Prints and Advertising Fund
The Prints and Advertising Fund supports the distribution and marketing strategy of 'specialised' films.
What we do
The Prints and Advertising Fund is designed to widen and support the distribution and marketing strategy of 'specialised' films and to offer support to more commercially focused 'British' films that nevertheless remain difficult to market.
The UK Film Council's Prints and Advertising Fund has an annual budget of £4 million which aims to benefit audiences by widening:
- access to the range of films available;
- opportunities to view such films across the UK; and
- audience awareness of the range of films potentially available.
Who we fund
Whilst concentrating on 'specialised' film, the fund also backs more commercially focused British films by supporting UK distributors to produce extra prints, increase advertising or enhance media exposure and publicity.
Lottery funds have been awarded to a wide range of films including key Oscar®-winning films The Lives of Others and Tsotsi, award winning British titles Red Road, Control, London to Brighton, and This is England, and acclaimed titles from all over the world including The Lives of Others, The Curse of the Golden Flower, La Vie en Rose; Volver and Pan's Labyrinth.
Case study: Specialised film in the UK
Since the UK Film Council introduced Lottery funding to support the distribution of foreign language and specialised films in 2003 to benefit British cinema-goers, 26 foreign language films have grossed more than £1 million at the UK box office. Of these 26 foreign language films, the P&A Fund has supported 15 in gaining a wider UK release.
In comparison, only seven films grossed £1 million or more in the previous three years (2000-2003) and the average number of screens they played at the widest point of release was 24. Throughout the 1990s, only nine films grossed more than £1 million at the UK box office.
Important notice:
Fast-Track funding through the Prints and Advertising Fund. The UK Film Council has suspended this funding strand and is not accepting any further applications with immediate effect (5 March 2010).
The Distribution and Exhibition Department will be undertaking a review of its fast-track funding programme after the start of new business year which starts 1 April. However, the department is continuing to accept applications to support the release of films in the UK under the main Prints and Advertising Fund.
Further information on our funding for the release of films in the UK will be published on our website home page, through the trade press, directly to distribution and exhibition trade organisations and to film distributors and exhibitors directly.
