Women in Film & TV UK Short Film Fund Offers £50,000 Production Package, Applications Open September 7

Women in Film & TV UK is launching a new short-film funding programme offering two UK filmmaking teams £25,000 in production funding, £25,000 in equipment rental and additional post-production and mentoring support.

Women in Film & TV UK is preparing to open applications for its new WFTV Short Film Fund, a substantial production opportunity aimed at women- and non-binary-led filmmaking teams in the UK.

Applications open on Monday, 7 September 2026 and close on Monday, 5 October 2026.

Two selected teams will each receive a production package built around £25,000 in cash funding and £25,000 in equipment rental from Sunbelt Rentals, alongside in-kind post-production support and mentoring from industry professionals.

Unlike many short-film grants offering a smaller contribution towards an existing budget, the WFTV programme is designed to support films through production while leaving ownership of the completed work with the producer.

Who can apply for the WFTV Short Film Fund?

The fund is open to UK-based filmmaking teams led by women and/or non-binary creatives.

Women and/or non-binary filmmakers must occupy all of the programme’s core creative positions:

• Director or Writer/Director
• Writer
• Producer
• Cinematographer/Director of Photography

Each of those core team members must also be a current WFTV member when the application is submitted.

WFTV membership currently starts from £10 per month. There is no separate fee to submit an application to the fund.

The producer must submit the application through a production company.

What kinds of short films are eligible?

The fund is specifically for live-action fiction short films.

Projects should have an anticipated maximum runtime of 15 minutes, including credits, and must be based on an original idea rather than an adaptation.

Projects must also be capable of qualifying as a British film.

Films cannot have started principal photography or reached post-production before applying.

WFTV does not prescribe a genre, theme or subject for the projects it will support.

Documentaries and animated shorts are not eligible for this particular fund.

Applicants need previous filmmaking credits

The programme is aimed at filmmakers who have already established some professional experience rather than complete first-time filmmakers.

Writers, directors and writer-directors must have at least two fiction credits in the role in which they are applying.

One of a writer’s credits may be a professionally produced theatre or radio play that has received professional recommendation or positive reviews.

Producers and cinematographers must also have at least two relevant credits, although those may be in either fiction or factual/documentary production.

International writing credits can count when the work is in English.

What does the £50,000 package include?

Each of the two selected projects will receive:

• £25,000 production funding
• £25,000 of equipment rental from Sunbelt Rentals
• In-kind post-production support
• Industry mentoring and professional support

Equipment provided through the partnership will be available through Sunbelt Rentals facilities in London, Cardiff, Manchester and Belfast.

Transport, equipment operators, insurance and other associated expenses must still be accounted for within the film’s production plan.

Producers may bring additional third-party financing into the project, up to a maximum of £25,000, and may also incorporate the UK tax credit into their finance plan.

WFTV also asks filmmakers to allocate at least £500 for festival submissions when preparing their production budget.

Filmmakers retain their intellectual property

One notable part of the fund concerns ownership.

The producers of the selected projects will retain the films’ intellectual property rights.

WFTV will act as an executive producer and will receive delivery materials and certain rights relating to promotional or private use, with the precise terms covered in the agreement signed by selected production companies.

That structure gives filmmakers institutional production support without transferring ownership of the underlying project to the funder.

What needs to be submitted?

Applications require considerably more than a basic synopsis.

Teams will need to provide a package including:

• A short-film script of no more than 15 pages
• Logline
• Synopsis or story outline of up to 500 words
• Producer statement
• Director statement
• CVs or biographies for the core team
• Links to previous screen work
• Moodboard
• Estimated production schedule
• Production budget
• Equalities monitoring confirmation
• Environmental sustainability confirmation

Applicants must have their core filmmaking team assembled before applying.

WFTV has been running networking sessions around the UK and online to help members looking for potential collaborators.

AI can assist with applications — but not create the film idea

WFTV has also published a specific policy covering artificial intelligence use in applications.

Applicants may use AI tools for tasks such as proofreading, editing, grammar checking or accessibility-related writing assistance.

However, the organisation says AI should not be used to generate or develop the film’s creative idea, story, concept or substantive proposal content.

Applicants must disclose which AI tools they used and how they were used.

That requirement is worth noting as film funds and festival programmes increasingly establish explicit policies around generative AI.

Selected projects will be announced in December

After submissions close on 5 October, applications will first be evaluated by a pool of industry readers.

Assessment will consider the originality of the project, the strength of the filmmaking team and whether the film can realistically be completed within the proposed budget and schedule.

A shortlist will then go before an independent selection committee involving WFTV board members and the Short Film Fund team.

Shortlisted applicants may be invited to an online interview.

Successful filmmaking teams are expected to be notified in December 2026.

A significant funding opportunity for UK short filmmakers

The WFTV Short Film Fund arrives at a time when financing an independent narrative short remains difficult, particularly once production ambitions move beyond micro-budget filmmaking.

A package combining production cash, professional equipment, post-production and mentoring can therefore have considerably greater practical value than a cash grant alone.

The initiative is being delivered in partnership with Sunbelt Rentals Film & TV, with WFTV positioning the programme as a way to increase the number of women and non-binary filmmakers working in leading creative production roles.

Filmmakers comparing current financing opportunities can also read Indie Shorts Mag’s coverage of the Shore Scripts Short Film Fund, another programme supporting independently produced short films.

For eligible UK teams, the immediate priority is assembling the required core creative team and preparing application materials before submissions open on 7 September.

Applications then remain available until 5 October 2026.