The Funding Process: Getting More Than the Money with Helen Tompson

The Funding Process: Getting More Than the Money
If you're a writer or creative looking for ways to get your project funded across film, TV as well as new forms of storytelling, then this is the workshop for you.

Funding applications can feel daunting, particularly when you are early in your career and trying to work out whether your project is ready, whether you are the right person to apply, and what funders are actually looking for.

This practical two-hour workshop will explore how to approach funding opportunities strategically, from finding the right fund and assessing your project, to understanding the application process, positioning your story and demonstrating why you are the right person to tell it

Drawing on Helen Tompson’s experience of applying for and working with a range of film funding opportunities, the session will look at real-life funding scenarios, common application questions, interviews, feedback and rejection.

There will be practical exercises throughout, including a short ‘stress test’ designed to help participants interrogate their own projects and applications.

The session will also explore how to make the funding process work for you. Even when an application does not result in an award, the experience can build your understanding of how the industry works, strengthen your project, develop your ability to respond to feedback and give you valuable experience of working within a professional funding process.

Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of how to assess funding opportunities, what they need to consider before applying and how to approach the process with greater confidence and purpose.

More about Helen Tompson 
Helen Tompson is a screenwriter, script reader, adjudicator and creative learning consultant whose work focuses on character-led storytelling and overlooked perspectives. She has developed projects across film and television and has experience of applying for and working with a range of industry funding and development opportunities, including BFI NETWORK funding, regional film funding and short film competitions. Her first short film, Like Buses, was funded through CenterFrame and she has subsequently secured funding for training, mentoring, schemes and resources. She also works as a script reader, mentor and educator, and writes The Business of Screenwriting, a newsletter exploring the practical realities of building a career as a screenwriter.

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