Notes from BritDoc

Speaker: Katie Purnell

BritDoc manage a £0.5 million production fund and an additional marketing & distribution fund. Channel 4 is their primary funder.
They will provide funding for post production.
Max individual awards are £50k.
Money is awarded as a grant, not a loan and they take no editorial control.
You will need to provide match, Cornwall Film’s funding may clash with Channel 4 which obtains 2 years screening rights for all work supported by BritDoc, which it may or may not take up.
BritDoc and 4Docs the Broadband Channel at Ch 4 swap info re filmmakers and if a project is not suitable for one of them, they will pass it on.
They don’t fund trailers, but have funded a rough cut.
They don’t do completion funding if it’s just fine tuning an existing production.

Katie then screened an excerpt from Black Gold, a film about the coffee bean market.

You can now submit a trailer at the same time as the application (the trailer can’t be up-loaded, you’ll have to post it snail mail).
The distinction between drama and documentary is blurring, if they like the idea they’ll fund it.
Quite a lot of their films are being shot on HD now.
Ratios: 3,500 people are registered with BritDoc. 800-900 applications have been received. 21 films have been funded.
BritDoc will want to know if your project’s gone to a Broadcaster and their response. They don’t want to be seen as a replacement for TV money. They want to fund work the Broadcasters won’t fund.
They communicate by email. 10 weeks response time. Project’s need at least 1 month’s lead time.

Katie’s favourite doc: Darwin’s Nightmare.

Other initiatives:

Oxford Festival in July – 12 filmmakers will be able to pitch to funders.
ITN Archive – 3 minute wonder. BritDoc have obtained money from Arts Council for artists interested in making documentaries. They want to get message out that documentary making is ART.
Rowntree’s Foundation is putting money into films – but only into UK focused work (much of BritDoc’s supported work focuses on subjects outside the UK).

Current Status: BritDoc is new. The first 3 films have been submitted to Ch 4 but no decisions have yet been made. Sundance had 5 feature length docs from the UK this year. Of 9 applications short listed, only 1 came from a woman despite BritDoc’s decision makers being 3 women. Oh dear.

Pilots - Cornwall Film's New Scheme

Pippa Best introduced Jeremy Gibson, Mike Cunliffe and Peter Edwards of Seven Stones Media

Peter invited members to discuss the new project in the bar. Seven Stones, the lead production company, is primarily focused on producing factual programmes, but they would be happy to move into other areas such as drama. Deadlines for submission:

Full Application: 12 May 2006
Selection Panel for shortlisted applicants: 1 June 2006
Full Application: 14 July 2006
Selection Panel for shortlisted applicants: 31 July 2006
Full Application: 15 September 2006

Selection Panel for shortlisted applicants: 1 October 2006 For more info go to: http://http://www.cornwallfilm.com