British Film Institute Audience Fund

Overview

There are two types of awards available:

• Project awards: to support nationally significant proposals with cultural ambition where the funded activity will grow priority audiences, offer greater choice and meet the outlined objectives;
• Organisational awards: to support proposals that enable organisations with proven sector experience to offer a range of year-round activity that meets the outlined objectives

Objectives

The objectives of the Audience Fund are to:

• grow the diversity of audiences engaging with film;
• develop the 16- to 30-year-old audience for film;
• increase access to independent British and international film for audiences, especially those outside London;
• enhance confidence, best practice and capability of the sector;
• increase access to the UK’s screen heritage via the BFI’s National Archive of film and TV, and those of the regions and nations;
• increase engagement with BFIsupported activities and cultural programmes across the UK, and enhance the quality and cultural depth of audience experience.

They will give priority to proposals that most ambitiously respond to these objectives and which also demonstrate:

• national reach;
• significant cultural ambition;
• an alignment with other BFI supported audience, diversity and education initiatives, including the BFI Film Audience Network, Into Film, the BFI National Archive and regional film archives;
• value for money;
• inclusivity

Outcomes

Through investments made by the Audience Fund they expect to see:

• a larger, more diverse film audience with a greater number of young people enjoying independent British and international film;
• an increased profile for independent British and international film;
• new partnerships and initiatives that diversify outputs and practices to reach new audiences;
• an inclusive workforce that is representative of our population

Who can apply?

Applicants to the Audience Fund must be legally constituted organisations centrally managed in the UK. This includes:

• Limited Liability Company or Partnership registered at Companies House;
• Community Interest Company registered at Companies House;
• local authority or statutory body;
• charity or trust registered with the Charity Commission (including UK universities);
• if not registered with the Charity Commission, universities principally regulated by one of the Higher Education Funding Bodies (being the
• Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, the Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland and the Scottish Funding Council)

Applicants and/or their partners should have direct experience of film distribution, exhibition and audience development activity within the UK; for example, film distributors, cinemas, cinema chains or consortia, film festivals or arts organisations with experience of film curation.

Applications can be made in respect of programmes developed outside of the UK provided they relate to the delivery of programmes in the UK and the lead applicant is based in the UK.

Project Awards

Awards will be made in accordance with the scale and ambition of the proposals, and with the extent to which they meet our objectives.

They expect the majority of awards approved to be between £20,000 and £50,000 with an upper limit for proposals of exceptional scale or ambition of £200,000.

In most cases, an award from the BFI will cover activity taking place for up to 12 months. They may, at their sole discretion and in exceptional circumstances, elect to offer funding for more than one year. Their decision to offer such funding for multiple years will be based on evidence that your proposal delivers strongly against all Audience Fund objectives. Annual funding in such an agreement will be finalised subject to an annual performance review, agreement of future plans and annual budget, and will be subject to ongoing availability of Lottery funds at current levels.

Project awards will support clearly defined, time-limited proposals.

All proposals need to meet the objectives of the Audience Fund to increase audience choice and audience engagement across the UK, and have the potential to engage new and diverse audiences including a focus on 16- to 30-year-olds.

They will prioritise proposals that demonstrate scale and ambition, are of national reach and significance, and which take place across a large geographical area and/or attract audience members from across the UK.

Proposals which address predominantly local audiences will not be prioritised by the Fund as it is seeking to support proposals that achieve a much broader impact. The BFI Film Audience Network has opportunities for local projects, so applicants should contact their local Film Hub for further details.

Examples of proposals we will consider include, but are not limited to: film festivals, distribution releases, multiplatform distribution proposals, touring film programmes, large scale and ambitious film programmes, proposals that take the art form in innovative directions, and marketing or data audience development initiatives. All projects must deliver direct benefit to audiences for film.

Applicants will be expected to have in place robust governance and management structures and processes.

They will not be able to support all proposals and those that clearly address the objectives for the Fund are the most likely to be selected for funding.

Organisational Awards

Awards will be made in accordance with the scale and ambition of the proposal, and with the extent to which they meet our objectives.

They expect the majority of awards approved to be between £50,000 and £200,000. At their discretion they may make Organisational awards over £200,000.

Multi-year funding is available but will be subject to an annual performance review and ongoing availability of National Lottery funds at current levels. Their decision to offer such funding for multiple years will be based on evidence that your proposal delivers strongly against the Audience Fund objectives.

Organisations applying for these awards will be expected to achieve our objectives for UK audiences on a year-round basis.

Organisations will also be expected to have a demonstrable track record of outstanding delivery of audience- or industry-facing activity, an in-depth understanding of UK film culture and excellence in audience

development and/or community engagement.

In terms of scope, applicants must be able to demonstrate significant impact on at least a regional, and ideally national, scale.

Organisations delivering activity on a local level only (for example, a single town or county) will not be prioritised by the Fund.

The organisations we support will be expected to take a sector-leading position in addressing the BFI Diversity Standards and as part of this will be required to submit a diversity and inclusion plan to cover the duration of the funding term, and refresh this if requested during the course of the term.

Applicants will be expected to have in place robust governance and management structures and processes along with clearly articulated long-term plans for organisational sustainability and development. Successful applicants will be required to submit a three to five year business plan.

Receiving an Organisational award means your organisation is considered to be a leader in its field and an exemplar of good practice. As such the BFI wishes to ensure that the impact of their investment has the greatest possible benefits for the wider sector in which you are operating. Applicants will therefore be asked to describe their plans for sector development, outlining how the organisation might contribute to the increased capability of the sector. This should include enhanced plans for in-house staff development and for giving support to organisations or individuals externally. They may ask successful applicants to work up elements of this plan further or submit a more detailed delivery plan.

They will not be able to support all proposals and those that clearly address the objectives for the Fund are the most likely to be selected for funding.

Organisations based in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland

If your organisation is based in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland you will need to make an especially strong case for funding support in recognition of the fact that alternative sources of funding are available in the Nations which do not exist in England.

Any organisation based in the Nations must meet all the criteria for BFI Organisational awards and must also be able to demonstrate that:

• additional, new activity will be undertaken with BFI funding which strongly addresses their objectives for UK audiences;
• additional funds will be leveraged or generated as a result of BFI funding;
• the proposed activity has the financial support of the relevant screen agency;
• there are no other sources of income available for the proposed activity.