The Funding of 'Adulthood'

The film ‘Adulthood’ was directed by the award-winning writer and actor, Noel Clarke. It was his first feature film and as well as directing the film, he also wrote it and starred within it by bringing back his character of Sam, who first appeared in ‘Kidulthood’ and is now just out of prison. As well as featuring Noel it also included an up-and-coming cast and was produced by George Isaac and Damian Jones for Cipher Films, who had both worked on the prequel, ‘Kidulthood’.

As well as being backed by Pathé, the film was awarded £520,000 worth of Lottery money by the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund, which funds new British film writers and directors including Noel Clarke's directorial debut. Noel is one of many filmmakers whose projects have been supported by the New Cinema Fund such as, the award-winning director, Kenny Glenaan, with acclaimed films like, ‘Yasmin’ and ‘Derailed’.

The following quote is from Lenny Crooks, who is the Head of the New Cinema Fund when talking about Noel Clarke directing ‘Adulthood’, "We want to support distinctive filmmakers in developing and sustaining their work at every stage of their career, from making shorts through to first and second features and beyond. As an actor moving on to becoming a director Noel Clarke is on a fast trajectory with an awareness and resourcefulness to match.”

The UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund has £15 million to invest over three years and is in partnership with Film4, EM Media, Screen Yorkshire and Optimum Releasing. The fund encourages unique and creative ideas and methods to be used within the British Film Industry to produce a mixture of films that connect with a range of audiences. The fund has a strong responsibility towards supporting work from filmmakers across the nation’s different regions and from black, Asian and other minority ethnic filmmakers. The fund also encourages digital technology in the production, distribution and exhibition of films. The New Cinema Fund has supported films including, Shane Meadows's ‘This is England’, Ken Loach's ‘The Wind that Shakes the Barley’, Andrea Arnold's ‘Red Road’ and Paul Greengrass's ‘Bloody Sunday’.

As well as funding feature films, the New Cinema Fund invests in a range of short schemes including Cinema Extreme, the Completion Fund and Low Budget Digital Shorts, which has produced more than hundred and twenty films so far, to encourage directors, producers and creative talent to explore new means of storytelling in the area of short film making. It also helps to fund the Warp X Low Budget Film Scheme that offers filmmakers development support, production finance and theatrical distribution within the United Kingdom.