01/10/2002

As part of its ‘pilot’ programme and commitment to emerging film talent, the British Film Council's New Cinema Fund has just awarded £10,000 (Euros15.931) to Dutch production company Staccato Films to make the pilot of Sportsman Of The Century directed by Mischa Alexander.
Pilot film funding usually takes the form of equity investment repayable to the Film Council upon commencement of principal photography of the feature film based upon the pilot film. “It is like a sample suit”, says a Film Council spokesperson. “When a project is at the script stage, we support the making of a few scenes to have an idea and feel of how the final film will eventually look”.
UK producer Keith Griffiths (Illumination Films) also received £10,000 (Euros15.931) support from the New Cinema Fund for his pilot entitled Signal To Noise by David Mckean.
Previous foreign pilot films supported by the New Cinema Fund that were eventually made into feature films include the Icelandic film Noi Albinoi by Dagur Kari.