Manchester Animation Festival

Yes. We will do online information sessions on

• Tue 4 Aug, 12:30 – 13:30
• Thu 6 Aug, 19:30 – 20:30 (with BSL interpretation)
• Tue 11 Aug, 10:00 – 11:00

Just enter your details in our Information session registration form and we will send you a link nearer the time (most likely the morning of the event)

Your project can be in very early development, but it needs to be more than just an idea i.e. you need to have enough figured out to make us understand:
– what your project is,
– what it might look like and
– what your vision for it is.
But you don’t need to have a full script or a full visual identity​

On the other end of the scale, in terms of how far along it can be, maybe one helpful information is that deliverables we expect you to have at the end of the scheme include :​
– Pitch Deck ideally including a visual representation (Teaser/Trailer/Mood Board) depending on the project or what is appropriate for the project​
– Finance Plan for the project (estimated budget and preliminary project plan)​
– Ambitions for production talent/casting​
– Marketing or Distribution plan / Next steps plan​
– EDI and Sustainability plan​
So if you already have all of this, maybe Animation Featured will not be the most beneficial for the project.

The programme is producer-led so the experience level is about the producer. You should already have some producing experience as the programme will not cover the general basics of producing a film, but you can be totally or relatively new to feature animation.
This means
– Animated Features: you can be totally new to Animated Features or have produced up to (but no more) than 3.
– Shorts/TV/Live Action feature: You need to have a producing track record in one or all of these areas.

In general, please make your producing credits and/or experience as obvious possible in the “producer biography” section.

We know from our conversations with producers that moving into animated feature film production can be a big jump from producing other moving image work. The programme will not go over the basics of producing, this is why it is for people with a track record in producing , but not necessarily in animated features. If you feel you have the experience but that your credits don’t reflect your producing experience, please expand on why you think you have the necessary producing track record in the “producer biography” section.

You must be available in person for the following activities and dates.

• Residency 1 : Mon 28 Sep – Fri 2 Oct 2026
• Manchester Animation Festival:  Mon 9 – Thu 12 Nov 2026
• Residency 2: Mon 11 – Fri 15 Jan 2027
• International Industry Event: Tue 2 – Thu 4 Mar 2027
• Final Showcase: Thu 25 Mar 2027

Please note, you will also have a less intensive  programme of online activities in between the residencies.

Animation Featured will cover the following costs

• Residencies and final showcase – travel, accommodation, subsistence
• Industry events – travel, accommodation, accreditation, subsistence

Participants will also receive a participation fee of £13.45 per hour for the time spent on the programme. This translates as:

• £2407 for the main applicant (producer) covering their time for the two residencies (5 days each), Manchester Animation Festival (4 days), European Industry event (3 days) and final showcase attendance (1 day), as well at online modules, individual support and mentorship time. This is a total of 179 hours.
• £1506 for the additional member of the creative team, covering the two residencies as well as attendance to the European Industry event and final showcase (112 hours in total)

We are calculating a day as 8 hours. Details of payment schedule will be published early August.

Please submit one application only per producer or organisation. If you have several projects on the go, choose the project you most want to develop with Animation Featured or feel meets the objectives of the programme best.

Yes, as long as your film is capable of being certified as British upon completion (via the Cultural Test, an official UK bilateral co-production treaty, or the European Convention on Co-production).

Yes as long as animation is an integral part of the film and its narrative and the majority art form in the film.

At application stage, you don’t need to send it to us. We ask about the status of development in the form so you can let us know what you have and where you are at, but we don’t need to see all of them.

If there is anything you indicate you can share, we may ask you about it before the next stage.

The participation agreement will confirm what we commit to commit to deliver to you and state that:

• You give us and the BFI permission to publicise your involvement in the programme,  including the publication of your name, brief biography, and Project name.
• If the Project is made or produced, you will provide an end roller credit to the scheme (detail will be in the agreement)
• You will adhere to our anti-bullying, harassment and racism policies and will behave in a respectful, responsible and reasonable way towards everybody.
• You may be required to participate in follow-up surveys conducted by the BFI and provide consent for us to share your data with the BFI for that purpose.

It will also contain the following Minimum Participation Agreement, as required by the BFI

The Participant should warrant that:

1. the Project is an original work (except to the extent it is in the public domain) or that the necessary rights have been optioned, licensed or acquired from the rights owners;
2. it owns the Project free from all charges, claims, liens or other encumbrances save in respect of those disclosed at application stage (such as in relation to any development financier’s interest through prior funding);
3. the Project does not infringe the copyright or, so far as the Participant is reasonably aware having undertaken due and diligent enquiry, any other personal or proprietary right of any person, firm or company or any statutory obligation;
4. to the best of its knowledge and belief having made due and diligent enquiry, the Project is not defamatory or obscene and does not contain any matter constituting a breach of confidence;
5. the Participant will remain fully and solely responsible for the content for the Project;
6. it agrees that all scripts and other creative materials created by the Awardee or other participants in the Activity and used or shared in conjunction with the Activity (Third Party Content) are confidential and shall not use, disclose, display, publish, transmit or otherwise make available such Third Party Content in whole or in part to any person or entity or copy, duplicate, replicate, transform or reproduce Third Party Content without the prior written consent of the Awardee and, where applicable, any other contributor to that Third Party Content.

We are currently checking the minute details of what rights documentation is needed to be able to participate in the scheme as this is a fairly complicated area with lots of different scenarios..
However don’t let this prevent you from applying!
At this stage of the process, we are only asking what the status of right is and if you can provide a chain of titles, we are not asking for the actual documents. So please put as much details as you can in your answer to this question and, if the project is shortlisted and the only thing holding it back are the rights, we can discuss it and sort it out then.
Hopefully, the initial application we have devised is not too onerous on your time so it should be worth giving it a try.

No – we will assign a mentor to you based on our assessment of your application and project needs.

This year’s programme is a pilot, funded for a year.

So for the moment, all we can tell you is to apply for this years’ edition. We will do our best to make it an invaluable scheme and show its worth so we can do further iterations.

You can get in touch with the Animation Featured programme manager Isabelle Croissant at isabelle@manchesteranimationfestival.co.uk. If a video call or phone call is better for you, just let us know by email and we will sort it out.

We will add all questions and answers we think might be useful for other applicants to this section as we get them.