BFI UKGSF Business Development strand information session

Join FOCUS and BFI’s Chris Filip for this information session for companies applying to the BFI UK Global Screen Fund Business development strand.

BFI UK Global Screen Fund International Business Development 

Thursday 3rd April, 1.00 - 2.00pm

In-person, at Film City Glasgow

401 Govan Rd

Glasgow

G51 2QJ

The UK Global Screen Fund is a £7M per year fund designed to boost international opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector across film, TV, animation and games. 

Attend this session to learn more about the International Business Development strand opening on the 3rd of April from Chris Filip, the Fund Manager. 

The session will be packed with insights into the fund itself, tips on the application process and success stories from previous awardees. 

Eligibility:

The session is aimed at producers and company founders in film, TV and video games who have at least one leading company credit on a feature film for theatrical and/or online distribution, series which was distributed on TV/AVOD/SVOD/online or interactive narrative video game in the past three years. Full details on eligibility will be explored during the session.

About the Speaker:

Chris Filip was appointed International Business Development Manager for the UK Global Screen Fund in October 2022, working to support UK screen content businesses across film, TV, animation and interactive narrative video games to enhance their international activities. Before joining the BFI, Chris worked with Creative England as Programme Manager for Creative Enterprise, managing the New Ideas Fund, and their games business support programmes - Foundations for Games and Games Scale Up - as part of their flagship business support and investment readiness programme, Creative Enterprise. Before realising that he could help people by putting together programmes, Chris was Game Designer and Product Manager at a variety of games and tech companies. Chris is a BAFTA Games member and in 2023 was selected as one of 50 emerging talents recognised for their contribution to the global games industry as The Games Awards 2023 Future Class.

Capacity is limited, so early registration is recommended.

Chris has a handful of 1-2-1 slots available to book which are available on a first come first served basis. Please contact the FOCUS team if you wish to book a 1-2-1 slot with Chris directly following the event.

If you are planning to attend and have any access requirements, please contact the FOCUS team about this as soon as you can: hello@filmcityfutures.com

AVEC (Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit) Seminar 2025

AVEC (Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit) Seminar 2025

Wednesday 26th March, 2.30pm – 4.00pm

In-person, at Film City Glasgow, 401 Govan Rd, Glasgow, G51 2QJ

Join FOCUS for this seminar on Wednesday 26th March 2025 with Saffery to explore Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC) and how it can be best utilised by indie companies. Andy Paterson and additional panellists will join after the presentation for a Q & A session.

The seminar will be delivered by Isla MacGillivray, Partner at Saffery LLP, and will provide an overview of the key characteristics of both standard AVEC and enhanced AVEC announced last year. Companies will be able to claim the enhanced AVEC from HMRC starting 1 April 2025, for costs incurred from 1 April 2024. 

Capacity is limited, so early registration is recommended. We suggest prioritising the most appropriate person from your team to attend initially, with additional places being allocated subject to availability.

About the speakers:

Isla MacGillivray is Head of Film and TV at Saffery.

Isla has worked within the creative industry sector for over 10 years. She provides specialist financial, accounting, audit and taxation advice to a range of clients in the sector.

Her client base includes film, television and video game production & distribution companies, commissioning producers and rights owners across a range of large US and UK studios to small budget independent producers as well as other corporate entities which operate in the film, TV and video games industries.

Isla is regularly invited to lecture and sit on expert panels at various industry events across the UK and internationally, including London, Edinburgh, Cannes and Los Angeles.

Andy Paterson's award-winning films include Girl With A Pearl Earring and The Railway Man. His first film, the cult Scottish classic, Restless Natives, was re-released in 2021 and is about to start a new life as a stage musical.  

 The Railway Man, based on Eric Lomax’s account of his experiences on the notorious Thai/Burma Death Railway in WW2, starred Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman. Girl With A Pearl Earring, starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth, was nominated for 10 BAFTAs and 3 Oscars.

Other productions include Tigers, the true story of a whistleblower who took on a major pharmaceuticals corporation, Hilary and Jackie, which won Oscar nominations for its stars, Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths and the Oscar-winning Restoration, starring Robert Downey Jr, Hugh Grant and Meg Ryan.

He launched the campaign for an enhanced tax credit for independent films in 2017 and was part of the Pact team which finally delivered the IFTC seven years later. In 2024 he co-founded Virtual Circle, a partnership with Dimension Studio and Vue Cinemas, to deliver ambitious British independent films for cinema audiences worldwide.

Capacity is limited, so early registration is recommended. We suggest prioritising the most appropriate person from your team to attend initially, with additional places being allocated subject to availability.

If you are planning to attend and have any access requirements, please contact the FOCUS team about this as soon as you can: hello@filmcityfutures.com

 

FOCUS Company Business Achievement Awards 2025

 On Friday 7th February 2025, Film City Futures & FOCUS held their inaugural Company Business Achievement Awards.

The night brought together a vibrant mix of independent production companies and producers across the film, TV and animation sectors, as well as commissioners, business consultants and other screen industry professionals, hosted by Lewis Macleod.

Congratulations to all the winners & nominees!

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2025 Winners

Best Breakthrough Company

WINNER: Specky Productions

Presented by: Rebecca Thompson (Channel 4)

Best Newcomer in a Specific Genre

WINNER: Bonnie and Braw Productions

Presented by: Mark Raeburn (Business Management Consultant)

Partnerships of the Year

WINNER: Hopscotch Films

Presented by: Jen Topping (Business Management Consultant)

Community Engagement and Impact Award

WINNER: The Portal Studios

Presented by: Lauren Lamarr (Blazing Griffin)

Excellence in Scripted Content - TV

WINNER: Black Camel Pictures

Presented by: Bill MacLeod (BBC ALBA)

Excellence in Scripted Content - Film

WINNER: Sylph Productions

Presented by: John Archer (Hopscotch Films)

Outstanding Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives

WINNER: Randan

Presented by: Sarah Brown (STV Studios)

Excellence in Non-Scripted Content

WINNER: Hopscotch Films

Presented by: Mark Cousins (Director, Writer & Cinematographer)

Outstanding Visual Effects and Animation

WINNER: Wild Child Animation

Presented by: Claire Scally (TRC Media)

Excellence in Crossing Platforms & Genres

WINNER: Black Camel Pictures

Presented by: David Swetman (All3Media International)

Outstanding Regional Representation

WINNER: Specky Productions

Presented by: David Harron (BBC Scotland)

FOCUS Indie Achievement Award

WINNERS: Black Camel Pictures & Hopscotch Films (joint award)

Presented by: Gavin Smith (BBC Scotland)

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Images credit: Ross Gilmore

FOCUS is a project delivered by Film City Futures, supported by Creative Scotland in association with the Scottish Documentary Institute.

FOCUS supports independent micro-businesses and SMEs in Scotland’s screen sector – from emerging and new start-ups to established film, TV and animation companies – who require specialist advice in order to grow their business, but who do not have access to such support in-house. For screen companies, this is a rare opportunity to gain access to sought-after expertise in areas such as development, distribution, financing, legal, international co-production and business strategy.

Over 300 companies have accessed 100 free online webinar events for companies and producers across Scotland, the UK & internationally.