Northern Alliance - BFI

Appendix VIII Overview of the UK Film Council‟s principal short film schemes
Cinema Extreme is targeted at filmmakers who are thought to be one short
away from making their first feature length film. These films are made for
around £50,000, can be shot on film or digitally, and usually have a longer
running time of around 20 minutes. Cinema Extreme is managed by Londonbased
independent production company, The Bureau.
The Completion Fund targets entrepreneurial filmmakers that have produced a
short film independently, but who lack the funding to complete the postproduction
on their film. The Completion Fund is managed by Mayavision
International, also a London-based production company.
Digital Shorts is an entry-level scheme, with budgets up to £12,000 and film
lengths around ten minutes on average. Since 2006, filmmakers have been
able to receive funding through Digital Shorts more than once. Following this
decision, some regions introduced two levels of Digital Shorts – microbudgeted
short films targeting absolute first timers (such as North West
Vision‟s Virgin Shorts scheme) and basic Digital Shorts, targeting filmmakers
with some experience, for example a student or self-financed short film. Both
Digital Shorts and Digital Nation are managed by each of the regional screen
agencies, and Northern Ireland Screen; in Scotland both strands are delivered
by independent agency DigiCult. 87 There is a minimum delivery requirement of
four short films per year for each scheme.
Digital Shorts Plus (now Digital Nation) is aimed at filmmakers who have
already made a short film, either through Digital Shorts or in another context.
These films have higher budgets, in the region of £17,500-£20,000, and can
be longer than ten minutes.
87 Film Agency for Wales has managed a short film scheme in the past but is not currently
involved in Digital Shorts.
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