15/01/2014 - US distributors can get up to £25,000 per film to spend on theatrical release campaigns

The British Film Institute has launched a pilot US Distribution Fund scheme aimed at helping British films find wider distribution in the US. The pilot is currently limited to British films currently without US distribution, which are world premiering in official selection at the Sundance Film Festival 2014 and have a production budget less than £2m. The BFI will make awards of up to £25,000 per eligible film available to US distributors, to be spent on prints and advertising.

The three Sundance British selections eligible for funding under the scheme are Hong Khaou’s Lilting [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Sales agent: Protagonist Pictures), Stuart Murdoch’s God Help The Girl [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (HanWay Films), and Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s 20,000 Days On Earth (HanWay).

The US distributor will only be eligible to apply to the BFI US Distribution Fund if it acquires one of the three eligible films within three months of its premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and intends to release the film theatrically in the US within 12 months of the acquisition. Applications will need to be made to the BFI by the US distributor at least 14 weeks before the film’s US release date.

BFI Film Fund Director, Ben Roberts, said, “We know the UK is consistently producing films which wow audiences and critics at A-list festivals around the world, but in a competitive international market some of these excellent films can nevertheless struggle to secure that all-important US distribution, which can do so much to showcase UK talent to cinema audiences and critics in the states. The point of this pilot is to see if we can help to change that.”