The development fund opens on Wednesday 1st May 2024 and closes at 5pm on Friday 31st May 2024.
How to apply
Please read the guidelines below carefully before submitting an application to The Uncertain Kingdom via Zealous. If you have any questions, please contact us.
A large print version of these guidelines is available to download here.
What kind of films are we looking for?
The Uncertain Kingdom supports British cinema by funding filmmakers whose stories tell us about ourselves. The fund is commercial and looks for projects with a route to market. We’re looking for stories - not issues - and are excited by nuance and specificity.
Who can apply?
The fund supports filmmakers who have previously made at least one feature and have the vision for many more. We look for filmmakers who are committed to a filmmaking career who will best utilise our support at this point in their career.
How the development fund works
We fund a range of development costs including, but not limited to, writer and producer fees, early scouting, research, workshops, budgeting/scheduling and directors’ look books. We do not fund option fees.
We fund a maximum of £60,000 per round, divided between two to four projects. Funding is divided between projects according to the needs of the project. We encourage producers to be honest about their costs rather than erring on the low side to make the project more attractive. If we love a project but the development budget is at the upper end, we’d always have a conversation before ruling it out.
We do not take a share of copyright or other similar rights in projects but in return for our development funding, you will need to sign our standard agreement which includes confirmation that (a) development funds shall be returned in full when the project goes into production together with a premium if the budget of your film is £1m or more (a 10% premium for budgets between £1m - £5m and a 50% premium for budgets in excess of £5m); (b) The Uncertain Kingdom will receive 1% of 100% of the net profit of the film; and (c) we will receive credit and a logo in the end titles.
We take a hands-off approach; empowering filmmakers to make work on their own terms. We are a small team so we can offer personal, flexible development support but we are led by what the filmmakers ask from us.
The fund opens for applications May 1st-31st and November 1st-30th every year.
Your team
For all projects:
The producer, writer and director (as applicable) of the project must all be entitled to work in the UK but need not be British citizens.
The producer, writer and director (as applicable) must be eighteen or over.
Directors (or one person in the directing team) of all projects must have directed a feature film.
Producers (or one person in the producing team) of all projects must have produced a feature film.
Writers must have demonstrable relevant writing experience. We don’t ask for a writing sample at application stage, but will do if the application progresses. The less developed the project, the more important it is to have a relevant writing sample to share.
For non-fiction projects:
An individual producer and a director must be attached to the project at the time of application.
The project can have separate producer(s) and director(s) or a single individual may fulfil both roles.
Having a writer attached at the time of application is not essential.
For fiction projects:
An individual producer and a writer must be attached to the project at the time of application.
A writer of the project may also act as an individual producer of the project provided that there is another individual producer attached who is not also a writer of the project.
Having a director attached at the time of application is not essential.
A director of the project may also act as an individual producer of the project provided that there is another individual producer attached who is not also a director of the project.
Your project
Must be an audio-visual production suitable for theatrical release.
Must be 70+ minutes long.
Can be any form or genre, including fiction, animation, documentary and dance projects.
Should be set primarily in the UK (or tell us why it’s still relevant to the UK despite being set elsewhere).
Can be at treatment through to script stage. It is not necessary to have a script to apply, but applicants will need to be able to provide detail about the project.
Can be based on existing IP (but please note funding won’t be provided for payment of option fees).
Must have a route to market.
How to apply
Applications are made via Zealous.
It is free to apply.
The fund opens for applications May 1st-31st and November 1st-30th every year. Applications open at 9am and close at 5pm.
Applications must be made by the lead producer. This person will be our point of contact.
Applications require:
A title (can be a working title).
A visual treatment/mood-board (up to 10 pages, pdf only). This is referred to on the submission page as a “single work”.
A log-line (25 words).
A synopsis of the project. Please tell us the beginning, middle and end of your story. (300-words or 3-minute video).
An explanation of why you want to tell this story and why now. (200 words or 2-minute video).
An explanation of the producer’s plan: how will you finance and release the film and who will watch it? (300-words).
A brief description of what stage the project is at now (e.g. two-page bullet treatment that’s a rough idea; 10-page prose treatment and ready to go to draft).
A list of any project materials currently available (e.g. first draft, mood reel etc).
A brief description of what activities The Uncertain Kingdom funding would cover e.g. second draft and a set of revisions. For documentaries, the boundary between development and production can be blurry so if you’re applying with a documentary and have already started shooting, please be clear about why this activity is development and not production.
The anticipated budget of the film.
A brief breakdown the development funds you’re requesting from us. For example, you might say:
£x writer fee
£x producer fee
£x research
£x total
Company name and number of the applicant. We fund companies, rather than individuals, therefore producers need to apply on behalf of a company incorporated in the United Kingdom.
Contact details for the individual producer who will be our point of contact.
Bios for each individual producer, writer and director, as applicable (200-words each)
If available, IMDb and website links for each individual producer, writer and/or director, as applicable.
A link to work sample from each individual producer and/or director. Please choose the work you think is most relevant to this project; you don’t have to choose your most recent work. Work samples must be complete works. Trailers, show-reels or clips are not accepted. The sample must not be behind a paywall.
If you need to coordinate with a sales agent or distributor to share a film with us, please say so in answer to that application question. Please contact us immediately after you submit, with the title of your submission in the subject line, to organise the file share.
Please note:
As part of the application you will also need to click to confirm you have read and agree to the General Conditions.
The application will ask, “which category do you want to submit to?” and offer ‘fiction’, ‘non-fiction’ and ‘hybrid of fiction and non-fiction’ as options. All submissions are judged together but adding categories like this helps us track how many of each kind of story we receive.
We encourage writers and directors to be involved in preparing applications.
Video answers can be given by any member(s) of the team. Please provide links with a password in the relevant text box.
Individual producers are welcome to reapply with a project if substantive changes have been made, such as a change of writer, director or creative approach. If a project has been submitted previously, you will need to detail the substantive changes when you apply (200 words).
Individual producers may apply with only one project each. Writers and directors may be attached to more than one project.
Diversity & equality monitoring:
Please submit a diversity, equality and inclusion monitoring form for each member of your team. The diversity and equality monitoring form is separate from the project application form.
The project application form will ask you to click to confirm the diversity, equality and inclusion monitoring forms have been submitted.
The diversity, equality and inclusion data we gather is anonymous. The data is kept separate from the project application forms and is not used as part of assessing projects.
What happens next
All applications will be read by us and external project assessors appointed by us to prepare a longlist of projects.
We will contact the individual producers of longlisted projects to ask for further information and materials. What we ask for will depend on the project but may include: a script or treatment for the project itself, writing samples, further work samples, look books, sample footage taken to date (for documentaries) etc. Please have any additional materials gathered and ready before you apply.
It would be unusual for us to require you to create material you don’t already have due to the timeline of the application process but if there is something you don’t have that we think we need, it will be a conversation, not a deal-breaker.
From those additional materials, we will create a shortlist of projects. We will contact the individual producers of the shortlist to arrange an interview and we will announce successful projects as soon as possible after all interviews have taken place
At each stage, we will notify all applicants about the status of their application.
The assessment process typically takes three months in total. We are a small team working part time and we appreciate your patience.
Please add hello@theuncertainkingdom.co.uk to your contacts so our emails don’t go to your junk
If you have any questions or difficulty submitting, please contact us.