Film Make a Move

Make a Move encourages the on-the-job training of crew identified by productions as ready to move up into a more senior role with some support. At the end of the programme, the beneficiary will be established in a new role, or able to apply for a promotion.

The programme will be delivered by ScreenSkills and is supported by the BFI as part of its National Lottery funded Future Film Skills strategy.

Productions that contribute - or plan to contribute - to the ScreenSkills Film Skills Fund, hitting the cap of £58,200 per production, are eligible to receive funding to enable a crew member to step-up in their career and/or to fill a skills gap or skills shortage in their crew.

In 2020/21 Make a Move will focus on supporting talent from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, working in both narrative and documentary features. Film Make a Move is currently on hold, but you can register interest.

What kind of training are we looking to support?
All ScreenSkills investments are guided by the need to address skills gaps in the UK film industry. Please see below for a list of roles which currently require investment in skills development. This list is not exhaustive and ScreenSkills welcomes applications from productions that can make a convincing evidence-based case for investment in other roles which they believe are difficult to recruit for.

Shortage roles identified: 1st assistant director, editor, line producer, production accountant, production manager, script editor, script supervisor, location manager and post-production supervisor.

What does the Make a Move fund cover?
Funding is available to support an individual to make a clear step forward/progress in their screen career. At the end of the Make a Move programme, the beneficiary will be established in a new role, or able to apply for a promotion.

•  individuals can only participate in Make a Move after being put forward by their employer. Retrospective applications will not be accepted
• in this intake beneficiaries must be from a BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) background
• individuals on Make a Move are not trainees and must be at experienced or expert career stage
• those put forward for the programme must be ready to move up to their next career grade
• ScreenSkills reserves the right to meet with the production company and potential beneficiary prior to the start of the Make a Move programme to review the development plan

Make a Move funding can be used for:

• continuing professional development training courses, including management and leadership training programmes. Please refer to our framework to help select suitable training opportunities for your crew member
• a part salary contribution
• professional coaching
• shadowing
• childcare
• costs towards buying equipment or software related to the duties of the job role
• travel, subsitence and relocation expenses where the beneficiary is required for work or training away from home

Make a Move funding can't be used for:

• retrospective claims. Applications must be received at least four weeks before the Make a Move beneficiary starts their development programme, to allow us to process the associated paperwork
• individuals who are already established within the grade
• individuals who have been supported through Make a Move or a similar stepping up scheme in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the last two years.
• activities that do not meet ScreenSkills skills shortage criteria
• activities that do not directly benefit the UK’s feature film industry
• the production of a film or TV series

How to apply

Before applying for funding, please contact ScreenSkills’ film production coordinator Rebecca Hanser via email on rebecca.hanser@screenskills.com, or call her on 02077139950.

Productions that contribute - or plan to contribute - to the ScreenSkills Film Skills Fund, hitting the cap of £58,200 per production, are eligible to receive funding to enable a crew member to step-up in their career and/or to fill a skills gap or skills shortage in their crew.

The amount of funding requested should be the amount needed to successfully upskill the beneficiary efficiently and effectively.

ScreenSkills awards up to £10,000 of Make a Move funding. Productions receiving Make a Move funding are expected to invest in the beneficiary as well (co-investment).

When planning your project budget, you will need to consider the following as eligible cash and in-kind co-investment and budget expenditure. You will be asked to supply evidence of your co-investment and budget expenditure if your grant is awarded.

What counts as co-investment?
Cash:

• direct cash co-investment from the production. This cash must not be accounted for in any other activity
• course fees paid by the individuals
• labour costs – evidence of hourly rate should be provided by the organisation/individual donating time (mentoring or training). This can include time spent by staff who are already on the payroll of the project and therefore not on any work that is income generating or commercially valuable.

In-kind:

• research or professional activity (eg mentoring, consultancy) – evidence of standard hourly rate should be provided by the person donating time
• donation of goods/services: evidence of third parties donating goods or proof of value should be provided.
• meeting space.

Sources that equate to public funding are not elibigle. For example, if you or any of your partners are in receipt of National Lottery funding, this cannot be used as co-investment.

Using the online application form
In order to apply, the production company and crew member being put forward for training should each complete their half of a joint application form by clicking the 'Apply now' button and selecting either the production company or individual option. You do not need to submit these forms at the same time, but your application will not be able to be processed until two matching sections are completed.

The application form will ask questions about the production, details of the training plan and the budget of associated costs you are putting in place to help the beneficiary step up, as well as information about the production company. The production company and beneficiary must complete the application form and attach the required documents, including CVs and any other documents to support the application.

Answers will be saved when you click the 'save and continue' button at the end of each page. Once you are ready to submit your application, press the ‘submit’ button. Until you do this, your application has not been sent to ScreenSkills to be assessed.

Judging

Our assessment process takes place in two stages:

• Stage 1: we review all applications for completeness and assess them against the programme’s criteria and scrutinise financial viability.
• Stage 2: applications will be assessed by the ScreenSkills film unit team.

If there are any delays in the processing of your application, we will let you know in writing. Similarly, if you have a problem meeting any deadlines we set for you during the application process, please email us.
We assess applications based on the information we receive when the application is submitted. The film team may contact you during the assessment process to request that you supply additional information within a certain timescale. Please tell us at the time of our request if you do not think your deadline is achievable, as your application may be rejected if you do not supply this information before the agreed time and date.

If your application is successful, you will be informed by a member of the film team by email. The funding offer email will outline the conditions of your offer before we issue your Make a Move award.

If we are not able to support your application, we will provide feedback in writing and give you a contact name if you would like more detailed information. Any request for additional feedback has to be made within three months of receiving notification of the decision.

To download the PDF version of the pitch click here.