BFI and DCMS invest a further £2.15 million into the UK’s independent screen sector in latest awards from UK Global Screen Fund

International Business Development Awards will support 26 UK screen content companies.

UK Global Screen Fund

We’ve made 26 new awards through our UK Global Screen Fund, supporting international opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector. Financed through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the awards see a further £2,150,000 being allocated through the £7m per year fund’s International Business Development strand, which has now awarded over £9.1m to date.

Designed to help UK companies achieve new business partnerships, enhance their profile and reach in the global marketplace and increase revenue generation through export and international expansion, the International Business Development support is awarded in the form of non-recoupable grants ranging between £50,000 and £200,000, via one of two tracks:

  • Film Transformation, for internationally-focused transformational business strategies related to independent UK films, spanning three to five years

  • General, for business strategies to create, acquire and/or exploit intellectual property (IP) across film, TV, animation, documentary and interactive narrative video games, with strategies spanning three years   

Alongside the latest round of awards, the UK Global Screen Fund has published its Multi-Year Evaluation, which looked into the process, impact and economic value of the fund from 2021-2024. Undertaken by BOP Consulting, the evaluation found that every £1 of UK Global Screen Fund funding generates £22 of net benefit.

As part of last week’s UK Government announcement of a package of support to boost the creative industries and turbocharge growth, £7m was committed to the UK Global Screen Fund over the next financial year.

“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,” said Denitsa Yordanova, BFI Head of UK Global Screen Fund and International Funds. “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.”

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

Companies to receive UK Global Screen Fund International Business Development awards, via the Film Transformation track

Cantilever Group

Support towards the hire of a Marketing Executive to spearhead the launch of Kazoo Films, a new independent film distribution company arm of Cantilever, dedicated to family feature animation. The film and TV production company, focused on animation, has received critical acclaim and commercial success with recent credits including The Amazing Maurice and TV series Badjelly set for release later this year.

Elation Pictures

Support towards the hire of a Development and Production Executive and the engagement of a Book Scout and Consultant. The film production company has a focus on internationality and has built a reputation as a strong international co-producer, recently commissioned by several Norwegian industry bodies to write a ‘Roadmap to Co-Producing with the UK’. Credits include The Damned, Great Yarmouth: Provisional Figures and Tides.

Escape Plan Productions

Funding to establish Anna Keeley as an in-house Producer to grow the company’s slate, with particular focus on majority and minority co-productions and projects for international audiences. The production company specialises in high-quality genre films with international reach. Credits include Saint Maud, Out of Darkness and Love Lies Bleeding.

Finely Crafted Media (trading as Architect)

Support to enhance activity in the areas of acquisitions and distribution reach, marketing materials and aggregation. Launched at Cannes in 2023, the film sales and financing company focuses on commercial and theatrical, genre-defined films, particularly curating for younger audiences. Credits include The Bayou, Wolf Creek: Legacy, Winner and The Swallow.

Golden Arrow Pictures

Support towards the hire of a Producer to increase the company’s international partnerships and reach, as well as attendance at specific co-production markets. The production company, which focuses on character-driven, commercially viable productions, has a strong track record of producing critically acclaimed films. Credits include BAFTA-nominated The Girl with All the Gifts and recently released international co-production, The Lesson.

Jeva Films

Support towards the hire of a Development Executive to source IP as well as attending international markets to grow the company’s international strategy. The female-owned company, focused on telling original stories by visionary filmmakers, has a strong track record of collaborating with established and emerging talent to create diverse and impactful stories. Recent credits include critically acclaimed international co-production The Lesson, 7 Keys, Nina Forever, On Our Doorstep and India in a Day.

Neon Films

Support towards the hire of development personnel, focused on growing the company’s film slate with an international outlook and appeal. The production company finds untold or unheard stories from the margins, bringing them into the mainstream spotlight for international audiences, and has a strong track record of producing critically acclaimed and commercially successful films. Recent credits include The Duke, Locked In and Academy-Award nominated The After.

Unified Theory Productions

Support towards the hire of a Creative and Production Executive to aid the company’s internationally focused transformational ambitions. The Scottish production company is focused on discovering and nurturing filmmaking talent and building international co-productions. The company was a recipient of the BBC Small Indie Fund in 2024. Credits include Oscar-nominated Aftersun and critically-acclaimed The Outfit.

Companies to receive UK Global Screen Fund International Business Development awards, via the General track

4Pi Productions

Support towards the hire of an international consultant to assist with the company’s sales targeting and market research into immersive experiences. The Welsh-based studio specialises in 360° live capture and shared XR experiences, producing fulldome films as well as establishing CULTVR Lab, the first immersive arts centre in the UK dedicated to R&D, creation and presentation of XR live performances. Credits include Liminality and The Voyage of Arka Kinari.

Air Street Films

Support towards the hire of a Head of Development to work alongside the company founder in identifying and acquiring new titles for the company’s slate, as well as towards book and film scouts, options and attending international markets. The production company, which specialises in genre, particularly horror, is actively developing a diverse slate of projects whilst exploring international co-productions and collaborations. Recent credits include The Power and The Strays.

Causeway Pictures

Support towards the hire of a Business Development Coordinator and Development Coordinator, allowing the company founders to focus on securing financing and producing. The Northern Irish production company focuses on producing feature films and documentaries with international appeal. Credits include Hostage to the Devil, Lie of the Land, which won Best Irish Feature Debut at the Galway Film Fleadh, and Netflix series Senna.

Empress Films

Support towards the hire of a US-based Head of Development to enhance the company’s presence in the market and secure new commissions for internationally appealing factual IP. The independent production company, based in London and Manchester, specialises in high-end documentaries and has produced a number of critically acclaimed, commercially successful projects. Recent credits include The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes and Who Killed Jill Dando?.

Fireblade Software

Support towards the hire of a Programmer to bring knowledge of porting to consoles and VR into the company, assisting with the porting of titles to additional platforms and helping to build additional content and tools for those platforms, thereby increasing the company’s international audiences and reach. The games company has recently released its second title, SENTRY, following its debut game, Abandon Ship.

Flickerpix

Support towards the hire of a Development Producer and a Children’s Media Consultant to enable the company to scale up its efforts in the international Children’s animation sector. The Northern Irish animation studio, with a reputation for award-winning content across various formats, has recently focused on creating engaging kids’ TV content with international appeal. Credits include 26-part series Zig and Zag for CBBC, slapstick series Hop N’ Zip, and award-winning short films Da Humbug, Macropolis and One Track Mind.

Hazimation

Funding towards the hire of an International Business Development focused role, supporting the company in expanding its global footprint outside of the UK. The transmedia production company, with bases in Northern Ireland and London, specialises in creating feature films, series and video games. Hazimation has been involved in animated feature Max Beyond, iconic series The Rap Game UK, Fortnite game Moontopia and Dune: Awakening plus upcoming projects, including live-action feature Prisoners of Paradise and animated feature adaptation of the game Mutant Year Zero.

Hyper Luminal Games

Support towards the hire of a Business Development Manager to aid in a new collaboration with IP holders exploiting cross-media IP into the video games sector. The Scottish independent games studio, which offers services for the video games industry as well as building its own-IP games, launched its own original game, Pine Hearts, in May 2024 to critical acclaim. Other credits include Venture Valley, an educational financial literacy game used in schools across the US; and My Life, an app used by residents of a Scottish housing association to unlock more independence.

Kailash Films

Support towards the hire of a Development Executive to aid in developing premium documentaries slate for streamers and the US market. The Welsh TV production company specialises in premium documentaries and factual content that resonates with global audiences. Recent credits include Helmand: A Frontline Story, Hunting Mr Nice, Colin Jackson: Resilience and RTS and BAFTA Cymru winner Rhod Gilbert: A Pain In The Neck.

Keelworks

Funding will contribute towards engaging a Senior Programmer to collaborate closely with the programming team, providing support for porting requirements, general guidance, and supervision. This up-and-coming independent Scottish game studio, which has transitioned from animation and VFX to video game development, is dedicated to delivering high-quality games for international markets. Their debut title, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing, published by Konami with its original soundtrack released by Sony Music, launched in August 2024 to significant buzz and critical acclaim.

Me & You Productions

Support towards the hire of a Book Scout and an addition to the company’s development team to help it take on and develop new internationally appealing TV series. The award-winning independent film and TV production company develops high-end cinematic, authored drama with a focus on diverse, distinctive and bold stories for UK and international audiences. Recent credits include Close to You, Alice & Jack, and the BAFTA-winning I Am Ruth starring Kate Winslet.

Moonriver TV

Support towards the hire of a Development Executive to drive the company’s slate in the French market. The production company is focused on producing premium, ambitious scripted television and feature films with global appeal. Recent successes include 10-part series, Nautilus, the critically-acclaimed feature film Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, and the 8-part series A Gentleman in Moscow.

Second Home Studios

Support towards the hire of a consultant with international animation expertise, plus a part time Development Producer to enhance the company’s international ambitions. The animation studio, based in the Midlands, specialises in stop-motion animation, 2D animation, 3D, puppetry and mixed-media techniques and has worked on a diverse range of projects, including commercials, television series, short films and broadcast design. Credits include Tweedy & Fluff, Dewmini and The Flood.

Sylver Entertainment

Funding towards the hire of a TV Series Development Producer to support the production of internationally-appealing factual content. The Dorset-based premium production house has already achieved significant success with factual film content and is now looking to expand its reach into the Factual TV Series market. Credits include McEnroe, The Greatest Game and Schmeichel.

Walk on Air Films

Support towards the hire of a Development Executive to help the company find new international commissioners and distributors, targeting North America and Europe, as well as streamers and digital platforms such as Amazon and Sky. The Belfast-based production company has a strong reputation for producing high-quality, award-winning factual content and has been supported by BBC Small Indie Fund and Channel 4’s Emerging Indies scheme. Credits include critically-acclaimed Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland.

We Are Anagram

Support towards the hire of a Head of Business Development and Distribution as well as a Technical Strategy Lead to help the company increase the reach of their immersive narrative work. The Bristol and London based creative studio specialises in interactive storytelling and immersive experience design that challenges the status quo, leveraging technology to create thought-provoking and playful experiences that bring profound new perspectives. Credits include Goliath: Playing with Reality and The Collider.

Wired Productions

Support towards the hire of a new Producer and contribution towards the localisation of a number of games from the company’s slate for the Chinese market. The Watford-based video game publisher focuses on narrative-driven titles, often tackling thought-provoking topics including mental health and historic events. Credits include The Falconeer, Martha is Dead and Deliver Us the Moon.

Yeti Media

Support towards the hire of an Executive Producer and a Development Assistant Producer, allowing the company to increase its international output and reach, specifically with a focus on the US and Australian markets. The Cardiff-based factual TV production company specialises in creating a wide range of unscripted television programs, from factual series to premium documentaries, and has a strong focus on projects with international appeal. Credits include 48 Hours to Victory, The Truth About My Murder, Edward VIII: Traitor King and Spike Milligan: The Unseen Archive.