UK government org The British Film Institute (BFI) has released its final evaluation of the Young Audience Content Fund (YACF), a three-year program designed to back the development and production of UK kids content.
During its run, YACF awarded money to 160 projects in development, more than 9% of which have already been commissioned. The fund—which backed series and films for kids under age 18—also provided funding to 61 productions, according to UK-based independent consultancy Bigger Picture Research, which penned the final report.
The fund ran from 2019 to 2022 and invested around US$53.5 million in total. BFI managed the funding, which came from the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.
Most of the capital (71%) went to projects in development and production outside of the UK industry’s main hubs in London and Southeast England, mainly supporting diverse content and projects representing the languages and cultures of Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
According to Bigger Picture’s research, 83% of young people in the UK said the content supported by the fund was well made, and 75% wanted to see more of it.
Some of the YACF-backed projects included live-action series Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared (Channel 4), The World According to Grandpa (Milkshake!) and Makeaway Takeaway (CITV). The fund also supported animated film Sol (pictured) from Paper Owl Films and Animation Garden’s Mustard and Ketchup.
The UK government scrapped YACF—which launched in 2019 as a three-year mission—despite industry pleas to keep it going. In February 2022, more than 750 creatives and executives from the UK kids content industry signed an open letter campaigning to extend the fund for another three years.
UK nonprofit org The Children’s Media Foundation was quick to mourn the loss of the fund following today’s release of the report.
“It will be—and is already being—sorely missed,” said CMF chair Anna Home in a statement. “This report testifies to the resounding success of the Young Audiences Content Fund pilot. It’s a powerful argument for continuing the funding of children’s media content that reflects UK children’s lives and their culture.”
CMF is calling on the government to fill the hole left by the closure of YACF with new funding, saying that kids need high-quality content, and UK studios producing it need support to grow. YACF provided both of those things, according to CMF.
The nonprofit org is planning to host an event called YACF—Evaluating the Evaluation in London on February 22, giving the industry an opportunity to gather and discuss the fund’s impact and how to better serve the UK kids audience without it.