The UK Global Screen Fund (UKGSF) announced £5.8m of awards in 2025, spanning its three strands: international co-production, international distribution and international business development.
This year, the UK government upped the UKGSF’s funding from £7m to £18m annually for 2026-2029 as part of a £75m funding package for the UK film and TV industries. Further details on the expanded funds will be announced in 2026.
The UKGSF was launched in 2021 to boost international development and distribution opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. It is financed through the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and administered by the British Film Institute (BFI).
Screen has compiled the top 10 biggest UKGSF awards announced this year, which have all come through the co-production strand, as well as the top five largest awards from the international distribution strand (which offers prints and advertising as well as festival launch support, with the top five largest awards all for P&A) and international business development.
Top 10 international co-production awards
1. Luna In Dreamland, Flickerpix – £241,313
This animated Irish- and English-language TV series, written by Sara Daddy and directed by Johnny Schumann, tells the story of a guardian spirit who enters children’s dreams to help them overcome fears and anxieties. The UK producer is Schumann from Northern Ireland’s Flickerpix who co-produces with Felipe Tavares Pinto of Brazil’s Copa Studio Produtora Audiovisual. The 26-part series will drop on BBC iPlayer in 2027.
2. Captain Onion’s Buoyant Academy For Wayward Youth, ALT Animation – £225,408
This comedy adventure is set in a boarding school aboard a former pirate ship. Created by Matthew Bradley, the 50-part series was developed with the BBC. A majority UK co-production with Ireland, the UK producers are Northern Ireland’s ALT Animation and Scotland’s Wild Child Animation, co-producing with Ireland’s Studio Meala.
3. Rabbit Hayes, Forty Foot Pictures – £200,000
Ireland’s Jim O’Hanlon directs this feature based on 2015 novel The Last Days Of Rabbit Hayes, which follows a woman coming to terms with the end of her life. Starring Niamh Algar, Sam Claflin and Alisha Weir, the film’s production wrapped in Dublin earlier in the autumn. The UK producer is Forty Foot Pictures, co-producing with Jessie Fisk of Ireland’s Feline Films and Joram Willink and Maaike Neve of Dutch outfit Bind Film. Further funders include Screen Ireland, the Netherlands Film Fund, Coimisiun na Mean and RTE.
= 3. You’ll Never Believe Who’s Dead, Fine Point Films – £200,000
Kneecap producers Fine Point Films and Wildcard are behind this cynical Christmas heist film, directed by Dallan Shovlin, who was a second assistant director on Kneecap. The feature wrapped in early summer 2025. Funding also comes from Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen.
= 3. The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands, Quiddity Films – £200,000
Alexander Skarsgard leads this gothic horror, which marks the English-language debut of Swedish-Costa Rican filmmaker Nathalie Álvarez Mesén. Skarsgard plays a British widower in the 1880s Pacific Northwest who hires a Native American governess, educated in a Christian mission school and played by Darla Contois, to teach his two daughters. It is produced by Emily Morgan of the UK’s Quiddity Films, co-producing with Sweden’s Hobab, Belgium’s Need Production and Iceland’s Still Vivid.
= 3. MaeBee, Karrot Entertainment – £200,000
This 52-part animated TV series, created, written and directed by Tim and Rebecca O’Sullivan for the BBC’s children’s channel CBeebies, is set to premiere in summer 2026. It follows the adventures of a determined young gnome and her quirky foster twin, Bee. Producers are the UK’s Karrot Entertainment and Ireland’s Kavaleer Productions.
7. Monolith, Object Studios – £170,000
UK filmmaker Stevan Riley directs this feature documentary, a minority UK co-production with the US, that delves into Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. UK producer is Sean Richard of Object Studios, co-producing with Catchlight Studios and Phoenix Pictures in the US. Leonardo DiCaprio is also listed as a producer.
8. Butterfly Stroke, Zephyr Films – £150,000
A 65-year-old woman heads to Zurich to die on her own terms, but her plan is upended when her granddaughter gatecrashes the trip. The minority UK co-production with Switzerland is produced by Chris Curling and Anya Ryzhenkova of the UK’s Zephyr Films, with Switzerland’s Turnus Films.
= 8. West The Road, Stigma Films – £150,000
Ita Fitzgerald’s debut feature follows a group of women brought together by the death of a childhood friend, who embark on a road trip on the west coast of Ireland. Imelda Staunton stars. Screen Ireland is among its funders, and Bankside is selling the film. Stigma Films is the UK producer, with Ireland’s Cowtown.
10. Glory B, Erebus Pictures – £125,000
The feature directorial debut of Greece’s Konstantinos Antonopoulos is set in 703AD and follows two convicts struggling to escape a deserted island. This minority UK co-production with Greece and Italy is produced out of the UK by Helen Simmons of 100 Nights Of Hero outfit Erebus Pictures, with Fani Skartouli of Greece’s Either Or Productions and Marta Donzelli of Italy’s Vivo Films. The feature shot in Greece earlier in 2025 and the project received further backing from Eurimages.
Top 5 international distribution awards (P&A)
1. The Penguin Lessons, Rocket Science – £99,994
Peter Cattaneo’s Toronto premiere was produced by Rory Aitken, Ben Pugh, Andy Noble and Adrián Guerra, and stars Steve Coogan as a disillusioned English teacher who rescues a penguin during the 1976 coup in Argentina. The P&A support grant contributed towards the film’s international theatrical rollout across 10 territories. It grossed $19.6m (£14.7m) at the global box office.
2. The Salt Path, Rocket Science – £97,714
Marianne Elliott’s feature debut premiered at Toronto, and stars Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson. Number 9 Films produces. The grant was used to theatrically release the film across Benelux, Australia, Greece and Germany. It grossed $24m (£18m) worldwide.
3. Hot Milk, Bonnie Productions – £91,324
Rebecca Lenkiewicz directed this adaptation of Deborah Levy’s 2016 novel and follows a mother and daughter’s trip to Spain as a last-ditch attempt to help resolve the mother’s mysterious illness. The UK’s Bonnie Productions produced, with Greece’s Heretic as a co-producer. The Berlinale premiere, which Mubi acquired for several territories, grossed around $500,000 (£370,000) worldwide.
4. To A Land Unknown, Inside Out Films – £88,935
Palestinian filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight 2024 title was a co-production between the UK, Greece, Netherlands, France, Germany, Qatar and Palestine. The grant was put towards the film’s theatrical release across the Middle East, France, the US and Germany, grossing around $75,000 (£55,500) worldwide. The UK producer was Geoff Arbourne of Inside Out Films.
5. Bird, Cornerstone Films – £78,472
Andrea Arnold’s latest received its world premiere at Cannes and starred Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski alongside newcomers Nykiya Adams and Jason Buda. The story centres on a 12-year-old who lives with her distracted single dad and brother in a squat in north Kent. Produced by House Productions, it grossed around $2m (£1.48m) worldwide.
Top 5 international business development awards
1. Yeti Media – £135,000
Support towards the hire of an executive producer and a development assistant producer, with a focus on reaching US and Australian markets, for the Cardiff-based factual TV company behind historical documentary series 48 Hours To Victory.
2. Cantilever Group – £120,000
Help for the hire of a marketing executive to help launch distribution arm Kazoo Films. Cantilever’s credits include animation The Amazing Maurice.
3. Walk On Air Films – £112,000
Support for the Belfast-based production company behind Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland towards the hire of a development executive to target North America and Europe.
4. Escape Plan Productions – £111,000
Funding to establish Anna Keeley as an in-house producer to grow the company’s slate. The film production company’s credits include Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding.
5. Wired Productions – £100,000
The Watford-based video game publisher is using the award for the hire of a new producer and contribution towards the localisation of games for the Chinese market.
= 5. Kailash Films – £100,000
For the hire of a development executive to develop premium documentaries for streamers and the US market. The Welsh TV production company is behind Helmand: A Frontline Story.
= 5. Elation Pictures – £100,000
For the hire of a development and production executive and the engagement of a book scout and consultant for the film production company behind 2024 folk horror and Tribeca premiere The Damned.
= 5. Me & You Productions – £100,000
For the hire of a book scout and an addition to the company’s development team to find series with international appeal. Recent credits include Alice & Jack and I Am Ruth.
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