By submitting an Application to the Edge of Nature: Short Film Fund 2023 process, entrants accept and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions set out below and acknowledge that failure to comply with them may result in disqualification from the process. 

GENERAL

Edge of Nature: Short Film Fund 2023 (“Edge of Nature”) is managed and presented by Wildscreen, a not for profit organisation based at Unit 1. 11, Temple Studios, Temple Gate, Bristol, BS1 6QA (“Wildscreen”). It is being supported by On the Edge (“On the Edge”)

Submission of a Project  (“Project”) to Edge of Nature is subject to and conditional on the “Applicant(s)” (individuals who are applying to Edge of Nature, further defined below) accepting these Rules and Wildscreen does not accept any submission on any other basis whatsoever.

(“Edge Species”) and (“Edge Zone’s”) refer to the species and animals defined as such by On the Edge. More information can be found at wildscreen.org/industry/edge-of-nature-short-film-fund/ 

(“Grantee(s)”) refers to Applicants who are successful in receiving funding for a Project through the Edge of Nature.

All Projects submitted to the Edge of Nature are made subject to the following Terms and Conditions.

ELIGIBILITY

Edge of Nature is open to new or established filmmakers who meet the following criteria  (“Applicants(s)”). 

To be eligible, a Project must:

• Have an aspect of an Edge Species or Edge Zone as the central focus
• Be submitted by the producer, director, writer, or creator (or their authorised representative)
• Be a film-based short (minimum 1 minute, maximum 40 minutes). It can be any genre, including animation and genres other than traditional Natural History
• Be at development or pre-production stage. Projects are eligible if the principal photography has been completed but must not be finished or released publicly or be funded by any broadcaster, platform, sales agent etc.
• Not have any finance already secured or agreements in place from a broadcaster, platform, sales agent etc. and cannot have previously been broadcast, transmitted or commercially distributed in any form prior to its submission to Edge of Nature 2023. Projects that have secured in-kind support (i.e. donation of camera kit, accommodation etc) are eligible.
• Not have received prize funds from a previous Wildscreen Festival Wild Pitch.
• Be submitted by the final submission date (5PM BST, October 5th 2023). Pitches submitted after the final submission date will not be considered.
• Not infringe the copyright or any other intellectual property rights of any other person
• Not utilise emerging technologies or platforms such as VR, AR etc. are not permitted to be entered as an Application.
• No more than 20 percent of the Project should be comprised of archive or stock footage.

To be eligible Applicant(s) must:

• Be 18 years of age on or before the 1st October 2023.
• Not have any professional (i.e. broadcast) Producer or Director credits (please note that this does not include student projects).
• Have less than five cumulative years of paid experience within the film and television industry.
• Have a maximum of one Assistant Producer credit.
• Not be in full time education at any point between October 1st 2023 and November 1st 2024.
• Be able to prove that the work submitted and presented is theirs and they are the rights owner of the content and idea.

An application can be submitted by one person or a team. If a team, only two people can participate in the virtual live pitching session in October 2023.

Only one application submission is permitted per entrant/team.

Applicants are not required to be currently working in the wildlife film and TV industry, and/or have any credits and can be from any role, including but not limited to assistant producer (max one assistant producer credit), cinematographer, editor, presenter, scientist, conservationist, fixer, researcher etc. 

DATES

• Applications open: Thursday 7th September 2023 at: https://www.tfaforms.com/5079825
• Deadline for applications:  Thursday 5th October 2023, 5 PM BST
• Grantees notified of selection: week commencing 9th October 2023
• Pitch briefing: week commencing 16th October 2023
• Live pitch (virtual): Thursday 26th October 2023, time TBC
• Introduction to mentor (for successful Grantees): Week commencing 30th October 2023

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Edge of Nature applications will be accepted via an online application form.

Submissions can be made in any language.

Application materials will not be returned. Wildscreen reserves the right to reject Applications that are not complete. Wildscreen accepts no responsibility for Applications not received for any reason. Wildscreen reserves the right, at any time, to verify the validity of Applicants (including the Applicants identity) and reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who Wildscreen have reason to believe has breached any of these Terms and Conditions or engaged in any unlawful or other improper conduct calculated to interfere with the fair and proper conduct of the Edge of Nature process. 

SELECTION PROCESS

Each submission to Edge of Nature 2023 will be reviewed by up to at least three members of a Shortlisting Committee which will include representatives from Wildscreen and On the Edge to review and select the projects to be pitched to the Final Jury.

Projects will be reviewed and assessed on the following: 

• Strength of call to action and/or actionable steps to protect EDGE species and zones
• Appeal to GenZ audiences, with digital format a central focus
• Creative vision, originality of the idea, strength of story. We are interested in stories that push the boundaries of natural history filmmaking
• Ability of the team to deliver the project
• Budget and timeframes – whether Project budget and timeline is reasonable and appropriate
• How your Project sits in the mix of other Projects entered into Edge of Nature

Selected Applicants will be required to take part in a live, virtual pitch session on the 26 October 2023. They will be required to deliver a live pitch of no more than 4 minutes to the Final Jury, a panel made up of leading industry experts. Each pitch will be followed by a question and answer session with the Final Jury. 

The live pitch sessions will be held virtually via zoom. The sessions will be recorded and extracts of the Applicants participation may be used for Edge of Nature and/or Wildscreen and On the Edge promotional purposes only with prior clearance from the Applicant.  Wildscreen reserves the right to approve final audio-visual deliverables (pitches, trailers, slides, teasers) and can deny participation in the live On the Edge pitch session if these materials do not satisfy requirements. 

Copyright for each submitted Project remains with the Applicant(s). By submitting to On the Edge, the Applicant(s) grants Wildscreen the right to make their full submission available to the Shortlisting Committee and Final Jury. 

SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS 

If your project is successfully selected by the Final Jury, you will be made an offer of grant funding. This will detail the grant terms and conditions along with any specific criteria and deliverables which must be delivered as part of accepting the grant.  You will be required to enter into an agreement with Wildscreen that sets out the terms and conditions. Final film and materials delivery date will be early August 2024

Full details on required deliverables and timelines will be provided as part of the grant contract, in summary, the agreement will outline the following:

Delivery materials required, to include: 

• Film materials – ProRes and H264 mp4 file
• Publicity stills and clips 
• Behind the scenes content
• English time coded script
• Film promotional pack – to include synopsis, logline, credits list, crew biographies and production information
• BAFTA Albert carbon calculator report: https://wearealbert.org/calculator/ 
• Equality Monitoring forms

Screenings and distribution

The funded films will be showcased as part of the Wildscreen Festival 2024, which takes place from 14-18 October in Bristol, UK.

The films will be distributed via On the Edge and Wildscreen’s digital platforms (non-commercial). Grantees will receive advice on further distribution and marketing opportunities. 

Licencing

Funded projects will grant a lifetime license (non-commercial) for the content, including right to edit, promote and distribute via On the Edge and Wildscreen’s digital platforms. Commercial use will be permitted if all parties agree. Grantee will retain copies of original content. On the Edge Conservation shall also be entitled to use and authorise others to use the format creator’s name, approved likeness, approved photograph and approved biography in connection with the advertising and promotion of the films but not so as to endorse commercial products or services as further provided in the contract of services.

Grantee(s) will have the opportunity to apply for additional funding directly through On the Edge’s Funding Plus Pot to meet the costs of travel and accommodation, visas (if required) and the like to attend Wildscreen Festival 2024. If you are not eligible to receive funding through On the Edge’s Fundling Plus, you will be required to cover all costs of travel and accommodation and the like, and to arrange all necessary visa requirements (if required) resulting from attending Wildscreen Festival 2024. Please note that attending Wildscreen 2024 is not a requirement of the grant.

GRANTS

The successful Project(s) will be selected by the Final Jury, following the live pitch session to be held on the 26 October 2023. Grants between £2,000 and £15,000 will be awarded to the best overall Application(s) following the live pitching session. 

The total value of the grant provided to a project will be determined by Wildscreen and On the Edge and the number of Projects supported by the Edge of Nature Fund shall be determined at the sole discretion of Wildscreen.

In the event that the total grant fund is not allocated to projects during the initial round of applications, Wildscreen will open applications for a second round in January 2024, to allocate the remaining funds. First round applicants would be eligible to reapply.

The limitations and evidence required on how the grant is used by the Grantee will be outlined in the Grant’s Terms and Conditions.  

Grants will be paid in GBP and in the following installments;

• 80% on signature of the grant contract. 
• 20% within 30 days of project completion, following submission of required reporting and sign off by Wildscreen on all required deliverables as stated in the grant contract.

LIABILITIES

An Application, and subsequent pitch may only contain music, videos, photographs, artwork or similar, that have been created by the Applicant or that are clearly demonstrable by the Applicant as royalty free / public domain.

In the event that an Application includes any third-party owned item(s), the Applicant must be in possession of permission in writing to use the material in the pitch in perpetuity.

In the event of any dispute concerning credits of copyright in respect of an Application or accompanying materials (including but not limited to videos, images etc), Wildscreen reserves the right to reject the submission in respect of Application or withhold selection for the live pitch session or grant in respect of such Application until the dispute is resolved. 

Each entrant is deemed to indemnify and hold harmless Wildscreen, On the Edge its Final Jury, Shortlisting Committee, from and against all claims, demands, losses, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses (including legal expenses), arising from Wildscreen’s possession and use in accordance with these Terms and Conditions their submission to Wildscreen in connection with Edge of Nature (including without limitation Application(s), photographs, information and other materials. 

PRESS AND MARKETING

If a submitted Project is selected to receive funding as part of the Edge of Nature Short Film Fund, the Applicant(s) grants Wildscreen and On the Edge a non-exclusive, royalty free, perpetual right to use, publish, reproduce and reprint Application images and descriptive text on a worldwide basis through all media (including but not limited social media, print and digital). Without limiting the above, each Applicant(s) acknowledges and agrees that this includes:

• Press releases announcing the selected Projects
• Promotion of the film, and it’s association with the Wildscreen Festival 2024, their showcases and premieres

By submitting an Application, each Applicant also consents to Wildscreen and On the Edge using their name, likeness, image and/or voice in any media for an unlimited period without remuneration for the purpose of promoting Wildscreen, Wildscreen Festival and On the Edge.

CONTACT

In the event of any queries, please contact:

Wildscreen

Unit 1.11 Temple Studios

Temple Gate

Bristol 

BS1 6QA

United Kingdom

Email: georgia.torres@wildscreen.org.uk