Applying for BFI National Lottery Development funding

Contents

1. About this funding
2. Aims of funding
3. Check if you’re eligible
4. What you can use funding for
5. What your project needs to achieve
6. How to apply
7. What happens after you apply
8. Getting a decision
9. Conditions of funding
10. Appendix A – Project-specific costs
11. Appendix B – Additional development funding

1. About this funding

The BFI National Lottery Filmmaking Fund invests 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. Its focus is on developing new, emerging and established talent in front of and behind the camera and encouraging risk in form and narrative approach.

BFI National Lottery Development funding supports film development projects that are unlikely to be commercially or privately financed at an early stage. We aim to award funding to distinctive fiction film projects from adventurous storytellers across a range of genres, approaches and perspectives, which reflect and represent a wide range of voices and backgrounds.

The fund can support the development of features from more experienced, as well as debut, writers and directors. Awards will be made in accordance with the scale, ambition and potential reach of each proposal. We may fund several stages of a development project, making a new award at each stage. If your project has already received an accumulated total of £60,000 funding from the BFI through previous stages, you must be able to articulate a clear route to production in order to access further funding.  If you are unable to do this, we are unlikely to support such a further request for funding. 

2. Aims of funding 

All projects receiving BFI National Lottery Development funding must meaningfully address the following principles and outcomes of the BFI’s 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.

3. Check if you’re eligible

All applications for funding must be submitted by your project’s lead producer who will be the main contact for the BFI. A writer cannot be their own producer.

The email address used to create the account and application must belong to the lead producer.  You can add one additional contact (that is not the director or the writer of the project) in the ‘Additional Contact’ section of the application form. They’ll be included in the correspondence about the application. 

Eligibility of applicant 

Applications can only be made by a person whose main role is as lead producer and the application must be made on behalf of, and in the name of, a limited company registered at Companies House (individuals cannot apply on their own behalf). That is a company that: 

• is registered and centrally managed in the UK
• is owned or co-owned by at least one company director whose main occupation is film and/or television producer
  • this company director can be the lead producer or can be the employer of the lead producer — if the latter the company director must also be named on the application form as producer or co-producer  (see Additional Contact section)
• operates as a production company in audiovisual production activities, and
• will own and control the copyright and other rights in the project during development  

The eligible applicant company can be co-owned by the writer or director provided that such person holds no more than a 50% shareholding of the company (that is the writer cannot have more than 50% significant control of the company).

Occasionally, projects are submitted to us that are co-owned by two production companies. In those instances one UK-registered company meeting the criteria above should be identified as the main or lead applicant (for the purposes of completing the application and for receiving any awarded funds) and, if successful, we may enter into the development funding agreement with both companies (but paying the award to the main applicant).  

The team

The lead producer must:

• be the project’s dedicated individual producer and not the writer or director of the project to ensure that there is a dedicated person with the necessary skillset to drive the project forward; ensuring that its overall creative vision is able to be realised and a valuable additional  perspective is provided; and have the ability to deal with the financial,  technical and legal  aspects of feature film development.  
• be a producer with an established track record in successfully delivering moving image work, which means having received a “producer” or “produced by” credit on previous projects which could be feature films, short films, television, music videos, artists’ moving image work. (We cannot accept applications where the  lead producer’s previous work is not screen-based)

Your team must be made up of at least two people across the three creative roles of writer, producer, and director. The writer and director can be the same person, but there must always be a dedicated lead producer, who is not also the writer or director of the project; and there must always be a writer attached or attaching to the project.  

All team members must be over 18 and not in full-time education.  

Eligibility of projects 

Projects must be stand-alone live action or animated fiction works with an intended running time of at least 70 minutes.

This fund does not support: 

• documentaries, which are supported through the National Lottery BFI Doc Society Fund
• immersive or video game projects
• projects which are intended primarily for broadcast television
• projects which focus on another art form such as literature, dance on film, poetry on film, opera or artists’ moving image

The applicant production company must have secured or be in the process of securing the rights in the project including any underlying adaptation rights, this would use of any published or unpublished written works, archival or biographical material.

The rights do not have to be in place at the point of application provided you are demonstrably confident that you will be able to irrevocably acquire (or in relation to adaptations of  existing work, irrevocably option) the rights during development and as a pre-condition to receipt of BFI funding.

If the project has already received third party development finance and that development financier has acquire 100% of the rights then, as a pre-condition to BFI funding, you would need to obtain a partial reassignment of rights to you as a pre-condition to BFI funding.   

You should be aware that if, you do receive an offer of funding but you are unable meet the pre-conditions to funding (that is you are unable to negotiate the documents necessary to secure the rights, or the rights documents supplied are considered to be not fit for purpose) you will not be able to recover any costs (including legal costs) incurred by you in trying to acquire those rights.     

All projects must: 

• be capable of qualifying for certification as a British film, once the film is made, either through the cultural test, or as an official co-production.  A summary of how points for the Cultural Tests are allocated and full guidance on British certification can be found on the BFI website.  Please note that your own assessment of your project as being capable of qualifying for certification does not mean that it will necessarily pass.  If you’re applying as an international co-development (instead of qualifying via the Cultural Test) then, at a minimum, the lead producer must be based in the UK and the applicant should be the majority co-producer/co-owner.  We acknowledge that during development many of the factors enabling you to pass the cultural test or as an official co-production are unknown and that factors can change during development
• be capable of obtaining a BBFC certificate, once the film is made, which is no more restrictive than BBFC ‘18’
• be able to address the aims of the funding, including for equality, diversity and inclusion through meeting Standard A of the BFI Diversity Standards  

Multiple applications 

Producers can make concurrent applications and have multiple projects in development with us provided they have different writers and (if applicable) directors attached.   

Before applying for multiple projects, you need to consider that:

• we are less likely to support a production company or a producer that has several projects already in development, as we want to ensure Lottery funding benefits a wide range of producers. We are therefore unlikely to support more than three projects from the same producer simultaneously
• if we have another project already in active development or production with the same writer or director attached (including where they are attached to a BFI-funded short film or BFI NETWORK Early Development Fund project), this will have a bearing on our decision to support the new application. If we do decide to award funding, it may be held back until the other project is at the end of its award  
• if a writer is involved in a project that is at late-stage development, with a reduced writing stage, we may consider an application for the writer to commence on a new project. However, this is at the discretion of the Filmmaking Fund team. 

Applications from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

If you are developing a feature film and your team includes a writer or writer/director residing in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has not yet had a feature produced, you must first approach your national agency.

You can subsequently apply to this fund if: 

• your application has been declined by your national agency  
• their stage of funding has been completed and they elect not to continue to fund
• they require you to raise co-finance for the development

If your writer or writer/director has had a feature produced previously, you may be eligible to apply for support from either or both the relevant national agency and BFI development funding. 

Applications from England

If you are a writer based in England, you may choose to apply for treatment funding through BFI NETWORK. You do not need to have a producer attached to apply for NETWORK funding, but you will need to meet other eligibility criteria.

Resubmission 

If your project has previously been declined by the BFI for development funding you will not be able to make a further application unless there has been a significant change to your original proposal.  This might include a change of director or a significant rewrite.  

Prior to resubmitting an application, the lead producer of the project must contact the Filmmaking Fund team on developmentcoordinator@bfi.org.uk to set out the basis for resubmission and seek confirmation that they are eligible to resubmit.

BFI Locked Box 

We will ask you in your application if you have previously received development or production funds from the BFI and whether you (the company, producer, writer or director) have a Locked Box Entitlement Agreement with the BFI:

• applicants with less than £20,000 in their BFI Locked Box can apply for development funding as normal
• applicants with more than £20,000 in their BFI Locked Box can apply for development funding as long as they intend to use at least the amount above £20,000 as co-finance towards the development budget, alongside the amount sought from the BFI. The Locked Box monies so advanced would be cashflowed first and before any award made under these guidelines. 

For more information, see the Locked Box factsheet. 

Get in touch with the team if you’re unsure whether you are eligible to apply for this funding: developmentcoordinator@bfi.org.uk.

4. What you can use funding for

Development costs can vary significantly from project-to-project and are dependent on the type of project and stage of development. If you have overestimated costs, we will ask you to reduce them as a condition of funding, so where possible you should not complete any deal negotiations or enter into contracts prior to discussion with the BFI.

Generally, a development award would be broken down into:

• writing fees, typically for a draft and set of revisions
  • this may include a treatment stage ahead of the draft if required
  • for projects nearing the end of script work, we may include a one-stage ‘polish’.
• producer fees
• producer overheads
• contribution towards external legal fees associated with securing the rights to make the film (and a television programme if that is the first audiovisual work to be made) based on the screenplay  

Depending on the needs of the project, other costs may include:

• script editor fees
• research fees
• location scouting
• casting
• recces 

See Appendix A for further information on what costs can be covered and guidance on fee levels. You must read this before completing your application.  

Stages of funding

We award development funding in stages. Typically, a stage will involve  script writing steps and associated costs. Stages are normally broken down as: 

• stage one: treatment, first draft and revisions; or (if treatment already written) first draft and revisions
• stage two: second draft and revisions

There may be further stages until a final pre-production stage is reached.

We usually offer support for one stage initially. The development process can take considerable time, and we need to ensure that National Lottery funds are not ‘locked up’ in several stages of commitment that might take years to complete.

The BFI award amount for a stage normally meets 100% of the ‘hard’ cash costs involved, where there is no third-party cash funding. Applications requesting a commitment from us for more than one stage will need to show cash partnership funding (potentially from a co-financier) as a contribution towards budgeted costs of those multiple stages.

Where your project is already in development then our first stage could be your third draft or polish and pre-production stage but will be labelled as BFI stage one. We may decide to fund the production of a pilot which could be a single stage or undertaken within and alongside a writing stage.  

Sometimes we are asked to co-develop alongside other funders. This does not mean that costs can be increased or doubled, particularly in relation to capped line items, as we are only likely to fund a proportion of the capped costs where there is co-finance (reducing the request to BFI and the co-financier rather than increasing the overall costs of development).

If your project has already received development funding from a third party then we will need to know the amount received, what it was spent on and the terms and conditions attaching to that third party funding in order to inform whether BFI is able to co-fund.  If that co-financier has acquired 100% of the rights in the project you will need to obtain a partial reassignment of those rights in order for BFI to be able to secure its funding against a share of rights ownership.   You do not need to do this at the point of application but it will be a pre-condition to BFI funding.  

We may invite a project to apply for an additional stage once the previous stage is completed. See Appendix B: Additional development funding for more information.

Eligible costs

You will need to provide a budget as part of your application. See appendix A for eligible costs. Any award made by the BFI is recoupable (alongside other development expenditure) from the production budget of the first film (or television programme) based on the screenplay. It is important therefore to ensure that such costs will be affordable within the production budget.

When preparing your application budget please bear in mind the following: 

• all line items in the budget must be reasonable and, noting that development funding is repaid from the production budget, affordable in the context of the size of production budget.
• fees paid during development to each of the producer, writer and director should always be an advance against (rather than in addition to) the fees that they will receive from the production budget of the film (if made) (those fees are normally referred to as the principal photography payment or contingent compensation).  
• we are not allowed to provide ‘retrospective funding’; this means that we will not pay for work or costs already commenced or incurred before we issue our offer of funding. The only exception that we may make to this is to reimburse the initial cost of an option if:
  • we consider the cost of the option to be reasonable
  • you entered into the option agreement within one month of making an application for funding to us
  • provided that the option agreement is robust, fit for purpose and does not need amendment

See Appendix A – Project-specific costs for guidance on the costs we can cover, the amounts you can request and explanatory notes.

Ineligible costs

Costs that we cannot support include:

• core costs for the day-to-day running of your production company not associated with the development of the film
• activity that is already specifically supported by another external source of funding
• costs incurred prior to an offer of funding from BFI
• costs identified as ineligible in Appendix A – Project-specific costs
• market and festival attendance

This list is not exhaustive and we may inform you that other types of activity within your application cannot be supported by a BFI award.

Pilots

We occasionally provide funding for a pilot or proof of concept version of a project as part of the development process, but this happens at the invitation of the BFI only and when the project is already in receipt of development funding from us.  We do not accept applications for pilots from projects not already in receipt of a development award.

Partnership funding and other 

Applicants for National Lottery funding need to demonstrate an element of partnership support, which can include cash or in-kind resources, demonstrating that there is genuine support for the project (whether from the wider film industry or coming from within your own organisation).

We don’t act as a commissioner of development projects and our funding is only a contribution towards overall costs of development of your project. We recognise that cash partnership funding, particularly from a third party, can be difficult to raise at development stage and may offer funding to cover the ‘hard’ cash costs of development in full. We acknowledge that some costs of development, particularly costs above the caps, will effectively be met by the production company by way of in-kind support.

BFI National Lottery Funding is project-based, time-limited funding, and as such, there should be no expectation of ongoing support beyond the stage of funding awarded. 

5. What your project needs to achieve

Key Performance Indicators

We will measure the success of the Development Fund using the following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which, if awarded, your project will contribute to:

• number of new projects supported per year: 30
• writers, directors and producers new to BFI National Lottery funding: 20%
• development projects converted to production within five years: 15%
• geographic spread of writers, directors and producers:
  • 45% based in England outside of London and the South East;
  • 15% based in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales
• geographic spread of production company (lead applicant):
  • 42% based in England outside of London and the South East;   
  • 13% based in NI, Scotland or Wales

Equity, diversity and inclusion

We ask applicants to address equity, diversity and inclusion by engaging with the BFI Diversity Standards for film. Development funding 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. If successful, you’ll need to report following the conclusion of your activity, evaluating how you’ve delivered against the aims of the Diversity Standards in practice.

Your project will contribute towards achieving our BFI inclusion targets for writers, directors and  producers.

UK-wide 

Projects should address and contribute to delivering against the BFI’s UK-wide principle.

Our funding supports national, regional, and local activity to ensure that communities throughout the UK feel the benefit of the screen industries and culture. You’ll need to tell us where your project will be produced and shot, if it’s made, and how this will support the BFI’s UK-wide principle. You can do this considering:  

• where your core team are based
• where your project’s story is set
• where you plan to base the production
• plans for engaging local communities during development and production
• potential for place-based community/audience engagement when the film is released

Environmental sustainability  

All applicants for BFI development funding need to plan their project, from development stage onwards, with the environment and the climate crisis in mind. In your application, you will need to tell us about how environmental sustainability will be embedded in the development of your project. 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.   
When completing your application, you should consider:

• the impact of your approach to development
• where your energy comes from, in offices and on location
• what materials you consume
• how your project’s themes or approaches engage with the climate emergency
• how creative choices during development could influence the potential environmental impacts of the film as a physical production 

You’ll need to outline how environmental sustainability principles will be embedded into your project. 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 film as a physical production 

For guidance, we recommend exploring BAFTA albert’s climate content, which offers practical resources to engage with climate storytelling from the outset.

If you’re awarded funding, at least one member of the creative team must complete a relevant BAFTA albert academy workshop.

6. How to apply

When you can apply

This fund is open year-round, with an annual closure window. Opening and closing dates are announced on the Development funding page.

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’ll need to provide 

Lead contact and organisation details 

You’ll need to provide:

• details of the lead producer and the company through which the application is being made
• details of another contact who you would like to be copied on project correspondence (if applicable)  

Project and team details

You’ll need to provide:

• project title/working title
• the amount of funding you are seeking from the BFI
• details of the lead and other individual producer(s), writer(s) and director(s) or writer/director(s), including their key credits
• project logline

We will also ask if you have applied for production or development funding from other BFI funds (including BFI NETWORK and UK Global Screen Fund) for this project.

Creative proposal

You’ll need to provide:

• story/ synopsis
• your creative vision and your aspirations for the film (ideally completed by the writer or director)  
• description of the development work carried out to date (including any cash costs incurred and details of previous finance if any)
• CV summaries and previous work of the writer, producer and, if applicable, the director  
• links to examples of previous work from your producer, writer and director (if there is a director attached)
• declaration of  whether your project is an adaptation of an underlying work
• confirmation that you have secured, or you have a contractual right to secure, the rights in the project (including any underlying material which you plan to incorporate in the script)
• declaration that the project (if made) will be capable of qualifying as ‘British’ film and of BBFC certification no more restrictive than “18” rating

Production

You’ll need to provide:

• information on your current plans for production (if your project is already at a late stage of development), including any ideas you have for casting and Heads of Department
• the environmental impact of your development activity, an initial consideration of the impact of the film’s production, and how your project engages creatively with the climate and environment
• where your development work will take place in the UK, including the location of your writer, director and producer, and the places your film will represent onscreen

Finance

You’ll need to provide:

• the amount of funding you are seeking from the BFI for your project’s development stage, alongside its total cost, with an attached budget breakdown of these costs. Your budget should state the stage of development you are requesting (e.g. writing a treatment, first draft, second draft, finance packaging, pre-production)  
• your potential, actual or previous co-financier and any expenditure to date  
• an estimate of the anticipated total production budget  
• any unusual or challenging technical or budgetary requirements that you foresee  
• an indication of your anticipated path to production
• whether you have applied or are applying for other development funding (e.g. co-finance from other territories UK broadcasters, or other national agencies)
• your case for National Lottery good cause support

At an early stage of development we do not expect you to be able to fully address all of the above Production and Finance points, but ask that you show us how you are thinking ahead and can envision your route to production and distribution.

BFI Diversity Standards

You will need to complete a Diversity Standards form as part of your application. The Diversity Standards form is accessed by a link from the main application form and provides 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 Development fund application before it can be submitted.   

You’ll be asked to fill in a detailed response to Standard A, and then a summary of how your project engages with Standards B-E. We recognise that, particularly in the earlier phases of development, many elements of your project will still be subject to revision.

Your Diversity Standards form should outline your current plans, indicating where you have a definite strategy to develop an area further. We may ask you to further develop your ideas before we can make a funding decision. If you are awarded funding, you will be expected to build on your initial plans as your project progresses, and you should articulate the advancements you make in any future applications to the BFI for the project.

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 to your application:  

• relevant project documents that provide a full and clearly articulated story, which may include a:
  • synopsis
  • treatment
  • visual deck
  • draft script of your project in standard industry format, submitted as a PDF or Word doc. If the form of your project doesn’t lend itself to regular script presentation, please email us at developmentcoordinator@bfi.org.uk to agree the format for your submission
• your proposed budget for one stage of funding and information about any deal terms or proposed payment for subsequent drafts that may be in negotiation with any participants (such as your writer)
• any other materials relevant to the project, if you haven’t provided links in a previous section

Equality monitoring form

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 developmentcoordinator@bfi.org.uk before submitting your application  

Submitting your application

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. 

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

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:

7. What happens after you apply?

We’ll send you confirmation that that we’ve received your application within five working days. If you have not received an email from us within five working days (and have checked in your junk folder for it), please email developmentcoordinator@bfi.org.uk. 

We aim to inform all applicants if we are recommending their project for approval to our Grant and Lottery Finance Committee within 12 weeks. However, if we receive exceptionally high numbers of applications, or when 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 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

Assessment criteria 

Your application will be assessed against how well it meets the aims of the fund. We will also consider: 

• the ambition of the creative proposal
• the prior work of the filmmaking team  
• our view of the audience potential for the project
• the strength of the case made for the potential career impact of making this film, for the team involved
• our opinion of the feasibility of the film being realised and its chance to convert to production
• if the application is for late stage development costs: whether there is a viable route to production
• how you and your team have managed any previous BFI awards
• your demonstration of need for National Lottery funding.  
  • our funding is not intended to substitute or replace existing funding or income that would otherwise be available, or to fund activity at the same scale that can go ahead without an award
  • 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 from the BFI, to ensure variety in the work being funded

Assessment process 

We receive many more applications than we can support and each application undergoes rigorous assessment.  

During the assessment process, we may contact you to ask for more information. If this is necessary, it may take us longer to reach a decision on your application.  

Throughout the assessment process 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.

Step one 

Eligible applications will be assessed by two staff members from the BFI Filmmaking Fund team. Materials may also be sent out to our pool of external script readers for an additional perspective.

Step two

A decision is made to either decline the application, or continue to assess it, after discussion with the wider Filmmaking Fund team. We might request further materials at this point.

Step three

If we continue to assess your application, your project team may be invited for a meeting where the materials and scope of the development work will be discussed. 

Step four 

We will carry out due diligence checks along with a detailed review of your proposed development budget with our Legal & Business Affairs and Production Finance colleagues who will also look at relevant supporting information to ensure financial viability and that the project is likely to conform to the BFI’s terms and conditions of funding.  We may request that you amend specific budget lines and allocations, and/or decide to offer you a different amount to the one you have requested. We will send you a copy of the proposed budget and cashflow schedule to verify that the line items and amounts are correct. Once that budget and cashflow schedule is agreed with you it is locked and we will not subsequently be able to increase the award amount.

Step five 

We will undertake due diligence assessments of the applications we are recommending to our decision-making committee for funding. As part of this, before applying to the committee, we must then carry out  checks on the application and will undertake the following:

• review the application again to check if the project and team still meet all of the 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)
• 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.

Step six – Grant and Lottery Finance Committee consideration

Following assessment of each application, funding recommendations will be made to the BFI Grant and Lottery Finance Committee. This is the final stage of the funding decision process.

Only some projects will progress from one step to the next, and applications may be declined at any step, including following our assessment and due diligence checks. 

8. Getting a decision

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
• did not demonstrate sufficient need for National Lottery support and should be financed by other means

This is an extremely competitive fund. We receive many more applications than we have funds available to support and unfortunately this means we have to decline the majority of submitted applications, including those with clear potential and sometimes 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.  

Feedback 

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

If your project reaches step 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. 

If you’re application is successful

We will send you a conditional offer of funding which you will need to sign and return to the BFI within 14 days. 

Once this is signed, you will be required to enter into a development funding agreement with the BFI that sets out the conditions of our funding such as how you’ll receive the funding, how you must use it and how we expect you to report to us. 

9. Conditions of funding

If we offer you an award, in addition to the General Conditions of National Lottery Funding, the following conditions will apply to your award:

1. Use and cashflow of award

The award can only be used to develop the project, by those individuals identified in your application, and as set out in a development budget and cashflow for the stage which will be incorporated into the development funding agreement. Subject to satisfaction of the pre-conditions to funding, development funding will be paid in steps (cashflowed) within the stage, with payments subject to delivery of specified items (such as drafts, revisions, budget and schedule) by specified dates. Any underspend on the award will be retained by, or reimbursed to, BFI (reducing the total amount to be repaid as set out in paragraph 4 below). 

2. Pre-conditions to funding (chain of title and clearance agreements)

You will need to establish intellectual property rights ownership of your project prior to first payment including obtaining an assignment of all rights in the screenplay (excluding stage, radio and novelisation rights which may be reserved to the writer); all rights from any other contributors to the film; and, if applicable, an option, licence or assignment over certain rights in any underlying work (the screenplay itself or any other work such as a treatment written prior to the application for funding do not count as an underlying work and we expect the assignment of rights within the writer agreement to incorporate such earlier steps). We will identify in discussion with you and in the development funding agreement, what chain of title or clearance agreements are necessary, at a minimum, to release our funding. You will always be required, at a minimum,  to hold and control all film and television rights in the screenplay itself (in order to ensure repayment of the BFI funding from the first audiovisual work produced based on the development work) and have the irrevocable right to adapt any underlying work into a feature film. However, in order to develop your company’s intellectual property, you may wish to acquire additional rights (such as other adaptation rights in the underlying work). You should obtain your own legal advice in relation to chain of title and clearance documents for your project. 

You will be able to offer a right of turnaround to the writer (or the director if they originated the project) provided that is conditional upon that person assuming your ongoing contractual obligations to BFI (primarily in relation to repayment of funding, net profit participation and a credit). 

If you are unable to obtain the required rights to make the film our offer of funding will lapse and we will not be able to reimburse any costs (such as legal fees) that you have already incurred. 

If at any point during a stage you do not hold all required rights to make the film (for instance if you allow an option over the underlying work to lapse) then we cannot pay out the balance of the award for that stage and we may require repayment of sums already advanced.   

3. Approvals

The BFI will require approvals over all chain of title or clearance documents, and sources and amounts of other funding. We may ask you to make changes to the associated documents in order to ensure that you are compliant with the conditions of our funding and/or to ensure that they are fit for purpose. We consider that creating a robust chain of title to be a key component of developing the project as it is a pre-requirement for production. You must disclose all documentation already in place in relation to the project and all expenditure incurred to date. 

During development the BFI will require approval over the development work itself, any proposed changes to the budget or cashflow, third party finance, or to the main elements of the film (including writer, director, producer and script editor as applicable). 

After completion of the stage including after formal turnaround BFI will retain approval over any assignment or transfer of rights in the project although our other approval rights may lapse.   

4. Recoupment of the award

The BFI development funding takes the form of a recoupable investment. It will need to be repaid to BFI no later than the first day of principal photography of any audiovisual work (whether film or television programme) based on the project. The BFI does not waive recoupment of development funding.

If you proceed to production and repay the development funding from the production budget, and provided that you are an independent UK film producer, we may ring-fence that money in a Locked Box account provided that the Locked Box initiative is still continuing by the time your project goes into production and subject to the terms of that initiative. You can then access this money to spend on the development or production funding of your next eligible project as if it were your own investment in that project (i.e. you will not then have to repay it) or on staff skills training. Conditions apply to this recycling of development monies including: a. you must apply to draw-down these recycled monies within 10 years of repayment unless your entitlement to the recycled monies is terminated earlier by BFI; b. this offer is not available when our funding is for pre-production activity or where we are providing funding for a pilot or test scenes; c. there is a cap of £100,000 on the amount that can be ring-fenced per project against any repayment sum.

5. Copyright and other rights in the project

You will be required to assign a share of all rights, title and interest in and to the project including copyright to the BFI (normally the share is 50% of all rights). You will not be able to sell the rights in the project without the BFI’s prior written consent, or make the film or any other work based on the screenplay or project (e.g. television programme), without obtaining a written re-assignment of those rights from us which we will provide subject to repayment of the BFI development funding (as per paragraph 3 above) and BFI being contractually accorded its net profit participation and branding/credit.   If a previous financier has already acquired 100% of the rights in the project then you will be required to obtain a partial reassignment of those rights to you to enable you to transfer that share to BFI. 

6. Credit

You will be required to provide a credit to the BFI including the BFI National Lottery logo and other branding and publicity as outlined in the General Conditions of National Lottery Funding

7. Net profit participation

You will be required to provide BFI with a share of net profits from any film or television programme based on the project. The percentage share will be set out in the development funding agreement and is on a sliding scale linked to the amount of BFI development funding provided. 

8. Delivery dates/completion of stage

You will need to complete the development work by specified dates or the funding will have to be repaid. Keeping to the agreed delivery schedule is particularly important in cases where you have been granted an option over underlying work as you need to ensure that the development work is completed within the option period. You should not assume that the BFI will provide additional funding to cover the costs of option renewals, particularly where you have submitted work to us after your original agreed delivery date to BFI. Ensuring that the project remains ‘within option’ is your responsibility (failure to do so will place you in breach of contract with the BFI), and your commitment to fund any option renewals is evidence of your continuing faith in the project. 

9. Creative support

Our involvement with your project is more active than simply providing financial support, so while we are funding the project you will need to provide us with deliverables such as the drafts and/or revisions and we will often provide editorial feedback or advice to help the project progress. You should allow at least six weeks from delivery for us to provide any feedback and approval before commencing the next part of the work. The development agreement will include delivery dates for the stage including steps within the stage. It is your responsibility to ensure these dates are met and we may terminate funding and require repayment of sums advanced if you do not deliver on time. If you have failed to meet your delivery deadline but have extenuating circumstances please make the Development Coordinator and your Film Fund executive aware. 

10. Additional funding

As outlined in Appendix B of these guidelines, we may fund several stages of a development project, making a new award each time. All such further awards will be provided on the same terms and conditions as the initial funding and will also be repayable as per paragraph four above. 

11. Diversity Standards

You will be required to deliver against the undertakings 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 BFI. 

12. Clarity

During the development process you should always use the project’s working title and all communications related to the project should use this name even if you choose to change the project’s name at a later stage of the process.

13. SIF Levy

If you receive a National Lottery development award from the BFI, we expect you to include payment of the Skills Investment Fund (SIF) Levy in your production budget when the film converts.

14. Subsidy control

All awards made under through the BFI Filmmaking Fund will be compliant with the UK’s Subsidy Control Act 2022 and any other relevant subsidy control rules and regulations, as required by the UK government, which are subject to change. In order to meet subsidy transparency requirements, the BFI is required to publish details of any successful application which receives more than £100,000 of funding (including cumulatively over the course of development or production of the film) on the subsidy transparency database (the Subsidy Database) within three months of the date of the award (or the date at which the cumulated awards exceed £100,000). The details published will include at a minimum:

• amount of subsidy received (the award amount)
• company name
• company registration number
• company size
• that the company is a provider of goods
• region
• sector

This is separate and in addition to the BFI’s publication of all National Lottery awards made on our own website. 

10. Appendix A: Project-specific costs

The information below provides guidance on cost types, some cost caps and notes to use when putting together your application budget. This list is routinely revised to ensure that any caps continue to be reasonable. 

Cost and budget line item

Writer fees

The amount that you offer to the writer for each stage of development should be proportionate to the total budget of the film (noting that these fees are an advance against the writer fee payable from the production budget) and fee levels will vary depending on the experience of the writer.

• we expect fees for subsequent/later drafts to be less than for first draft and to reduce proportionately each time there is a new stage. The budget should detail the amount of writer fees required for the first BFI stage
• you don’t need to finalise these terms with the writer prior to application as we may suggest adjustments

Director’s development services

• your budget may include an advance for the director if they are working with the writer on the draft, preparing a ‘director’s pass’, undertaking pre-production work or directing a pilot. We do not support fees for purely retaining a director on a project
• the amount that you offer to the director for each stage of development should be proportionate to the total budget of the film (noting that these fees are an advance against the director fee payable from the production budget) and fee levels will vary depending on the experience of the director

Option fees to acquire underlying rights

• these payments are only offered to option the rights to adapt pre-existing (published) works for the screen or potentially to obtain a life rights release
• the option period should be a minimum of 18 months, with the ability to renew for a further period of 12 to 18 months
• if the project is already in development and within option at the point of application you should consider the time required to complete the stage and, if applicable, include the option renewal cost within the budget (noting the due date for renewal)
• we will not offer funding to a project that has less than 10 months left to run on an option (at the point of the BFI making an offer of funding) unless you have made provision for renewal
• option fees are viewed on a case-by-case basis and are likely to vary dependent on the popularity of the underlying work. We are unlikely to pay for adaptations of very popular works as such a film is more likely to be attractive to and funded by the commercial sector

Script editor fees

• these may be offered dependent on project need. If appointed, we expect script editors to attend all creative meetings you have with the BFI on the project
• we can, on request, supply a template script editor agreement for use on the project

Access support

If any members of your core team (or cast or crew on a pilot) have personal access needs that will incur a cost during the development of your project, you can include these costs in your request to us. 

We define such needs as specific support required by people who are disabled or have a physical or mental health diagnosis, which will result in an actual cash cost to your development budget, for example, additional transport or accommodation costs or a personal assistant for a team member with a learning disability or mental health diagnosis to assist during development.

Research expenses

These are subject to discussion with the BFI. This may include travel and expenses associated with undertaking research and/or purchasing research materials directly associated with developing the project. Payment will be subject to you supplying us with copies of the relevant receipts.

Workshop Expenses

We may support casting workshops and/or writer’s rooms if necessary for the development process.  Payment of our award will be subject to receipt of copy invoices etc.

Other items: executive producer or mentor, story-boarding, pilot, camera tests

Other less common development activity includes support for executive producer/mentors; story-boarding and production of a pilot or camera tests.  We are less likely to provide funding for these items but will review any request to do so on a case by case basis. Read more information on pilots.

Capped fees

Producer fees: 

Up to £3,000 per stage.

Production company overheads

• the cap varies dependant on whether the production company is classed as ‘emerging’ or ‘established’.
• the company can elect how to use its overheads and is not required to account to us for the expenditure. This contribution is normally used for accountancy costs, additional legal costs (see below), office rent, equipment purchase and similar. 

Producer overheads – emerging

• up to £4,000 per stage (for the first stage, reduced to £3,000 for any subsequent stages).

‘Emerging’ is defined as having no more than three feature film projects produced and/or comparable television, theatre or immersive work.

Producer overheads – established

• up to £3,000 per stage.

‘Established’ is defined as having four or more feature film projects produced and/or comparable television, theatre or immersive work.

Legal fees

• up to £3,500 for writer agreement.
• up to £2,000 for option & assignment agreement over pre-existing underlying standalone work or for director development services agreement (if applicable) or other required document if agreed by the BFI.
• the BFI can supply a Script Editor Agreement template or simple amendment agreement templates (for writer or director) to successful applicants. If the amendment required is not simple we may contribute up to £500 for each such required document.   
• we will identify, during the application process, what legal documents (chain of title and clearance documents) need to be in place for you to be able to successfully start the proposed stage of funding and have the right and power to make the film.
• in order to ensure the production company holds the required rights you can request a contribution towards your external legal costs associated directly with preparing and negotiating those required documents  (e.g. writer agreement, option/assignment over any underlying published work, director development services agreement, as applicable).
• at a minimum, the production company is expected to obtain an immediate assignment of all rights in all drafts of the screenplay from the writer as a precondition to our funding (except for radio, stage and novelisation rights which may be reserved to the writer). We do not accept options over screenplays.   
• if there is pre-existing standalone published work then you will need to obtain an assignment over certain rights (at a minimum to be able to make the film) or an irrevocable option to acquire such rights.
• a contribution towards legal fee costs will only be covered by a BFI award where you engage an external legal practitioner, normally a qualified solicitor, with direct and demonstrable film experience and knowledge and where BFI is not required to make substantial corrections to documents produced by the legal practitioner
• we do not support any costs you may incur relating to reviewing or negotiating our BFI development agreement (the terms of which are set out in these guidelines) or to prepare documents that we do not consider essential during the relevant stage of development.

Necessary travel and accommodation expenses demonstrably relating to the project’s development needs

• our contributions would be capped as follows:
  • £150 accommodation per night (for major city/overseas)
  • £135 accommodation per night– regional UK.
  • travel including flights: Economy only, no flights within mainland UK and no taxis unless related to an access requirement.
  • £40 for subsistence (food)
    • breakfast: £10
    • lunch: £10
    • dinner: £20

this aligns with general conditions attaching to use of public funding and we will not cover costs of first class travel or accommodation, hospitality or general subsistence.

• travel and accommodation costs are only funded by BFI where they are reasonably required for research; recces, or where teams are based in different parts of the UK and need to meet for the purposes of furthering the project (e.g. for a workshop).
• we would expect teams to use online meeting tools where possible to minimise travel and to act in accordance with environmental sustainability principles.
• we would only contribute to meals/subsistence directly associated with approved travel and accommodation. 

Late stage development costs 

Costs subject to approval from the Filmmaking Fund team and only agreed when the project is in the run up to production.

Director development services

• emerging — £3,500 per stage
• established — £4,500 per stage

Budget and schedule fees

• capped up to £3,000 for project with a production budget at/under £3.5m
• up to £5,000 for projects with a production budget over £3.5m

Casting

Case by case, if you need to employ a casting director to undertake initial key casting or availability lists.

Location recces

Case-by-case. See limits on expenses as set out above.

11. Appendix B: Additional development funding 

When you have delivered all of the materials and completed  a stage of funding, you can have a discussion with us regarding the next steps for the project. This could include identifying that: 

• the project is ready for production funding. You may be able to raise finance independently or may want to submit an application for production funding to us. If, following a production application, we decide not to offer production funding, we will not be able to make further awards of development funding unless and until there is a material change to the project allowing you to meet the conditions for resubmission as set out above. BFI production funding is an open application process and being a recipient of BFI Development funding will not give you any advantage over other applicants.
• you want to approach other organisations for funding, or no longer wish to develop the project, or we can no longer provide development funding towards the project, in which case the project will effectively be in turnaround from us. At this point you can request formal confirmation of turnaround from our Legal & Business Affairs department; you will be entitled to further develop any of the materials developed for the project and most of the BFI’s approval rights will lapse. The BFI will continue to own a percentage of all rights, title and interest in and to the development work and you will not be able to transfer the rights to another company, without our consent, or make the film until we have re-assigned those to you (when we are repaid the development funding).
• the project needs further development funding which you’d like to apply to the BFI for. If you want further development funding from us, the following process takes place:
  1. We will discuss what further work is required and the proposed budget for this work. We will then share a link to an additional funding application form. This does not guarantee that the application will be successful.
  2. The additional application is assessed, including a review of a new budget for the stage.
  3. Budget lines are subject to change at this stage and final amounts are agreed with applicants. Once that budget is agreed the amount of funding for the stage cannot be modified.   
  4. If we decide to support this further application it will be submitted to the Grant and Lottery Finance Committee for approval and, if approved, an additional offer of funding is issued on the same terms as the development funding agreement.   

Please ensure that you do not incur expenditure in relation to a new stage of  development without first having received that additional offer of funding from us. 

Projects may come in for multiple stages of additional funding depending on the individual needs of the project and conversations with the BFI. We expect that once projects have received an accumulated total of £60,000 funding from the BFI, you should be able to articulate a clear route to production. If you are unable to do this, we are unlikely to support any further requests for funding.