Creative Skillset Film Skills Fund Funding Programme for Sales and Distribution Junior management and leadership Changing business models: cross-platform and rights options in the changing digital landscape Understanding distribution Digital marketing and social media Female leaders in distribution Total fund: £300,000 Deadline: Noon, Thursday 11 June 2015 About the Creative Skillset Film Skills Fund Creative Skillset’s Film Skills Fund is funded by the British Film Institute (BFI) with National Lottery funds and through the Skills Investment Funds, which comprise industry and Government coinvestment. The Film Skills Fund is part of the Film Skills Strategy, which addresses the vital skills and training needs of the film industry to deliver maximum economic and cultural return: to create jobs, strengthen skills, build skills for the future, and ensure world-class film education. Find out more about the Film Skills Strategy. Please read this Funding Programme in conjunction with the Creative Skillset Funding for Organisations Guidelines. Please then call and discuss your project with Film Partnership Manager Rebecca Davies before submitting your application – [email protected] / 020 7713 9869. Funding aims This funding programme supports sales and distribution companies to develop and grow, to nurture a diverse workforce, and to embrace digital opportunities. As outlined by the BFI’s Film Forever Strategy 2012-17, the distribution of independent and specialised films in the UK remains a predominantly high-risk activity. High advertising costs, fixed windows, a declining DVD market, new platforms and changing consumer habits, and the Virtual Print Fee mechanism present many challenges for small businesses in a fast-paced digital environment. 1 This fund is allocated over several strands, designed to address training needs in different areas: 1. Junior management and leadership Total fund: £60,000 Through consultation with industry we have identified the ongoing need for structured junior management support. We invite applications to deliver training to help junior distribution and sales executives develop their potential at an early stage in their career. Training should include management and leadership techniques, which can be contextualised in the distribution and/or sales environment. Areas should include: High value negotiations - effective approaches and conflict techniques Understanding personal strengths and weaknesses Effective networking techniques Performance management Time management Programmes should target distribution/sales executives with 1-2 years’ experience who have the potential to grow. 2. Changing business models: cross-platform and rights options in the changing digital landscape Total fund: £60,000 Digital technologies and audience behaviour are providing opportunities and challenges for the film sector, shaking up traditional business models. We invite applications to deliver training in which digital rights experts in SVOD, VOD and streaming services provide an overview of cross platform exploitation and emerging opportunities. These may include experienced digital aggregators, digital rights or film lawyers, representatives from a cross-section of established and emerging digital platforms, as well as recent case studies of projects that have successfully exploited their IP. This training should provide current market knowledge in cross-platform distribution, helping distributors and content owners devise innovative release strategies that harness emerging digital platforms to build their audiences. Programmes should target distribution/sales executives with at least 2 years’ experience. 3. Understanding distribution Total fund: £60,000 As junior professionals, or those in more senior positions that are new to the distribution sector, start to develop their careers, it is essential to be able to contextualise distribution within the broader 2 film value chain, as well as understand the dynamics and interdependencies between different distribution outlets and processes, as well as new approaches. We invite applications to deliver a programme targeting professionals with around 1-2 years’ experience in the distribution sector that provides an overview of the film industry and the challenges and opportunities currently facing distributors, with the intention of equipping participants with the skills and knowledge to do their current jobs more effectively, and an understanding of how to navigate the sector that will help them plan more effectively for their next career move. Programme should target distribution executives with at least 2 years’ experience. 4. Digital marketing and social media Total fund: £60,000 Pioneering digital marketing techniques can play a huge part in engaging a films core audience – building awareness and anticipation and complementing other forms of a film campaign. We invite applications to deliver training to help film business professionals develop and understand digital tools, technologies and creative online approaches. Programmes might include: Consumer behaviour and audience strategy Integrated campaigns – film and non-film case studies Data capture and analysis Legal and ethical issues Digital design and coding Programmes should target distribution and marketing executives 5. Female leaders in distribution Total fund: £60,000 Our 2012 Film Census showed that only 20% of CEOs and directors working in distribution are female, compared to 47% of the UK workforce. We are looking to establish an initiative, or build on existing management initiatives that will recruit around 8-10 female leaders who currently hold middle or senior management roles and who have the potential and ambition to move into top level management positions. Each participant should receive a bespoke package of support to identify their career ambitions and provide them with a tailored programme that could comprise work placements, work shadowing, mentoring or coaching to provide them with the confidence and capabilities to fasttrack into senior leadership positions. Programmes should target female exhibition professionals in middle or senior management roles. 3 What should training look like? Structured training can include classroom based learning with active industry professionals, mentoring, coaching, and on-line self-assessment; Creative Skillset supports project-based training which replicates real industry practice; Programmes which foster cross-sector relationships (i.e. train a mixed sales and distribution cohort) are encouraged. However, sector specific schemes are also welcome to apply; The Creative Skillset Film Skills Strategy complements the BFI Film Forever strategy, and will prioritise support for applications which will help the UK film sales and distribution sectors to grow through investing in new entrants and working professionals. We welcome applications for two year agreements. You will need to apply with information for year one only (see How to apply for full details). Application criteria Applications must be made by organisations (not individuals) that have experience of delivering successful industry-led training or can demonstrate how they will secure this expertise; Training must address our funding aims as identified above; Training must be delivered by 31 March 2017; Training should not duplicate what is already available in the UK and must offer value for money; Trainers and speakers must have a good track record in providing industry training; Training must be available UK wide (this can be facilitated by regionally based training and/or travel and accommodation bursaries via the project budget); Who cannot apply to this fund? 4 Individuals cannot apply under this fund. Find out more about support for your own training needs. Projects where outcomes are solely geared to the practices and business interests of a single organisation will not be funded. Your application Applications will be assessed against the funding aims and application criteria set out in this document and the Creative Skillset Funding for Organisations Guidelines. Your application should detail how you will include the following key elements in your delivery: Industry-led training The training programmes we fund must be led by industry, be innovative and provide value for money. We expect applications to demonstrate input from established industry professionals into the training programme development. Diversity Creative Skillset is committed to improving the diversity of the film industry’s workforce to better reflect the UK’s diverse population. We have set participant targets which are specific to this funding programme. Please see below. The Creative Skillset Census 2012 and Creative Media Workforce Survey 2010 provided the following workforce statistics in gender, diversity and disability for the total workforce for film production, distribution and sales, and exhibition. Gender – female representation is 46%, compared to 36% in the wider Creative Industries; Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic representation is 4.5%, compared to 5.4% in the wider Creative Industries; 6% of the workforce in film was identified as disabled, compared to 9% in the wider Creative Industries. Sector specific breakdowns: Distribution, sales and marketing Female representation is a healthy 51% in this area of film, but there remains a strong gender imbalance in leadership roles, with only 20% of strategic management roles held by women; Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic representation is a low 3.4%; Disability representation is less than 1%. In order to make an impact on these figures we have set the following participant targets which are specific to this fund: 5 Female participants – 60% (Note that the female leaders in distribution programme should recruit to 100%) Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic participants – 20% Disabled participants – 10% Applications must demonstrate a commitment to reaching these targets. This should include proactive policies, e.g. providing access provisions for disabled applicants, childcare subsidies, travel subsidies etc. Applicants will need to collect diversity data for all participants, including those who apply to take part but are not successful. Evaluation It is essential that Creative Skillset is able to demonstrate the impact of its investment to promote the depth, breadth and impact of training to the wider industry and to reinforce the benefit of continuing to invest in the skills of the UK Creative Industries. Evaluation of your training programme should be embedded throughout its delivery so that the training can be improved upon throughout its lifetime. You must also plan for a dedicated evaluation phase upon programme completion. You must detail how you intend to evaluate your training clearly within your application, including the measures of success you will look for. Impact and legacy We expect supported training programmes to plan their legacy in order to extend accessibility and impact. This could involve filming content to disseminate online, producing a report from the training highlighting the learning outcomes, or encouraging participants to blog about their experiences so that others can share their learning. You must detail your impact and legacy proposals clearly within your application. Sustainability Creative Skillset is committed to supporting the environmental and economic sustainability of UK film and works with its funded partners to raise awareness and standards across the sector. All applicants for funding must evidence their own sustainability policy and demonstrate how they have considered environmental and economic sustainability in the development of the proposed training activity. How to apply All applications must be discussed with Film Partnership Manager Rebecca Davies before being submitted. Please contact Rebecca on [email protected] / 020 7713 9869. Please note there is a high demand for our grants and funding is limited. Your application will be assessed against the criteria set out in this Funding Programme. Creative Skillset reserves the right to apply a portfolio approach to ensure the fair distribution of funds across industry, subject to meeting the required quality threshold. How much should you ask for? The total fund available under each area is £60,000. The amount you request should be the amount you need to deliver your project efficiently and effectively. We pay close attention to value for money over all our programmes. 6 We welcome applications for two year agreements. You will need to apply with information for year one only. If you are also applying for one further iteration (for similar or progressive activity), you will need to justify in the application form why this is important. Funding relating to year two is subject to our funding agreement continuing with the BFI, our funders. Please also note that an annual review will be undertaken for each year of funding. Should performance not meet expected standards, Creative Skillset reserves the right to withdraw the funding for future year(s). Please note: if you are registered for VAT, your figures should not include VAT that you can claim back. If you are not registered for VAT, your costs should include VAT. Grants we make are ‘outside the scope’ of VAT (this means that they are not a business activity). They must be listed in your accounts as a grant and not, for example, as a fee. You should seek financial advice from your own accountant or the relevant tax office. Partnership funding We will not normally meet more than 70% of a project’s delivery, and may invest less. We therefore expect you to find a minimum of 30% of the money you need from sources other than Creative Skillset, such as partnership funding. A minimum of 25% of your partnership funding must be cash. For example, if your project costs £100,000 and you’re applying for a total of £70,000, the remaining £30,000 is your partnership funding. Of that £30,000, at least £7,500 must be cash. As this is training for existing professionals we expect participants to contribute towards their training and some if not all your cash partnership funding will come from fees. Risk assessment Successful applications will be asked to identify their project’s financial and non-financial risks. Please bear this in mind when making your application. Whilst not all risks can be mitigated, we will ask you to provide details of how you will address any threats to the success of your project. Using the online application form Please apply using the online application form accessed by this link. Once you have completed the online form you will be asked to attach the following completed documents: Project and Budget Report template The following should be attached as Microsoft Word documents: 7 Detailed course outline and schedule; Trainer/tutor CVs; Company financial information. If you have submitted an application to Creative Skillset in the last 12 months or would like clarification, please contact a member of the Fund Team at the details below as we may not require further financial information. When you have successfully submitted your application you will receive an automated email confirmation. Please note that we cannot accept responsibility for any late or incomplete applications and regret that these will be rejected. Contact us For more information on the application process or any queries, please contact: Holly Mackavoy Fund Co-ordinator e: [email protected] t: 020 7713 9877 Key dates Deadline for applications: Noon, Thursday 11 June 2015 Awards announcements: Week commencing Monday 27 July 2015 8
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