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BFI Diversity Standards
A flexible framework to be used by organisations and individuals in the screen industries.
The
BFI
Diversity Standards are a set of guidelines designed to drive equitable opportunity and improve representation across:
Film
Television
Games
Exhibition and distribution
Skills and education
Organisations
The core purpose of these standards is to provide a framework whereby all individuals working on projects can bring about industry-wide change.
We believe this can be achieved by addressing under-representation and by mandating these standards for
BFI
funding applications, qualifying for certain award eligibility and wider adoption for best practice.
Under-representation and under-represented groups in the
UK
relate to the protected characteristics as defined in the
UK
Equality Act 2010
Additional areas include regional participation, socioeconomic background and caring responsibilities. This is not an exhaustive list and the
BFI
welcomes projects addressing under-representation in further areas.
Addressing under-representation also means being aware of intersectional experiences and the impact of multiple minoritised and marginalised identities.
To drive sustainable change, people must go beyond the desire to ‘get things over the line’. There needs to be collaborative efforts to reframe purpose and intentions.
The
BFI
Diversity Standards provide a baseline. From this, the ambition should be to achieve higher levels of diversity and inclusion.
All applicants, especially repeat applicants are encouraged to be creative, innovative and aim for a culture of continuous improvement to gain the most value from the Diversity Standards.
The Diversity Standards are a contractual requirement for all
BFI
funding.
Industry commitment
We are committed to working with the
UK
screen industries to both:
encourage wider voluntarily adoption of the Standards
to ensure the sector is representative of the
UK
, both in terms of its workforce and the content it produces.
The
BFI
Diversity Standards have been adopted by
BBC
Film, Film4 and
Screen Scotland
, making them a requirement for the majority of public funding for film in the
UK
Paramount Pictures are also committed to meeting the Standards for its
UK
-based feature film productions.
Achieving the Standards is also an eligibility requirement for various British categories in the
BAFTA
Film, Television and Games Awards.
The British Independent Film Awards (
BIFA
apply the Standards to all British categories.
How to be assessed against the Standards
If meeting the Standards is a requirement of funding or awards eligibility for your project, you should refer to the relevant guidance below.
You can tell us how your project meets the Standards on your funding application form or the Diversity Standards application form.
We will assess your application, and  come back to you with any queries or suggestions.
Once our assessment is complete, we will inform you of the outcome and notify the relevant fund or awards body that you have met the Standards.
Guidance
We have published guidance for each version of the Standards. If you are unsure which version of the Standards you should use, please refer to the top of the relevant guidance page or
contact the Diversity Standards team.
film (development and production)
exhibition and distribution
organisations or ‘summary’
TV
games
Screen Scotland
Application forms
If you’re filling in Diversity Standards for
BAFTA
TV
or games awards
The Standards form is in the main awards form.
If you’re filling in Diversity Standards for funding or film awards eligibility
The main funding application form will indicate the application form you need to fill in on our Diversity Standards application portal.
You’ll need to sign up for an account and choose ‘start new application’.
You can find all Diversity Standards forms for:
Development (
BFI
Development fund, Screen Scotland Development funding)
Production (
BFI
Discovery, Impact fund, Future Takes, Screen Scotland Production funding,
BBC
Film feature films)
Audience Projects (
BFI
Audience Projects fund, Screen Scotland Film Festival and Screening Programme fund)
Organisations (
BFI
Creative Challenge Fund)
Production — Final (completed feature films entering
BAFTA
BIFA
British categories)
Short films (completed short films entering
BAFTA
BIFA
British categories,
BBC
Film short films)
Sign up/log in to the Diversity Standards portal
Log in to existing application
Doc Society
provides a Standards form as an attachment. Please refer to their guidance for more information.
Film4 provides a Standards form as part of your deliverables.
More information
Explore
practical resources
which can assist projects in being more inclusive and achieve the diversity standards.
Contact
If you have any queries about which guidance or form is relevant for you, how to meet the Standards or would like to discuss your project in detail, you can contact the Diversity Standards team via
diversitystandards@bfi.org.uk
or call
020 7173 3273