The 2022/23 application window for BFI NETWORK Short Film Funding reopens on 14 March 2022. Directors based in England can apply for up to £15,000 through the fund to support production costs on fiction shorts, in both live action and animation. Filmmaking teams with a Director based in the North of England will also benefit from advice and support from our Talent Development Team throughout the production process.

The BFI NETWORK Short Film Fund backs shorts that are creatively ambitious, culturally relevant and that represent an important next step for local filmmakers early in their careers. Eligible projects that have a Writer, Director and Producer attached can apply with applications closing at on Monday, 2 May.

Please note that this is the single funding round for the year 2022/23. March 2023 marks the end of the BFI’s current strategy period, and our plans for talent development funding beyond this period will be announced in autumn 2022, with funds set to launch from April 2023 onwards. To learn more about the BFI’s consultation on its National Lottery funding strategy from March 2023, visit this webpage.

For more information on the fund, visit our Short Film Funding landing page.

If you have any questions for our BFI NETWORK Talent Executives about the fund and / or want to connect with other filmmakers in the North, coming by our regular events are a good place to do just that. Be it our online Filmmaker Roundtables for creatives who've not yet met us or our Script Mixers that provide creatives in the North with a chance to meet up and form new filmmaking teams, there are plenty of opportunities for you to learn more about funding, development and networking opportunities. You can also sign up to our online pitching forum connecting Writers, Directors and Producers: Talent Connect.

In the meantime, if you want to know what sort of projects we support. Take a look at our Slate to find out more about our recently funded shorts, or browse our collection of interviews with the talented filmmakers we work with. Films funded by our Talent Development Team have gone on to win awards and play at festivals across the UK and around the world.