Webinar Q&A : Creative industries Seed Fund

To support prospective applicants to the programme, the Arts Council together with Future Screens NI hosted an online webinar on Tuesday 25th January 2022 to enable applicants to explore their ideas with industry experts.

The Questions and Answers from the session has been published below.

When is delivery please?
Eligible project activities must take place between 15 April 2022 and 28 February 2023.

Is it okay to have one of the collaborators on the project be from elsewhere in the UK (not N.I)?
Lead applicants must be based in Northern Ireland.
Partners / collaborators in the project do not need to be based in Northern Ireland.
However, the application needs to demonstrate that the primary benefits of undertaking the project are realised in Northern Ireland.

Can you work with a combination of old technical (like 16mm film) and say vfx/augmented reality elements?
Projects must utilise new and emerging technology to be eligible. However, these technologies should be an extension of your existing artform. 16mm film can be incorporated into the project, and you should outline in your application how it interacts with the use of new and emerging technology.

If the project budget is bigger, say £250k - does this fund have any issues with match-funding from other public funds? Or should it be broken into parts with the seed fund covering one aspect?
You can match the Creative Industries Seed Fund with other funding sources. If you do this you need to provide any letter of offer you have received from other funders.

However as this fund cannot be used for contracts agreed or costs undertaken before your letter of commencement (post 15 April 2022) there may be complications with how you intend to use the Creative Industries Seed Fund award.

If you will have significant match funding for your project we would strongly encourage you to contact ACNI creative industries development officer for your specific set of circumstances prior to application, to ensure its eligibility. We can then advise on a case by case basis.

Would a creative/innovative use of technology to primarily serve a wider social purpose be eligible for the fund? Or is the fund for use of technology which primarily serves an aesthetic purpose?
Both options are eligible, assuming that the wider social purpose is being achieved through the arts.

So long as the eligibility criteria in the guidance notes are met and your project demonstrates alignment with the objectives of the programme it can be tailored towards either achieving social purpose through the arts or a more aesthetic focussed piece.

My proposal involves app development. For the application is it necessary I collaborate with my own software developer or is that something that you guys could help with? Possibly help with partnerships or put us in touch with a developer?
Collaboration is mandatory for eligibility however it is up to applicants to find collaborators and agree the terms of partnership.

However, you can reach out to programme partners (Arts Council, Future Screens, or Digital Catapult) and they identify possible routes to explore or project collaborators.

With the Capital aspect of the funding, will that have an upper limit on item price?
Capital costs must not exceed 20% of the total project budget and there is no upper limit on the cost of items, only on our contribution to them. You can also use you own funds, or from another source, to meet any shortfall that the grant cannot support.

Any equipment items must be integral to project delivery and all such requests will be reviewed on a case by case basis by assessors.

How many projects can you fund in this round?
The programme budget is £100k and this can support 4 projects of £25k.

A recording of the webinar is available to watch back here: https://youtu.be/fOYdjjfGwwg

The deadline for applications is Monday 28th February 2022 at 12noon. Visit http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/funding/scheme/creative-industries-seed-fund-2022 for more information and to apply