Funding
What funding is available through First Light Movies?
First Light Movies was set up to fund and inspire the making of short films by young people aged five to 19 years. First Light Movies is not just about young people devising the idea and acting in the film, it’s about them being given the necessary skills to make their own film.There are two main production funding strands available, the Pilot and Studio Award Scheme, and we also offer support for generating those first film ideas through the Script Award Scheme.
First Light Movies funds filmmaking projects throughout the UK. You can see films from your area or find out about the people we work with near you on our map.
N.B. We don’t fund individuals so if you are a young person who wants to make a film with us you need to encourage your teacher or a leader of an after school club to apply to us. Click here for more information.
Making an Application
All applications to First Light Movies are made online. The information below will help you select the best pathway for your First Light Movies grant application.Be inspired
Get some inspiration for your film or script idea from other First Light Movies projects by visiting the Films page. Why not get some inside knowledge by checking out First Light Movies’ filmmaker blogs on the Lightbox?Interested and want to find out more about filmmaking? Then visit our Get Involved page for tips on how to get started.Script Award
- Funding for script writing projects that team young people with script professionals- Maximum grant £3,000
- 10% match funding requirement
We will be accepting applications to the Script Award Scheme on following deadlines:
Deadline Decisions Announced
31 March 2009 12 May 2009
7 July 2009 18 August 2009
13 October 2009 24 November 2009
19 January 2010 2 March 2010
27 April 2010 8 June 2010
Ready to apply?
Click here to register and begin making an application.
Pilot Award
- Funding for one short film of up to five minutes in duration- Maximum grant - £5,000
- 20% in-kind match funding requirement
We will be accepting applications to the Pilot Award Scheme on following deadlines:
Deadline Decisions Announced
31 March 2009 12 May 2009
7 July 2009 18 August 2009
13 October 2009 24 November 2009
19 January 2010 2 March 2010
27 April 2010 8 June 2010
Ready to apply?
Click here to register and begin making your application.
Studio Award - Deadline Extended to 12 May 2009
- Funding for between two and four films of up to 10 minutes in duration- Maximum grant - £30,000
- 40% match funding requirement
- Track record of filmmaking with young people necessary
The Studio Award is closed, it will re-open for applications on 24 August. We will be accepting applications to the Studio Award Scheme on the following deadlines:
Deadline Decisions Announced
12 May 2009 17 June 2009
5 October 2009 5 February 2010
Please note, for the 5 October 2009 deadline First Light Movies Studio Award Scheme will be moving to a 2 stage application process. Application Guidelines for the 2 stage Studio Award Scheme will be available to download from this website on 24 August 2009.
Amount of funding available
First Light Movies allocates £700,000 of National Lottery funding obtained via the UK Film Council per year to its funding schemes.
For the 5 May 2009 Studio Award Scheme deadline, First Light Movies is able to spend approximately £297,500.
To date we have received 1561 applications, of which 483 (31%) have been funded.
Amount of funding available
First Light Movies allocates £700,000 of National Lottery funding obtained via the UK Film Council per year to its funding schemes.
For the 5 May 2009 Studio Award Scheme deadline, First Light Movies is able to spend approximately £297,500.
To date we have received 1561 applications, of which 483 (31%) have been funded.
Download:
First Light Movies Case Study (Microsoft Word Document file 34K)
Child Protection Policy (Microsoft Word Document file 168K)
National Lottery Customer Charter (PDF Document file 59K)
National Lottery Customer Charter - Large Print (PDF Document file 58K)
Mediabox Evaluation Toolkit (PDF Document file 617K)
Example of a film budget (Misc. File file 20K)
"In August I worked as a sound assistant on 'This Life + 10', which was shown on BBC 2 the other night, followed by a drama about Saddam Hussein, also as a sound assistant." Dionne South: Ex First Light Movies young filmmaker
