable to back, in full or in part, and which would therefore benefit from National Lottery support.  The BFI Filmmaking Funds focus on developing new, emerging and established talent and encouraging risk in form and narrative approach.   

The BFI National Lottery Expanded Screen Fund supports ambitious, screen-based, immersive works of fiction that explore new ways of storytelling. The fund will support experienced UK producers and creative leads with a track record in immersive or related screen-based practice. Awards of up to £150,000 will enable teams using technologies such as VR, AR, XR, 360° media, or other extended reality media, to create audience-facing, narrative experiences.  

Your project must explore imagined worlds, events or characters, and you’ll need to demonstrate a clear creative rationale for your chosen technical approach. Your project must be intended for public exhibition to UK audiences, whether through attending moving image festivals, dedicated immersive spaces, or using platforms to enable individual experiences.   

Applications will be assessed on the strength, scale and ambition of the creative approach, the prior experience of the team, and the extent to which this award will support their professional development. We will also consider how effectively the application demonstrates its potential cultural, social and public impact, as well as how meaningfully it engages with the aims of the fund.    

Funding is available for the initial prototyping, pre-production and production stages of your project. If you receive an award from the fund to develop a prototype of your work, you can submit a further application in a future round for funding for support towards pre-production and production costs. The combined BFI award amounts are capped at £150,000 per project, and any previous BFI support for your project does not factor into the decision-making process of a later application.  

Check further details of what the Expanded Screen Fund can cover.

The Expanded Screen Fund opening and closing dates are announced on our website.  

2. Aims of  funding 

All projects funded through the Extended Screen Fund must meet at least three of the following aims, which are also detailed in the stated principles and outcomes of the BFI National Lottery strategy:   

1. Equity, diversity and inclusion — people from under-represented groups across the UK access the support they need to develop their careers and skills
2. Impact and audience — people across the UK access a wider choice of film and the moving image, including stories that reflect their lives
3. Talent development and progression — creative talent is supported and nurtured, as they emerge and throughout their careers and more people understand how to express their creativity through stories on screen
4. Creative Risk — people are better enabled to innovate and experiment creatively; a wider range of stories on screen are told that otherwise would not be
5. UK-wide — everyone across the UK should be able to experience and create the widest range of screen culture. They should feel the benefits from the screen sector in terms of jobs and growth too
6. Environmental sustainability — screen organisations significantly reduce their carbon footprint  

If you’d like support when making your application, you can find information on access support for BFI fund applicants. 

3. Check if you’re  eligible 

Lead contact 

Your application must be submitted by your project’s lead producer who will be the main contact for the BFI.   

The lead producer must:   

• be the project’s dedicated individual producer and not the writer, director or equivalent creative lead 
• be resident in the UK 
• have a track record in successfully delivering immersive work, which means having been the lead production person on at least one previous immersive project. In most cases, we would consider this to be evidenced by a “producer” or “produced by” credit on such work 

• apply through a limited company registered and centrally managed in the UK   

• not have received more than £315,000 of public funding or subsidies in the past three years, either through your applicant producing company or the group of companies to which your applicant producing company belongs 

  • this relates to public funding or subsidies labelled as “minimal financial assistance” by the relevant awarding body 
  • the three-year period covers the current financial year and the two financial years immediately preceding the current financial year 
  • you will also be ineligible if the amount applied for from this fund takes your applicant company or relevant group of companies over this threshold of £315,000  

Your company (the applicant) 

Your company must:

• be a limited liability company, partnership, or community interest company registered at Companies House    

• have secured, or have a contractual right to secure, the rights (including any underlying rights) for the production you are proposing 

Creative  team  

Your core team must be made up of at least two individuals. The writer, director or equivalent creative lead can be the same person, but there must always be a dedicated producer, who is not also the writer, director or equivalent creative lead.   

All team members must:   

• be over 18 and not in full-time education
• be able to demonstrate a creative track record – this could be in immersive media, film, television, documentary, theatre or other creative forms 
• be resident in the UK 

The director or equivalent creative lead must have demonstrable directing experience in immersive work or screen-based media including film, which means having received a “director” or “directed by” or equivalent credit on at least one previous piece of work that has received public exhibition or distribution.

The director’s experience does not exclusively have to be in screen-based media and can be in a related immersive media, such as location based experiences, immersive audio, or theatre.

The applicant production company, producer, and director or equivalent creative lead can only be attached to one application per round of funding.

If you’ve read the above criteria and are still unsure if you’re eligible to apply for Expanded Screen Funding, email expandedscreenfund@bfi.org.uk .

Project eligibility 

Your project must be a stand-alone, screen-based, immersive work of fiction, where ‘screen’ is the central component.  

Your project must be a work of fiction that is either: 

• a narrative project, exploring imagined events, worlds, situations, or characters
• a dramatisation of real stories, provided all necessary rights and clearances are secured, and associated costs are included in the budget

Your project must: 

• have a proposed project start date no less than 24 weeks after the closing date of the funding round you are applying for
• have a fully developed concept document   
• be intended for viewing by audiences who have purchased a ticket or pass to take part in that specific experience, or contain a high level of player agency and decision making
• be suitable and appropriate for public exhibition and be classified no more restrictively than BBFC certificate ‘18’ or PEGI 18
• be capable of qualifying as a British film, via the relevant cultural test or as an official co-production (film and TV only), demonstrating it is either a:
  • film (including animated film): intended for viewing in cinemas or venues by audiences who have purchased a ticket or pass to take part in that specific experience
  • videogame: contain a high level of player agency and decision making and intended for supply

You may be able to qualify as an animation, however you will need to discuss this with our certifications team and ensure you meet all the fund eligibility criteria before applying.

If you need advice about whether your project is capable of qualifying as British, email certifications@bfi.org.uk before applying. 

Multiple  applications  

When applying to the BFI Expanded Screen Fund, you cannot have an active application for the same project under assessment with the BFI Doc Society, BFI Audience Project Fund or BFI NETWORK. 

Co-productions  

We accept applications for international co-productions if they meet the eligibility criteria outlined above, including clear engagement with our aims of the funding.   

If, having read the above eligibility criteria, you’re still unsure whether you are eligible to apply for Expanded Screen funding, please contact the team on expandedscreenfund@bfi.org.uk.

4. What you can use the funding  for 

You can apply for an award of up to £150,000 for your project. 

If you have already received BFI funding for your project, you can apply for an amount that takes the total BFI contribution to your project to £150,000. 

Our funding can support various stages of your work including prototyping, pre-production, and production.  

You can use the funding for: 

• projects produced and experienced using a range of technologies, including (but not limited to) VR, AR, XR, 360° media or other extended-reality media
• emergent and hybrid experience formats that expand our idea of what cinematic story worlds can be
• work with multi-platform exhibitions, for example as a touring location-based experience or a standalone headset format 

We do not support: 

• non-fiction immersive work, which is supported through the BFI Doc Society Fund 
• productions which are intended primarily for broadcast television or web platforms including social platforms, social networking, internet forums, blogs or similar activities
• multimedia art projects and installations
• projects which are primarily focused on another art form such as theatre, live performance, audio, literature, dance on film, poetry on film, opera or artists’ moving image
• immersive tours, events, music videos and retail-based immersive experiences
• creative technologies research with no intended audience-facing output
• podcasts
• single screen films or moving image works that are only ‘immersive’ in style
• one-off live AV performances
• expanded cinema using traditional cinema technologies
• video games produced for commercial platforms, social platforms, social networking, internet forums, blogs or similar activities
• immersive recreations or live broadcast of existing artworks including gallery or museum experiences
• site-specific screenings of single screen films
• completed works seeking adaptation, exhibition and touring costs

Project and third party finance

This fund is highly competitive, and you should bear this in mind when deciding how much funding you’ll need to deliver your project and if the amount you are requesting is appropriate for the proposed level of public benefit. Funding will depend on the timeframe and ambition of your project.  

If your total project budget is less than £150,000 you do not need to secure third party finance. If third party finance is included in your finance plan, you’ll need to set out the details in your application, including your plans for raising any further funds. You should also attach the terms of any finance you have been offered or secured, as we will need to approve the associated terms and conditions. All third party finance for the project stage you are applying for must be confirmed before we can progress your project to the final stage of our decision-making process, the Grant and Lottery Finance Committee.  

Project budget 

Your budget should be created using industry norms and market rates, and include all costs you expect to incur to complete and deliver the stage of your project you are applying for. This could include the following:   

• relevant production costs (including technical, and research and development costs)
• all underlying rights payments (for example, to the writer or creator of the script or treatment, or equivalent rights-bearing document that forms part of the project, and to any other underlying rights holders associated with the project)
• fees for the creative team and crew payments, at least in line with the London Living Wage (or equivalent)
• cast payments, at least in line with Equity minimum (including any cast buy-out fees)
• producer or production fees or overheads proportionate to the proposed budget
  • we expect the combined producer fees and production fees/overheads to be in the region of 7-8% of the direct costs of production (for example, the production budget net of the producer fees, production fees/overheads, budgeted deferments, financing fees, legal and accountancy fees, audit fees, insurance costs, and contingency)
• the costs of clearance of all rights (including music) in the project worldwide in all media in perpetuity on a full buy-out basis (save only for PRS payments for music and any applicable union or guild residuals which are not capable of being fully bought-out)
• working with environmentally sustainable suppliers throughout all stages of production
  • when preparing your budget, consider how you will account for specific elements of sustainable production practice — this could include: sourcing renewable energy; increasing travel by train or other public or shared transport; catering using local, seasonal ingredients; using different and less environmentally impactful materials; or choosing more sustainable solutions for digital storage and post-production
  • you may wish to consult BAFTA albert’s list of sustainable suppliers
• adequate publicity stills and footage
• any access support you may require for the production
• wellbeing facilitators
• adequate legal costs for the production (including for any other financiers who require their legal costs to be met from the budget)
• all customary production insurances (including errors and omissions) on which the BFI must be added as a named insured (for production insurance) and as an additional insured (for errors and omissions)
• all the delivery materials required by the BFI for the stage of production you’re seeking funding for
• adequate delivery materials for delivery to all other financing partners (if any)
• a 10% contingency
• sufficient allowance for accounting and audit costs including those related to your UK tax credit application
• any other requirements of funding detailed within these guidelines  

You may also include up to £800 towards the costs of festival submissions or equivalent exhibition opportunities for the completed project. 

We encourage you to be economical when budgeting, but we need to ensure that the projects we support are produced in accordance with all applicable UK laws, including in relation to cast and crew payments. You can include genuine contributions ‘in kind’, for example, of resources or time – these should be clearly identified as such in your budget and you will need to demonstrate that cast and crew are being paid fairly.   

Access support  costs  during production 

If any members of your core team, cast or crew require access support which will incur additional costs during the production of your project, you must include these costs in your application. We define access support as specific help required by people who are disabled or have a physical or mental health condition, which will result in a verifiable additional cash cost to your production budget. This might include:   

• a BSL interpreter to work with members of cast or crew
• additional transport or accommodation costs for disabled team members
• a personal assistant for a team member who requires additional assistance during the production
• an access coordinator to work with the production department to support all cast and crew  

You must include all applicable access support costs in your budget under the category Access Support. If you are seeking the maximum award amount, and have not been able to accommodate the required access support costs within the total award amount available, you can apply for these in addition to the maximum award amount.  

Wellbeing facilitators  

Wellbeing facilitators aim to champion and facilitate a positive working culture, acting as an independent point of contact for everyone on set throughout the lifecycle of a production. We expect to see Wellbeing Facilitators within your production budget, and we welcome proposals based on the production’s needs.  

BFI  delivery  materials   

An abridged list of delivery materials required by the BFI is attached at Appendix A. The BFI is committed to ensuring that the experience is accessible to all, especially to disabled audience members. It is therefore a requirement of our funding that the production is delivered with subtitles and audio description, that the availability of these materials is publicised, and they are made available in time for any public exhibition or distribution.   

UK tax credit 

We expect you to apply for the UK tax credit. Proceeds from this must go towards any agreed over-costs, deferments, and marketing and festival submission costs. If approved by the BFI, any additional proceeds may be retained by and shared between the core creative team (usually, the producer, writer and/or director). We do not require a UK tax credit advance to be included in your finance plan, but you can include it if you have a third party to cashflow it up front (the terms of which must be pre-approved in writing by the BFI). 

Read further guidance on UK creative industry tax relief.

Costs we cannot support  

We cannot support the following:  

• core costs for day-to-day running of your production company, which are not associated with the project
• activity that is already specifically supported by another source of funding
• costs incurred prior to a formal offer of funding from BFI 

The above list is not exhaustive, and we may inform you that other types of activity identified in your application may not be included in your production budget.  

5. How we’ll measure success 

Key Performance  Indicators 

The BFI will measure the success of the Expanded Screen Fund using the following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):  

• number of projects per year: up to 6
• projects meeting a minimum of three Diversity Standards (including mandatory Standards C and E): 100%
• creative teams new to BFI National Lottery funding: 20%
• geographic spread of key creatives:
  • 45% based in England outside London and the South East of England
  • 15% based in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales
• geographic spread of main production base (monitored through the location of lead applicant/production company):
  • 42% based in England outside of London and South East of England
  • 13% based in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales
• projects with distribution, a festival or equivalent exhibition opportunity in the UK within 12 months of the production’s delivery to BFI: 100%  

Equity, diversity and  inclusion  

We ask applicants to address equity, diversity and inclusion by engaging with the BFI Diversity Standards for film. The Expanded Screen Fund will prioritise projects that will make a significant contribution to improving equity, diversity and inclusion across the industry and so your application will need to make clear, specific commitments to making this change. The nature of immersive production will be taken into account when your Diversity Standards application is assessed. Specific guidance for immersive projects will be available on the Standards application form. 

If successful, you’ll need fill in an updated version of your Diversity Standards application, to act as a final report on how you met the Standards following the conclusion of your activity. 

Your production will contribute towards achieving our BFI inclusion targets.

UK-wide  

Our funding supports national, regional, and local activity to ensure that communities throughout the UK feel the benefit of the screen industries and culture. 

Productions should address and contribute to delivering against the BFI’s UK-wide principle. You can do this through considering where your core team are based, where your project is set, any plans for engaging local communities during production and potential for place-based community/audience engagement when the experience is released. 

Environmental sustainability   

You’ll need to outline how environmental sustainability principles will be embedded into your production from development stage onwards. This includes: 

• considering how your project’s themes or approaches engage with the climate emergency
• reflecting how creative choices during development could influence the potential environmental impacts of the project as a physical production
• reducing carbon emissions as much as possible during production and exhibition 

If your project is funded, you’ll need to have at least one of the creative team (writer, director, or producer) complete relevant continuing professional development (for example, a workshop delivered by BAFTA albert Academy). We also recommend that relevant crew members take BAFTA albert Academy workshop to strengthen your team’s sustainability efforts. 

We’ll also signpost you to a range of tools, resources, and training to support you in making your BFI-backed production more sustainable.

6. How to  apply 

Information you’ll need  to  provide   

Lead contact and organisation  details  

You’ll need to include:

• details of the lead producer (who should also be the lead contact) and the company through which the application is being made
• the email address used to create the account and application must belong to the lead producer 
• you may also include details of another contact that is not the director or writer of the project, and who you would like to be copied in on correspondence  

Project details    

You’ll need to include:

• project title/working title
• project logline
• format and technology used
• expected runtime
• whether the project is a resubmission for further stage of funding
• declaring whether your project is an adaptation of an underlying work
• a summary of your chain of title and confirmation that you have secured (or you have a contractual right to secure) the rights in the project (including in any underlying material which is incorporated in the work or on which the work is based)   

Team details 

You’ll need to include:

• details of the individual producer(s), writer(s), director(s) or equivalent creative lead including their key credits and confirmation of whether this is the first immersive project for the director/creative team
  • producers must have had at least one ‘producer’ or ‘produced by’ credit on an immersive project.
• links to examples of previous work from your producer, writer, director or equivalent creative lead that can be accessed on a standard computer. This should include individual links to the piece of work that makes your producer, director and equivalent creative lead eligible to apply for funding. We are not obliged to review all of this previous work before making a decision.
• details of all previous contributors on the projects, if any 

Creative  proposal   

You’ll need to include:

• story, synopsis or creative proposal
• a written or video statement from your director and writer or equivalent creative leads that covers:
  • the creative vision
  • format and technical approach
  • why the director and the creative team are the right people to tell this story in its proposed form, and why the producer is the right person to take it forward
• intended audience engagement and interaction (how will audiences interact with the work)
• how this production is expanding or evolving your creative practice
• any work undertaken to date
• an indication of which relevant cultural test your project meets the criteria of to qualify as a British film

Production 

You’ll need to include:

• production stage
• what production outcomes will this funding enable
• proposed dates of production
• production plan
• casting proposal, if applicable
• heads of department or relevant collaborators, if applicable
• locations, if applicable 

Distribution and exhibition 

You’ll need to include:

• audience considerations, including your approach to access
• distribution, marketing and festival strategy
• cultural and social impact, including what long-term result or change could occur for both the audience and the wider industry 

Outcomes and principles of funding 

You’ll need to identify which outcomes from the BFI National Lottery strategic framework your project will address.

You’ll also need to tell us how your project responds to:

• our UK-wide principle
• our environmental sustainability principle – both in production and editorial
• the equality, diversity and inclusion principle

Finance 

You’ll need to tell us:

• the amount of funding you are seeking from the BFI
• estimated total production budget for this application (check What you can use funding for)
• the gap between the funding amounts you have already secured and your plan for any additional investment still required
• development spend incurred to date
• details of any unusual, challenging technical or budgetary requirements that you anticipate
• details of the finance plan you are submitting with your application for example, which financial partners are confirmed, pending and any proposed funding strategies
• your case for National Lottery good cause funding  

We will also ask if you have applied for funding from other BFI funds (including BFI Audience Project Fund, BFI NETWORK, BFI Development and UK Global Screen Fund) or whether you have any applications or active projects with any BFI at present. 

Video and audio applications 

This option is intended to be used as an accessible alternative to long form written answers. 

We offer all applicants the option to upload a video or audio recording instead of a written response to certain application questions. Where this option is available, the question will include an upload box, and a suggested recording length will be provided in place of a word count.

Recorded submissions must not include any music, graphics, filmed footage, sizzle reels, showreels or teasers. Production quality will not be considered during the assessment process. 

BFI  Diversity  Standards 

You must complete a Diversity Standards form as part of your application which is accessed by a link from the main application form, with instructions on how to register and complete the form. Once completed, you will receive a Diversity Standards reference number. You need to enter this on your main Expanded Screen Fund application before it can be submitted.    

Your Diversity Standards form will be shared with the Filmmaking Fund team and will form part of the overall assessment of your project.   

As well as using this information for assessment purposes, it may be anonymised and aggregated for inclusion in overall statistics published about the Diversity Standards and to help inform future policy. If your project is co-funded by other organisations that use Diversity Standards, some of your application and data may be shared with them. 

Documents you’ll need  to  provide 

You will be asked to attach the following documents to your application:   

• a fully developed concept document
  • this may include a script, treatment or other documents that set out the creative intention of your project and its path to execution
• a detailed budget generated using either Excel or MovieMagic, submitted as a PDF
  • this should reflect the cost requirements for your project in line with what you can use the funding for
  • this must be the full budget, not just the top sheet
• a proposed finance plan, which matches the total of your submitted budget and details the status of any actual or proposed third party finance
• a production timeline, detailing all stages of production through to final delivery
• a short chain of title summary (a brief document listing who owns the underlying rights in the project and how those rights have been (or will be) passed to you)
  • you should list any signed agreements (such as an option agreement, a development agreement, or any writer agreements) held by you or any third parties, although you do not need to submit these at application stage), if applicable
  • if your application progresses to stage 4, we will ask you to provide further evidence of your ownership in the underlying rights in the project before any funding offer or payment from the BFI
• any other materials (in addition to those provided in the creative proposal section) expressing your ideas for the project 

Equality  monitoring 

You’ll be asked to complete an equality monitoring form when you submit your application. The data that you submit on this form will be confidential and anonymous and will not be seen by the staff assessing your application. Please note that we will not be able to put forward your application for assessment until you have completed the equality monitoring form.   

If you have any questions when completing the application form, please contact us on expandedscreenfund@bfi.org.uk.

Submitting your  application   

We can only make awards to projects that have been submitted to us through the online application process. This means that we cannot accept, or read, application materials submitted by any means other than the online application portal.   

You need to create an account to make your application online. You can save your application and return to it later. 

Make sure you complete all the sections as incomplete applications are ineligible and will be declined.  

You can get access support with the application form if you need it.   

Use the PDF preview of the application form to see the questions you will be asked in full: 

For guidance about how to use our new BFI applicant portal:

We welcome your feedback on the application process and how we might improve it expandedscreenfund@bfi.org.uk. 

7. What happens after you  apply 

After the fund closes, you’ll get: 

• confirmation we’ve received your application within ten working days
• a decision in principle within 12 weeks 

We’ll send you an email confirmation that we have received your application and shall assign it a unique ID within ten working days after the fund has closed. If you have not received an email from us within ten working days (and have checked in your junk folder for it), please email expandedscreenfund@bfi.org.uk.   

We aim to inform all applicants if we are recommending their project for approval to our Lottery Finance Committee within 12 weeks of the fund closing. However, if we receive exceptionally high numbers of applications, or if there are other circumstances out of our control, it may take us longer to give you a decision. We will keep applicants updated if the timeframe is likely to be extended. 

If we need more information 

Once submitted, we will review your application and if necessary, may write to you or request to meet with you to obtain more information about your application. If we need additional information from you, it may take us longer to reach a decision on your application.  

If your application is  ineligible    

We’ll let you know that we cannot consider it for funding.   

If you’ve made a mistake in your application, and that’s the only reason it’s ineligible, we may get in touch with you so that you can correct it.   

If your application is  eligible   

You’ll be sent an email that your application is progressing to assessment. 

If it is discovered during any stage of the assessment process that your application does not meet all eligibility criteria, we reserve the right to decline the application solely on that basis.  

How your  application  is  assessed    

When assessing your application we consider how well it meets the aims of the funding.  

We will also consider:   

• the scale, ambition and overall strength of the creative proposal
• the technical feasibility and format suitability
• the level of innovation, the extent to which the project pushes the boundaries of storytelling, levels of immersion and interactivity, and use of new technology or platforms
• the audience engagement approach and public impact
• the potential cultural and social impact
• the extent to which the proposed project represents a creative progression in relation to the team’s previous work
• the feasibility of the budget, its value for money and whether the project as described in the application requires the amount of money requested from the BFI
• your demonstration of need for National Lottery funding
  • our funding is not intended to substitute or replace existing or commercial funding or other income that would or might otherwise be available, or to fund activity at the same scale that can be achieved without our funding
  • National Lottery funds can only be awarded to applicants who demonstrate a compelling case for National Lottery support and a clear public benefit from the activity being funded
• the overall balance of projects receiving support, to ensure variety in the nature of the projects funded by the BFI  

When assessing applications, we will also take into account previous National Lottery awards received by the lead producer and the company through which the application is made. 

Assessment stages and how they’re structured 

We may share parts of your application with other BFI teams and external consultants to help with our assessment. External consultants will be required to maintain confidentiality regarding the application contents and to agree not to retain application materials following their review.  

Stage one: review of application form, accompanying documents, diversity standards and previous  work   

Eligible applications will be assessed by two staff members from the BFI; this may include staff from the BFI Filmmaking Fund team as well as from other departments such as the BFI Audiences Team and internal advisory groups. Applications will also be reviewed by an independent external reader to provide us with an additional perspective.  

Applications that we consider have responded most successfully to the aims of the funding and the wider assessment criteria outlined above will be longlisted for progression to stage two.  

Stage two: Peer review  

Longlisted applications will be shared with our team of external peer reviewers. These reviewers have been appointed through an open recruitment process and bring specific experience of creative practice in extended screen formats and immersive production. The peer review stage will focus on the technical approach, feasibility and industry impact of the proposal. This process will create a shortlist of projects to proceed to stage three. We only expect to shortlist a very limited number of projects, which means a significant number of applications will not progress beyond stage two.  

Stage three: Interviews with the core team 

At this final stage of assessment, the core team will be invited for an interview to discuss their vision for their project. This will include the creative proposal, production plan and distribution and exhibition intentions. We will also discuss the finance plan in detail and address any other relevant finance and legal questions relating to the project. Our internal Business Affairs and Production Finance team will also review the proposed production budget and, as a result, we may request that specific budget lines or allocations are amended.   

All members of the core team should attend, and we may ask you to supply further information after the meeting before a decision to progress your application is made.  An invitation to interview does not mean that we have made a commitment to fund the project.   

After completion of stage three interviews, the lead applicant contact is informed in writing that their application is either being recommended for approval by the BFI Grant & Lottery Finance Committee (the final step in the assessment process), or that it has been unsuccessful. Depending on your project start date, it might be some time before we present your project for approval after we have informed you that we intend to make a recommendation. 

Stage four: due diligence checks 

The BFI must carry out due diligence checks on your application and will undertake the following: 

• review the application to check if the project and team still meet all of the Expanded Screen Fund eligibility criteria
• request the bank details of the lead applicant, their personal address and date of birth. We will use this data to run an identity check (this isn’t a credit check and will not affect the ability to receive credit from other organisations)
• we will request the personal address and date of birth of the CEO or Managing Director of the organisation applying. We use this data to run an identity check (this isn’t a credit check and will not affect the ability of the CEO or Managing Director to receive credit from other organisations) 

We will be unable to progress your application further until we have received these details from you and completed our due diligence checks.  

Stage five: BFI Grant and Lottery Finance Committee (G/LFC) 

To ensure our recommendations to the G/LFC are as strong as possible, we need your project start date to be as close to finalised as possible. For this reason, we will not present your application to the committee until around 8 weeks before you are ready to commence the work on the relevant stage of the project. As a result, depending on your start date, there may be a period of time between us informing you that we intend to recommend your project for funding, and the point at which it can be formally approved. We cannot ask G/LFC to approve productions less than 6 weeks before your start date, as this time is needed for your own project preparation and for us to finalise the necessary legal paperwork.  

To ensure we have all the information needed for the G/LFC paperwork, you will need to provide:  

• a final budget – after reviewing your budget, we may request that you amend specific lines or allocations before we make a final funding recommendation and may offer you a different amount to the one you’ve requested
• the production schedule for the project
• any outstanding chain of title documents 

Once we have received all the required information from you, the BFI team can finalise the paperwork. If we have not received the necessary information within 12 months of the closing date of the funding call, we may decline your application at this stage unless there are extenuating circumstances. 

8. Getting a  decision 

If your application is  successful    

Offer  letter  

After G/LFC approval, the Business Affairs team will issue a written funding offer for your project. The Offer Letter must be signed and returned to us within seven days of issue. The funding offer will be subject to signature of a production finance agreement (“PFA”) with the BFI within three months from the date of the Offer Letter. If the PFA has not been executed, and the specific conditions of funding that must be satisfied prior to execution have not been met within that three-month period, then the BFI shall be entitled to review its decision to fund your project and may choose to withdraw the funding offer entirely.   

The PFA will set out the specific conditions of funding attached to your award including how you’ll receive the funding, how you must use it, and how we expect you to report to us. Further details of our funding conditions and are outlined in section 9 below.   

BFI National Lottery funding is project-based, time-limited funding, and as such, there should be no expectation of ongoing support beyond the original award made. In exceptional circumstances, such as when a project encounters unexpected challenges during production, we may offer to provide additional production funding, subject to approval by G/LFC. If we identify a need for additional funding, sufficient funds are available, and the total BFI contribution does not exceed £150,000, you may be asked to make a short additional funding application for the amount required.     

If your application  is  unsuccessful    

We may have turned down your application because we determined that the proposal:   

• did not sufficiently meet the aims of the funding, including in relation to engagement with the BFI Diversity Standards
• was too ambitious for the budget
• did not demonstrate enough relevant experience
• was not yet developed enough
• did not demonstrate sufficient need for National Lottery support and should be financed by other means 
• did not demonstrate a clear and obvious route to an audience 

This is anticipated to be an extremely competitive fund and we expect to receive many more applications than we have funds available to support. Unfortunately this means we will have to decline many of submitted applications, which might include those with clear potential and those which strongly meet the aims of the funding.  All decisions made by the BFI Filmmaking Fund team are final.  

We will keep the data and supporting materials you sent to us in line with our records retention policy.   

Resubmission 

If your project has previously been declined by the BFI for funding, you will not be able to resubmit it unless there has been a significant change to your original proposal. This might include a change of lead creative team or a significant change of approach.   

 We will also allow resubmission of a project where:  

• we have directly recommended further development of the project which has now been completed
• a more robust finance plan is in place
• the previous application was voluntarily withdrawn
• a Letter of Intent provided by us in relation to the project has expired and we confirm that we remain interested in the project    

Before resubmitting an application, the lead producer of the project must contact the Filmmaking Fund team on expandedscreenfund@bfi.org.uk to set out the basis for resubmission and seek confirmation that they are eligible to resubmit.   Please ensure that you clearly identify the revised elements of the project in the new application. 

Feedback   

Due to the high level of applications we receive, we are unable to give feedback for projects declined before stage three of the assessment process or further discuss your project.  

If your project reaches stage three (or a later stage) of the assessment process and is then declined, we will offer the lead producer the opportunity to speak to a BFI Filmmaking Fund executive about our decision.  

9. Conditions of  funding 

All BFI National Lottery funding awards are subject to the General Conditions of National Lottery Funding. 

In addition, the following conditions will apply to all Expanded Screen Fund awards:

1. The award will be made by way of a non-recoupable grant (unless you later receive further funding from the BFI for the same project under the standard terms of the Audience Projects Fund, then it may be recoupable).
2. You will be required to include certain credits and logos for BFI/National Lottery at the start and end of the work, and on associated marketing and promotional materials.
3. A BFI Executive or BFI representative will provide creative input and oversight of your project and will be your main point of contact as you produce your project.
4. The provisions of the BFI ‘Locked Box’ initiative will not apply to the Expanded Screen Fund.
5. The BFI will pay the funding to a limited company registered in the UK.
6. You must establish clear chain of title to your project for example, demonstrate you have or can acquire all the rights necessary to produce and exploit the project and provide evidence of such (for example, option agreements, writer/creator agreements, project development agreements) before we advance any funding. Where chain of title documentation is in a language other than English, you will be required to provide a certified English translation.
7. You must provide a legal undertaking that the work being funded is wholly original to you and your team and you will be required to clear worldwide rights in all media in perpetuity from all individuals and/or organisations who are contributing to, or whose material is to be featured in, the project on a full buy-out basis (save only for music public performance rights which are not capable of being fully bought-out).
8. You will not have allowed and nor will allow the creation of any type of charge, third party security, interest or other arrangement of any kind with any creditor in respect of the project, the copyright and the delivery materials, other than as set out in the PFA.
9. You will be required to ensure that your project is produced in accordance with the requirements of all unions and guilds having jurisdiction and with all applicable laws and statutes.
10. You will need to provide proof of application for British certification.
11. You will be required to grant the BFI a permanent, non-exclusive license to copy, reproduce and / or exhibit the project non-theatrically including without limitation in educational establishments (including the BFI Mediatheque) or online on the BFI websites (including BFI Player) throughout the world.  The BFI should also have the right to use clips from the project for promotional purposes in relation to the project or in relation to promoting BFI National Lottery funding. The BFI will own the delivery materials provided to it and will deposit, preserve and permit access to such materials in accordance with the standard terms applied by the BFI National Archive.
12. The BFI will require certain approvals in connection with your project including over key editorial and production elements relevant to your project and any changes thereto, the identity and funding terms of all third-party financiers, and the identity and terms of appointment of any entity engaged in helping to exploit the project (for example, sales agents, distributors, exhibitors, venue operators).  The BFI will also require certain approvals over all key production and financial documentation prepared in relation to the project including the following:

• final Concept Document
• all main production elements including key creators and contributors, casting and final credits
• a fully executed inducement letter from the lead producer (and company director if lead producer is an employee) using a template that we will provide to you
• evidence that all other finance required to meet your final budget has been secured, including copies of the BFI pre-approved fully executed agreements under which such other finance is to be provided
• evidence that a risk assessment for the project has been conducted
• copies of all production insurance policies for the project naming the BFI as a loss payee (for production insurance) and as an additional insured (for errors and omissions), and confirmation that the applicable premiums are within the budget
• letter from applicant company director on company headed paper confirming the subsidy exception requirement is met pursuant to condition 26 below.

13. The BFI may withdraw any offer of funding if it has reasonable concerns relating to the terms of any third party finance, if third party rights in the work cannot be cleared, or if you fail to meet the conditions of funding within three months of receiving a formal written offer of the award.
14. We will require that the BFI funding must be paid into a separate dedicated production account.
15. The BFI will have certain audit rights over the project including the bank account into which the funding is paid.
16. A delivery date by which you agree to finish work on your project and submit the required delivery materials as outlined in Appendix A to us. We anticipate all projects supported would be completed and delivered by the delivery date in their PFA, which shall be no later than 18 months after execution of the PFA.
17. You will be required to ensure that any agreement for the distribution or exploitation of your project in the UK provides for the availability of soft-subtitling and audio-description materials in the format appropriate to the medium in which your project will be produced, and which will be confirmed at the point of contracting the PFA.
18. You will need to provide a realistic final budget, production schedule, and proof of application for British certification.
19. The BFI will pay the award in accordance with an agreed production cashflow.  Such cashflow should break down the award total into instalments, with the final payment being subject to submission to us of the delivery materials. Where other partner funding is included in your finance plan, it is expected that this would be cashflowed before the BFI funding is advanced. Any underspend on the award will be retained by, or reimbursed to, the BFI. The BFI will hold back 5% of its funding until receipt of the specified BFI delivery materials, which can be found in Appendix A. You will need to provide the BFI with information about the progress of the project for example, regular cost reports, project progress reports and dailies if applicable, and permit BFI representatives to attend any stages of the project.   
20. An undertaking from you to acknowledge publicly that you have received National Lottery funding. The support provided by the BFI Filmmaking Fund is only possible because of the National Lottery. We ask the applicants we fund to do everything they can to acknowledge the National Lottery as the source of this funding. This includes displaying the National Lottery logos on your project, related marketing materials, press releases and on the front pages of project websites. We ask beneficiaries to actively acknowledge and spread the word about their project being made possible through money raised by National Lottery players, whenever they can. This includes mentioning the National Lottery, at a minimum, on press releases, on print and marketing materials, online including through social media, and when speaking to the industry and the wider public about the project.
21. If the project involves you working with children, young people, or vulnerable adults, you will ensure that you have in place safeguarding and child protection measures and will abide by those.
22. An undertaking from you to deliver against the plans made by you in relation to the BFI Diversity Standards. Failure to deliver against those undertakings without good cause may affect your ability to receive future project funding from the BFI.
23. VAT is not payable on the Expanding Screen Fund awards. The total award provided is outside the scope of VAT and the award is fully inclusive of any and all taxes that may be payable in connection with the granting, receipt or use of the award. Producers will need to deduct any such taxes out of the award and under no circumstances will the BFI be required to pay any additional sums in respect of such taxes.
24. Any third party funding for the project stage you are applying for must be secured in advance of the BFI’s final approval of funding via its Lottery Finance Committee.  No work will commence on the project until said funding is secured and its terms and conditions are approved by BFI, and we have confirmed that all other pre-conditions to our award have been met.
25. The BFI will not advance any funding until you have signed the PFA and have complied with the conditions of funding above and as particularised in the PFA.
26. You will be required to confirm in writing that your applicant production company (and/or the group of companies to which your applicant producing company belongs) has not received more than £315,000 minus the value of the grant in “minimum financial assistance” subsidies or comparable types of subsidies (pursuant to the relevant subsidy legislation) between 1 April of the year beginning the calculation period and the date of your offer of funding.
27. You will be required to adhere to and promote the set of principles aimed at tackling and preventing bullying, harassment and racism in the screen industries commissioned by the BFI and partner organisations. This entails taking active steps to help tackle and prevent bullying, harassment and racism in the screen industries and, in particular, in connection with the funded project.
28. Delivery materials: We will require electronic delivery of the items detailed in Appendix A (the cost of which must be contained in the budget for the project). 

10. Appendix A: Abridged list of  BFI  delivery  materials 

Successful applicants will be provided with a detailed breakdown of relevant BFI delivery materials. The final deliverables will be dictated by the funding stage of the project, format and intended platform. We expect this to include one format of technical/media delivery and a set of paperwork deliverables. 

Technical and media delivery  

We have broken these out as technical delivery options A – D. As part of your funding agreement, it will be agreed which of these formats you’ll deliver. 

(A) Desktop VR (PC Windows)

• 1 x .zip folder file containing application file including executable launcher complete with required build data, linked libraries (DLLs) and asset files
• 1 x ProRes Quicktime Linear walkthrough version to showcase the project via a traditional 2D Screen, for example, cinema or television
  • this should be 4096x2048 or larger in equirectangular 2:1 format (for example, top/bottom or side by side)
  • if an HDR version is available, we would seek to obtain one HDR and one SDR version of the trailer and/or walkthrough
• 1 x Proxy MPEG4 (H.264) Linear walkthrough file
  • the video file should contain the text “Property of the BFI” burnt in at the bottom of the image.
• enhanced access materials (narrative audio track, open captions and closed captions)   

(B) Mobile VR (Android based platforms such as Quest)

• 1 x .zip folder containing Android Package File (.APK) including full build and all required assets of the application
• 1 x ProRes Quicktime Linear walkthrough version to showcase the project via a traditional 2D Screen, for example, cinema or television
  • this should be 4096x2048 or larger in equirectangular 2:1 format (for example, top/bottom or side by side)
  • if an HDR version is available, we would seek to obtain one HDR and one SDR version of the trailer and/or walkthrough
• 1 x Proxy MPEG4 (H.264) Linear walkthrough file
  • the video file should contain the text “Property of the BFI” burnt in at the bottom of the image
• enhanced access materials (narrative audio track, open captions and closed captions)

(C) Mobile AR

• 1 x .zip folder containing Android Package File (.APK) including full build and all required assets of the application
• 1 x ProRes Quicktime Linear walkthrough version to showcase the project via a traditional 2D Screen, for example, cinema or television
  • this should be 4096x2048 or larger in equirectangular 2:1 format (for example, top/bottom or side by side)
• 1 x Proxy MPEG4 (H.264) Linear walkthrough file
  • the video file should contain the text “Property of the BFI” burnt in at the bottom of the image
• enhanced access materials (Narrative audio track, Open captions and closed captions)

(D) 360 Video

• 1 x ProRes QuickTime file
  • this should be 4096x2048 or larger in equirectangular 2:1 format (for example, top/bottom or side by side).  
  • if an HDR version is available, we would seek to obtain one HDR and one SDR version of the trailer and/or walkthrough
• 1 x Proxy MPEG4 (H.264) Linear walkthrough file
  • the video file should contain the text “Property of the BFI” burnt in at the bottom of the image
• enhanced access materials (Narrative audio track, Open captions and closed captions)  

Paperwork delivery  

Projects at any stage

• BFI Equality Monitoring report
• Diversity Standards certificate
  • you will receive this once you have completed your final Diversity Standards form
• up to 20 stills, submitted as hi-res TIFFs, ideally 600ppi at true size
  • all must be formally approved
  • ideally, we look to represent a selection that describes key moments and performances from the production, but are also interested in behind the scenes shots, and any shots generated to represent the contribution of screen crafts (for example, screenwriting, design, cinematography, editing, and continuity)
• stills captions list submitted as a digital file, with photographer credit, and all associated rights holders, restrictions or proof of clearances
• final audited statement or cost report 

Projects funded to completion

• 1 x Word or Excel document (not PDF) of the final approved version of the full list of the main and end credits for the project
• 1 x written publicity pack submitted as a hi-res digital file (saved in a folder called ‘publicity pack’), that includes:
  • one synopsis of approximately 250 words
  • a 160-character logline, flyers
  • other publicity material
  • full credits list
  • biographies of principal cast
  • individual producers, directors, writers and key crew
  • production information
• 1 x lead poster for the campaign submitted as hi-res TIFF, ideally 600 ppi at true size
  • priority is given to the quad format where available
  • attribute any necessary credits such as design studio, rights holders, restrictions or proof of clearances
• 1 x final project script, storyboard or creative document submitted as a hi-res digital file (TIFFs preferred), ideally 400ppi
• a copy of the final British Film certificate