Short Film Funding
As part of a new RIFE business plan for 2008 - 2011, Screen Yorkshire will shortly be announcing priorities and opportunities for Lottery funding for that period. The next deadline for lottery funding will be 31 May 2008.
Screen Yorkshire currently runs two schemes for short filmmakers: Digital Shorts and Digital Shorts Plus.
The Digital Shorts scheme is run in partnership with the UK Film Council. We are delighted to announce the successful applicants to the scheme for 07/ 08. Twenty one participants will shoot nine films in and around Yorkshire in spring 2008. For a list of successful projects and filmmakers, click here.
If you have any queries regarding the scheme, please contact Will Massa, Production Coordinator on 0113 294 4410 or email will@screenyorkshire.co.uk . To watch the short films commissioned in previous years on this scheme, visit our showcase section.
In partnership with the UKFC, Screen Yorkshire also runs Digital Shorts Plus, for one film each year with a budget of £20,000. The scheme was set up to offer directors who had previously been commisioned under the Digital Shorts Scheme to make a bigger budget short, to develop their career. This year, the award has been made to Gopal Dutta who has previously been commisioned twice by Screen Yorkshire - Shed (Caught Short Focus, 2004) and A Girl In Your Hair (Caught Short 2005/2006). The film, Very Heaven, is written by Clare Perry and will be produced by Kathryn Penny. The project is currently in development and will shoot in Spring 2008. Screen Yorkshire hopes to offer this scheme again in 2008.
In the past, Screen Yorkshire has supported a bigger budget short annually under the Up Short Scheme. Mother Mine was commissioned under the Up Short scheme in 2006. Written and directed by Susan Everett and produced by Rob Speranza, the film shot towards the end of October 2007.2005 saw the award go to Private Life, written and directed by Abbe Robinson and produced by Maria Pavlou. The film has been the most successful of all the shorts funded by Screen Yorkshire, winning to date fourteen festival awards.
Want some advice?
The best person to contact is our New & Emerging Talent Manager:
Tony Dixon 0113 236 8229 tony@screenyorkshire.co.uk
For further opportunities, go to our New Talent Initiatives section
For a list of other short film networks, visit our short film links page
Then look no further. Screen Yorkshire hold a file of CV's and photographs of actors based in the Yorkshire & Humber region who are interested and available for work. If you would like to look over the CV's, please call our reception desk to arrange a viewing time on 0113 294 4410 or email carole@screenyorkshire.co.uk
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Case StudyDirector - Abbe Robinson
Director Abbe Robinson couldn't believe it when her film Private Life was awarded the grand prize of the Planet Out Short Movie Awards 2007, the most prestigious gay and lesbian filmmaking prize in the world.
"We were thrilled to win this award - it feels like a fantastic reward for surviving the long journey to get the film made! I know other directors who have won the Planet Out Short Movie Award have gone on to direct feature films, so I hope I will also be able to further my career in that way... the $10,000 prize money will certainly come in handy for future projects!" says Abbe, who has recently worked on Brideshead Revisited as the director's assistant.
Private Life was funded through Screen Yorkshire's Lottery programme, which awards £20,000 to filmmakers who already have some experience. The scheme is aimed at giving participants an opportunity to take a clear step forward in terms of their career development.
Private Life was shot and produced almost entirely in the region, where the story is set. The film features stunning regional locations such as Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and Bolling Hall and Industrial Museum in Bradford. Set in 1952 and featuring striking costumes from the period, the results are impressive.
The film has been accepted into the Palm Springs Short Film Festival
which is an Academy Award (OSCAR) qualifying festival. The film has won the HBO Audience Award for Best Short Film at Provincetown
International Short Film Festival and a jury award at Montecatini Film Festival in Tuscany.
