Applying for BFI and Film4 Future Takes

In this guide:

About this funding
Aims of funding
Check if you’re eligible
What you can use the funding for
What your project needs to achieve
How to apply
What happens after you apply
Getting a decision
Conditions of our funding
Appendix A – Festivals, awards ceremonies and platforms
Appendix B – Delivery materials

These guidelines were updated on 8 September 2025.

1. About this funding

BFI and Film4 Future Takes offers support for higher-budget short form work from teams of writers, directors and producers based in the UK. Projects must either be scripted live action work, or hybrid documentary involving scripted or dramatised elements, with an intended running time of up to 25 minutes with budgets from £60,000 to £90,000.

Future Takes will benefit from the expertise and reach of BFI NETWORK. We’re seeking applications from across the UK, and we’ll be working with our BFI NETWORK partners UK-wide during the open call and assessment process. Future Takes is seeking teams with more experience than those who generally apply for our BFI NETWORK funds, specifically with ambitious higher-budget projects that can gain major recognition and open up new opportunities for the filmmakers involved.

Successful projects will receive creative oversight from both BFI and Film4 and the funded filmmaking teams will be required to participate in a skills development and industry programme.

The BFI will contribute National Lottery funding as a grant to each funded project, and Film4’s funding will in part purchase a license of certain distribution and broadcast rights. BFI and Film4 intend to exhibit the finished project on their platforms.

We are looking to fund up to six short films and hope to receive applications with a range of budget levels and requests between £60,000 and £90,000.

2. Aims of this funding

All projects funded by Future Takes must address at least three of the following aims, which are also detailed in the stated principles and outcomes of the BFI National Lottery strategy:

Equity, diversity and inclusion — People from under-represented groups across the UK access the support they need to develop their careers and skills.
Impact and audience — People across the UK access a wider choice of film and the moving image, including stories that reflect their lives.
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.
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.
UK-wide — Everyone across the UK should be able to experience and create the widest range of screen culture.
Environmental sustainability — Screen organisations significantly reduce their carbon footprint.

3. Check if you’re eligible

To allow enough time for assessment, and for legal paperwork to be completed if the application is successful, the proposed first day of principal photography for eligible projects must be no less than 28 weeks after the closing date of this fund.

In very exceptional circumstances you can request permission to apply with a principal photography date that is less than 28 weeks from the closing date of the fund and such permission will be granted entirely at our discretion.

Eligibility of filmmaking team

Your team must be made up of at least two people across the three creative roles of writer, producer, and director (and see below for specific eligibility criteria for each role). The writer and director can be the same person, but there must always be a dedicated producer, who cannot also be the writer or director of the project.

All team members must be resident in the UK and need to be fully available to carry out their role and not take on potentially conflicting roles on the same project.

Live action fiction projects need to have a writer, director and producer attached before an application can be made. Hybrid documentaries need to have, as a minimum, a separate director and producer.

All team members must be over 18 and not in full-time education. If you are currently in full-time education, you can apply providing your course or studies will be completed within two months of the closing date of the call for applications, so that you will be fully available from that point to work on a funded project.

Eligibility of applicant (lead producer)

All applications for funding must be submitted by your project’s lead producer who will be the main contact for the BFI and Film4. The email address used to create the BFI Account and application must belong to the lead producer. If you would like to add a further contact to be copied into correspondence relating to the application, please provide details of this contact in the ‘Communication Preference’ section of the application form.

The lead producer must:

be the project’s dedicated individual producer and not the writer or director of the project
apply through a limited company registered and centrally managed in the UK which they are either a director of or employed by on an ongoing basis
apply with the company that has secured or has a contractual right to secure, the rights (including any underlying rights) in the idea you are proposing
be a producer with an established track record in moving image work, which means having a ‘Producer’ or ‘Produced by’ credit on previous projects, at least one of which needs to have had a budget of £20,000 or more
- previous projects could be feature films, short films, television, music videos, immersive projects, artists’ moving image work etc. We cannot accept applications from producers whose only previous work is not screen-based

If you are earlier in your career, and unable to meet the above criteria, you may be eligible for BFI NETWORK funding and support.

Eligibility of director

Your director must either have:

not yet had a feature film (minimum length 60 minutes) produced and commercially distributed in the UK
had no more than one feature film produced and commercially distributed in the UK and:
- has not yet been able to progress to making another long-form work
- can make a case that realising a short film through this fund will provide them with significant career benefits

All eligible directors must have an established creative track record in scripted moving image (short film, feature film, television, music video, immersive projects, artists’ moving image work) to demonstrate their ability to realise the vision for the proposed Future Takes short film.

The director must have a ‘Director’ or ‘Directed by’ credit on at least two previous pieces of work, both of which should have:

been screened in the main programme at a festival listed in Appendix A, or;
won or been nominated for an award at a ceremony listed in the Appendix A, or;
been broadcast on an Ofcom-regulated channel or platform in the UK (or on a channel/platform outside the UK with an equivalent reach) or on one of the platforms listed in Appendix A, or;
received commercial online distribution (excluding self-distribution), including through subscription streaming services or online commissioning platforms

Eligibility of writers

There is no minimum experience required and the submitted script will be the basis on which we assess the writer’s contribution to the project.

Applying with more than one project

Directors, writer-directors and writers (and co-writers and co-directors) may only be attached to a single application per round.

Producers can be attached to up to two applications, as long as they’re the producer of both.

If a writer, director or producer is involved in other applications that are seeking funds (or have secured funds) from the BFI (including BFI NETWORK) you should let us know in your application.

Eligibility of projects

Projects should be audacious and original, and budgets should reflect scale, ambition and reach of the proposal.

Projects must be scripted live action work or hybrid documentary comprising scripted or dramatised elements.

Projects can include immersive or animated elements but should not primarily be in these formats, as these are supported by separate BFI funds.

We are likely to primarily support work that is original to the writer involved, but we are also open to supporting short films that adapt underlying material (for example, a short story that demands a higher-budget, visionary adaptation).

Your project should be fully funded through Future Takes. We will not support projects where the budget exceeds what you are requesting from us (unless you plan to use your own private funds). If you have already secured some finance for your project and are unsure whether you are eligible to apply to us, please email us at future.takes@bfi.org.uk.

All projects must:

have a fully developed production ready script submitted as part of the application
have a realistic budget of no less than £60,000 and no more than £90,000 and be fully funded through Future Takes
films must be 25 minutes or less
be intended primarily for theatrical distribution, and not for broadcast television
be a stand-alone work (we will not support pilots for feature film or television series through this fund although we acknowledge that some projects may have the potential, further down the line, to be developed into other longer forms or formats)
must have a proposed first day of principal photography that is no less than 28 weeks after the closing date of this fund, in order to allow enough time for the BFI to assess the application and, if it is successful, for the legal paperwork required to be completed
provide viewing links to the director’s previous work — the viewing link must be provided with a password that does not expire during the assessment period. Please only include links to the full films or episodes, not trailers or selects, which we can view without needing a subscription or a login
be capable of qualifying for certification as a British film through the applicable cultural test
- if you need advice as to whether your project is capable of qualifying, email certifications@bfi.org.uk before applying
have secured (or you have a contractual right to secure) the rights, including any underlying rights, in the idea you are proposing. This includes use of any necessary archive or biographical material. You will be required to provide a summary of the chain of title as part of your application and then further proof of this prior to any funding offer or payment of any award from the BFI
be capable of obtaining a BBFC certificate which is no more restrictive than BBFC ‘18’
clearly engage with the aims of the funding

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.

When you’re ineligible

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

you are seeking development rather than production funding
your project is over 25 minutes in length
your project is an immersive work
your project is wholly or primarily animated
your project is intended primarily for broadcast television
your project does not contain any dramatised or fictional content
your project focuses on another art form such as literature, dance on film, poetry on film, opera or artists’ moving image
your project has previously been declined for BFI NETWORK short film production funding (including by our partners in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and BFI Doc Society Made of Truth Fund)
- if you applied then withdrew your project (for example, because you were unable to raise a sufficient level of additional funding for your budget), you can still apply
you have a proposed first day of principal photography that is less than 28 weeks after the closing date of this fund (unless you have received permission in writing from future.takes@bfi.org.uk to apply).

If, having read the above criteria, you’re still unsure whether you are eligible to apply for Future Takes funding, get in touch with the team on future.takes@bfi.org.uk

4. What you can use the funding for

Your budget should be based on industry norms and market rates, and contain provision for the following:

all costs you expect to incur in order to complete and deliver the finished film including a fee for your film’s director and writer
the clearance of all rights (including music) in the project worldwide in all media in perpetuity (including use fees, repeat fees and residuals)
working with environmentally sustainable suppliers throughout all stages of production. When preparing your budget, consider how you will account for specific elements of sustainable production practice. This could include sourcing renewable energy; increasing travel by train and other public or shared transport; catering using local, seasonal ingredients; using different and less environmentally impactful materials; or choosing more sustainable solutions for digital storage and post-production. You may wish to consult BAFTA albert’s list of sustainable suppliers
crew payments, at least in line with the London Living Wage (or equivalent)
cast payments, at least in line with Equity minimum (including any cast buy-out fees)
producer/production fees, proportionate to the overall proposed budget — the BFI does not encourage deferral of any fees
adequate unit publicity, stills and footage
adequate external legal fees for the production
- we recommend that your budget includes £5,000 fees for external lawyers. BFI and Film4 can, on request, supply template clearance documents for the selected films (writer, director, individual producer, cast, crew, locations, music composer)
- if your project involves adaptation of underlying material, it is particularly important to ensure you have allowed adequate costs in your budget to acquire the rights to adapt such material, and for associated legal document(s)
all customary production insurances (including errors and omissions) on which the BFI and Film4 will require to be added as a loss payee (for production insurance) and as an additional insured (for errors and omissions)
all the delivery materials required by the BFI and Film4, including enhanced access materials (see Getting a decision and Appendix B)
a 10% contingency
sufficient allowance for accounting costs, including those related to the final cost report and your UK tax relief application
wellbeing and access coordinators
a mandatory carbon offset provision of at least 0.1% of the total budget in order to meet albert certification
up to £800 allocation towards the costs of festival submissions or equivalent exhibition opportunities for the completed film
any other requirements of funding detailed within these guidelines

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

Access support costs

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

This might include:

a BSL interpreter to work with members of cast or crew
additional transport and accommodation costs for disabled team members
fee for a personal assistant required to support team member who requires additional assistance during the production.

If you require support for such costs, please include them in your budget under the category ‘Access Support’. If you are seeking the maximum award amount and have not been able to accommodate the required access support costs within the total award amount available, you can apply for these in addition to the maximum award amount.

Wellbeing facilitators

Wellbeing facilitators aim to champion and facilitate a positive working culture, acting as an independent point of contact for everyone on set throughout the lifecycle of a production. Once we have confirmed our support you can apply for additional funding to cover the costs of engaging a wellbeing facilitator approved by the BFI on the production.

Delivery materials

The BFI and Film4 are committed to ensuring that the cinema experience is open to all, especially to disabled audience members. It is therefore a requirement of our funding that the film is delivered with subtitles and audio description, and that the availability of these materials is publicised and they are made available in time for any UK screenings of the film.

UK Tax Credit

While we do not require a UK Tax Credit advance to be included in your budget, we would expect you to apply for the UK Tax Credit and any proceeds arising from a claim to go towards any agreed over-costs (including obtaining a title report for the project, if this cost is not assumed by a local distributor), marketing costs, festival submissions and any deferments, and subject to approval by the BFI and Film4, thereafter, to be allocated to the core filmmaking team (usually, the producer, writer and director).

Costs that we cannot support

Costs that we cannot support, and which should not be included in your budget, include the following:

core costs for day to day running of your production company not associated with the film
activity that is already specifically supported by another external source of funding
cost incurred prior to a formal offer of funding from BFI.

This list is not exhaustive and we may inform you that other types of activity within your application may not be included in your production budget.

If you are registered for VAT, your figures should not include VAT that you can claim back. If you are not registered for VAT, or you are registered for VAT but cannot fully recover the VAT you incur on costs, your figures should include irrecoverable VAT. Grants made by BFI are ‘outside the scope’ of VAT. You should get financial advice from your own accountant or the relevant tax office.

5. What your project needs to achieve

Key Performance Indicators

The BFI and Film4 will measure the success of Future Takes using the following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

number of projects supported: up to 6
supported projects screening at a festival listed in Section A of the BAFTA Qualifying Festivals List – British Short Film 202½022, or a screening on one of the online platforms listed in Appendix A: 70%
supported projects with a writer, director and producer based in London: less than 33%
supported projects with a writer, director and producer based in England but outside of London and the South East: at least 50%
supported projects with a writer, director or producer resident in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales: at least 17%
directors of supported projects having a long form work in active development in the two years following completion of their Future Takes project: at least 70%
supported projects albert-certified as carbon neutral: 100%

Equity, diversity and inclusion

We ask applicants to address equity, diversity and inclusion by engaging with the BFI Diversity Standards for film. We 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 inclusion targets for writers, directors and producers.

UK-wide

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

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 proposed activity will be produced and shot and how this will support the BFI’s UK-wide principle.

Environmental sustainability

All applicants for BFI and Film4 Future Takes funding need to plan their project, from development stage onwards, with the environment and the climate crisis in mind. In your application, you’ll need to tell us how environmental sustainability will be embedded in your production. 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.

You should consider the following:

the impact of your approach to production;
where your energy comes from, in offices and on location;
what materials you consume;
how you plan to limit the use of petrol-based transport;
considerations on catering, props and wardrobe; and
how you plan for reduction, re-use and recycling.

We are also keen to see creative responses to the climate and ecological emergency and ask you to consider this in relation to your project in the application form. We ask all applicants to share and embed sustainable values and behaviour with their collaborators and their supply chain and promote sustainable production to colleagues across the wider industry.

We require all projects receiving funding to gain BAFTA albert certification. This process must be started in pre-production. If you are selected for funding, visit the albert website to request an account. You can then use the Carbon Calculator to predict your production’s footprint by entering information on your anticipated activity, including prep and post-production phases. The predicted footprint will enable you to see which aspects of the production will generate the most carbon emissions and help you to identify actions to reduce these before you start. These should then be recorded in your Carbon Action Plan. Once production gets underway, enter the actual data to calculate a final footprint which forms part of your submission to albert at the end of post-production.

Albert has a range of production and editorial tools, and training courses to support you and your teams to reduce the negative and increase the positive environmental impacts of your film. Find full details and upcoming training dates in albert’s Handbook.

6. How to apply

There is one call for applications.

Applications open at 12pm on 8 September 2025, and close at 12pm on 20 October 2025.

Information you’ll need to provide

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

Lead contact and organisation details

details of the lead producer (who should be the lead contact) and the production company through which the application is made; and
you may also include details of another contact who you wish to have copied in on project correspondence.

Project and team details

project title/working title
the amount of funding you are seeking from the BFI and Film4
estimated total production budget
your case for National Lottery good cause support
details of the individual producer(s), writer(s) and director(s) or writer/director(s), including their key credits
links to examples of previous work from your writer, director and producer. This will include links to the two pieces of work that make your director eligible to apply for funding, and evidence that the distribution achieved matches the eligibility criteria. We may decide not to review all of this previous work before making a decision.
details of all previous contributors on the project, if any
project logline
proposed pre-production dates
proposed principal photography dates
how your production responds to our environmental sustainability principle
how your production responds to our UK-wide principle

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

Creative proposal

story/synopsis
the creative vision
a written or video statement from your director and writer
project work undertaken to date
links to relevant previous work
declaring whether your project is an adaptation of an underlying work
a summary of your chain of title and confirmation that you have secured, or you have a contractual right to secure, the rights in the project (see further details in the “Documents” section below)

Production

production plan
heads of department
locations
environmental impact

Finance

budget (to be attached at the end of the form) including contributions ‘in kind’, for example, of resources or time – these should be clearly identified as such in your budget but you will need to demonstrate that cast and crew are being fairly paid
details of any unusual or challenging technical or budgetary requirements that you anticipate.

Market

festival and general distribution strategy including other means of maximising impact and exposure for your project to industry and audiences, subject to and taking into account at this stage the requirements of the Film4 licence (see below in the Conditions of Funding section).

BFI Diversity Standards

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

Your Diversity Standards form will be shared with the Future Takes team and will form part of the overall assessment of your project. Additionally, the information maybe anonymised and aggregated as part of overall statistics published about the Diversity Standards and inform future policy. If you are being co-funded parts of your application and overall data, maybe be shared with the relevant partners.

Documents you’ll need to provide

Once you have completed your application, you will be asked to attach the following documents:

the script of your project in standard industry format, submitted as a PDF or Word doc. This needs to be dated on its front page and should be a completed script rather than a treatment or outline. If the form of your project doesn’t lend itself to regular script presentation (for example, hybrid documentary), or you have an alternative mode of expression you would like to use (for example, because you are neurodivergent and work more visually), you can submit your ideas in your preferred medium. Please contact us if you have any questions about this before submitting
a detailed budget (optional template provided)
a production timeline/schedule, detailing all stages of production through to final delivery (including allowing time for BFI/ Film4 feedback)
a chain of title summary which should outline the flow of ownership in the underlying rights in and to the project and list the relevant signed agreements relating to such ownership (for example, an option agreement or any writer agreements entered into by the applicant production company with applicable third party or parties, although you do not need to submit these agreements at application stage). If your application is progressed, then we will ask you to provide further evidence of your ownership in the underlying rights in the project prior to any funding offer or payment of any award advanced by the BFI and Film4
any other materials expressing your ideas for the project, for example, mood board or reel, production design, images etc, to the extent that you’ve not provided these already in the Creative Proposal section.

Equality monitoring form

On starting an application, you’ll be asked to complete an Equality Monitoring Form, which opens up in a separate window. 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 all the sections of the Equality Monitoring Form.

Submitting an application

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

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

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

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

BFI and Film4 Future Takes application form previewPDF267 KB

Optional budget template:

Future Takes production budget templateMicrosoft Office - OOXML - Spreadsheet110 KB

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

Applicant guide for using the new portalPDF961 KB

Start your application

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

7. What happens after you apply

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

We will first check if your project and team meet the eligibility criteria.

If your application passes our initial eligibility checks

You’ll be sent:

an email letting you know that your application will be moved on to the first step of the assessment process
a unique ID number for your application

If your application is ineligible

We’ll let you know via email 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 give you the opportunity to correct it.

Timeframe

We aim to give all applicants a final decision within 20 weeks of the closing date for the applicable funding round. During the assessment process, we may contact you to ask for more information, in which case it may take us longer than 20 weeks for us to reach a decision on your application.

If we receive exceptionally high numbers of applications, or when there are other circumstances out of our control, it may also take us more than 20 weeks to give you a decision. We will keep applicants updated if the timeframe is likely to be extended.

How your application is assessed

Your application will be assessed against how well your project meets the aims of the funding. Competition for this funding is extremely high and whilst your project only needs to meet three of these aims, we will prioritise projects that meet all or most of them.

In addition to assessing your project against the aims of the funding, we will also consider:

the ambition and strength of the creative proposal
the extent to which the proposed project is likely to represent a creative progression in relation to the team’s previous work, particularly for the director
the strength of the case made for the potential career impact of the project for the team involved
the feasibility of the budget, its value for money and whether the project, as described in the application, requires the amount of money requested from the BFI and Film4
your demonstration of need for National Lottery funding which is not intended to substitute or replace existing funding or income that would or might otherwise be available, or to fund activity at the same scale that can be achieved without our funding. National Lottery funds can only be awarded to applicants who demonstrate a compelling case for National Lottery support and a clear public benefit from the activity being funded
the overall balance of projects receiving support, to ensure variety in the nature of Future Takes projects

When assessing applications, we will also take into account previous National Lottery awards received by the filmmaking team and, if applicable, how they have managed those.

Assessment process

The fund closes at 12 noon on 20 October 2025, and the 20-week assessment process will begin. Eligible applications will be assessed in stages against the assessment criteria. At each stage, there will be projects that do not progress to the next stage.

We will share your application with Film4 and may share parts of your application with other BFI teams, or additional 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 to agree not to retain application materials following their review.

Stage one – initial review of application, script and previous work for longlisting:

Eligible applications will be assessed by one or more staff members from the BFI Filmmaking Fund team and Film4, as well as an independent external reader to provide us with an additional perspective. At a minimum the stage one assessment will review your application, your script and some of your team’s previous work. This will create a longlist of projects to proceed to stage two.

Stage two - shortlisting:

The wider assessment team from Film4 and BFI will review the script, application form, budget, Diversity Standards, previous work and any other creative documents submitted with the applications longlisted from stage one. This will create a shortlist of projects to proceed to stage three.

Projects that we consider have responded most successfully to the aims of the funding and the wider assessment criteria above will be shortlisted for progression to stage three. We only expect to shortlist a very limited number of projects, which means a significant number of projects will not progress beyond stage two.

Stage three — interviews held with shortlisted projects:

If your project is selected for progression to stage three, the filmmaking team will be invited for an interview to further discuss their vision for the project. This will include the creative proposal, production plan and audience and festival intentions. All members of the filmmaking team should try to attend, and we may ask you to supply additional information after the meeting before a decision to progress your application further is made. An invitation to interview does not mean that we have made a commitment to fund the project. A final list of projects are selected for stage four.

Stage four — BFI and Film4 Production Team meeting:

Producers of projects that reach the final stage of assessment will be required to meet with the BFI/Film4 filmmaking production teams, to discuss the details of their production schedule, script and budget. We may request that specific budget lines or allocations are amended or for further detail to be provided. At this stage we will require the full chain of title to be submitted for review.

After completion of stage 4 interviews the lead producer/contacts are informed in writing that their application is either being recommended for formal approval at the BFI Grant & Lottery Finance Committee (the final step in the assessment process), or that it has been unsuccessful.

Step five – due diligence checks

We will contact you to let you know that we plan to recommend your project for funding to the BFI Grant & Lottery Finance Committee. Depending on your shoot dates, the BFI Grant & Lottery Finance Committee date might be some time after we have let you know that we are intending to make a recommendation. There may need to be a further meeting with the project’s producer to discuss the project.

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

review the application 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)
we will request the personal address and date of birth of the CEO or Managing Director of the organisation applying. We use this data to run an identity check (this isn’t a credit check and will not affect the ability of the CEO or Managing Director to receive credit from other organisations)

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

Step six — BFI Grant & Lottery Finance Committee (G/LFC)

To ensure our recommendations to the G/LFC are as strong as possible, we need your project to be as close to finalised as possible. For this reason, we will not present your project to them until around 8 weeks before your shoot dates. This means, depending on your shoot dates, that there may be some time between us letting you know that we intend to recommend your project for funding and formally approving it. We cannot ask G/LFC to approve projects less than 6 weeks before your first day of principal photography as this time is needed for your pre-production and for us to finalise legal paperwork.

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

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

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

8. Getting a decision

All applicants will be informed in writing of the decision on their application as soon as possible. Our decision as to whether we support your application is final.

If you’re unsuccessful

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

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

Due to the amount of funding we have available, this is an extremely competitive fund and, unfortunately, we have to decline the majority of applications, including those with evidenced potential and even some that meet many of our funding aims. We understand that this is disappointing and we try to communicate this carefully, but it’s also important to emphasise for all applicants ahead of submission.

Feedback

If you have reached Stage Three (or a later stage) of the assessment process and your project has been declined, you can ask for feedback on your application. We’re a small team and unfortunately that means we’re unable to give feedback on projects declined prior to Stage Three of the assessment process or enter into a dialogue about your project and its further development.

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

We welcome your feedback on the application process and how we might improve it.

Resubmission

Unless there’s a significant change to your original proposal, you will not be able to resubmit it to any future round of Future Takes. This is usually a change of director or a significant rewrite of the material with a different writer.

We will also allow a resubmission in situations where we have directly recommended further development of the project, or where the application has been withdrawn.

If you meet one of the above criteria and submit a new application for the same project at a future round of this fund, please ensure that you clearly identify the revised elements of the project in the new application.

If you’re successful

You will receive a written offer of funding from each of BFI and Film4 that will need to be returned within 21 days.

Your offer of funding will set out details of how you’ll receive the funding, how to use it and how we expect you to report to us.

Read section nine below to find out what you will have to do if you are offered an award.

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 award made. In exceptional circumstances however, such as when a film encounters unexpected challenges during production, we may offer to provide additional production funding, subject to approval by the BFI Grant & Lottery Finance Committee. If we do identify a need for additional funding, and we have sufficient funds available, then we will ask you to make a short additional application to us for the amount required.

9. Conditions of funding

In addition to the General Conditions of National Lottery Funding, the following conditions will also apply to your Future Takes award:

Finance

The BFI funding will take the form of a non-recoupable grant, the Film4 funding will take the form of a licence fee.
You will need to provide proof of application for British certification.
You will need to provide a production schedule and cashflow that breaks down the award total into pre-approved instalments, with the final payment being subject to submission to us of the delivery materials. Any underspend on the award will be retained by, or reimbursed to, the BFI and Film4.
The BFI and Film4 will each hold back a percentage of their funding (for example, 5%) until delivery to the BFI and Film4 of the delivery materials. Film4 will split the 5% delivery payment cashflowing 50% on paperwork delivery and 50% on tech delivery once all the required materials and documents have been received.
The BFI and Film4 will pay the award in accordance with a BFI/F4 pre-approved cashflow to a separate dedicated production account in the name of the applicant company.
The BFI and Film4 will have certain audit rights over the project including the bank account into which the funding is paid.
The BFI and Film4 will not commence cashflow until both are satisfied that you have complied with certain conditions as set out in the respective production funding agreements.
The BFI and Film4 are keen to ensure that you receive your full entitlement to a reasonable producer fee and production company overhead from within the production budget and does not encourage deferral of any such amounts.
The provisions of the BFI ‘Locked Box’ initiative will not apply to this funding.

Rights, clearances and licenses

You will need to establish clear chain of title to your project, i.e. demonstrate you have or can acquire all the rights necessary to produce and exploit the project.
You will be required to clear worldwide rights in all media in perpetuity from all individuals and organisations who are contributing to, or whose material is to be featured in, the film on a full buy-out basis (save only for music public performance rights and any applicable union or guild residuals which are not capable of being bought out).
Where chain of title documentation is in a language other than English, you will be required to provide a certified English translation. A certified translation is a translation that’s signed, stamped and dated by the translator (or translation company) to state that it is a true representation of the original text. It can then be used by official and legal bodies.
The BFI and Film4, where appropriate, may withdraw any offer of funding if it has reasonable concerns that third party rights in the work cannot be cleared.
As a condition of Film4’s financing they will require co-ownership of the subsequent production rights (as such term is commonly understood in the film/television industries in the UK/Ireland) in each project with the relevant rights owner.
The BFI and Film4 will take rights as outlined here. This would come after a period of festival exhibition for the film, and will be designed to maximise audiences for your work. We will agree a release strategy with you that takes in both festival and online exhibition.
You will be required to provide a permanent, non-exclusive license to the BFI to copy, reproduce andexhibit the project (1) non-theatrically including without limitation in educational establishments (including the BFI Mediatheque) or online on the BFI websites (including BFI Player) throughout the world and (2) the right for BFI to use clips from the project for promotional purposes in relation to the project or in relation to promoting BFI National Lottery funding including without limitation, in corporate videos and on the BFI and National Lottery websites. The BFI will own the delivery materials provided to it and may deposit, preserve and permit access to such materials through standard terms applied by the BFI National Archive.
You will be required to provide an exclusive licence to Film4, A Division of Channel Four Television Corporation in and to all television and subject to the BFI rights above and all on demand transmission rights in the project in the UK/Ireland territory for a period of eighteen (18) years from the date of delivery of the Film to Film4, such licence as will be based on Film4 customary terms. Film4 will own the delivery materials provided to it and be entitled to deal with such materials through standard terms applied by Film4. We may consider other forms of exploitation after a period of three years from first exploitation on any Channel4 platforms.

Production and approvals

Prior to commencement of principal photography, all filmmaking teams will be required to attend and participate in filmmaking skills workshops over a 3-day period (dates to be confirmed at stage five of the assessment process). These mandatory workshops will be held in person at BFI Stephen Street in central London and will cover a range of production related topics using guest speakers. Attendance at these workshops is a condition of funding, and all members of the filmmaking team are expected to attend, unless agreed otherwise in advance by BFI and F4. Travel, accommodation and a daily stipend will be provided and does not need to be included in the budget for the project.
The Financiers reserve the right to appoint an individual executive producer for an individual Film if in their opinion it is commercially necessary for completion and delivery of the relevant Film, the cost of appointment of such executive producer and terms of engagement to be agreed on a film-by-film basis.
You will be required to ensure that your project is produced in accordance with the requirements of all unions and guilds having jurisdiction and with all applicable laws and statutes.
You are required to put in place all customary production insurances (including errors and omissions insurance) on which the BFI and Film4 must be named as a loss payee or, in the case of errors and omissions insurance, as an additional insured.
Where relevant to your cast and crew, you will need to adopt safeguarding provisions for protecting children and vulnerable adults
You will be required to adhere to and promote the set of principles aimed at tackling and preventing bullying, harassment and racism in the screen industries commissioned by the BFI and partner organisations. This entails taking active steps to help tackle and prevent bullying, harassment and racism in the screen industries and, in particular, in connection with the funded project.
You may be required to accept the mandatory mentoring services of one or more mentors (selected by BFI and F4 from the wider film industry). This requirement shall depend on the individual needs of the project and the filmmaking team which shall be determined solely by BFI and F4. You do not need to budget for the cost of this mentoring service.
The BFI and Film4 will require certain approvals over your project including overall key production elements and any changes thereto, the terms of all other finance, the project’s credits, the identity and terms of appointment of the sales agent and key distributors, and all key production and financial documentation prepared in relation to the production.
The BFI and Film4 will have consultation rights over the assembly and all cuts of the production and a shared approval over the final cut.
The BFI and Film4 will expect to receive information about the progress of the production. For example, regular cost reports, production reports and dailies, and to be able to attend any stage of production.
You may also be asked to provide access to the production, or the completed project, for other Film4 or BFI activities such as film education or fundraising screenings and from time to time to make yourself, the writer(s) and the director(s) of your production available (subject to professional commitments) to provide industry training or mentoring, if the BFI reasonably requests.
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 funding from the BFI.
You will be required to ensure your production achieves BAFTA albert certification. This includes developing a carbon action plan and submitting both pre- and post-production carbon footprint calculations.

Credits and publicity

You will be required to ensure that Film4, the BFI and the National Lottery are entitled to use the delivery materials to publicise by any means the involvement of Film4, the BFI and the National Lottery in the production, for their own internal purposes, for the general promotion of Film4, the BFI and the National Lottery by way, inter alia, of use of clips from the production in their corporate videos and on the Film4, the BFI and the National Lottery website and to deposit any of such delivery materials at the BFI National Archive.
You will be required to include the BFI, National Lottery and Film4 animated logos and presentation credits at the start of the production and certain closing credits and logos at the end of the production.

Deliverables

You will be required to provide certain delivery materials to the BFI, the costs of which must be included in the production budget.
You will be required to ensure that any agreement for the distribution of your project in the UK provides for the availability of soft-subtitling and audio-description materials in cinemas and on any video-on-demand, DVD or Blu-ray disc release of the project.
The BFI and Film4 will hold back 5% of its funding until delivery to the BFI of specified delivery materials, including disability access materials (and, if applicable, a letter from the UK distributor or Sales agent confirming receipt of the same), an Equality Monitoring Report (which helps us to measure against the BFI Diversity Standards form that you submitted), confirmation of albert certification and a final audited cost report certified by an independent auditor.
Your Production Finance Agreements will include a delivery date by which you agree to finish work on your film and submit the required delivery materials to us. We require all projects supported would be completed and delivered no more than 18 months after funding is offered.
A Film4 Production Pack will be distributed to the producer with an extensive list of delivery requirements. Film4 will require electronic delivery of the items as set out in the Film4 delivery schedule at Appendix B (the cost of which must be contained in the budget for the project)
A BFI Delivery Schedule will be distributed to the producer with an extensive list of delivery requirements. This will cover the BFI’s requirement for electronic delivery of the items set out in Appendix B (the cost of which must be contained in the budget for the project).

Appendix A – Festivals, awards ceremonies and platforms

Festivals

The film needs to have screened in the main programme at the festival – for example, for Cannes Film Festival, screenings in the Short Film Corner only are not eligible.

Awards ceremonies

Academy Awards (Oscars)
BAFTA, BAFTA Cymru or BAFTA Scotland
British Independent Film Awards (BIFA)
British Animation Awards (BAA)
Emile European Animation Awards

 Online platforms 

Online platforms VICE
The Guardian
New York Times Op-Docs
Field of Vision
NOWNESS
BBC Three
Channel 4
Steam
Viveport
Oculus Store
PlayStation Store
Apple App Store
Google Play Store
Proprietary app (e.g. New York Times VR app, BBC VR app)

Appendix B – Delivery materials

The following materials will need to be supplied if we decide to fund your project.

BFI delivery materials

This list does not include information on the BFI Equality Monitoring Report or the BAFTA albert carbon calculator, which have to be uploaded separately.

How to provide files

You can upload all materials should be delivered on hard drive or via the BFI’s file transfer portal (MASV).

You should only use Dropbox and WeTransfer with prior agreement from BFI.

You can also deliver files on hard drive with prior agreement.

Digital master files

Digital Cinema Distribution Master (DCDM)

To be delivered on Hard Drive(s) or LTO(s):

required elements:
- image sequence/s (English Language Texted Master)
- audio channels
- audio description (English)
- closed captions (English)
- ancillary data: MD5 checksums
optional elements:
- open captions (English)
- assisted listening (HI) trac

Unencrypted Digital Cinema Package (DCP)

To be delivered on Cru/Hard Drive or via the BFI’s file transfer portal (MASV)

required elements:
- original Version (OV) (as per DCDM) with Closed Captions (English) and Audio Description Track (English)
- ancillary Data: Successful Validation report
optional elements:
- version/variant file package (VF) with open captions* (English) and assisted listening track

ProRes or Broadcast MXF file (distribution dependent)

To be delivered on hard drive or via the BFI’s file transfer portal (MASV)

required sidecar files:
- audio description (English)
- closed captions (English)
- ancillary data: MD5 checksums
optional sidecar files:
- open captions (English)

Video files

In addition to the above, please provide the following:

a password protected Vimeo link for the film
an H264 .mov or .mp4 file

Delivery documentation

You’ll need to supply the following documentation:

completed credits list – using the credits template provided
PDF copies of all rights and clearance agreements
- artists agreements
- producer, director and writer agreements
- contributors agreements – at a minimum, you’ll need to supply agreements for all Heads of Department: DOP, sound recordist, editor, art director or production designer and sound designer
- music contributors agreement
- a copy of the music cue sheet
a final cost report
- this should show actual expenditure compared to budget
- supporting invoices or copy receipts may be requested by CS but do not need to be supplied until requested
a festival strategy and release plan
a selection of approved publicity stills
- stills should be submitted in the format in which they were produced and distributed
- if you can, supply files as uncompressed TIFFs, ideally 600ppi at true size
- you should also provide any necessary photography credits, which might include photographer, rights holders, restrictions or proof of clearances, as either embedded metadata or a separate listing
a written publicity pack (saved in a folder entitled ‘publicity pack’ within your project folder) that includes:
- a synopsis of approximately 200 words
- 160 character logline
- flyers and other publicity material
- full credits list
- biographies of principal cast, individual producer(s), director(s), writer(s) and key crew, and production information
a PDF copy of your shooting script
a selection of Behind the Scenes (BTS) stills
- if you can, supply files as uncompressed TIFFs, ideally 600ppi at true size
a PDF copy of your final BAFTA albert certificate
a publicity poster (optional)
a recorded ‘Thank You’ message to National Lottery players for supporting the project (optional)

Film4 delivery materials

Download the full Film4 delivery schedule and the full technical specification for delivery.

Condensed schedule

Publicity and paperwork

the final script of the film, without timings and spotting information
combined dialogue, continuity & master English subtitle spotting list at 25fps to match the DPP delivered as per Section A in the Film4 delivery schedule
Channel 4’s online music cue sheet to be completed via Soundmouse
a digital file enabling online conforming to the following specification: 8 Mbps H.264/MPEG-4 AVC variable bit rate, high profile, 2 pass encode with 44.1 KHz AAC stereo audio
the production notes, including presentation credits (at front), a synopsis, brief biographies and filmographies of key cast and crew, main cast and crew credits, and a production story
at least five production stills (or all approved stills if available), plus one approved still of the director
- each still should be numbered and clearly labelled to indicate the:
  - name of the film
  - names of the actors who appear in each shot
  - characters they play
  - what the shot depicts
- an accompanying index of all images to be provided
  - images must be 300dpi resolution when sized at approximately 10x8 inches
  - each file size should be approximately 20mb
credit information to be supplied as Word/Excel and PDF files
- screen credits: The approved list of full front and end credits, in the order that they appear on screen
- paid ad credits: The approved billing block with accompanying applicable logos and copyright notice
a signed producer statement setting out full details of any product placement deals, or written confirmation that there are no product placement deals in connection with the film
a completed regions and nations report, applicable to UK productions (available on page 5 of the Film4 delivery schedule)
a completed diversity standards report
- an earlier version of this may have been submitted prior to the shoot, but a final version also needs to be completed for delivery.
- your Film4 contact can provide the Word documents if you prefer to type answers in
a copy of confirmation that the final carbon footprint calculation has been completed and submitted on Albert
- it is mandatory to also complete the Carbon Action Plan (Certification)
a final cost report
PDF copies of all executed contracts with key cast, heads of department, music licences, location agreements, chain of title documents and finance documents
- all agreements supplied to be indexed

It is important to pay close attention to sections 3.2.1 (Photo Sensitive Epilepsy Testing) and section 2.2.1 (R128 audio loudness) in the full technical specification, in order to avoid technical rejection. The file delivered shall be made directly from the full and final film, at the original aspect ratio. It shall contain a TV stereo mix, TV 5.1 mix and M&E mix, delivered in accordance with broadcast specifications in section 2 of the above DPP document.

Subtitles

If your film contains any subtitles, Channel 4’s Programme Management Department (email address: Programme_Management@Channel4.co.uk) may require delivery of a version of the film that is ‘clean’ of any subtitles so that these may be added ‘in-house’ in the Channel’s standard format.

Please discuss and agree what is required in advance of production with your Film4 Production contact. If the file is rejected for any reason, the Producer shall send another file with the issue rectified. All costs relating to the repair of the film and redelivery of files shall be borne by the Producer. The broadcast master file should be delivered using the confidential Channel4 Aspera upload site. When the file is ready to be delivered, contact Sam Godfrey, Programme Manager at SGodfrey@channel4.co.uk who will arrange for the link to be sent.

Applying for BFI and Film4 Future Takes

Eligibility of filmmaking team

Eligibility of applicant (lead producer)

Eligibility of director

Eligibility of writers

Applying with more than one project

Eligibility of projects

When you’re ineligible

Access support costs

Wellbeing facilitators

Delivery materials

UK Tax Credit

Costs that we cannot support

Key Performance Indicators

Equity, diversity and inclusion

UK-wide

Environmental sustainability

Information you’ll need to provide

Lead contact and organisation details

Project and team details

Creative proposal

Production

Finance

Market

BFI Diversity Standards

Documents you’ll need to provide

Equality monitoring form

Submitting an application

If your application passes our initial eligibility checks

If your application is ineligible

Timeframe

How your application is assessed

Assessment process

Stage one – initial review of application, script and previous work for longlisting:

Stage two - shortlisting:

Stage three — interviews held with shortlisted projects:

Stage four — BFI and Film4 Production Team meeting:

Step five – due diligence checks

Step six — BFI Grant & Lottery Finance Committee (G/LFC)

If you’re unsuccessful

Feedback

Resubmission

If you’re successful

Finance

Rights, clearances and licenses

Production and approvals

Credits and publicity

Deliverables

Festivals

Awards ceremonies

Online platforms

BFI delivery materials

How to provide files

Digital master files

Digital Cinema Distribution Master (DCDM)

Unencrypted Digital Cinema Package (DCP)

ProRes or Broadcast MXF file (distribution dependent)

Video files

Delivery documentation

Film4 delivery materials

Condensed schedule

Publicity and paperwork

Subtitles

Stage three — interviews held with shortlisted projects:

Step six — BFI Grant & Lottery Finance Committee (G/LFC)

 Online platforms 