London's PULSE Short Film Fund Is More Popular Than Ever

Film London has launched a call for applications for PULSE, the award-winning digital short film-making scheme run in partnership with the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund.
Now in its eighth year, PULSE is open to all London's new film-making talent supporting them in taking the next step in their career. Last year saw more applications than ever before with seven ambitious projects now in production.
New to PULSE this year is a significant development period offering a reinforced training programme to support yet more groundbreaking projects.
Teams are requested to submit treatments rather than a script and up to ten projects will be selected for development. This includes consultation with professional script editors and experienced producers to allow teams to develop a strong script. This development period ensures that although some shorts may not be ultimately be funded by PULSE, the projects will be in a better position to secure finance from other sources.
Following the final selection process, up to six projects will go into production with awards of £4,000-£8,000 plus specialised training provided by Script Factory.
Proposals for PULSE should be for short films shot or created on any digital format, with a running time of between one and 12 minutes. All genres are welcome, including drama, documentary and animation. Applicants will need to demonstrate how they intend to use the medium creatively, have original storylines, a powerful visual edge and innovative sound design.
Almost 450 London film-makers applied for PULSE in 2008 proving the popularity of this successful scheme. Seven projects were greenlit including a new film from writer/director Destiny Ekaragha who last night picked up the best Newcomer Award at the respected Rushes Soho Sports Festival for her debut Tight Jeans which was produced through Film London's London Borough Film Fund Challenge. Also in production is the next project from Joseph Pierce, the award-winning and innovative animator.
Maggie Ellis, Head of Production at Film London, said: "The level of interest in the scheme continues to grow and was phenomenal last year. PULSE has a great reputation and rightly so, as we have seen many of our film-makers go on to bigger and better things. With our partners, the UK Film Council, we have changed the scheme this year to enable us to support, train and develop more film-making teams than just the ones we are able to fund.
It is great to see young London film-makers, such as Destiny Ekaragha, making the most of Film London's different productions schemes. Set up to offer opportunities for talent across all levels of expertise, our schemes can act as invaluable stepping stones in working your way up the industry."
Further information and application details can be found at: www.filmlondon.org.uk/PULSE. The deadline for entries is August 31 2009.
(KMcA/BMcC)