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This copy was captured in early April 2026 and may be out of date - I’ve provided it here in case the actual page is down when you need the information. To make sure you’re getting the right information, please refer to the live page.
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https://www.bfi.org.uk/get-funding-support/bfi-national-lottery-expanded-screen-fund/applying-bfi-national-lottery-expanded-screen-funding
The BFI Filmmaking Funds invest National Lottery funding in a diverse range of work with creative merit and ambition, which the commercial sector is unable to back, in full or in part, and which would therefore benefit from National Lottery support. The BFI Filmmaking Funds focus on developing new, emerging and established talent and encouraging risk in form and narrative approach.
The BFI National Lottery Expanded Screen Fund supports ambitious, screen-based, immersive works of fiction that explore new ways of storytelling. The fund will support experienced UK producers and creative leads with a track record in immersive or related screen-based practice. Awards of up to £150,000 will enable teams using technologies such as VR, AR, XR, 360° media, or other extended reality media, to create audience-facing, narrative experiences.
Your project must explore imagined worlds, events or characters, and you’ll need to demonstrate a clear creative rationale for your chosen technical approach. Your project must be intended for public exhibition to UK audiences, whether through attending moving image festivals, dedicated immersive spaces, or using platforms to enable individual experiences.
Applications will be assessed on the strength, scale and ambition of the creative approach, the prior experience of the team, and the extent to which this award will support their professional development. We will also consider how effectively the application demonstrates its potential cultural, social and public impact, as well as how meaningfully it engages with the aims of the fund.
Funding is available for the initial prototyping, pre-production and production stages of your project. If you receive an award from the fund to develop a prototype of your work, you can submit a further application in a future round for funding for support towards pre-production and production costs. The combined BFI award amounts are capped at £150,000 per project, and any previous BFI support for your project does not factor into the decision-making process of a later application.
Check further details of what the Expanded Screen Fund can cover.
The Expanded Screen Fund opening and closing dates are announced on our website.
All projects funded through the Extended Screen Fund must meet at least three of the following aims, which are also detailed in the stated principles and outcomes of the BFI National Lottery strategy: