Film London Microwave

Microwave is Film London's micro-budget feature film-making scheme. Aimed at commissioning the next generation of film-making talent in the capital, Microwave has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2006. In partnership with BBC Films and supported by Skillset, the BFI and the Mayor of London, this unique training-through-production scheme offers fledgling talent an avenue into feature production.

Microwave provides:
-  Production funding
-  Bespoke training and mentoring
-  Professional development
-  Support from script to screen

The scheme

Microwave challenges film-makers to shoot a full length feature film for up to £120,000 including cash and in-kind support. The scheme provides an intensive approach to film-making, with an emphasis on tightly focused scripts, short production schedules and projects which have commercial potential.

For successful teams, support commences with Microschool, an intensive four-day programme of seminars, workshops, screenings and script surgeries covering everything from development through to sales and distribution. Following Microschool, shortlisted teams will undertake a four-month period of project and professional development before the final selection of projects are greenlit.

Selected teams are then provided with unique professional mentoring from leading industry figures. Mentors and advisers have included directors Asif Kapadia (The Warrior, Far North), Pete Travis (Vantage Point, Endgame), producer Paul Webster (Atonement, Eastern Promises) and script editor Kate Leys (Trainspotting, The Full Monty).

Film London and its partners also offer a range of assistance including in-kind support from leading facilities and service companies as well as professional advice on shooting on location.

Completed projects have a theatrical window before being broadcast on the BBC. Microwave film-making teams are given professional and tailored marketing and sales advice with a view to giving them a head start in the international marketplace.

Applications for the latest round of Microwave are now closed

The deadline for online applications was at 5pm, Tuesday 3 May 2011.

Please note applicants must also submit a hard copy of the application plus enclosures, which should reach Film London by 5pm Friday 6 May 2011. Applications can be hand delivered or posted. (Any applications received after the deadline will only be accepted if postmarked Wednesday 4 May or earlier.)

Please note applicants must submit both online and hard copy applications by the specified deadlines or the applicant will be disqualified. No exceptions will be made.

Contact

Please read our Frequently Asked Questions if you have any queries about the scheme:

Microwave FAQs (PDF)

If your question is not covered in the FAQ document, please contact the Microwave team on 020 7613 7693 or microwave@filmlondon.org.uk.

Microwave Online

If you are a micro-budget film-maker, have an interest in the independent film-making scene, or you would like to find out more about the films selected to take part in the Microwave scheme, then we recommend you visit the Microwave website.

Microwave Online allows you access to behind-the-scenes information from our slate of films, a virtual learning environment hosting exclusive interviews with industry experts, links and literature, and insider top tips. Through this online resource we aim to be the key destination for inspiring, sharing and focusing on micro-budget film-making. You can also follow micro-budget film-making activity through Film London Microwave's Twitter.

The Microwave slate so far

So far, three films have been completed through Film London Microwave with all of them achieving theatrically distribution in the UK. A further three films will be premiering in 2011/2012 and another two features are planned to shoot in spring/summer2011.

Completed

• Mum & Dad - written/directed by Steven Sheil and produced by Lisa Trnovski.
  This intense horror about a murderous and perverse family that live at the end of Heathrow's runway, which premiered at Slamdance, has achieved cult status in the online community. Following a unique multi-platform release in the UK on Boxing Day 2008, Mum & Dad carefully selected Mother's Day (5 May 2009) for its debut in the US.
• Shifty - written/directed by Eran Creevy and produced by Rory Aitken and Ben Pugh.
  A thriller charting an action-packed 24 hours in the life of a young crack cocaine dealer on the outskirts of London. Following on from a raft of BIFA nominations, Shifty picked up awards for Best Screenplay and Best Actor for Riz Ahmed (who plays the title character) on the European festival circuit in 2009. In 2010, Eran Creevy received a BAFTA® nomination for Outstanding Debut. The film was released in cinemas in the UK on 24 April 2009.
• Freestyle - written by Michael Maynard, directed by Kolton Lee and produced by Lincia Daniel.
  This urban teen romance set in the exciting and frenetic world of freestyle basketball, has been described in the media as "the British Step Up". It went on general release in the UK on 26 February 2010 and is now out on DVD.

• The British Guide to Showing Off - directed by Jes Benstock and produced by Dorigen Hammond.
  A documentary about the Alternative Miss World Show and its extraordinary creator Andrew Logan. The film is now in the final stages of post-production.
• Strawberry Fields - written by Frances Lea and Judith Johnson, directed by Frances Lea and produced by Liam Beatty and Lucie Wenigerova.
  A rites of passage film, bursting with energy, sex and humour currently in the final stages of post-production.
• ill Manors - written/directed by Ben Drew aka Plan B and produced by Atif Ghani.
  A multi-character story set and shot on the streets of Forest Gate, East London where everyone is fighting for respect. ill Manors is currently in post-production and will be distributed in the UK by Revolver Entertinment.

• Foxglove - written by Ornette and Kate Spenceley, directed by Ornette Spenceley and produced by Stewart Le Marechal.
  A tense psychological drama about two destructive urban teenagers on the run, Foxglove will shoot in summer 2011.
• Borrowed Time - written/directed by Jules Bishop and produced by Olivier Kaempfer
  A comedy about rediscovering youth, Borrowed Time will shoot in spring 2011.