VarietyLeonardo DiCaprio-Produced ‘2001’ Doc Among BFI Awards as U.K. Global Screen Fund Set to Expand
VarietyLeonardo DiCaprio-Produced ‘2001’ Doc Among BFI Awards as U.K. Global Screen Fund Set to Expand
#Variety #Global #News #2001ASpaceOdyssey #Bfi #LeonardoDicaprio #UKGlobalScreenFund
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/leonardo-dicaprio-2001-doc-bfi-fund-awards-1236612527/
AnimagFollowing the launch of its new Belfast studio, BAFTA-nominated indie producer Paper Owl Films has announced the appointment of a new Head of Production, Nora Keely, with support from the UK Global Screen Fund — financed by the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media & Sport and administered by the BFI. #NoraKeely #PaperOwl #PaperOwlFilms #UKGlobalScreenFund
scottishgamesHyper Luminal Games & Keelworks Win UK Global Screen Funding
Two Scottish games companies, Hyper Luminal Games and Keelworks, have secured significant funding from the UK Global Screen Fund, marking a boost for the Scottish games community. The £2.15 million funding round will support 26 screen sector businesses across the UK, enabling them to expand their international reach and forge new partnerships in the global marketplace.
The UK Global Screen Fund, financed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), provides non-recoupable grants of between £50,000 and £200,000. The funding is awarded through two tracks: Film Transformation and General, with the latter supporting interactive narrative video games.
Hyper Luminal Games has received funding to hire a Business Development Manager. This new role will facilitate collaboration with global IP holders, enabling the studio to adapt and exploit cross-media intellectual property within the video games sector. Hyper Luminal, known for its service work for other studios as well as its growing portfolio of original intellectual property, recently launched the critically acclaimed Pine Hearts. This funding will help them build on this success and further establish themselves in the international games market.
Keelworks, the up-and-coming Edinburgh studio that transitioned from animation and VFX to game development, has secured funding to bring in a Senior Programmer. This expert will collaborate with the existing team, providing support for porting games to different platforms, offering general guidance, and supervising development. Keelworks’ debut title, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing, published by Konami and featuring an original soundtrack released by Sony Music, launched in August 2024 to significant buzz and critical acclaim. This investment will help them capitalise on this momentum and reach a wider audience.
The Scottish Games Network congratulates Hyper Luminal Games and Keelworks on their success and would encourage other Scottish games companies to explore the opportunities offered by the UK Global Screen Fund. With further funding rounds opening in 2025, this is a fantastic opportunity for studios to secure the resources they need to grow and compete in the global games markets.
Stuart Martin, the co-founder and CEO of Hyper Luminal Games told the SGN:
We are delighted to have been awarded the Global Screen Fund, which will support our international ambitions for our original IP titles and cross-media products. It’s an exciting next step for the Hyper Luminal Games team and our IP partners.
Meher Kandelerian, the founder & CEO of Keelworks, told SGN:
We’re incredibly grateful for the BFI Global Screen Funding. This contribution gives our team a valuable boost, helping us to advance our vision, accelerate growth, and deliver the best possible experience to players worldwide.
Denitsa Yordanova, BFI Head of UK Global Screen Fund and International Funds, said:
The UK’s independent screen sector has such a wealth of talent and ambition and it is fantastic to see this latest batch of business development awards supporting a breadth of companies and strategies, all focused on international growth and success in the global marketplace.
The Government’s ongoing backing of the UK Global Screen Fund ensures that we can continue to provide this critical support, boosting the international competitiveness of UK screen content, growing revenues, reach and partnerships and further driving international co-production and collaboration. We look forward to supporting even more screen companies from across the UK to thrive and reach their full growth potential internationally.
BFI Global Screen Fund Impact
The UK Global Screen Fund has also published its Multi-Year Evaluation, revealing that every £1 invested generates £22 of net benefit. This demonstrates the fund’s significant economic impact and vital role in supporting the UK’s independent screen sector. With £7 million committed to the fund for the next financial year, the future looks bright for UK games development.
Future Funding Rounds
Details of the 2025 UK Global Screen Fund application rounds can be found on the BFI website, along with the full list of the most recent funding recipients.
UK Global Screen Fund strand re-opening dates for 2025 are:
International Co-production
- Round One — opening 6 February
- Round Two – opening in September
International Business Development
- One Round – opening in April
International Distribution
- Currently open and assessed on a rolling basis throughout the year
#dundee #funding #games #hyperLuminalGames #Keelworks #scotland #UKGlobalScreenFund
£60 Million Government Boost for UK’s Creative Industries Sector Plan
New Funding Includes £5.5M for the UK Games Fund & £7M For UK Global Screen Fund – Glasgow & Edinburgh-Dundee Corridor Identified As Key UK Regions
Creative businesses and projects across the UK will receive government funding to help them grow as part of a major boost to the economy – marking the first step of the Government’s UK Creative Industries Sector Plan.
As part of its modern Industrial Strategy, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy announced how the Government plans to work with the sector to increase growth and investment, starting with a £60 million package of government support – including £5.5 million for the UK Games Fund, £7 million for the UK Global Screen Fund, as well as grassroots music venues and creative businesses to boost British music and film exports, to facilitate investment and innovation in communities, in turn supporting businesses and employment.
The funding is the first step towards delivering the Government’s Creative Industry Sector Plan, as part of the UK’s modern Industrial Strategy. It will set out the enormous growth potential of the sector and where the biggest opportunities are at home and in new markets abroad.It will identify what key barriers are currently holding back the sector’s growth potential, and government and industry’s shared commitment to overcoming them, laying the groundwork for the publication of the full Creative Industries Sector Plan due to be published in spring 2025.
At the UK Creative Industries Sector Plan launch event, the Culture Secretary announced that the priority regions for Creative Industries are the North East, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, West Yorkshire, West Midlands, Greater London, West of England, South Wales, Glasgow, Edinburgh-Dundee corridor, and Belfast.
Alongside this, the Government will provide additional funding, to six Mayoral Combined Authorities (North East, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, West Yorkshire, West Midlands, West of England) . This will maximise the strength of these areas to deliver growth and builds upon progress to provide an attractive business environment and encourage strong, continued investment in the creative industries for years to come.
In the near future, the Culture Secretary will also announce the Government is bringing forward changes so that shorter apprenticeships will be available from August 2025, recognising the particular needs of the creative industries, as one of its first steps towards a more flexible Growth and Skills Levy.
The government is working with industry, including through a Creative Industries Taskforce chaired by Baroness Shriti Vadera and Sir Peter Bazalgette, on the sector plan and there will be more detail and policy announcements made in the months ahead.
The £60 million package of support for the UK Creative Industries Sector Plan is comprised of:
- £40 million in funding over the next financial year. This includes a further £16.3 million for the Create Growth Programme, £2.5 million for the Supporting Grassroots Music Fund, £5.5 million for the UK Games Fund, £1.6 million for the Music Export Growth Scheme and £7 million for the UK Global Screen Fund.
- Four cultural projects receiving £16.2 million from the Cultural Development Fund. These are:
127 creative businesses in 12 regions across England awarded a share of £3.6 million through the Create Growth Programme (CGP), delivered by Innovate UK. Grants will help firms like Borro, a children’s clothing rental platform in the West Midlands, and Tapocketa, an animation studio in Hertfordshire, to develop innovative new products, attract private investment and access one-to-one mentoring with industry experts.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said:
From film and fashion to music and advertising, our creative industries are truly world-class and play a critical role in helping us deliver on this Government’s mission to drive economic growth in all parts of the UK.
Our £60 million funding boost will support creative and cultural organisations across the UK to turbocharge growth by transforming local venues, creating jobs, supporting businesses and spreading opportunity across the country.
But this is by no means the limit of our ambitions, which is why the creative industries are at the heart of the forthcoming Industrial Strategy and will continue to play a key part in this Government’s Plan for Change.
The Government plans to create an attractive business environment to encourage strong, continued investment in the creative industries in the years ahead. The Government will design the sector plan with business, who have set out the barriers to growth, including skills and access to finance.
As a result the Government is also making a significant signal of intent ahead of the Spending Review by announcing positive changes to the way the British Business Bank, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and skills policy will prioritise the Creative Industries.
The British Business Bank, which supports £17.4 billion of finance to over 64,000 smaller businesses, has committed to increase its support for creative businesses to access the finance they need to grow.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said:
Our number one mission is to grow the economy and our creative industries are a British success story with a big part to play.
Building on our plans to boost our AI sector, this is another step as we go further and faster to deliver growth so we can put more money in people’s pockets.
Today’s summit comes as the Culture Secretary and Foreign Secretary David Lammy also confirmed the membership of a new Soft Power Council. The council will act as an advisory board to the UK Government and will bring together soft power and foreign policy experts to champion the UK abroad, and drive investment and growth at home.
Members include former rower and chair of UK Sport Katherine Grainger, former athlete and television presenter Baroness Grey-Thompson and V&A director Tristram Hunt.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:
Soft power is fundamental to the UK’s impact and reputation around the world. I am often struck by the enormous love and respect which our music, sport and educational institutions generate on every continent. But we have not taken a sufficiently strategic approach to these huge assets as a country. Harnessing soft power effectively can help to build relationships, deepen trust, enhance our security and drive economic growth.
That is why I have created the Soft Power Council to channel British expertise as we look to re-imagine Britain’s role on the world stage, reinvigorate alliances and forge new partnerships.
Photo by Adi Ulici on Unsplash
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#creativeIndustries #EdinburghDundee #funding #glasgow #uk #ukGamesFund #UKGlobalScreenFund #UKGovernment #westminster
£60 million boost for creative industries to turbocharge growth
Hundreds of creative businesses and projects across the UK are to receive government funding to help them grow as part of a major boost to the economy – marking the first step of the Government's Sector Plan for the creative industries.
DeadlineBFI’s Global Screen Fund Unveils Latest Round Of Cash Award Recipients
#News #BFI #UKGlobalScreenFund
https://deadline.com/2024/01/bfi-global-screen-fund-2024-cash-award-recipients-1235795046/
