Grant announcement: Slate development support

Application period

The application period ends on January 11, 2022 at 16:00.

The aim of the support

The aim of the Finnish Film Foundation is to promote the diverse, professional and consistent production of films in Finland. The Foundation’s values include participation, pluralism, cultural diversity and artistic freedom.

The purpose of the support is to promote high-quality, diverse and original Finnish film productions.

The purpose of slate development support is to bring continuity to development processes, promote long-term and systematic development work as well as support the realisation of the film production company’s business plan.

To whom?

Development support may be granted to a film production company registered in Finland (registered company: limited liability company, general partnership, limited partnership, co-operative) with the professional and financial prerequisites to produce films and to manage their commercial rights in Finland.

For what purpose and how much?

A slate development support application may include 3–5 separate feature film projects based on an artistic plan. One of the projects may be a serial drama.

The development plan may span a maximum of 24 months.

The support applied for may be less than the maximum amount, and the development plan schedule may be shorter than 24 months, if this is appropriate for the production company and film projects.

The support may be directed at writing and developing a script, production plans, cinematography and stage design plans and other operations necessitated by the budget and financing arrangements.

The amount of support
The maximum amount of slate development support is €150,000.

Previous support decisions can be viewed on the Finnish Film Foundation’s support decisions page.

Development support can be applied for and it may be granted in several instalments in order to develop and progress a film project. Development support granted for a film project by the Film Foundation is counted as production support and therefore has an effect on the overall amount of production support.

How to apply ?

Development support is applied for by submitting an application in the application system before the deadline given in the grant announcement.

The application consist of:

1. an application form
2. the application’s appendices
3. the applicant’s appendices

Prior to submitting an application, you must carefully read the relevant support guide.

The applicant is responsible for submitting the application within the deadline.

Appendices

Obligatory application appendices:

• One-page synopses
• Scripts or other written descriptions of the films’ content
• Development plan drafted according to the Foundation’s template for each project
• Budget and financing plan for each project
• Production and financial presentations/plans for each project
• Appropriate agreements with copyright holders
• CVs
• The production company’s business plan

When applying for new development support, the final report of the previous support for the same project must be delivered into the application system before the end of the application period.

The applicant’s appendices

Before the end of the application period, upload the documents of the production company to the Applicant’s appendices.

• A verified financial statement covering the latest financial period
• A valid extract from the Trade Register no older than six months
• A certificate of paid taxes no older than three months
• A certificate of paid pension insurance premiums no older than three months
• An up-to-date list of shareholders

For more details on the appendices, see the support guide:

Support guides

The Foundation’s templates for the development plan and slate budgeting and reporting forms can be downloaded from the Foundation’s website:

Forms

How are the applications evaluated?

Support may be granted to develop a cultural product that

1. forms an artistic whole,
2. has content that is based on cultural values originating in cultural identity,
3. includes a significant contribution by significant creators and artists, and where the share of wages and salaries of the overall production costs is significant.

Support is discretionary. The evaluation and comparison of the applications is based on an overall assessment that considers the purpose of the funds, the grounds mentioned in the call for applications and available funds in the budget.

The film project’s content, artistry and production are evaluated as a whole, and the evaluation takes into consideration the applicant’s artistic and professional qualifications that contribute to the probability of completing the project.

In evaluation for slate development support, special attention will be paid to the following:

• Quality and credibility of the production company’s business plan
• The production company’s artistic and financial ability to carry out and complete several simultaneous film projects
• Development support received by the production company within the past five years in relation to film projects implemented
• Audience targets reached as well as international distribution and visibility of films produced by the production company within the past five years
• Artistic quality of project-specific plans
• Quality of project-specific development plans
• Realism and efficiency of project-specific budgets in relation to the development plan
• Amount and quality of other financing included in the development plan (self-financing and/or financing outside the production company)

Special conditions

• The project’s expenses are approved without regard to VAT. If the grant recipient does not have the right to VAT deductions, the costs may be approved with VAT.
• The Foundation may request further information if it deems it necessary for the decision-making process.
• A prerequisite for granting the support is that the recipient has complied with possible earlier support agreements and met their conditions.
• The Foundation signs a support agreement with the recipient.
• The Foundation oversees the use of the support and has the right to audit the recipient’s finances and operations.
• The recipient must provide a written report and a financial report detailing the use of the support.
• The actual overall funding of the project must not exceed the project’s actual costs.

Support cannot be granted if the application is insufficient and the required information is not uploaded into the online application system despite requests to do so.

Decisions

The Board of the Finnish Film Foundation decides on the development and production support based on the presentation of the Film Commissioner.

Applicants receive a written notification.

Support decisions are made on week 10.

The decision is based on the act of government funding for the advancement of cinema (56/2018), the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (688/2001) and the Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003).

Further information

Production controller Pirjo Koskelo, pirjo.koskelo@ses.fi, tel. 09 6220 3031