BFI Film Fund backs projects by Newell, Potter, McDonagh

The BFI has unveiled the latest list of projects to receive production and development funding via its Film Fund.

Among the films to receive the most backing were Number 9’s Great Expectations, which received £2m in production funding and £35,000 in development funding. Shooting is currently taking place on the Dickens adaptation which stars Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes.

Other big investments include £1m to Qwerty Films’ sci fi thriller Last Days On Mars, the directorial debut of Oscar nominated short film-maker Ruairi Robinson which centres around an astronaut crew on the verge of a major breakthrough on Mars, whose mission turns deadly. The film was previously called The Animators. Shooting is due to commence shortly.

Graham Broadbent and Peter Czernin’s Blueprint Pictures received more than £1m for Seven Psychopaths, Martin McDonagh’s follow up to In Bruges which is currently shooting in the US starring Colin Farrell.

Sally Potter’s new London-set ’60s project Bomb, starring Elle Fanning, picked up over £1m in production funding.

Neal Street has picked up £700,000 for Blood, Nick Murphy’s second feature following The Awakening, a thriller based on Bill Gallagher’s BAFTA nominated TV series Conviction, starring Brian Cox, Paul Bettany and Stephen Graham, which is scheduled to shoot this month.

Fiesta Productions received £900,000 for Spike Island, a coming of age story following five teenage lads as they travel to see their idols The Stone Roses play their legendary gig, to be directed by Mat Whitecross (Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll).

Baby Cow Films’ Alan Partridge movie project picked up the biggest development award of £80,500. Other recipients of significant development awards were Warp Films who picked up £47,250 for A Gun For George, Scott Free Films for Blood Red Road (£50,000) and Forward East for The Dirty Little Book Of Stolen Time (£57,341).

Of the films to receive production funding, ten are directed by first or second time film-makers. Screen previously reported on the first round of production and development backing from the BFI on June 24. That story is here.

Production Funding Awards since June 24

Last Days On Mars, Qwerty Films, £1m
Blood, Neal Street Productions and Red Production Company, £700,000
Bomb, Adventure Pictures, £1,020,000
Mister John, Desperate Optimists Productions, £300,000
Spike Island, Fiesta Productions, £900,000
Smash And Grab: The Story Of The Pink Panthers, Roast Beef Productions, £165,000
This Is London, B&W Films, £355,000
Seven Psychopaths, Blueprint Pictures, £1,057,500
Broken, Cuba Pictures, £267,500
Fast Girls, DJ Films, £630,000
Great Expectations, Number 9 Films, £2m
Sightseers, Big Talk Pictures/Rook Films £300,000
Swandown, Fly Film Company, £215,750
Last Passenger, NDF International, £428,000
The Story Of Film: An Odyssey, Hopscotch Films, £185,000

Development Funding since June 24

Alan Partridge: The Movie, Baby Cow Films, £80,500
Fast Girls DJ Films, £48,250
Country Music, Ruby Films, £15,875
Gemma Bovery, Ruby Films, £37,500
Second Is Nowhere, AL Films, £10,150
Settle Down, Scott Free Films, £26,750
Great Expectations, £35,000
The Love Interest, Metzfilm, £25,000
Couple In A Hole, 011 Productions, £9,500
Defence Of The Realm, Jason Newmark Developments, £30,750
Four Stars, Funny & Moving, Wildgaze Films, £28,500
Step 13, Optimism Film, £15,000
Welcome To The Punch, Red Diesel, £49,930
A Gun For George, Warp Films, £47,250
A Spy By Nature, Silent War Films, £5,100
Honour, Jason Newmark Developments, £19,400
Last Days On Mars, Qwerty Films, £35,000
Last Passenger, £34,970
Adland: Fail Harder, Liberty Films Entertainment, £25,000
All Day Breakfast, Sherbet, £10,650
Earthquakes In London, Headlong Theatre, £29,500
Bummer, Escape Films, £15,000
Hair Of The Dog, Dan Films, £16,500
ID2, Parallax East, £5,500
Scottish Screenplay, Dirty Hands Productions, £45,750
Zaytoun, Perfect Mass Films, £20,750
The Invisible Woman, Headline Pictures, £21,050
Brand New U, Hot Property, £19,000
Destroyer, Crab Apple Films Ltd and Warp Films, £35,700
Nativity! The Second Coming, Mirrorball Films, £7250
Broken, Cuba Pictures, £30,000
In Search Of Flynn, London Fields Pictures, £16,500
Sisters, Cineman Films, £15,000
Atlantic Bridge, Sigma Films, £21,750
The Rising, Endor Productions, £19,000
Nightwork, Fragile Films, £46,875
Epic, Film And Music Entertainment, £42,950
Greenland Time, Sigma Films, £25,000
The Outcast, Blueprint Pictures, £11,250
Spike Island, Fiesta Productions, £14,550
St George’s Day, Amber Film and Photography Collective, £5,500
Balance Of Power, Element Pictures/Scarlet Films, £2,500
Blood Red Road, Scott Free Films, £50,000
GBII, Missing In Action Films, £20,000
The Boy Who Loved Lights, Runaway Fridge Films, £50,250
A Spy By Nature, Silent War Films, £28,500
Artist Features, Fly Film Company, £20,000
Dan Leno And The Limehouse Golem, Number 9 Films, £3,975
Strangers, Number 9 Films £28,280
Warrior Daughter, Crab Apple Films, £17,000
100, Magnified Pictures, £10,000
Apples, TigerLily Films, £1,500
Danny La Rue, Leopardrama  £55,000
The Dirty Little Book Of Stolen Time, Forward East, £57,341
Posh, Blueprint Pictures, £10,000
Severance II, Dan Films, £11,495
Trigger, Met Film Production, £32,250
White Rose Rebel, Feet Films and Free Range Films, £5,000
Blood, Red Production Company, £34,750
Bulldog Drummond, Runaway Fridge Films, £30,500
The Freak Show – Outstanding Disabled Film Talent Development Project, 104 Films, £27,130
Like A Virgin, Fly Film, £23,000
Remainder, TigerLily Films, £2,400
Second Is Nowhere, AL Films, £45,450
Stones In His Pockets, Stones Films Productions, £20,000
X&Y, Origin Pictures, £45,000
Bill And Lena, Fly Film, £7,130
Ten Meals With Mandy Moon, Endor Productions, £10,750
Alive Alone, Ruby Films, £25,000
Half Of A Yellow Sun, Potboiler Productions, £29,932
Invisible Woman, Headline Pictures Limited. £7500
The Lazarus Project, Complicite Films, £8,875
Our Robot Overlords, Tempo Productions, £23,150
ID2, Parallax East, £6,500
Londonstani, Slingshot Productions, £30,000
Wigan, Big Pond Production, £46,100