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The Film Fund: UK Homepage



  • Don Fanelli made
    SUNDAY DINNER with
    The Film Fund.

    What will you create?

    Learn more below.

    SUBMIT IN SECONDS

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Get up to £7,600 in short film funding in the UK to produce your independent short film by writing one sentence. 

It’s an alternative to BFI short film funding.

How are independent films funded? You don’t need advanced filmmaking degrees, and you don’t need to apply to the BFI Film Fund. We’ve given away over £36,000 in international film funding to filmmakers to make their short films. As an alternative to the BFI Network Short Film Fund, all you have to do is write and submit one sentence pitching your project. We can also help you choose the best camera for filmmaking on a budget and recommend filmmaking books.

Why are we funding directors based in England? Our founder, Thomas Verdi, struggled to fund his indie film projects when he first started out. He submitted to grants similar to organizations like the BFI funding short film, but he quickly learned that established writers and filmmakers dominated most contests and funding opportunities. We want to see your project at a film festival, and you’ll need film finance to do so.

The Film Fund was born out of this frustration with the industry. Contests, grants, and independent film crowdfunding campaigns are great, but there’s a simpler way to fund a film. 

We’re providing funding up to £7,600 per project for short films in a way that’s a lot simpler than screenwriting contests, crowdfunding, or applying to grants, because we’re sick of seeing these funding avenues dominated by industry experts. Whether you need an alternative to the Malta Film Fund, Prescience Film Fund, Seis Film Funding, Belgium Film Fund, Green Room Film Fund, Irish Film Funding, or a German Film Fund, we’ve got you covered.


Submit below!

AS FEATURED BY:

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How to get funding for your project?

Craft and submit one sentence with a compelling premise that also conveys why you need this funding to achieve your vision. Our judges will choose the best one. See examples here, and enter below to fund your film. 

Write one sentence that (1) describes the premise of your narrative short film and (2) explains how you’ll use the funding to complete the film if you’re chosen as a winner.

If you enter any of our contests, either as narrative or documentary filmmakers, you get to join our exclusive filmmaker network at no extra cost. In this community, you can network with other filmmakers and producers!

Learn more about the funding community here. To stay informed of the latest funding opportunities, join our email list, where you’ll also receive a free film budget template.

Are you an international filmmaker without access to a credit or debit card? You can enter with PayPal by clicking the link at the bottom of the entry form. If you cannot use PayPal, we also accept Western Union for international entrants. For instructions on how to submit with Western Union payment, please email tom@thefilmfund.co.

Enter our narrative funding contest below.

We also fund documentary short films. Scroll down to learn more about all of our contests.

Deadline: March 14th, 2023 at 11:59 PM EST

The contest period is now closed. Thanks to all who entered. Please stay tuned to your email for updates!

Narrative Contest

£25

Write one sentence describing the premise of your narrative short film and how you’ll use the funding.


Submit

Documentary Contest

£25

Write one sentence describing the premise of your documentary short film and how you’ll use the funding.


Submit

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get funding for my film?

For our short film contests, write one sentence that includes two components– 1) a compelling premise and 2) how you would use some of the funding to produce your film if chosen as a winner. Your entry must be one sentence under 200 characters, and you must submit it via the form on the respective contests’ entry page (narrative or documentary). You can see all of our funding opportunities here

Do I keep the rights to my short film if I win?

Yes, you retain the copyrights to all intellectual property associated with your winning project.

When will the winners be announced?

Finalists will be announced via email approximately one month after the final submission deadline for that respective contest period. Make sure you have tom@thefilmfund.co added to your email contacts!

I paid an extra £13 to receive feedback on my entry. When will I receive the feedback?

Feedback will be sent shortly after the final judging results are released.

Will my film be posted on the website?

TLDR: Yes. The big fests like Sundance and SXSW don’t care if your film plays online first, and more and more film festivals are following suit. But if you’re still worried, we can delay your online release.

We realize this is a hot topic, and we don’t want to mess with your festival strategy. While you must provide us with a private version of the completed film immediately upon its completion, you do not have to send us a public version until one year after we send you the funding. You can send it to us after your film’s physical festival run, or you can send it before the festivals in order to gain traction and pick up something like a Short of the Week or Vimeo Staff Pick. Up to you, as long as you send us the film within one year of getting the funding.

Short of the Week is so cool that they’ve compiled some handy data concerning online film festivals and how they affect offline festival runs. We’re not quite an online film festival, but the same thoughts apply:

“This is one of the biggest scares for filmmakers (it was ours, too). So we did the research and found that 2/3rds of the top film festivals will accept online films (66% in 2013). And with heavyweights like Sundance and SXSW leading the charge, this is clearly a growing trend. If you want to know about a specific festival, take a look at our Essential List of Festival Eligibility to see if the festivals you’re considering are online-friendly” (Short of the Week).

Do I need to give credit to The Film Fund?

Yes, and we’ll be honored. We’ll provide you with our motion graphic that reads “In association with The Film Fund.” It looks cool, and it’ll lend even more credibility to your project. Not that you’re not awesome to begin with. 😀

What’s all this about Auteurs?

We want to showcase films even if we didn’t fund them. Filmmakers work hard, and we want to promote them. Submit anything related to your work here, and we’ll feature it. Free of charge.

What’s for lunch?

Depends on the day! Ask us here. Maybe we can ship you some leftovers. 👀

Can I enter a sentence idea for my film that’s already in production but needs post work?

Yes. We want to make films happen.

Can I enter a sentence idea for a web series?

Yes. A short film could serve as the pilot episode, right?

How do I receive the funding?

To maintain accountability, The Film Fund will reimburse individual expenses for your film after receiving expense reports, receipts, invoices, etc.

Where does the money come from?

Filmmakers like you who have also submitted their sentence to The Film Fund.

Why are you doing this?

We know there’s a simpler way to fund films.

What kind of genres are you looking for?

Anything that has the potential to carry a good story. Horror, comedy, drama, documentary, anything. Absolutely no adult films under any circumstance.

Who are the judges?

Check them out at https://www.thefilmfund.co/judges/

Can I submit the finished film to film festivals?

Of course.

I have no idea what I’m doing. Will you help me with budgeting?

Budgets will be different for each film, but we’d be more than happy to share a sample short film budget with you. Just sign up for our email updates with the button below! 🙂

Get your free film budget
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Not answered above? Feel free to send us a message. 

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