C4's Alpha Fund Increases Investment In Scottish Creative Talent

5 May 2011

Stuart Cosgrove

 

The Alpha Fund supports the best creative ideas from new starts-ups, new creative talent, new companies and grass roots innovation, across the UK but has its operational base in Scotland.  The fund only invests in new and emergent small independent production companies, with Scotland one of the major beneficiaries.

The additional funding will bolster Channel 4's support of next generation talent and creativity in Scotland specifically; with an annual renewal of funding; and increasing the number of projects supported by the fund in Scotland.  Stuart Cosgrove, Director of Creative Diversity at Channel 4; heads up a team of Media Project Managers, who work to talent spot, often in advance of commissioning editors:

"The Alpha fund supports ideas, talent and emergent companies, and aims to enrich Channel 4's reputation for creativity.  It is a unique fund supporting our diversity of supply by providing outstanding talent with a route to entry into an increasingly competitive commercial media environment."

Since its launch in January, when Channel 4 Chief Executive David Abraham announced the fund at the Salford Nations & Regions Conference; the fund has commissioned nearly 40 new projects.

Other Scottish projects recently supported by the Alpha Fund have included The Neglected; an astonishing moving image film created entirely from the still photography of award winning photo-journalist David Gillanders, charting an incredible three years spent recording the harrowing lives of street children in the Ukraine.  Channel 4's digital commissions have also been considerable in Dundee over the past twelve months, establishing the City as a top ten contributor to Channel 4's output.  Highlights have included Dynamo Games' Beauty Town; Channel 4's first ever social network games commission, and the recently transmitted Crunchtime.  Produced by Headlight Pictures, the three-part series followed the Dare To Be Digital games design competition that takes place annually in Dundee.

Media Project Manager Ian Mackenzie heads up talent spotting and development in Scotland; and will lead on commissioning content and ideas through the Alpha Fund.  Recent commissions include an exciting new project with the multi talented Belle and Sebastian front man, Stuart Murdoch.  Murdoch will receive investment from The Alpha Fund, and commissioning support from the Creative Diversity team to build an interactive web presence for his God Help the Girl project, his first foray into film directing.  Murdoch will work in partnership with long-time collaborators Forest of Black, and Singer Films.

Also recently commissioned is a unique television development between Timeline Films and the Digital Design Studios - the UK's leading edge 3-D digital modelling facility.  Un-Built Britain will bring to vivid, high definition life, the greatest buildings never to have been built in Britain.  Using original architects' plans, the DDS team will recreate these buildings and place them in a modern setting, to show us what these buildings would have looked like had they ever been realised in stone and mortar.

Ian MacKenzie, who will oversee both projects added:

"These two recent project commissions are two very different but exciting examples of Creative Diversity.  The opportunity to work with talented artists and bring them to a new platform, or artistic discipline, alongside developing an up and coming specialist factual television company, at a time when Channel 4 are making great strides in commissioning outside of London.  The creative outputs will be very different, but equally innovative and important."