Apply for a Lab / Co-Production Forum Travel Grant

Three women stand smiling in front of a press board for the International Film Festival Rotterdam

l-r Carley Armstrong, Catherine Joy White and Tobi Kyeremateng, UK participants of IFFR Pro and Creators Lab 2026

We offer grants to help filmmakers attend international Labs to develop their projects and careers, and producers to attend Co-Production Forums.

What can I apply for?

You can use our Travel Grants to support participation in:

  • Labs – attendance at an eligible creative development lab for producers, writers, or directors working on feature and XR projects and looking to develop skills and networks internationally
  • Co-Production (‘co-pro’) Forums – attendance at an eligible market/co-production forum for producers with feature or XR projects
The Fund has a Key List of eligible development Labs, and grants are awarded towards the cost of course fees, travel and accommodation. We accept applications from writers, directors and producers, working in genres that meet the eligibility criteria, as well as creatives working on XR projects, who have been accepted on one of the Events on our Key List: Labs and Co-Production Forums

You can use the grants for:

  • Travel
  • Accommodation
  • Disability access support
  • Participation fees

Where can I travel to?

You can apply for a grant to travel to any of the Labs or Co-production Forums on the Key List. This can be found on the following link. There is also a downloadable PDF version.

Key List: Labs and Co-Production Forums

This list is reviewed regularly. We can very occasionally consider offering small discretionary grants for Labs not currently on this list on a case by case basis. To discuss a discretionary award request for Labs not listed above please contact Films@britishcouncil.org. June 2026 - Owing to very high demand on our list of eligible events, as well the impact of rising costs for international travel, discretionary granting is currently closed for applications.

How much can I apply for?

Grants are a contribution towards and will rarely cover the full cost of your trip.

  • Awards for Lab Grants are capped at £6,000 but rarely exceed £3,000. We cannot support a filmmaker or project with more than one lab grant in any single year.
  • Awards for Co-Production Forum Grants are capped at £2,000. Each film or project can receive a maximum of two grants.

The Grant amounts we can can offer each year each year are determined by the number of UK projects selected and are subject to available funds.

Am I eligible?

You must be over 18 and a UK resident or citizen, and must have been accepted on to an event on our Key List.

  • Eligible applicants must have been selected by one of the eligible events on our ‘Key List: Labs and Co-Production Forums’.
  • For Co-production Forums and where a Lab is project-based, the selected film or project must be a UK production or co-production.
  • For Lab attendance priority is given to those who are yet to make (or who are developing) their first feature.
  • Each film or project can receive a maximum of one grant per event.
  • We can not accept applications for travel to a Lab or Forum that has already taken place when the application is made. You must apply at least two weeks before the event start.

How to apply

Before you begin, please read the Travel Grant Fund Guidelines.

You can listen to an audio version of the Travel Grant Guidelines below

Applications for the Travel Grant Fund are accepted on a rolling basis year-round, subject to available funds. If you're eligible, the application should take no longer than 30 minutes. You will need:

  • written evidence of your event acceptance (invitation letter or email)
  • a CV or filmography for all individuals benefitting from the grant
  • a breakdown of your costs of attendance
  • a brief explanation of why you want to attend and why you need public funding to do so

Please apply as soon as you receive your Event invitation but no less than two weeks before the event start date. You will need to be able to evidence your event acceptance letter or email as a condition of your grant offer.

Two people look out of a train window
CopyrightYash Zhang

Still from travel grantee Yash Zhang's Ma, Let's Fly Together developed at IDFA Project Space

Access and support

We're committed to making our funding accessible to all. You can get help if you need support to make an application and if you have specific access needs for your Lab visit.

As well as the audio versions of our Guidelines and Terms and Conditions, you can ask for:

  • our funding guidelines in other formats, like large print
  • support to understand these guidelines
  • support to complete an application form
  • funds to facilitate travel with a BSL interpreter or access worker
  • a bursary contribution if caring responsibilities would prevent you from attending without additional support (assessed on a case-by-case basis for sole carers)

Please talk to us about what additional help may be available by emailing Films@britishcouncil.org

Sustainability

As a Travel Grantee you will need to plan your visit travel with the environment and the climate crisis in mind. We can offer additional funding to filmmakers who travel to European festivals and events overland.

Accepting that, we're keen to keep sustainability in mind and have worked with Julie’s Bicycle to produce this Greener Travel Grants Guide to help filmmakers plan for the impact of their travel to festivals, labs and co-production forums.

Travel Grant recipients are encouraged to travel to European events by train and there are additional Green Travel bursaries available to help with this.

CopyrightClaire Fowler

Filmmaker Claire Fowler (centre) at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab 2024

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