BFI National Lottery Creative Challenge Fund announces first awards to project development programmes

The new BFI National Lottery Creative Challenge Fund has announced £911,525 in total funding for its first round of awards which will support eight project development labs across the UK working with emerging filmmakers on their genre-focused projects across feature film, live action, animation, documentary and immersive. They are: 

• 104 Projects, No Funny Business  
• Crossover Labs, Immersive Fictions Lab 
• Film Constellation, UK Next Wave Genre Lab 
• The Glasgow Film Theatre, Funny Features 
• Screen South, Develop-CreateXR 
• Sheffield DocFest, Development Lab for LGBTQIA+ documentary  
• Story Compound, The Residency 
• Trans+ On Screen, The DarkRoom – a Film Development Lab 

Over three years from 2023 to 2026 this new fund will focus on five different ‘challenges’ which collectively are expected to support around 24 separate development programmes or labs and they in turn will support many more projects and filmmakers. The first challenge addressed by this round of funding seeks to address the comparative lack of genre projects coming through to public funders which is contributing to a lack of genre diversity in UK independent projects that come into the international and domestic commercial marketplace.  

The new fund has been structured to decentralise project development and support the wider ecosystem in which emerging UK filmmakers can develop new projects. It is complementary to longstanding feature development support provided through the BFI Filmmaking Fund, enabling more filmmakers to develop their own creative practice.   

The labs being supported in this first round include production companies, regional screen agencies and festivals which are collectively delivering activity in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They all bring experience and track record in project development and offer specific specialist expertise across genre and different form; some work with creatives from marginalised communities. With the support of the new fund these development labs will provide emerging filmmakers with environments, tools and skills that offer targeted development support that is both creative and strategic. This will maximise the chances of projects securing further development finance and production funding from a range of sources following completion of the programme.  

All of the programmes are expected to launch over the next couple of months and to have completed delivery by end of June 2025.  

“The response we received from the industry for this first round of funding (more than 50 applications) underlines the vital need for this type of funding support within our project development ecosystem, and evidences that there are a range of specialists ready and waiting to support the work,” said Mia Bays, Director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund. “Through these eight programmes we are looking towards 85 projects and up to 152 filmmakers developing their projects further and finding a range of support from the financial to the creative and strategic. By opening up how we can invest funding for project development, we are supporting the UK indie film industry in the longer term by building a stronger lab and project development ecosystem with the expertise to propel strong projects and talented filmmakers forward into the marketplace.    

“With this first round of the fund we chose a genre and early career focus because we wanted to give impetus and resources to a wider range of genre-focused work. The labs that are being supported have a real diversity across form and genre including comedy by disabled creatives, LGBTQIA+ non-fiction, Trans+ and/or Queer Global Majority, immersive comedy, sci-fi, action/thriller, fantasy, crime, mystery and narrative immersive. The programmes are run by a strong array of providers that offer UK-wide perspectives and support. We can’t wait to see what they do next and the projects that emerge.” 

The eight project development labs and the programmes that they will be running are as follows: 

This comedy feature film development programme is aimed to support 10 projects with disabled writers, producers and directors looking to challenge and explore new and more interesting ways of depicting disability on cinema screens and which make audiences think differently about disability and work towards a more inclusive society. This detailed, longer programme will explore the full range of story and structure within the comedy genre. It is designed by Justin Edgar, who has made a trilogy of successful comedy feature films (Large, Special People and We are the Freaks). His recent collaboration with Fudge Park and disabled writer Andrew Bogle Kirkmoore, premiered on BBC3 and was recently nominated for the Emerging Talent – Fiction BAFTA.  

Crossover Labs will accelerate writing and early development of screen-based immersive projects, addressing the central question: ‘Why isn’t XR funny?’. It will be open to first and second-time immersive writers, directors and producers from across the UK with immersive projects that use screen-based XR technologies including virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. The lab will sharpen project concepts, hone their narratives and creatively explore genre, with a particular focus on the form’s untapped ability to deliver humour in unique ways, as well as its aptitude for escapism, emotional engagement, exploration of human experience and character embodiment.  Crossover Labs have been running project development labs at the intersection of art, storytelling and technology for over 15 years. Their alumni have proceeded to win numerous awards and be industry leaders across film, television, interactive and XR.  

The UK Next Wave Genre Lab is an initiative led by three leading industry organisations with complementary experience and expertise: Film Constellation, Maskoon Fantastic Lab, and Tatino Films. They specialise in distinct and diverse areas of filmmaking encompassing film project and talent development, a focus on genre filmmaking, together with market experience.  The lab programme which includes an intensive workshop in Cardiff and individual tailor-made residencies for filmmakers in different countries, offers culturally immersive environments with opportunities to forge international partnerships.  It is open to UK-resident writers and directors, or writer-directors who are currently developing either their first, second, or even third feature films with an emphasis on genre films.

Funny Features, an innovative new talent lab from Glasgow Film Festival, aims to invigorate the industry by addressing the lack of initiatives for producers looking to finance comedy genre projects. Successful producers, writers, and writer/directors will take part in workshops and mentoring sessions covering a range of topics from script consultation, pitching, and film finance packaging. Project teams will complete the lab with a polished script, a finance package, and a network of contacts. The programme will be actively encouraging applications from participants based in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and northern England and projects led by filmmakers from underrepresented and economically disadvantaged groups. 

This cinematic extended narrative writing and world-building development programme for immersive XR is focused on embracing high-concept story opportunities for a range of genre-driven cinematic narratives in realtime XR. UK-based writers can be supported to develop a diverse group of innovative projects embracing experimental storytelling and ‘audience centred’ narrative design challenging audience expectations of narrative, across a range of genre themes and subjects that are not ordinarily embraced on for cinematic VR. Screen South has developed a specialism in supporting immersive work and will run the programme in partnership with BRiGHTBLACK. Co-Founders Myra Appannah and Simon Wilkinson are artist/writer/director/game developers, who have been innovating with spatial deep immersion and transmedia stories for over 15 years; one of the UK’s most influential immersive productions, they have toured their work to 36 nations on five continents. Penrose Tackie, interactive entertainment industry expert with extensive XR content development completes the main team. 

Documentary filmmakers are increasingly experimenting with innovative approaches to narrative non-fiction, blending traditional documentary styles with elements of fiction filmmaking, evident in recent hybrid work such as Orlando: My Political Biography, Safe Space and Anell69. This Sheffield DocFest lab will support 10 early-mid stage filmmakers wishing to experiment with form whilst exploring the LGBTQIA+ experience, to enable creative freedom and risk-taking cross-genre documentary filmmaking whilst equipping talent with the network, resources and toolkit for an independent film career. Over a 10-month programme, directors and producers will explore form and content as they develop and evolve their projects. 

The Residency is a talent and IP accelerator that identifies outstanding screenwriting talent with unique, global perspectives, and fast-tracks the production of new films for local and international markets. Developed by Tolu Stedford and Charlotte Knowles of Story Compound in partnership with Nadine Marsh-Edwards and Amanda Jenks of Greenacre Films, The Residency will prioritise female and non-binary writers from the Global Majority. Focusing on action and thriller films created by 10 writers or writer/directors, the lab will develop and package their new films and then create a showcase in order to give the projects much-needed exposure to the gatekeepers that could take them into further development and/or production. In addition to supporting new filmmaking talent, The Residency encourages major media stakeholders to invest in the talent pipeline. 

The DarkRoom is a new programme designed for Trans+ and/or Queer Global Majority writers to develop feature film genre projects. It aims to support writers that have often been ignored or under-supported by the industry and who may not have had the chance to develop their work in a supported environment. It will be open to first, second, or third feature writers from various disciplines who have a feature project they are looking to develop further. Projects supported will expand the parameters of the kinds of stories Trans+ and Queer creatives have been able to tell and showcase quality work that has the ability to travel and find audiences globally. Taking inspiration from the world class labs at Sundance Film Festival, the centrepiece of the programme will be a week-long residency to dig into each project as well as a year round selection of masterclasses from exceptional talents and a pitching showcase to introduce the writers and their projects to industry. 

Through this first call for projects, organisations were able to apply for up to £150,000 for their individual programmes. 

There will be up to four further rounds of the Creative Challenge Fund through to March 2026. The BFI expects to support around 24 separate project development programmes across the UK. Each ‘challenge’ is identified by the BFI based on data, market analysis, and insights gathered with industry partners, as well as consideration of the applications being made to the Filmmaking Fund. By offering targeted creative development programmes, the fund aims to positively impact a number of areas that are currently underserved, while also encouraging growth of the UK independent industry.