Wildscreen, Reed and Big Give launch new short impact film fund
Five filmmakers will be awarded £10,000 each to create short impact films that make nature possible to ignore.
Impact film fund
Reed presents the inaugural Earth Raise Impact Film Fund, delivered in partnership with Big Give & Wildscreen Studios.
The funding call is open to all who want to make nature impossible to ignore. Wherever you’re from. Whatever your filmmaking style. We want to find storytellers who see nature differently to create five short films that make audiences see it differently too.
Here's what you need to know...
- There are 5x grants available of £10,000 (these grants are unrestricted*)
- Grant applications can be submitted by individuals or groups
- We are accepting applications from anywhere in the world, but your story must resonate with UK audiences
- Your film must lean away from traditional natural history formats i.e. Blue Chip and cover 1 of the 5 themes listed here – Water, Wildlife, People, Climate and Nature**
- There should be a call to action embedded in your story to inspire action. Our conversion funnel is for people to see the films > be inspired to take action > donate to charities in Earth Raise. This can be subtle, but we want to see how you’ll emotionally connect audiences with a species, space or particular topic.
- The deadlines are short, so your film needs to be feasible, or you can use this funding to produce or finish a story you’ve already developed.
- The films must be digital-first, targeted at English-speaking audiences between 18 – 35, no less than 3 minutes and no more than 20 minutes in length. They will be published on YouTube following their premiere at a launch event in April 2027.
- Alongside producing a short film, we’d love to co-create content to help build a larger campaign around your film. So there will be an expectation to capture some BTS on creating your story!
*unrestricted means that you can decide how the budget is spent. Under the guidance of Wildscreen Studios, we’ll help you maximise your budget.
** Water: Rivers, canals, wetlands, oceans, fresh water, marine life, pollution reduction and preserving coastal habitats
Wildlife: Species preservation, rescue, wildlife reserves, conservation, coexistence with wildlife
People: Transport, education, food waste, consumption, recycling, volunteering, hope and agency
Climate: Energy, community action, clean air, agriculture, food production, trade, finance, sustainability and innovation
Nature: Woodlands, trees, rewilding, biodiversity, green spaces, protecting & restoring habitats
Stories can be inspired by projects, locations, habitats or missions that Earth Raise has supported in the past: https://donate.biggive.org/earth-raise-2026 (this is not a requirement, but advantageous)
Timelines
The funding call will open on the 2nd November 2026 and will close on Friday 13th November 11:59pm GMT.
Decisions will be made by the 20th November and funding released shortly after.
Delivery of the film is due in March 2027. The film and campaign will premiere in April to coincide with Earth Raise.
Got a question?
No problem! Please feel free to reach out to Alex at [email protected]
Reed
Reed is a family of companies with one defining mission: improving lives through work. Through recruitment, learning and philanthropy, we help people all over the world live better, more fulfilling lives. We are a PhilCo, a company which is at least 10% owned by a charitable foundation. Reed is a long standing supporter of Big Give and we are excited to support the Earth Raise campaign through sponsoring this inaugural film fund.
Big Give | Earth Raise
Earth Raise is a seven-day online match funding campaign dedicated to helping charities playing a vital role in tackling pressing environmental issues, run in partnership with Environmental Funders Network (EFN). Since launching the campaign in 2021, Earth Raise has raised more than £34 million for environmental causes, doubling the difference for global efforts to protect and preserve our planet.
Festival Showcase
Join us live in Bristol or online at Wildscreen Festival for the World Permiere of the Edge of Nature short film collection.
Plus meet the incredible group of emerging filmmakers making their mark on the wildlife filmmaking map at Tuesdays headlining event:
On the Edge: Nature Through a New Lens
Find out more via the Wildscreen Festival 2024.
Watch The Trailers
Films supported by the Edge of Nature: Short Film Fund are due to premiere at this years Wildscreen Festival. Get excited for the four groundbreaking grantee projects coming this October by checking out the trailers below!
Festival Showcase
Join us live in Bristol or online at Wildscreen Festival for the World Permiere of the Edge of Nature short film collection.
Plus meet the incredible group of emerging filmmakers making their mark on the wildlife filmmaking map at Tuesdays headlining event:
On the Edge: Nature Through a New Lens
Find out more via the Wildscreen Festival 2024.
WHAT IS EDGE?
Discover more about EDGE species, EDGE zones and the EDGE of Nature: Short Film Fund below.
EDGE SPECIES
EDGE species are Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered species in the plant, fungi and animal kingdoms.
They collectively represent billions of years of evolutionary history. When they’re gone, there’s no replacing them.
Click below to discover which species are categorised as EDGE species.
EDGE ZONES
EDGE Zones add up to less than 1% of earth’s land collectively but hold one-third of the planet’s terrestrial vertebrates.
They are spread across five continents, from the humid forests of Madagascar to the mountainous Western Ghats region of India.
Click below to find out more about EDGE zones.
Opportunities
We are currently recruiting for the following opportunties through the EDGE of Nature: Short Film Fund.
Second Camera Operator, South Africa
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This is an exciting opportunity to work as a second camera operator on one of the the films being supported through the EDGE of Nature: Short Film fund. We are looking for someone to work closely with the director and conservationists to help capture; interviews, conservation work, unique animal behaviour and BTS footage.
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Previous experience working in a Big 5 reserve is essential.
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The role will include prepping kit, planning shoots, logging footage, backing up footage and reviewing footage in Adobe Premiere Pro.
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To be eligible to apply you must be based and living in South Africa. Applications recieved from individuals based outside of South Africa will not be considered.
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Deadline for applications: 2pm SAST, 2nd February 2024
EDGE OF NATURE: SHORT FILM FUND
The EDGE of Nature: Short Film Fund is your chance to bring your natural world film project to life! Delivered in partnership with On the Edge, the fund will platform unique stories and storytelling talent from across the international wildlife production and conservation ecosystem, spanning off-screen to on-screen talent. Applications will be open to filmmakers globally.
Grants of between £2,000 to £15,000 are available.
Successful grantees will receive training, support, mentorship, and their films will be previewed at Wildscreen Festival 2024.
KEY DATES
- Applications open Thursday 7th of September.
Deadline for applications: 5pm BST, 5 October 2023
PROJECT CRITERIA
Projects must;
- Have an aspect of an Edge Species or Edge Zone as the central focus
- 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
- 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
To read the full Terms and Conditions, including further project eligibility criteria click the button below.
APPLICANT CRITERIA
To be elgible to apply, applicants 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.
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. Full applicant eligibility is outlined in the terms and conditions
WHAT YOU NEED TO APPLY
To apply you must provide a;
To apply you will need to provide a Project Treatment, Project Budget and Project Plan.
Guidance and templates are available to download below. If you require translated versions of these resoruces please contact [email protected]. Please note that you don’t have to use these templates for your Project Plan or Project Budget. Budgets must be submitted in GBP. A currency convertor is available on the Budget Template.
HOW TO APPLY
Applications are now open! To apply;
Complete the online application form (available via the button below). An application overview is also available below. Please note that all applications must be submitted via the online application form. Applications submitted in any other format will not be accepted.
Submissions can be made in any language.
EDGE OF NATURE: SHORT FILM FUND
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Sponsors
A massive thank you to On the Edge for partnering with Wildscreen on the EDGE of Nature: Short Film Fund.
On the Edge is a non-profit media and conservation organisation telling modern, pop-culture stories about the awe and wonder of nature to inspire a new audience.
They exist because, as people, we’ve never been more disconnected and isolated from the natural world than we are now. It is this disconnection that allows us to overlook the destruction of nature. On the Edge are on a mission to emotionally reconnect humanity with it.
Image credits
Nikki Tan, Singapore
Madame Margaux
Tania Ãlvarez Guerrero, Mexico
The Maya Forest: When A Tapir Gazes Upon You
Will Clothier, South Africa/UK
Ramfy
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