The BFI’s Young Audiences Content Fund has renewed its call for submissions.
Head of the fund, Jackie Edwards has issued a the call to production companies and producers to pitch their ideas to secure funding for projects that fulfil the Fund’s criteria of reflecting the lives of children and young people in the UK, screening on free-to-air, public service broadcasting channels.
The YACF is currently in year three of its three-year pilot, set up to address a deficit of new distinctive children’s content that inspires and reflects the lives of young people in the UK. The Fund is designed to contribute up to 50% of the production costs for projects that have secured a broadcast commitment from a free-to-access, Ofcom regulated platform, and also supporting producers to develop new ideas within this field.
Projects the Fund has backed so far during its pilot include Milkshake!’s Go Green With The Grimwades and Mimi’s World, CITV’s HOW and Don’t Unleash The Beast, Channel 4’s Quentin Blake’s Clown, E4’s Teen First Dates, Letters In Lockdown and Rap Therapy and indigenous language content such as SOL, the animated series on grief which aired across BBC ALBA, S4C and TG4. Recommissions include FYI News specials with Sky Kids.
Jackie Edwards said: “We’re still accepting submissions for funding through the Young Audiences Content Fund and continue our drive to support projects that connect with young audiences in the UK in a manner that has declined in recent years. We have seen the impact of this decline as the engagement of young audiences with public service content has reduced in recent years, but the Fund backed projects illustrate that when high quality, representative shows are made, young audiences will watch. The Fund exists for all producers across the television sector, no matter the size of the production company, location or prior experience in children’s programming, so long as the idea is a great one and meets our criteria.”
Jon Creamer
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