Young Film Fund - Pilot Grant

Pilot Grant

  • Funding for one short film of up to five minutes in duration
  • Maximum grant – £5,000
  • 20% match funding requirement

Ready to apply? Click here

Movies

  • A Day in the Life of Eddie

    An Activison First Light Award Winner 2009 For Best Animation

    Eddie is a schoolboy athlete who dreams of competing at the 2012 Olympics. On the day of the all-important team trials, Eddie has a problem. His mum, who has ME, is too ill to get out of bed so Eddie must look after his little sister for the day. He begins the long ring round to see who can baby-sit. Will Eddie get one step nearer to his dream?
    Length 03’ 23”
    Aged 10-15

    For more information on this condition, please go to Action for M.E. the UK’s leading charity dedicated to improving the lives of people with M.E.

  • Beautiful Life

    First Light Movies Awards 2008 Nominated for Best Drama

    Life is beautiful until you enter the realm of the soap opera-style cliff hanger endings. A group of young people with learning difficulties, present a mixture of different scenes with cliff-hanger endings. The audience is fast tracked throughg the sinister tomato ketchup poisoning, a romantic proposal and quite literally a cliff-hanger as someone falls from a great height!
    Length 05’ 07”
    Aged 16-18

  • Before I Could Remember

    First Light Movies Awards 2007 Nominated for Best Film by Over 13s

    This piece is an intricately crafted collage of abstract images from the young filmmakers’ childhood memories. The beautifully shot pictures are poignantly coupled with fairytales and nursery rhymes presenting dream-like imagery.
    Length 12’ 52”
    Aged 16 -18

  • Binn Bunny Goes Green

    The First Light Movies Award 2010 Nominee for Best Animation

    It’s a busy time for the animals of Wayward Wood. Everyone’s working flat out to clean and tidy the forest in the hope of winning the coveted” Wood of the Year Award”. Well almost everyone….One rebellious rabbit’s actions threaten not only to lose them the competition, but their whole woodland habitat. Join Aggie, the stag beetle, Shirley Girley Squirrley and the rest of the gang as they battle to save the forest and turn around their feisty friend.
    Length 06’ 28”
    Aged 9-10

  • Buried

    First Light Movies Awards 2007 Nominated for Best Screenplay

    This fast paced thriller focuses on a group of lads who are chased into a creepy graveyard by a gang of bullies eager to find the ‘grass’ amongst them. The young lads escape into the church only to discover, to their horror, screaming coming from inside a coffin.
    Length 05’ 43”
    Aged 15-16

  • Buried Above Ground

    An Activison First Light Movies Award 2009 Nominee for Best Film Over 13s

    This spooky true story, made using mixed animation techniques, is based on the life and death of William McKenzie. McKenzie, a notorious Victorian Liverpool gambler, sold his soul to the devil. With the onset of illness, McKenzie worried about the consequences of his devilish pact until he came up with a devious plan to ensure Satan could never collect.
    Length 05’ 33”
    Aged 13

  • Do Not Enter

    An Activison First Light Movies Award 2009 Nominee for Best Horror

    Four young people break into a disused museum believing they will have to themselves. Their plans for alcohol and passion are replaced by terror and flight when they realise that it’s not the museum’s current owners they should be avoiding.
    Length 11’ 58”
    Aged 14-17

  • Don't Go Down Through the Woods

    The First Light Movies Award 2010 Nominee for Best Film by Under 12s

    Dan and Amy are late setting off with a basket of buns to visit their sickly Grandma. They are running so late they decide to take a short cut through the woods. However the woods are enchanted and full of magical creatures, scary monsters and hungry wolves. Will they ever reach Grandma’s house?
    Length 05’ 00”
    Aged 6-7

  • Doodle Disaster

    An Activison First Light Movies Award 2009 Nominee for Best Fantasy Adventure

    “Paint the picture, take the key, set your imagination free!” Doodling causes fantasy and reality to converge in this humorous and occasionally scary adventure story which employs some great special effects.
    Length 05’ 01”
    Aged 11-17

  • Generation Change

    This film is about a school boy called Patrick who gets left behind by his friends on a school trip to the London Transport Museum. He ends up going on a mysterious journey he will never forget.
    Length 09’ 44”
    Aged 9-12

  • It's Not The Dinners...

    Our children’s own stories of unique moments and events where their friends, teachers and staff have done something special to help: Maggie couldn’t speak English, Ryan didn’t speak at all, Katy lost her nerve and Joe had the most devastating experience of all.
    Length 05’ 11”
    Age 6-11

  • Keep the Fire Burning

    First Light Movies Awards 2005 Nominated for Best Horror/Thriller

    There was no warning. The virus was killing everyone. A group of teenagers try to survive in the woods, but one of them falls sick. They can’t risk an outbreak. This person must be dealt – severely…
    Length 06’ 44”
    Aged 15-17

  • Lights Out!

    First Light Movies Awards 2008 Winner of Best Animation

    How can the local Orkney seals possible get any sleep with that lighthouse glaring all night? This charming claymation film follows the seal’s quest to switch off the lighthouse light, with a little help from friends seagull and the lighthouse cat.
    Length 04’ 55”
    Aged 11 – 14

  • Mobile Bullies

    First Light Movies Awards 2008 Nominated for Best Drama

    In this modern technological era bullies have found a new way to antagonise their victims – through mobile phone texting! A girl receives threatening and sarcastic messages from the class bully, but it becomes clear that there’s always someone bigger around the corner when the bully becomes the bullied.
    Length 05’ 02”
    Aged 10-15

  • Munchatreeaforest

    First Light Movies Awards 2008 Winner of Best Film made by Under 12s

    Through this honest documentary a group of youngters objectively explore and discuss the destruction of the Knoydart Forest that makes up much of the highlands in which they live. The young filmmakers take ownership of their forest and, although they are concerned about the wildlife, see this is a necessary and exciting time for the forest.
    Length 06’ 33”
    Aged 5-9

  • My Grandma

    First Light Movies Awards 2005 Winner of Best Film by Over 13s

    An amusing dark story of a girl, who is constantly called upon to care for her demanding Grandmother, gets tired of hearing tales of childhood whilst missing out on her own. Successfully demonstrating the difference in two generations of women, will her Grandma’s constant nagging and complaining push her too far?

    Read what one of the filmmakers on this film are up to now.

    Length 7’ 32”
    Aged 11-18

  • Paperboy

    Paperboy Joe wants to keep his job but he keeps coming up against things that stop him completing his paper round, springy door flaps, sprinklers, angry dogs and mad neighbours. He enlists the help of “P” who builds ingenious gadgets to overcome the obstacles. Can Joe deliver his papers successfully?
    Length 07’ 08”
    Aged 13-18

  • Polaroid

    First Light Movies Awards 2008 Winner of Best Drama

    This is a creepy drama about a young man whose horrific flashbacks become clear when a knife salesman comes to the door. Punctuated with Polaroid pictures of the killer’s latest victims we piece together this ‘who dunnit’ style drama. This film is not for the faint hearted!
    Length 05’ 23”
    Aged 14-17

  • Prehistoric Pet Shop

    The First Light Movies Award 2010 Nominee for Best Film by Over 13s

    Prehistoric Pet Shop is about a caveman whose alarm clock stops working. But not just any alarm clock – the clock was a bird with an unfortunate heart problem. The caveman goes to the pet shop to complain about his faulty alarm clock. An homage to Monty Python’s parrot sketch, this hilarious short reveals that complaining can get you more than just a new alarm clock.
    Length 04’ 20”
    Aged 13-18

  • Rite of Passage

    An Activison First Light Movies Award 2009 Nominee for Best Thriller

    Alice has run away from home & her brother, Paul is distraught. Then he gets a tip-off as to her whereabouts, but will family be enough to persuade her to come home? This atmospheric drama uses effective visual storytelling and the words of W. B. Yeats to portray a teenage girl’s initiation into a sinister cult. Eleven young people created this spooky short, mostly shooting at night and learning the intricacies of lighting design.
    Length 06’ 03”
    Aged 14-18

  • Rock to Fakie

    A crew of young skateboarders & BMX bikers talk passionately about their sport, the limits of an indoor space to practice & the problems when creating outdoor ramps & complex jumps.
    Length 05’ 07”
    Aged 12-15

  • Running Free

    First Light Movies Awards 2008 Nominated for Best Documentary

    This fast-paced documentary follows a group of parkour obsessed lads from Pontypool as they travel to London’s Southbank, a hot spot for the new French sport. Running Free captures some beautiful movements by the group, as they catapult themselves over obstacles in the urban environment from walls and railings to the famous lions at the foot of Nelson’s Column.
    Length 05’ 02”
    Aged 14-16

  • Secrets from the Saz

    The First Light Movies Award 2010 Nominee for Best Film by Under 12s

    On a busy London street, a young boy meets a mysterious gentleman who is playing a Saz, a Middle Eastern stringed instrument. The man takes him away from the bustling city on an incredible journey to learn about his Kurdish Grandpa. Suddenly he wakes up to find the mystery man has vanished.
    Length 05’ 00”
    Aged 9-12

  • The Box

    This short drama is a tight observation of family life during the recession. Shot in one single living room, we see the ebb and flow of family life reflected in some pivotal moments through a particularly difficult time. However the digital hearth remains a constant source of comfort.
    Length 05’ 00”
    Aged 14-19

  • The Brownie Story

    Betty and Maggie go into the dark woods in search of a magical Brownie to help their mother keep their cottage tidy. There they meet the wise old owl who helps them discover what it means to be a Brownie.
    Length 08’ 36”
    Age 7-10

  • The Looking Glass

    First Light Movies Awards 2007 Winner of Best Horror

    This graphic but beautifully shot horror is not for the squeamish. The action focuses on a young Muslim girl’s horrific experience following a car crash, where her father is seemingly left unconscious at the wheel, and she finds herself in some kind of nightmarish purgatory.
    Length 04’ 44”
    Aged 12-16

  • The News

    First Light Movies Awards 2008 Nominated for Best Horror

    This atmospheric film noir about a murderer on the loose in Manchester was made by a group of young refugees. Capturing the menacing feeling of being watched, The News follows victims to their fate after reading, what appears to be, a regular daily newspaper.
    Length 04’ 22”
    Aged 14-18

  • The Princess & The Pendant

    First Light Movies Awards 2007 Winner of Best Film by 12s & Under

    This charming story tells the tale of a young girl who ignores the wishes of her father and ventures out of Butterfly Land. Where will this lead her and how will it end? The inspiration for this silhouette animation came from the work of 1920s filmmaker Lotte Reiniger.

  • The Return

    First Light Movies Awards 2008 Nominated for Best Animation

    A local journalist and ex-student reports an odd smell coming from the college science lab, but what could it be? A funny and gory tale of animated Zombies!
    Length 05’ 45”
    Aged 16

  • TimeBomb

    A Young boy faces pressure from his family, peers and teacher. When it all becomes too much, he lashes out with disastrous consequences.
    Length 05’ 43”
    Aged 13-15

  • Tired Ed

    First Light Movies Awards 2008 Nominated for Best Comedy

    If Ed could, he would sleep all day; Practically sleep walking his way to work, Ed then falls asleep at his desk. A quick forty winks on the way home spirals out of control when his tiredness is mistaken for an anti-war protest outside the Houses of Parliament. Hilarious!
    Length 10’ 30”
    Aged 16-18

  • Too Many Cooks

    Inspired by Edward I visit to Washington in the north of England in 1304, there is pandemonium in the kitchen as the servants await the King’s imminent arrival. For the cook, this is a feast for a King that cannot go wrong. For Mary and Charles, this is the perfect opportunity to settle an old score.
    Length 05’ 23”
    Aged 15-17

  • Trapped

    In this emotional drama, a bullying girl sees how her brother controls his gang & copies his bullying tactics. She brings fear to the local neighbourhood leaving her victims scared & lonely. When parents won’t listen & friends just talk about themselves, where can you turn? The film draws upon personal stories and experiences to focus on the issues of feeling safe on the streets.
    Length 08’ 43”
    Aged 9-11

  • Two Men and Their Ponies

    First Light Movies Awards 2007 Nominated for Best Documentary

    This is the story of the Welsh mountain ponies, told from the point of view of a local recluse, Paul, who is a leading ecologist and former ballet-dancer. Having hung-up his ballet-shoes, Paul now spends his time in the mountains riding mountain bikes which he says is “the best way to see the ponies”. This creative documentary aims to explore the ancient bond between man and pony and acknowledge the special place the mountain pony has in the heritage and landscape of Wales.
    Length 04’ 56”
    Aged 16-18

  • Tyne Travel

    First Light Movies Awards 2008 Winner of Best Screenplay

    Things get exciting when a school history project, to trace his family tree, leads a lad to follow the path of his ancestors on an adventure through time. From the Jarrow march in the 1930s to back as far as the Roman age this time travelling extravaganza leaves no historic North East stone unturned.
    Length 08’ 12”
    Aged 14-17

Other Funding Streams…