Making an application to the BFI NETWORK England Early Development Fund

Applications are now closed.

Audio guidelines

You can also listen to an audio version of the guidelines on Soundcloud.

Contents

1. Overview
2. Delivering against our National Lottery Strategy
3. Check if you’re eligible
4. What you can use the funding for
5. How to apply
6. What happens after you apply
7. Getting a decision
8. Opportunity to apply for additional funding for first draft
9. Conditions of funding

1. Overview 

BFI NETWORK is a collaboration between the BFI, national film organisations and leading cultural venues around the UK. The partners that make up BFI NETWORK are detailed on the Connect with BFI NETWORK page of the BFI NETWORK website. The BFI NETWORK Early Development Fund supports projects with writers based in England and is run in partnership with the five English Film Hubs. The Hubs employ BFI NETWORK Talent Executives who review applications and work with writers on the delivery of funded projects. This England-wide partnership means that more voices in more places can contribute to distinctive, original storytelling. 

This fund supports writers at the very beginning of their development process, prior to having the first draft of a script, to produce an initial treatment (for example, a piece of writing that outlines the story, characters, themes and structure of the project) and related materials (for example, a mood board or other visual content). It supports longform live action, immersive and animation fiction projects. The fund is intended to support work that is unlikely to be fully commercially financed and would therefore benefit from National Lottery funding.   

Projects we support at treatment stage (Stage 1) that are completed to schedule can then go on to apply for funding for a first draft of the full feature length screenplay (Stage 2), with no more than five of those projects each year likely to receive this support. This means the majority of projects supported by the Early Development Fund will only receive Stage 1 support.   

What support do filmmakers receive? 

This fund focuses on giving support to writers in the early stages of their careers and projects. Successful applicants seeking treatment funding (Stage 1) will be offered a grant from the BFI of between £3,000 and £5,000. The offer of funding includes a writer’s allowance to support you to spend dedicated time on the early stages of your project; moving from the point of initial idea to having dynamic and persuasive materials that you can use to seek support for later stages of development. If you are working with a producer, you can also include a producer allowance in your budget. 

Successful applications will receive creative oversight of the funded project by a BFI NETWORK Talent Executive. This Executive may subsequently be able to advise you on ways to meet potential collaborators for your project and other means to gain industry exposure. If you receive Stage 2 funding, this Executive will continue to oversee your script work; through this, the BFI is devolving more script development work to its partner organisations and supporting creative development at a regional level.   

Support from the Early Development Fund takes the form of a grant. However, if at a later stage, and once you have a production company on board, you become eligible to apply to the main BFI Development Fund or other strands of the Filmmaking Fund for this project, then the amount you have received as Early Development funding will be added to the total repayable by way of recoupment to the BFI if the project proceeds to production.    

What can the Stage 1 grant be used for?  

Early Development funding at Stage 1 supports the costs of the following types of work on fiction projects in feature film or longform immersive format, in live action or animation: 

• writing time for an initial treatment document of up to ten pages 
• creating visual materials – for example, a mood board 
• actual costs of conducting research (archive charges to view materials, travel to visit relevant locations) that contributes to developing your project idea  
• where applicable, producer time

This funding is intended to stimulate new ideas and stories for longform fiction projects. It therefore doesn’t support projects that have already attracted other investment, or adaptations of existing material by other writers: this includes biopics requiring the use of copyrighted material. It is fine for writers to seek funding for longform adaptations of their own work (for example, their short film, play, novel, short story), providing they still hold the rights required to do so. 

What about rights in the work? 

For other types of longform development support, it is usual for funding to be provided by a financier to a production company. In those cases the company is required to obtain all rights, including copyright, from their writer in return for writer fees under the terms of a writer agreement. Early Development Fund support aims to get you to the stage where you or your team have a sufficiently developed initial idea that you can successfully pitch to production companies or financiers (which should be a full treatment if you complete Stage 1 or a full first draft of the screenplay – or equivalent format for immersive projects – if you are successful in your approach to Stage 2). We won’t require you to assign (transfer) any of your rights in the idea to us or to a production company and won’t require you to enter into a writer agreement or similar contract whilst you are in this early development process although you may elect to do so with your producer if you are working with one.  

Stage 2 support 

If you are then successful in your application for Stage 2 (first draft funding), we will provide an award of between £8,000 to £12,500 to support you through that draft and a set of revisions (with notes from the BFI NETWORK Talent Executive to help inform those revisions and potentially the services of a script editor to assist you through the writing process). The funding is set at this amount to reflect the fact that it is being awarded as a grant and that the copyright and other rights in the project can remain with you as writer during this period of development. 

2. Delivering against our National Lottery Strategy

Core priorities

We apply the following six priorities when reviewing applications. These take in the three National Lottery strategic principles as well as the outcomes identified in our National Lottery strategy. You will be asked to address some of these directly in your application to us.

1. Equity, diversity and inclusion: addressing under-representation in perspective and representation, talent and recruitment, agency and opportunities, widening the range of voices and audiences served.
2. Impact and audience: supporting projects with a strong cultural or progressive impact for audiences.
3. Talent development and progression: supporting early career filmmakers (producers, writers and directors) and projects with a reasonable proportion of early career cast and crew.
4. Risk: supporting projects that take creative risks.
5. UK-wide: increasing the number of projects and filmmakers outside London and the South East, looking at location and representation.
6. Environmental sustainability: addressing sustainability both creatively and practically.

BFI Diversity Standards

We ask applicants to address priority one – equity, diversity and inclusion – through engaging with the BFI Diversity Standards for film. You will need to demonstrate how your project meaningfully tackles under-representation in relation to disability, gender, race, age, sexual orientation and socio-economic status, while also considering the interactions of these identities and any other barriers to opportunity.

Key Performance Indicators

The BFI will measure the success of the Early Development Fund using the following annual Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

• number of projects supported at treatment stage – 15
• number of projects supported to first draft stage – 5
• number of applications received – 300
• applications received from outside of London and the South East (in terms of writer location) – 50%

Projects supported by the Early Development Fund will contribute to achieving the BFI’s overall inclusion targets for writers and producers supported:

 

• disability (including those identifying as D/deaf or neurodiverse or with a longstanding physical or mental diagnosis) – 18%
• ethnically diverse (London)– 40%
• ethnically diverse (outside London)– 30%
• gender (50-50 balance of male and female-identifying within the gender binary)– 50%
• LGBTQIA+ (including those identifying outside the gender binary) – 10%
• working class background – 39%

3. Check if you’re eligible  

Applicant 

To be eligible for this fund, you must: 

• be the writer of the project
• submit only one application to this funding round
• be based in England, but producers or co-writers can be based anywhere in the UK
• be over 18 and not in full-time education — this also applies to any producers and co-writers involved in the project
• be a new writer — you’re considered a new writer if you’ve not written a feature film or immersive work that has been produced and got a distribution deal in the UK
  • if you’ve made an immersive work that has either been distributed in the UK but had a production budget under £100,000, or you’re looking for funding to develop your first non-immersive feature film, you can apply
  • if your feature did not get commercial distribution in the UK, you can apply
  • distribution means release either theatrically or through a major online platform (or equivalent for immersive works) where a commercial distribution deal has been made
• have a strong creative track record that has gained industry recognition (for example festival selections, screenings, broadcasts, articles or reviews) — this can be student, grassroots or non-professional work
  • if you’re already working in film, you’ll need to have made at least one short film that has been produced 
  • if you’re working in other creative media, you’ll need to have made work in television, documentary, theatre, immersive or other art forms
• not have received feature development or feature production funding from another BFI fund or had a previous award in the past two years from any iteration of the Early Development Fund

Projects 

All projects must: 

• clearly engage with some or all of our core priorities 
• if intended as feature work, have an intended length of 70 minutes and above. There is not a required intended duration for immersive work, but the project needs to be of sufficient scale to would require significant (at least six-figure) finance were it to proceed to production   
• be a ‘single project’ work of fiction in live action, immersive or animated fiction 
• be seeking funding of between £3,000 — £5,000 for Stage 1 
• be wholly original to the applicant and not based on anyone else’s pre-existing work (except for the writer’s own work and provided that the writer controls the rights in that pre-existing work) unless, on an exceptional basis and subject to BFI consent, archive or journalistic material is only being used to inform the project. In such instances you will need to demonstrate that the material in question is either out of copyright; is being used under permitted uses exemption; or that you will be able to obtain the right to use the material in the way contemplated    
• be in the early stages of development for your project 
• if your project is already at treatment stage and has a producer attached and you feel ready to seek first draft funding now, you should look at the BFI Development Fund or alternative sources of support which might suit you better.  
• be capable of qualifying for certification as a British film, either through the applicable cultural test, or as an official co-production. Read more information on British certification. Please note that your own assessment of your project as being capable of qualifying for certification does not mean that it will necessarily pass. Should you need advice as to whether your project is capable of qualifying, please contact certifications@bfi.org.uk prior to submitting your application 
• be capable of obtaining a BBFC certificate which is no more restrictive than a BBFC 18 classification. In the case of immersive projects which are not subject to BBFC certification, they need to be capable of meeting an 18 or equivalent PEGI rating on any platforms they are considering exhibiting with, and in general not contain content that, were it to be presented within a traditional feature format, would be no more restrictive than a BBFC 18 classification

When your project is ineligible 

You’re not eligible to apply for this funding if your project:  

• already has a complete first or later draft of a feature-length script/equivalent format for immersive projects 
• is not a standalone work of fiction in live action, immersive or animation 
• is a feature film idea intended to be less than 70 minutes in length 
• is intended primarily for broadcast television 
• is a documentary — we can accept applications for projects that are hybrid combinations of documentary and fiction/dramatised content  
• focusses on another art form such as literature, dance on film, poetry on film, opera or artists’ moving image
• adapts an existing work (fiction or non-fiction) that was not written by your writer or co-writer, apart from in exceptional cases involving archive or journalistic material as described above 
• is a biopic (it is primarily based on the lives of one or more real individuals)

This list is not exhaustive and there are other reasons, as referenced elsewhere in these guidelines, why your project may be ineligible. Get in touch with the team if you’re unsure that you are eligible to apply to this fund: bfinetworkfunding@bfi.org.uk

4. What you can use the funding for  

You will be asked to include a brief budget as part of your application for Stage 1 (treatment) funding. There are specific costs that can be included in this (“eligible costs”), some of which are capped at a certain level. These are: 

• up to £3,000 writer allowance 
• up to £750 producer allowance if you are working with a producer 
• If there is more than one person fulfilling the same role on your project, for example, co-writers or co-producers, they would need to split the capped amount 
• reasonable research and travel costs  
• these may include travel or accommodation, the costs of accessing materials or archives, making copies of archive materials, subsistence while travelling (at a maximum of £40 per day, which must consist of specific receipted costs) or other relevant expenses. 
• the creation of visual materials where this incurs specific costs – graphic design by a third-party contractor  
• any disability access support you require to produce the project (see below) 

VAT is not payable on Early Development Fund awards. The total grant funding supplied through the BFI award is outside the scope of VAT and the BFI award is fully inclusive of any and all taxes that may be payable in connection with the granting, receipt or use of the BFI award. Individuals receiving BFI funding will need to deduct any such taxes out of the BFI award and in no circumstances will the BFI be required to pay any additional sums in respect of such taxes. 

Costs that we cannot support 

Costs the fund does not cover include: 

• payments to option the rights to adapt pre-existing, published works for the screen (such a project would be ineligible) 
• general overheads or subsistence 
• at Stage 1: script editor or any script-stage work  
• legal fees or costs of preparing writer agreements or similar (because a writer agreement granting the writer’s copyright to a production company is not required at this stage) 
• director fees or retainers  
• flights within or between England, Scotland and Wales, unless necessary due to an access requirement 
• travel by taxi unless necessary due to an access requirement  
• first class travel 
• general subsistence costs 
• production costs, including for pilot material 
• activity that is already specifically supported by another external source of funding 
• cost incurred prior to an 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 supported by an award from the BFI.  

Access requirements during early development work  

If you, or where applicable, your producer, have access needs that will incur additional costs during work on your project, you can include these costs in your application. We define such needs as specific support required by people who are disabled or have a physical and/or mental health diagnosis, which will result in a verifiable additional cash cost to your budget. For example, this might include a BSL interpreter to work with you; additional transport or accommodation costs for disabled team members to attend meetings or conduct a research trip; or the assistant of a team member who requires assistance during the research or writing stages. If you require support for such costs, please include them in your application budget. 

If you are already seeking the maximum award amount and have not been able to cover access-related costs within that, you can apply for these costs in addition to the maximum award amount.  

Environmental sustainability 

We ask all teams to plan their project’s development with the environment and the climate crisis in mind. This means working to reduce your carbon emissions as much as possible, and your impact on the living world, and to maximise the positive environmental benefits your project could have. We are keen to see creative responses to the climate and ecological emergency and will ask you to consider this in relation to your project in the application form. You can find some prompts and inspiration for this on BAFTA albert’s editorial site, including their editorial quiz tool. We’ll also ask you to consider the potential impacts of your film as a physical production and think ahead about how this is influenced by the creative choices you make now.  

Delivery materials for funded projects 

All successful applicants must submit a:

• text-only treatment of up to 10 pages 
• final cost report with invoices or receipts for all expenditure 

You may also choose to submit visual materials such as a mood board or pitch deck.

5. How to apply 

When you can apply 

Applications for the BFI NETWORK: Early Development Fund are now closed. The deadline was Thursday 30 November at midday.

Login to view your submitted 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.  

Information you need to provide  

In the application you’ll need to complete the following sections:  

Applicant details 

This section will ask for: 

• Name and contact details of the writer who will be the lead contact for the project 

Project and team  

These sections will ask you for information including: 

• CV summaries for your writer and producer if applicable 
• a description of your project idea. You will need to tell us about your narrative (story, world, characters) and why you want to tell this story. The more you can give us a strong, compelling sense of your idea, the better. This section has a maximum word limit of 300 words, since we are looking for projects at an early stage that do not yet have full-length treatment materials. If you prefer you can submit a video answer rather than a written statement 
• a statement describing any work you have done so far on developing your story idea and why you are ready to write a full treatment now 
• analysis of your project’s environmental impact, covering i) your early development activity; ii) how your project engages creatively with the climate and environment; and iii) an initial consideration of the potential impact of the project’s production. 
• where your development work will take place in the UK, including the location of your writer and (if involved) producer, and the places your project will represent onscreen 

Finance and budget  

This section will ask for: 

• the amount of funding you are seeking from the BFI 
• your case for National Lottery good cause support 

BFI Diversity Standards 

This section asks you to describe how your project responds to the BFI Diversity Standards with a focus on addressing Standard A. Please note that the information provided by applicants within their Diversity Standards forms will be anonymised and used to help inform future funding decisions, research and strategy.  

Supporting materials 

This section will ask for: 

• links to your previous creative work, such as short films, writing samples or visual artwork. If you are working with a producer you should include links to their previous work too. We may decide not to review all of these before making a decision. You should provide some brief context as to why you’ve included each link: for example, the work is similar in tone to that of the proposed project 
• proof of your address so we can see your region of residence. This should be in the form of a bank statement, utility bill etc. dated in the past three months, showing your name and address. Other personal details such as bank details should be redacted 
• links to materials expressing your ideas for the project you are seeking funding for (optional) 

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. It requests information about the writer(s), and (where applicable) producer(s) on your project, to help measure how effective the BFI is in attracting a diverse range of applicants for funding. When filling it in, you can select ‘prefer not to say’ if you’d rather not share the information requested. 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 bfinetworkfunding@bfi.org.uk. We welcome your feedback on the application process and how we might improve it.  

6. What happens after you apply  

Once you’ve sent us your application we will send you confirmation that we have received it within five working days. We will then check whether your application is eligible for funding using the criteria identified in the Check if you’re eligible section. If your application does not meet our eligibility criteria, we will email to tell you that we will not be able to consider it. If you have made a mistake in your application, then we may enable you to correct this, if that is the only reason that the application is considered ineligible. 

How your application is assessed  

Once you have passed initial eligibility checks the BFI will confirm by email that your application will progress to assessment and a unique ID number will be assigned to the application.  

Assessment criteria 

Your application will be assessed against how well it meets our six core priorities. We will also consider:  

• the strength of the story idea 
• how the story might connect with audiences 
• the impact of the previous work of the writer and, if involved, the producer  
• the strength of the case made for the potential career impact of funding for the writer and, if involved, the producer 
• the feasibility of the project to become a debut longform work, bearing in mind the potential costs of production 
• 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 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 funding is only intended to support filmmakers who otherwise will not be able to undertake the work involved (for example, because without National Lottery funding for their time during early development, they would be compelled to take on other paid work). Projects that have already secured third-party finance are not likely to be prioritised 
• the overall balance of projects receiving support, to ensure variety in the nature of the projects funded by the BFI 

Assessment process 

Following the closing dates for application, and completion of eligibility checks, all eligible applications will be assessed against the assessment criteria set out above by a minimum of two different people: BFI NETWORK Talent Executives and/or independent, external readers. In addition, we may share parts of your application with other BFI teams, or further external consultants, to help with our assessment. External consultants participating in the assessment process will be required to maintain confidentiality regarding the application contents and agree not to retain application materials following their review. 

We may contact you to suggest you revise your application, including making changes to your budget, before we make a final funding decision. We may also ask you for a meeting. This helps the Talent Executive gather the information needed to complete assessment of your application and does not mean that a decision or commitment has been made to fund your project.  

The Talent Executive in the project’s writer’s region will lead on making recommendations for funding to the BFI Lottery Finance Committee (LFC), which is the final decision stage. Projects that are not proceeding to Lottery Finance Committee consideration will be contacted to let them know their application has been unsuccessful. Our decision as to whether we wish to support your application is final.  

Lottery Finance Committee Consideration 

Following assessment of each application, funding recommendations will be made to the BFI LFC. We undertake due diligence assessments of the applications we are recommending to our decision-making committee for funding. As part of this, before submitting an application to the committee, we will request the bank details of the lead applicant. We will also request your personal address and date of birth. Our request for this information is not an indication or confirmation of funding and you will be informed separately of the funding decision on your application. We will use this data to run an identity check; this is not a credit check and will not affect your ability to receive credit from other organisations. We will be unable to submit your application to our decision-making committee until we have received your completed form. 

Timeline 

We’ll contact all applicants by Friday 8 March 2024 to let you know that either you’ve reached a final stage of assessment, or that we will not be supporting your application. 

All applicants will be informed in writing of the decision on their application. If we receive exceptionally high numbers of applications, if we approach you for additional information, or if there are other circumstances out of our control, it may take us longer to give you a decision. We will keep all applicants updated if the timeframe is likely to be extended.  

7. Getting a decision 

Successful applicants 

If we confirm we intend to fund your project, you will need to provide us with the following final materials and information which, subject to BFI’s rights of approval, will be included in your BFI NETWORK funding offer: 

• final budget 
• full legal names and addresses of the writer and any co-writer(s) or producer(s) involved in the project 
• your proposed delivery materials 
• your proposed delivery date 

Once we have reviewed and approved that information, you will receive a BFI NETWORK Early Development funding offer, setting out details of how you’ll receive the funding, how you must use it and how we expect you to report to us (see conditions of funding). You will need to sign the offer and return it to the BFI within 14 days. 

You will be assigned a BFI NETWORK Talent Executive who will act as the BFI Representative for your project. They will provide creative input and oversight and will be your main point of contact as you work on your materials. You will be invited to take part in training and professional development events as part of your award, attendance at some of which will be mandatory. 

BFI National Lottery Funding is project-based, time-limited funding, and as such, there should be no expectation of ongoing support beyond the term of any awards made. Receiving an Early Development Fund award does not mean you will automatically be eligible for, or be more likely to receive support from, the BFI Development Fund.  

Unsuccessful applicants 

We have a limited amount of funding to distribute and unfortunately this means we can only support a small percentage of the applications we receive. The funding opportunity is competitive and we receive many strong applications, which means some applications will be turned down even when they meet the assessment criteria outlined in these guidelines.   We may have turned down your application because we determined that your proposal: 

• did not sufficiently meet our core priorities, including in relation to engagement with the BFI Diversity Standards 
• featured an initial idea that was not substantial or persuasive enough to constitute a compelling debut longform proposal  
• was not a realistic project for development as a debut longform work, in terms of the challenge of raising later production finance 
• did not demonstrate enough relevant experience on the part of the writer or other core team members 
• did not demonstrate sufficient need for National Lottery support and could be financed by other means 

Due to the high levels of applications received, we are no longer able to provide feedback on applications to the Early Development Fund.  

Resubmission 

We only allow resubmission of applications that have been declined if we have directly recommended you further develop the application prior to resubmitting, or where you formally withdrew your application before we took a funding decision. If this applies to you and you submit a new application for the same project at a future funding round, please ensure that you clearly identify revised elements of the project in the new application. 

8. Opportunity to apply for additional funding for first draft 

Each project that is supported at treatment stage (Stage 1) will, providing the delivery materials are submitted to BFI by the agreed date, be permitted to make an additional funding application for support to take the project to first draft and a set of revisions (Stage 2). These projects will be sent a link to an additional funding application form, with guidance on how to complete the form and a deadline for submitting it. Only projects already supported at treatment stage will be able to apply for this funding and the applicant must remain the same individual at Stage 1 and 2. Applicants must continue to meet the eligibility criteria. 

Applicants will be able to seek between £8,000 to £12,500 to support the writing of a first draft and a set of revisions in response to BFI feedback. This amount can cover a: 

• writer’s allowance supporting writing time of up to £8,000 to cover a draft and a set of revisions building on Talent Executive notes
• producer’s allowance, where a producer is involved in the project, of up to £1,500. Applicants who do not have a producer can instead propose specific, relevant costs of up to £300 for securing a producer for their project, such as attending markets or networking forums
• script editor’s costs or the services of a relevant specialist or consultant linked with the subject matter of your project

Stage 2 funding does not support research costs or any other costs than those listed above. The BFI will review these costs on a case-by-case basis and may choose not to support some elements of your proposed budget. 

We anticipate supporting up to five first drafts per year from 2024 onwards, which means it is a competitive process and not all projects applying will receive funding. If you are applying for first draft support from this fund, please ensure that you do not incur expenditure in relation to a first draft or commence work on the draft without first having received an offer of additional funding from us; if you do proceed with work on the draft then we will assume that our funding is not needed and will decline the application. Supported teams will continue to work with a BFI NETWORK Talent Executive who will provide creative input on the draft. 

Applications will be assessed against the same assessment criteria detailed above and follow the same assessment process, with the exception that you will not be required to resubmit your personal information for an ID check prior to us making a funding decision. 

The Conditions of funding detailed below will apply to any additional funding awards made under these guidelines.  

9. Conditions of funding 

If your application for funding is successful then, in addition to the General Conditions of National Lottery Funding, the following conditions will apply to your award. These will be set out in more detail in your Early Development Funding Agreement. 

1. The award will take the form of a non-recoupable grant unless the project subsequently obtains BFI Development Fund support, in which case a condition of the BFI Development Fund award would be that the Early Development Fund award amount becomes repayable on the same terms as the BFI’s subsequent Development investment (which means that BFI will be repaid from the production budget of the project but only if it proceeds to production). In this scenario we will help move you onto our standard terms of funding.  

2. Unlike standard development funding, the BFI will not ask for a share of copyright in your project as a condition of Early Development funding and you will not be required to enter into a standard writer agreement at this point. The rights in the project can be held by the writer during the term of the Early Development funding (including at Stage 2 if the application is successful in receiving additional funding); this should be discussed between the writer and producer to determine what is in the best interest of the project. 

3. You will be required to include specified credits (for BFI NETWORK, our Film Hub partners and the National Lottery) on the development materials for the project and on the final project if it goes into production. 

4. A Talent Executive in your writer’s region will provide creative input and oversight of your project and will be your main point of contact.  

5. Subject to reasonable notice being provided by BFI, you may need to commit to take part in training and professional development events as part of your award. 

6. You will be signing a legal undertaking that the work being funded is wholly original to you and your team and that all third-party materials incorporated in the project are cleared, or capable of being cleared, for use in the project throughout the world, in all media in perpetuity.   

7. We intend to pay the award to the lead applicant; where there is more than one individual involved we will pay into a single bank account nominated by the team.

8. You will be required to finish work on your development materials and submit them to the Talent Executive by a specified delivery date for review and acceptance. 

9. The BFI will require certain approvals over your project.  

10. Early Development funding will be paid in stages (cashflowed), with the final payment subject to submission to us of your delivery materials in their final form. Any underspend on the award will be retained by, or reimbursed to, the BFI. 

11. The support provided by BFI NETWORK is only possible because of the National Lottery. We ask the filmmakers we fund to do everything they can to acknowledge the National Lottery as the source of this funding. This includes displaying the National Lottery logo on your early development documents; in film credits if your film later goes into production; related marketing materials, press releases and on the front pages of project and organisational websites. We ask beneficiaries to actively acknowledge and spread the word about their project being made possible by 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. 

12. You will need 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. 

13. You will be required to submit an Equality Monitoring Report at the end of the project. This will request information on the contributors to your project and where applicable will be used to measure success against the BFI Diversity Standards. 

14. The agreement will include standard termination provisions.