BFI puts funding for non-English-language indie projects on the table

The British Film Institute, or BFI, has announced a £500,000 funding grant to support international independent titles in the UK. This will be administered by the existing BFI Audience Fund. Here’s what BLAKE & WANG P.A Entertainment Lawyer Los Angeles has found out for our interested indie producers.


Brandon Blake- Managing Partner at Blake & Wang P.A.

This project is specifically for indie producers working outside of the English language framework. It has been developed in consultation with several interested industry partners, including the UK Cinema Association and the Film Distributors Association.


Sources for the unexpected project funding appear to have come through the budgetary extras from the slowdown in market attendance/international travel during the 2020 season, making it quite an unanticipated windfall. Eligible projects must align with the Audience Fund’s stated goals of broadening diversity and opening audience choice. Since its inception in 2017, the Audience Fund has helped bring to life about 6 films a year, including Oscar hits like Parasite and Minari.


It’s been a hard year across the industry, of course, but it’s always smaller productions that take the worst hits in such a climate. With limited marketing budgets and less distribution support, they can’t simply restructure and recover as easily as a giant like Disney can. It’s hoped that the new funding from the initiative can help redress some of this, allowing more indie content to stay competitive within the sector as the entertainment industry rebuilds. While the Audience Fund already provides support on the matter, this one-year initiative offers a way to focus particularly on this niche of programming and offer an additional boost to aid recovery.


It’s good to see this subcategory of the indie film get an extra boost, and it will be incredibly interesting to see what new gems we get from the funding overall, too. BLAKE & WANG P.A Entertainment Attorney looks forward to hearing more about the projects that receive funding.


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