The BFI (British Film Institute) has made a further 11 awards through its U.K. Global Screen Fund, including three animated projects and a partly animated documentary. Financed through the U.K. government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the awards allocate over £1.65 million (~2.26M USD) through the fund’s International Co-production strand, supporting U.K. producers to work as partners on international co-productions and help create new global projects.
The awards, in the form of non-recoupable grants, support independent companies from across the U.K. as minority co-producers for feature films of all genres, and as majority and minority co-producers for TV animation and documentary projects. To date, the strand has now awarded over £8.9 million to 57 co-productions, supporting partnerships with 34 territories.
As part of last weekend’s U.K. Government announcement of the new Creative Industries Sector Plan, £18M per year (2026-29) has been committed to the U.K. Global Screen Fund through the Screen Growth Package, to develop international business capabilities, enable co-productions and showcase independent U.K. screen content worldwide. Over the first four years of the fund, it has been funded at £7M a year.
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Animated co-productions receiving awards this round are:
Captain Onion’s Buoyant Academy for Wayward Youth
A majority U.K. co-production with Ireland. The U.K. producers are ALT Animation (Northern Ireland) and Wild Child Animation (Scotland) who will be co-producing with Studio Meala (Ireland). The 50 x 11′ 2D animated TV series aimed at 7-12 year olds is an energetic, comedy-driven adventure set in a boarding school aboard a former pirate ship and is about finding the friends that define this time of your life. Created by Matthew Bradley, the series was co-developed with BBC Children’s & Education as part of the BBC Ignite animation program and will be co-directed by ALT Animation’s Matthew Bradley and Lee McQuade.
Luna in Dreamland
A majority U.K. co-production with Brazil (a first for the Fund). The U.K. producer is Johnny Schumann from Flickerpix (N. Ireland) who will co-produce with Felipe Tavares Pinto from Copa Studio Produtora Audiovisual (Brazil). The animated TV series, written by Sara Daddy and directed by Schumann, tells the story of a Guardian Dream Spirit who enters children’s dreams to help them overcome their fears and anxieties, and calls on self-regulation techniques that can be used in daily life.
MaeBee
A majority U.K. co-production with Ireland. The U.K. producers are Karrot Entertainment (Chris White and Jamie Badminton), who will be co-producing with Kavaleer Productions in Ireland (Andrew Kavanagh and Gary Timpson). The 52 x 7′ animated TV series, created, written and directed by Tim and Rebecca O’Sullivan, is set in a fantasy world and follows the escapades of Mae and Bee, who together explore the Green Garden to find things to fill up their Book of Big.
The Mad World of Harvey Kurtzman
A minority U.K. co-production with Canada. The U.K. producer is Aimara Reques of Aconite Films (Scotland) who is co-producing with Ina Fichman of Intuitive Pictures Productions (Canada). The documentary feature film, directed by Canada’s Bart Simpson, tells the story of Harvey Kurtzman, delving into the world of comic books, pop culture and the birth of modern satire with animation led by Scottish animation producer, Ken Anderson.
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“This latest round of awards showcases the U.K.’s truly unique creative talent, with an extraordinary range of projects spanning film and television across documentary, animation and fiction, reaching 57 international co-productions with 34 territories supported by the fund to date,” said Denitsa Yordanova, Head of U.K. Global Screen Fund and International Funds. “The Government’s enhanced backing of the U.K.’s independent screen sector will allow us to further boost international development, co-production, promotion and distribution opportunities for film, TV, animation, documentary and video games companies right across the U.K., deepening international relationships and accelerating export growth. We very much look forward to working with government and consulting with industry to formulate and take forward plans for the future of the U.K. Global Screen Fund.
U.K. Global Screen Fund applications are now open, and assessed on a rolling basis, for:
- International Distribution Festival Launch Support
- International Distribution Prints & Advertising Support (P&A)
Applications for International Co-production funding will re-open in late September.
Applications for the 2025 U.K. Global Screen Fund Co-production Workshop are now open until 17 July. The two-day participatory program for U.K.-based feature film and TV producers interested in international co-production, takes place on 29 and 30 September in Belfast.
[Source: BFI]
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