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About the Funding
Criteria
Who Can Apply
Making an Application
Access to Funding

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Funding for animation companies to enable them to undertake all concept, design and story work necessary for the development of an animated feature film or TV series.

About the Funding
Funding is provided in the form of loans which are repayable on the first day of principal photography of the developed film. The loan does not carry interest, no premium is charged at the time of repayment, and BSÉ/IFB does not receive a profit share in return for its development funding.

Animation Development Loans may be drawn down in stages, subject to progress. The maximum amount that can be drawn down at any one time is €50,000; the maximum total amount that BSÉ/IFB can provide to any one project is €100,000. Any amount of development funding above €50,000 provided to a project must be matched by funding from other sources.

Criteria
Applicants should read carefully the Principles & Criteria guidelines on this website with particular reference to the paragraphs on:

• Additionality
• Cultural Priorities, Industrial Priorities
• Making Cinema
• Originality
  
  

In making funding of any kind available, BSÉ/IFB pays close attention to any previous work by individuals making the application, taking into account their creative abilities in audiovisual media as well as their professional competence and reliability.

Who Can Apply
Animation Development Loans are available to producers with an animated feature film or TV series project they wish to develop, clear access to the necessary rights in any material that is to be adapted for the screen, and an agreement (at least in principle) with the screenwriter and any other creative talent they wish to commission.

Development funding is provided by BSÉ/IFB to enable the making of films predominantly in English or Irish, or a combination of the two.

Making an Application
Before making an application it is essential that you have read the How To Apply guidelines which you can download on this page, paying particular attention to any relevant instructions with regard to contacting BSÉ/IFB executives in advance of applying.

If, having studied the How To Apply section of the website, you have any further queries about this type of funding you should contact BSÉ/IFB’s Production & Development Co-ordinator, Sarah Dillon.

In order to apply you must download the application form from this page, complete it in full, and send it – together with all the additional materials requested – to BSÉ/IFB’s head office in Galway. (You cannot apply for BSÉ/IFB funding by fax or online.) Incomplete applications will not be processed.

The additional materials that must be included are:

• Logline (ca. 25 words)
• Synopsis (ca. ½ A4 page)
• Story outline or short treatment (ca. 6-10 A4 pages)*
• Visual concepts, character designs, storyboards, etc
• Notes by director, principal animator, producer (as appropriate) on proposed story, characters, overall style, design elements, etc
• CVs of all principals
• Full development budget in euros
• Evidence of ownership of rights in all relevant material
  
  

* In specific cases full-length screenplays may be submitted, where prior approval has been given by the Development Executive

Applications should be delivered by post, by courier or in person to:

Schemes & Applications Co-ordinator
Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board
Queensgate
23 Dock Road
Galway

Following receipt of a submission, applicants will be sent an acknowledgement letter including a reference number which should be retained for use on all future correspondence.

Under current practice, applications for Animation Development Loans received in Galway by the last business day of a calendar month will be considered at a decision-making round that falls no more than eight weeks later. Decisions are communicated to applicants by letter immediately thereafter.

For a detailed account of the procedure by which production funding applications are considered, you should readthe Development Procedures: Aims & Practice Guidelines which you can download on this page with particular reference to opints 1-6 in the funding section.

Access to Funding
If your application is successful, you will need to reach agreement with the Development team of BSÉ/IFB on the terms of a funding contract, including dates for draw-down of funding and delivery of materials. Besides a signed contract, BSÉ/IFB will need to have seen and approved all of the following documents before the first payment can be processed:

• Memorandum & Articles of Association of the production company
• Tax Clearance Certificate for the production company
• Option Agreement in relation to underlying rights (if any)
• Agreement between the production company and the screenwriter
• Agreement between the production company and the director, principal animator, other creative contributors (as applicable)
• Bank No Set-off Letter: a project-specific bank account must be opened by the producer and evidence of the account supplied to BSÉ/IFB in a letter, the form of which can be obtained by emailing the Production & Development Co-ordinator.
• Producer Inducement Letter: the producer must assure BSÉ/IFB that s/he will develop the project in question, in a letter the form of which can also be supplied
• Development Budget with any revisions made as agreed in discussion with the development team of BSÉ/IFB
• Invoice: the producer must invoice BSÉ/IFB for each stage of funding drawn down.
  
  

The Production & Development Co-ordinator in conjunction with the Legal & Business Affairs team of BSÉ/IFB will provide the following documents for the producer’s consideration:

• Standard Funding Contract between BSÉ/IFB and a production company
• Deed of Charge: where loans exceed €15,000, BSÉ/IFB will require the producer to sign a deed of charge in order to protect its investment

Notes:

- Where a production company takes over rights in a project that has previously been the subject of an award of BSÉ/IFB development funding to another company, the new owner of the rights must enter into a written agreement with BSÉ/IFB assuming liability for repayment of BSÉ/IFB’s earlier loan(s) on the first day of principal photography.

- From August 2010, all producers in receipt of development funding from BSÉ/IFB will be obliged to provide an audit cert for projects as per the ICAI’s M45 technical statement. Funding to cover the cost of this will be provided in the development allocation awarded by BSÉ/IFB. Further details of the audit cert can be found in Appendix C of the document downloadable from this page.  

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