Girl producer barry crerar, London and LA-based sales agent Cornerstone Films and film exhibition specialists We Are Parable are among the 24 recipients to receive funding from the latest round of UK Global Screen Fund (UKGSF) awards.
The awards see a further £2.1m being allocated through the fund’s international business development strand.
The UKGSF is administered by the British Film Institute (BFI) and financed through the UK government’s department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
The fund launched in April 2021 as a one-year pilot initiative to boost international development and distribution opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, and has been extended for a further three years, as a £7m per annum fund.
Financial support will provide 24 companies from all over the UK with funding via one of two tracks: ‘film transformation’, for internationally-focused transformational business strategies related to independent UK films, with strategies spanning three to five years; and ‘general’, for business strategies to create, acquire and/or exploit intellectual property (IP) across film, TV, animation, documentary and interactive narrative video games, with strategies spanning three years.
The funding, awarded in the form of non-repayable grants and ranging between £50,000 and £144,000 in total over the three to five year period, is focused on helping companies achieve new international business partnerships, enhance their profile and reach in the global marketplace, and increase revenue generation through export and international expansion.
Companies to receive funding via the film transformation track are Ciara Barry and Rosie Crerar’s Glasgow-based production outfit barry crerar, who will use the support towards a key hire to identify international talent and IP opportunities, together with some early development costs.
Cornerstone, whose sales slate includes Mike Leigh’s untitled upcoming feature, will use the money towards the company’s new film production joint venture, Genstone, to build out a feature film slate with international appeal. The sales agent is aiming to transform its business model, acquiring and developing IP that reflects minority experiences and underdog stories.
We Are Parable, an organisation that celebrates Black cinema from around the world, will use the funding towards key hires to help develop the company’s international film distribution strategy for films made by Black British talent in international markets including Jamaica, Kenya, Trinidad and Tobago and North America.
Together Films will use the money towards supporting the company’s new sales arm, while production outfit It’s A Lot Limited will build an online platform for the marketing and distribution of its own titles, targeting under-represented film audiences internationally, with a focus on youth and global majority audiences.
Companies to receive funding via the ‘general’ track include After Love producer The Bureau, which will use the money to expand its team and bolster its international film sales and high-end TV slates.
Boiling Point and Benediction distributor Vertigo Releasing will also make a key hire and expand its distribution of UK films in the US market.
Further ‘general’ track recipients are ALT Animation, Brightrock Games, Caledonia TV Productions, Candour Productions, Coffee Box Games (trading as Bellular Studios), Firecrest Films, Huey Games, Kaizen Game Works, Good Gate Media, Italic Pig, Last Conker, Paradox House, Plug-In Media, Singer Interactive, Slug Disco Studios, Snafu Pictures and Wild Child Animation.
UK Global Screen Fund applications are now open for: international business development, closing on July 6; international distribution festival launch support; assessed on a rolling basis; and international distribution film sales support, also assessed on a rolling basis.
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