animate! tv 2006

animate! trailblazes fresh narrative and aesthetic possibilities in film, way beyond live-action and the frame-by-frame confines of conventional animation. animate! tv is our core commissioning activity.
78 innovative films supported by animate! tv since 1990 have established an international reputation for thoughtful and diverse practice. Now we want new proposals to continue this exploration.
We are commissioning another UK-wide slate of personal projects for television, with running times of up to 6 minutes and production budgets between £5,000 and £20,000. The individual works will receive their premieres on Channel 4 in autumn 2007 within an animate! tv compilation programme, and then enjoy a long and highly visible international profile.
You do not need to be an animator to submit a proposal to animate! tv 2006 but you must have experience of experimental practice in film, video & digital media.
Submissions must be postmarked no later than Friday 31 March 2006

new ideas

animate! questions received notions of animation practice. We believe that animation is not, and indeed never has been, exclusively driven by frame-by-frame process but by wider notions of synthesis. We are, for example, excited by image re-presentation through spatial or timeline manipulation. And we support innovative content and 'agenda' as well as new forms and processes.
Send us a plan to scratch the world with unexpected tools. Or a playful proposition to surprise and stretch an audience. Above all, we are looking for projects fired by an irresistibly original idea that will challenge the boundaries of animation.
Celluloid, tape and digital technologies are all acceptable, in pure or hybrid form.
Before you start on your submission, please review the archive of previous animate! tv commissions at www.animateonline.org.

eligibility

We want proposals from artists who have worked in film, video & digital media, established animators and emergent talent.

Collaborations with other artists, photographers, illustrators, writers, composers and sound designers are encouraged.
Submission is open to residents of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Students in full-time education during the life of the production or graduating this summer are not eligible. We welcome proposals from all sections of the community.
animate! tv does not fund development, co-production with other broadcasters or distribution, and does not commission work made specifically for children, cartoon-character based stories, series, pilots, feature films, educational films, community art projects, multiscreen, web or gallery work.

defining your proposal

Your main opportunity to explain the work you want to make is in a formal treatment. This is a creative exercise in itself. The selection panel will expect you to describe why and how you want to make the film – your task is to convince them that they should support it.

The treatment should be no longer than one side of a single A4 sheet. Try to crystallise within the first three sentences your main idea and the themes you are exploring. Remember that brevity and clarity are virtues and imply a thoughtful focused project!

Your treatment should cover:
•	the subject/idea – what it is and what it is about
•	structure/form – the sequence of events, the shape, rhythm, pace, feel
•	visuals – look, style, treatments
•	sound – music, dialogue, voice-over, effects, atmosphere
•	technique(s) – how the work will be realised and the processes involved
•	audience – how the work will relate to and communicate with its audience

We also ask you to send us a storyboard and script, if appropriate, a production schedule, an estimated budget total, a showreel of relevant previous work and a completed Proposal Form.
Plus visual material appropriate to this project – your submission is likely to be handicapped if it does not include visual reference.

production schedule

Projects will be commissioned in June 2006. You must be ready to go into production, and able to complete by August 2007 at the latest.
We need an outline production schedule giving approximate dates for the production stages you intend to use, from pre-production through to delivery.
It is essential to indicate other work you will be involved in during the production period, stating the time you will commit to your animate! tv project.

production budget

We are offering production funding from £5,000 up to a maximum of £20,000, including fee.
At this stage we do not require a full budget, but you must include an estimated budget total (to the nearest £1,000) in the Proposal Form. If you are shortlisted we will ask you to send us a full budget – we will not be able to present your proposal to the final selection team without a detailed costing for the project.
Your budget total should cover fees for all contributors/performers and clearances of incorporated copyright material. You can include a payment for your own production work (animation, editing, etc) and an artist’s fee of up to 20% of production costs.
To calculate your estimated budget figure now, or to draw up your detailed budget if you are shortlisted later, you will find it useful to download the Budget Guide sheet from the funding section of the animate! website www.animateonline.org.
Please do not include general contingency, or VAT if you are VAT-registered.
NB. animate!’s Line Producer will revise the budgets of commissioned projects, and will give advice on rights clearance and other matters relating to the production and potential transmission & exhibition of the work.

submitting your proposal

Please read this Pack very carefully before planning and drafting your proposal. Remember that brevity and clarity are virtues and imply a thoughtful focused project.

Send us two sets of the following all on A4 paper:
•	treatment (see earlier) – not more than one side of A4, minimum font size 10pt.
•	full or sample storyboard if appropriate – 6 or 8 frames (16:9 ratio) per A4 page
•	script and additional artwork (16:9 ratio) if appropriate – A4 paper, not mounted
•	production schedule
•	your completed and signed Proposal Form, including estimated budget total

It is essential that you send examples of your previous work that best support the proposal, cued ready for viewing by the selection panel. These should be on one VHS tape (not long-play), DVD, or CD-ROM in pure QuickTime format (without html, proprietary codecs or .exe files – we are Mac-based). Please enclose an appropriately sized, stamped & addressed envelope/label if you want these returned.

deadline

Post the complete submission to:
animate! tv
PO Box 25860
London N5 1GZ

Your package must be postmarked no later than Friday 31 March 2006
No exceptions. No fax applications. No email applications.
Tapes and all other support materials must be included in this same package.

selection

We will acknowledge your submission by email. All proposals will be treated in confidence.
Your submission will be assessed for:
•	creativity and originality of the proposal
•	artistic and technical quality of the examples of previous work submitted
•	likelihood that the project can be realised within your estimated schedule and budget
•	suitability for a television audience

Shortlisting will be by the animate! tv advisory panel. Applicants who are shortlisted will be contacted and required to supply a detailed production budget before they can be considered further.
The advisory panel will include independent specialists with a strong background in experimental film practice. animate!’s decisions are final. We are sorry that we cannot enter into any communication about unsuccessful proposals.
The 2006 slate of commissions will be announced at the end of May 2006.

commissioning schedule

Deadline for submissions
postmarked no later than Friday 31 March 2006
Commissions announced
end of May 2006
Production started
before end of July 2006
Completion deadline
up to August 2007

notes about putting together your submission

•	mark everything you send with your name and the title of your proposal
•	clearly type, write or draw in black on one side of A4 only – the Proposal Form can be reformatted on your own computer so long as all sections are completed in the given order on a single side of A4 – minimum font size 10pt.
•	joint submissions should nominate one person as contact/address
•	include your CV and synopsis only in the spaces on the Proposal Form – separate sheets will be discarded
•	note that storyboards and other support materials which are not A4 photocopier-friendly will not be circulated and are unlikely to be seen by the advisory panel
•	please paper-clip your two sets of papers together or insert them into two A4 loose plastic sleeves – please please do not staple, bind or use a folder
•	do not send originals – papers, artwork, photos & storyboards will not be returned
•	your support reel should include examples of previous work that relate to your project and which demonstrate the potential to realise your project
•	the advisory panel will watch no more than 10 minutes of the previous work – please mark with running times and make sure that it is cued
•	clearly indicate your own role in the production of any collaborative work
•	regular CD-ROM or DVD jewel cases shatter in the post – please use a paper or soft plastic sleeve
•	do not post your submission in a fibre-filled padded envelope – the fibres damage tapes and video players – please use an air-bubble envelope
•	your support reel and other special support materials will be returned after the final selection meeting only if you include an appropriately sized and stamped addressed envelope, otherwise they will be disposed of
•	alternatively we can re-use your envelope for the return of support reel etc if you enclose a large adhesive label with your return address and sufficient postage on it
•	animate! will take care to safeguard all materials submitted but will not be held responsible for any loss or damage

the deal

We are offering production funding from £5,000 up to a maximum of £20,000.
Films must have a running time of up to 6 minutes, be made in the UK, and be suitable for a television audience. Screen aspect ratio must be 16:9 widescreen.
Proposals must be ready to go into production and not be waiting for co-production finance. Selected projects will be contracted by the end of July 2006.
The maximum production schedule for projects is 14 months overall, with completion and delivery by August 2007 at the latest. We encourage shorter schedules and early delivery to help maximise press and publicity coverage.
Budgets will be subject to revision before an offer of production funding.
Production funds will be payable in instalments and subject to approval of work-in-progress. There will be informal editorial meetings with Arts Council England and Channel 4 during production.
Each selected filmmaker will be responsible for the direction and production of their personal project but may need to engage or hire specialist skills, facilities or producer. They will be expected to make clear contractual arrangements with anyone engaged or commissioned by them to contribute to their projects, and to arrange licences and make payment for the incorporation of any copyright material.
animate!’s Line Producer will provide advice on production needs and agreements, rights clearances and broadcast technicalities.

ownership, UK broadcast, distribution and internet

animate! tv is managed by Finetake but funded filmmakers retain copyright and ownership of their films. However:
•	Channel 4 will have the exclusive right to make two free transmissions of each work on free tv in the UK (including simultaneous online transmissions) within five years from the date of technical acceptance, the right to make further transmissions of each work on the digital channel More4 subject to a small additional payment, and the non-exclusive right to include a clip of each work on Channel 4's website.
•	Finetake will have the non-exclusive rights to include the works on an animate! information and resource website, for streaming or downloading, and to use the works to promote animate! at festivals and other venues, and for educational purposes.
•	Each work will have custom space on an animate! website with a unique and permanent URL address, ensuring a long and highly visible international profile. Each filmmaker will collaborate with Finetake to populate this space with rich and varied production and background materials as an exemplar resource.
•	Finetake may arrange for any film to be included non-exclusively on a retail animate! compilation DVD.
•	LUX, London, will have non-exclusive worldwide distribution rights in the works.
•	DigiBeta copies of all films will be deposited at the National Film & Television Archive.
•	All films will carry a short animate! opening ident (supplied) and include an acknowledgement of Arts Council England, Channel 4 and animate! in their end credits and on all printed/promotional material.

animate!

animate! Producer: Dick Arnall
Line Producer for commissions: Jacqui Davies
animate! Editor: Gareth Evans
animate! Coordinator: Phil Ilson

Enquiries: info@animateonline.org
Phone: 0870 241 4687
www.animateonline.org

animate! is produced by Finetake and funded by Arts Council England and Channel 4 Television to stimulate, support and screen experimental practice in animation.
animate! is Arts Council England's longest-running broadcaster-linked initiative, and is maintained through the most consistent commitment ever made by Channel 4, or indeed any broadcaster world-wide, to sustaining innovation in film, video & digital work.
animate! tv has commissioned 78 projects since 1990, selected from an annual UK-wide call for submissions, and has acquired an international reputation for supporting innovation, experimentation and diversity in animation. The commissions are broadcast by Channel 4 and have gained critical and popular success at international festivals and achieved television sales around the world.
You can browse stills and synopses of these works at www.animateonline.org.

proposal form

Please read the full Proposal Pack before filling in this form.
You can reformat the form on your own computer but we want this information in this order on one side of A4, minimum font size 10pt.
Paper-clip your papers – do not staple, bind or use a folder.

Name
Address

Home phone	Mobile
email		Work phone
Website

Curriculum Vitae
Summarise your film/video work, training and other relevant experience

Proposal title
Main production tools and/or processes
Anticipated running time	Estimated budget total

Other financial assistance
Has this proposal been sent to another funding scheme or body? If so, which, when, and what was the decision?

Has this project received any offers of financial support or help in kind? If so, give summary details

Synopsis
Summarise your proposal in around 40 words

Key collaborators (if any)

Support VHS, CD-ROM or DVD
What have you sent, and how does it relate to your proposal?

Signature		Date

Submission checklist:
Required	_  2x completed proposal form	_  2x treatment
	_  2x production schedule	_  1x VHS, DVD or CD-ROM
Optional	_  2x full or sample storyboard	_  2x script or other text
	_  2x additional artwork	_  other ........................................
_  I would like my VHS, CD-ROM or DVD and any other special support materials returned and enclose an appropriately sized, stamped & addressed envelope/label