Northern Ireland Screen: Creative Animation Scheme

Overview

It is Northern Ireland Screen’s ambition that completed short films would be submitted to accredited film festivals and could have a successful festival run after delivery of the film. The scheme is supported via funding from the Screen Fund and BFI NETWORK. Northern Ireland Screen will support the production of up to two animated short films through funding awarded in the financial year 2025-26. 

WHO CAN APPLY?

The scheme is open to Northern Ireland based animation companies which have identified Northern Ireland resident emerging talent that could be supported through this funding to develop and create animated short films. The identified individual (creator/animator) should not be a principal of the company and should not currently be working in IP generation. 

The scheme is designed to ensure that the animation company can provide the support and guidance needed for the creator/animator to deliver a quality animated short film on schedule and budget. As such the applicant animation company must have a substantive base. This includes: 

• Long term premises in Northern Ireland;
• At least 5 full time employees which can include people on short term contracts;
• The facilities to produce and deliver an animated short film. 

KEY PARAMATERS OF THE SCHEME 

• Max Budget per film: £40,000 
• Duration: 5 – 10 minutes 
• Delivery by: 28 November 2026 

REQUIRED DELIVERABLES 

• ProRes 4:2:2 HQ File on Hard drive. 
• MEG4 HD h.264 viewing file created from the master file. The file should be set for streaming at 5Mb/s 
• An unencrypted DCP file on hard drive or pen drive 
• 1 online viewing link (password protected) 
• At least 5 colour print quality stills in jpeg format (minimum 300 dpi) 
• A written publicity pack to include one synopsis of approximately 250 words and a 160-character logline, flyers and other publicity material, full credits list, biographies of individual producer(s), director(s), writer(s) and key crew, and production information. 
• A PDF copy of the final script 
• Closing reports on templates provided by Northern Ireland Screen 

Notes

• Above the line creatives team must be paid at least Real Living Wage (currently £12.60 per hour)
• Crew must be paid at least Real Living Wage (currently £12.60 per hour)
• Cast must be paid at least equity minimum rates. 
• All completed films must be delivered with subtitles and Audio Description. You will need to include both: 
  • hearing impaired captions in.stl format or timed text format 
  • visually impaired narrative [VI-N] audio track 
• The final Film must be cleared for festivals worldwide in perpetuity. 
• Rates of pay 
  • Equity minimum £109.89 (as of January 2025) excluding overtime and meal allowances – for guidance please go to Pay Guide Ratecard | The Casting Collective 
  • Real living wage https://www.livingwage.org.uk/what-real-living-wage