Isabel Davis, the British Film Institute’s head of international, is in Berlin spreading the word about the BFI Film Fund’s increased commitment to funding co-productions.
From April, the institute will earmark $1.6m (£1m) of its $28m (£18m) annual Film Fund to back co-productions.
“We want to engage with producers to tell them that the UK is the partner of choice to scale up and reach international audiences. Our producers are experienced working internationally,” Davis told Screen.
Applications for the funding will be open from April, and Davis says that backed projects will “be more market-focused”.
Projects will need to be British qualifying - not necessarily shooting in the UK but with significant UK creative elements.
“There is the attitude that is a hangover from the sale-and-leaseback era that it’s complex to work with the UK, but that has all been simplified,” she noted.
“And people think we’re expensive, but that’s also from the old days.”
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