Finishing up my grad film has certainly given me the short film bug. There is something nice about a project being entirely your own start to finish, but there is a part of me feeling unfulfilled. There was such a rush with this film that I feel I squandered the opportunity somewhat. In some twisted irony since finishing up I have found my head swimming with ideas for animated short films in a way in which they hadn’t at the beginning of his project. I have been advised to try the industry out first since in the job recruitment process studios are a lot more lenient towards fresh graduates. There is an understanding that they won’t be too judgemental of a less varied showreel. So whilst I am going to look for jobs soon as I graduate, there still remains this urge to make my own project. So I have also looked into funding. In the UK, the big boy of short-film funding is the BFI, which have two separate grants available for those seeking money to make their projects. The BFI Network Short Film fund offers anywhere between £5000-£25000 and is incredibly hard to get. In 2023 they received over 1000 applications and only awarded 36 films funding. This is unsurprising as this fund is for both live-action and animation. There is also the BFI National Lottery short form animation funding. From reading the entry requirements the film’s creator has to have at least featured in a festival, won an award or gotten some other kind of industry acclaim. This is quite a barrier to entry, which right now I couldn’t fulfil.

Another possible funding route is through UAL itself, which does have a graduate fund for independent projects. It isn’t too well advertised. It’s something I have access to for up to five years! So I want to get together some concept art and a pitch presentation and apply for that first! My goal is to have a film festival ready for Cardiff Anim. Fest and London International Animation Festival. I bought a new sketchbook to fill with concept art for now- maybe I could even work on it part time alongside studio work.