Category: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½
Date: 21.04.2006
Printable version
Twenty three independent production companies from around the UK will be each receiving special grants from the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ as part of its Regional Development Fund 2006.
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The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s Director of Television, Jana Bennett, will be announcing the beneficiaries at a networking event at the Custard Factory in Birmingham today (Friday 21 April).
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The fund of £1m, launched at Broadcast Magazine's Commissioning Conference in Manchester last November, has been established to support programme development from indies based beyond the M25.
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The cash awards will be supplemented by fast-tracked
access to key ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ commissioners and regular meetings to progress
ideas.
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The awards will be made in the four programme genre areas of Drama, Factual Entertainment, Comedy and Entertainment and will be going to companies based throughout the UK - including Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Belfast and Norwich.
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More than 133 companies applied for the funding, originally short-listed to 43. This list was then broken down to 23 after the short-listed companies were invited to submit more detailed business plans to support their bid.
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Jana Bennett says: "In the new connected world, investing in ideas - and investing
in audiences - is what our business should be about."
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The awards event in Birmingham will also focus on crucial partnerships the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ has secured with other public bodies such as screen agencies and regional development organisations - a vital part of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s plans for independent production around the UK as many can offer supplementary funding to complement the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ grants.
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Representatives from many of these organisations will
be present at the event.
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The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s Independents' Executive and chair of the judging panel, Krishan
Arora, says: "Our
awards this year recognise the need to support new companies as well as those
with an established track record.
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"Essentially we've made our awards this year on the quality of the talent as much as the soundness of the balance sheet - to people we think will recognise and deliver the talent that is out there."
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The companies selected to receive grants from the 2006 fund are:
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Drama
- IWC (Glasgow)
- Hopscotch (Glasgow)
- Indus (Cardiff)
- Green Park (Belfast)
- Yipp (Newcastle)
- Headline (Newcastle)
- Talkback (Leeds)
- Bigger Pictures (Leeds)
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Factual Entertainment
- Hotbed
(Birmingham)
- Imago (Norwich)
- Scarlet (Manchester)
- Aspect (Cardiff)
- Doubleband (Belfast)
- Caledonia (Glasgow)
- True North
(Leeds)
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Comedy
- Freeform
(Manchester)
- Hanrahan Media (Stratford)
- Angel Eye (Glasgow)
- Avalon
(Manchester)
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Entertainment
- Baby
Cow (Manchester)
- Green Inc (Belfast)
- Endemol (Glasgow)
- Maverick (Birmingham)
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