RANDOM ACTS NORTH BRIEFING DOCUMENT
This briefing document includes

Notes from Maddy Allen, Arts Council England external production advisor, based on presentation in briefing session on 2 March 2015

Frequently Asked Questions including Channel 4 editorial brief for
Random Acts
Random Acts
– Key Learnings
Notes based on presentation from Maddy Allen, Arts Council England contracted production advisor to the scheme.

Random Acts as a programme is about extending reach and attracting new talent, from new young, diverse and geographically wide reaching backgrounds. Arts Council England is looking for strong, clearly defined partnerships and to understand how outreach and reach will be achieved.
Channel 4 has a major commitment to diversity – more here http://www.channel4.com/media/documents/corporate/diversitycharter/Channel
4360DiversityCharterFINAL.pdf

When thinking about your partnerships and Network, you can think about core partners
– to be involved in the main delivery – but there may also be other individuals and organisations that you may want to include in your programme in a more extended relationship. It’s important for applications to clearly demonstrate how all the key partnerships relate and interact with each other so we can understand how practically the network will operate, who key people will relate/report to and how quality control will work.
 Do build on what’s already out there. There are already many organisations working in the North with 16
– 24 yr old talent and young artists, many of whom can bring real value and experience to your Network in identifying and developing talent. Who are these organisations and how can they enhance your Network and facilitate the access and nurturing of young talent?

This is a young person centered programme and so good to demonstrate how the network and its partners will be responsive to the ideas and creativity of young people and can help nurture and develop that talent, rather than simply dictate or dominate. It’s a case of enabling rather than dictating – the young people have to be at the heart of this and it’s got to be their vision. The role of the Network Centre is to identify, harness and nurture that talent - helping to bring the ideas on to the screen.

Think about how talent will be supported in their journey and their ideas and skills will be handled in a lasting way.

A successful Network will comprise a strong team of people who each bring their key and complementary skills to the table. And key within that, however diverse the activities, we need clarity on who is the lead Executive producer

with overall editorial and commissioning responsibility for the network and to be clear on what production support the network will possess more generally. The executive producer will need to take responsibility for liaison with Channel 4, through the new Random Acts Editor, Pegah Farahmand and will require editorial control across all the films.
 This is an enormously complex and ‘full on’ project, with a relentless schedule of development, production and delivery. It needs a strong leadership and management, both editorially from the exec producer, and in terms of schedule, budget management and logistics from a production project manager.

This is a new model for Channel 4. They are not commissioning these films, but will be potentially acquiring them for distribution on their platforms subject to editorial decisions. Channel 4 will not be involved in rough cut viewings or have editorial input into the films. Arts Council England won ’t have editorial input either – it will be entirely the responsibility of the network centre and its partners to deliver broadcast ready and quality films for consideration. The films will be chosen on their editorial merit once finished and the same editorial standards will apply across the scheme – whether by more established talent directly commissioned by Channel 4 or by the network centres ’ artists/talent.

Another reason for the emphasis on strong production management, will be the technical and rights compliance of these films. Channel 4 will be expecting fully cleared films for exploitation and it’s crucial that the north network can call on or possess strong legal knowledge within the network to identify and help address issues before the films are delivered.
 It’s important that there is a strong broadcast experience and track record of delivering the standard and volume of programming that Channel 4 will be expecting. It’s crucial that the Network Centre has the experience within to handle and deliver this schedule.
 We’re still in discussions with Channel 4 about their delivery schedule – it’s probably going to be on a quarterly basis with the first 5 films due in September and therefore – although we appreciate delivery of the first set of films will probably more challenging, we will need to see a clear and manageable schedule and budget plan for the delivery and to give reassurance both to the
Arts Council and to Channel 4 that the number of films can be delivered on time and on budget.

Frequently Asked Questions
Artistic Remit
Q: What kinds of arts films are able to be supported through Random Acts?
And what is Channel 4 looking for in terms of editorial brief?
A: The editorial vision of Random Acts is to see original and innovative ideas realised across a wide range of artistic practice and art forms within the format of a
90 second to 3 minute short film. The Network Centres will need to work with 16-
24 talent to produce films that meet this editorial brief and that meet Channel 4’s quality standards. The Random Acts website shows the diversity of work supported to date, which includes arti sts’ film and video, animation, music videos, narrative work, and videos about arts and culture. Please do look before submitting an application and be clear about the kinds of work that Random Acts
North will be able and wish to fund.
Channel 4 has outlined its editorial priorities for Random Acts http://www.channel4.com/info/commissioning/4producers/randomactsbrief
Extracted below.
Random Acts is Channel 4’s short film strand dedicated to the arts. It was founded in 2011 to escape the conventions of arts broadcasting and to expand its possibilities.
The world is full of TV about artists; Random Acts should instead be TV by artists.
We want to encourage creative practitioners of all kinds to use the screen as a canvas.
The brief is deliberately broad: we’re after “bold expressions of creativity” and those could come from art, music, dance, animation, spoken word, performance, or some uncategorisable combination of the above. The simplest way to see what that means is to take a look at the website
( http://randomacts.channel4.com/ ) where there are some 500 or so previous examples.
We want the shorts to push boundaries, to provoke thought and debate, to play with form and to stand out against the wealth of online content that already exists.
We want the strand to show work from as diverse a range of creative people as we can find from across the UK and beyond - giving breaks to new talents and premiering work by established ones. But we also want Random Acts shorts to reach as many viewers as possible, and to offer viewers who would never normally go looking for this kind of work a chance to bump into it and have their curiosity aroused.
At the moment, we tend to receive a lot of treatments for music-video style films.
We’ll continue to commission the best of those, but we’d also like to see more experimental and narrative films, as well as more ground-breaking animation. The

only other criterion is that the shorts are between 90 seconds and 3 minutes in length.
This is a good time to be sending us ideas. In the last 4 years, the strand has featured some amazing films from Jake and Dinos Chapman, Ai Weiwei, Tinie
Tempah, Kate Tempest, Gillian Wearing, Kwes, Marina Abramovic, Mike Skinner and many more. But in 2015 it’s being supercharged - we want to increase its impact and reach. A dedicated editor has been appointed, the website is being revamped, a new 12-part TV show will collate and showcase the best of the shorts on Channel 4 and a major new partnership with Arts Council England means that
Random Acts will become a point of entry into filmmaking for young people across the country.
As a result, commissioning is split in two. The Arts Council England wing of the project will create 5 ‘Random Acts Network Centres’ - one per English region - that will work with 16-24 year olds in their area to find and develop new talent, and help them produce shorts for the strand. If you’d like to find out more about this, go to:
( enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk
). More established filmmakers will be commissioned direct by Channel 4 throughout the year and should submit ideas by e-mail to the Editor of Random Acts, Pegah Farahmand
( pfarahmand@channel4.co.uk
) cc’ing Arts Coordinator Ellie Kirby
( elkirby@channel4.co.uk
). When e-mailing Pegah and Ellie, please attach a first treatment (ideally a paragraph, but no more than a page and please use image and video references if possible). At this first stage we do not require fully developed scripts; just a clear idea of what the concept is and a coherent description of what we are going to see.
Network centre and partners
Q: I am a relatively small organisation. Can I apply to be a Network Centre or should I just seek to be a partner organisation within a network?
A: Any arts or cultural organisation can apply to be a Network Centre. However, the role of the Network Centre will be challenging and complex. So although this may be possible for a smaller organisation, you should think carefully about whether you have the capacity and range of skills to deliver all that is required of the Network Centre role. Management capacity will be one of the criteria against which applications will be assessed.
Q: To become a Network Centre do you have to have a minimum annual turnover?
A: No. There are no stipulations around minimum turnover. However, the criteria against which applications will be assessed include the ability to manage the project effectively both financially and in terms of staff capacity. In deciding whether to apply, you should consider carefully whether you are suitably equipped to meet these criteria

Q: What is your definition of an arts and culture organisation? Do they need to be art form focused?
A: For the purposes of this programme, an arts and culture organisation refers to any organisation that has significant experience and expertise in delivering programmes of arts and cultural activity. The lead Network Centre organisation does not have to have a particular artform focus. Our aim and expectation is that, across the activities and partnerships of the Network Centre programme as a whole, a wide range of artforms and arts practice will be covered.
Q: Can an independent production company be a Network Centre?
A: Yes. However, if an independent production company were to apply to be a
Network Centre, it would need to show that it had a track record of delivering arts and cultural activity.
Q: Do all partners to the network have to be based in the area where the
Network Centre is located?
A: We would hope and expect that the Random Acts Network Centres initiative will encourage partnerships to form within particular areas, to allow the network to draw upon and share local knowledge, contacts and resources. For Random Acts
North Network, we want to encourage partnerships across the North Area between arts organisations, independent production companies, and educational providers. However, if a strong case and rationale can be made for why it would be advantageous to include a partner from outside of the North area, but still based in England
– if, for example, it would attract additional resources to the project, or could bring in essential expertise that is otherwise lacking in the area – we would be willing to consider a network proposal that includes such a partner.
Q: How wide should the geographic reach be
– is it okay to focus on one region (e.g. NW), or will it need to encompass the whole of the North?
A: In our guidance we are not prescriptive on this point. We say on page 7 of the
Guidance ‘Please note that it is not envisaged that the Network Centre and its network partners will necessarily operate across the totality of the North area. We expect applications to define and provide a rationale for their particular choice of partner organisations to empower young talent within the geography or constituency that will be the focus of their activity. This may mean, for example, a city-based or county-based partnership network, or a partnership involving a number of organisations perhaps covering a range of art forms or disciplines across different places but within the North area.’
Q: In the guidance, it says that you are not eligible if you have submitted
another application to this scheme. Does this mean that an organisation can only lead one application? Can an organisation lead an application but also be named as a partner to another?

A: Organisations can only be involved in one application. An organisation that applies as the lead applicant to be a Network Centre cannot be involved either as a partner or as the lead applicant in any other application. An organisation cannot be named as a partner organisation in more than one application. The one exception to this rule is the Arts Council Bridge organisations, which we will expect to have a working relationship with the Network Centre in each Arts Council area.
The Bridge organisation for your area does not necessarily have to be named as a formal partner to your application, but we will expect to see some evidence that you have started a dialogue with them and have a clear sense of how you will work with them should your proposal be successful
Q: We have been asked to be a partner to two bids and want to maintain excellent relationships with both organisations and so do not wish our decision to have a detrimental effect on the possibility of a high quality opportunity for our participants. As a potential solution, could the lead applicant, instead of making us partners, commission us to deliver a section of the project, so we wouldn't be partners but we'd be commissioned associates?
A: The guidance on this is clear: an organisation cannot be named as a partner organisation in more than one application. However, after the funding has been awarded, there may be room for further discussion between the Network Centre and other partners in the area. We would therefore ask organisations to decide which Network Centre partnership they feel most suited to partner and declare their affiliation to one particular bid. However, we recognise that this might present difficulties for some organisations, for reasons such as those outlined in the question above. The suggestion that the organisation might offer themselves as contracted service provider to the Network Centre after an award is confirmed might be a sensible solution.
Q: Can organisations get involved with bids other than those in which they are named, after the network centre has been appointed?
A: Yes of course. Please note that partnership agreements will need to be in place and to be reviewed and approved by ACE as a condition of funding
Bridge and educational Organisations/remit
Q: Is it necessary for a Network Centre to work with Arts Council Bridge organisations?
A: Yes. It is expected that all Network Centres will have a relationship to the
Bridge organisation in their area. Bridge organisations should be open to exploratory discussions with a range of organisations that might be developing proposals to lead a Network Centre in their Area. They may not necessarily be

identified as formal partners to your network, but we will want to see in your application how you intend to involve your local Bridge organisation in order to increase the reach and impact of your project.
Q: The guidance says the network should include Educational organisations
– such as a university, school, or higher or further education college and linking to Arts Council England’s Bridge organisations [1] and the Arts Award
programme (p.6). Is there any further guidance you can give on this?
A: We will look for evidence of how you will be involving educational organisations in your proposal. Each applicant must show how the partnerships it proposes will enable it to deliver the required project outputs. As part of this, we would expect to see some combination of schools, colleges or universities to feature within the overall Network Centre partnership. We believe that linking with Bridge organisations and with Arts Award will help a Network Centre to meet the requirements of its funding.
Q: Can people studying film as part of a full-time course take part in the work of the Network Centres?
A: Yes. Network Centre activity can involve university or school students, but we expect that partnerships with education organisations will bring additional value to existing courses and initiatives.
Q: Can this funding be used to support existing courses that already deliver the kinds of outcomes and training required of a Random Acts Network
Centre?
A: We cannot fund existing courses as part of this grant; to qualify for this investment a school or university would need to extend its offer, and work with new communities, partners and/or students.
Match funding and management
Q: Do applicants need to indicate the source of their 10% match funding when making an application?
A: Yes. The 10% match funding can be either in cash or in kind. It can be a combination of match funding from the Network Centre and/or its partner organisations. The important thing is that in totality, the Network Centre application can show a minimum of 10% match funding and where it will come from.
Q: Can other funding from Arts Council England be used as match funding for this project?
A: Match funding in cash must not be drawn from other Arts Council England funding. However, in-kind funding could include staff time that is paid for by another source of Arts Council funding.

Q: Is there flexibility on project management expenditure, set in the guidance at 10% maximum of the grant, given that a project of this complexity might require a dedicated co-ordinator post that could cost more than 10% of the total budget?
A: The guidance states that not more than 10% of Arts Council England funding can support administration costs. The reason for this is to maximise the amount of lottery funding spent on activities and services for the beneficiaries of the funding.
In line with our responsibilities as a lottery distributor, we wish to encourage as much of the funding as possible to go directly into project activity, rather than its co-ordination.
It is fine for an applicant to source additional funding to cover any administration related expenses they may wish to support over and above the maximum 10% that Arts Council England will contribute as part of the project - and staff resources and existing office overheads contributed in kind can also help to augment overall project administration, as part of the match funding we request you to show when applying.
Please bear in mind too that not all staffing costs are necessarily ‘administration’.
Expenditure related to new project staff or freelance workers whose work directly supports talent development, for example, can be covered out of proportion of the grant that is not earmarked for administration. We cannot, however, support the time contributed by existing, core staff (although this can be valued and costed-in as in-kind support in your application).
Q: The guidance says that all films created should be delivered to Channel 4 for use online and for possible inclusion in the curated TV programmes. Do all films have to be delivered to full broadcast spec, or only the films that are selected for broadcast?
A: Yes, all films should be delivered to Channel 4 to full broadcast standard.
Q: Who will hold the rights to the films that are produced?
A: The artists and organisations commissioned to make Random Acts content would hold the rights to their material, and both they and Network Centres would be responsible for agreeing the use of the material with Channel 4.
Q: What kind of distribution opportunities are there for films following their premiere on Random Acts? Will the network be able to share the films on their websites, social networks? It would be useful to know whether there is any detail on the transmission and other rights that Channel 4 will need to acquire to the final films. In terms of distribution and exhibition plans that would form part of the legacy to the project, it would be particularly good to know of any limitations in terms of online and theatrical distribution.

A: The final details on this are yet to be confirmed, however the intention is that following an initial window of exclusivity, Channel 4 will aim to give the content producers freedom to distribute their work on other channels and platforms in addition to Channel 4 platforms.
We would also draw your attention to the Guidance in which we note that ‘Each
Network Centre will also be required to enter into an agreement with Channel 4 to ensure that the short films can be delivered, licensed and distributed by Channel 4, on all Channel 4 digital and broadcast platforms (subject to Channel 4’s editorial judgement, the films’ suitability and sufficient quality).’
Other questions
Q: In regards to talent development, does this only need to apply to young people in the production group/working on the films or should this extend wider?
A: We do have a target to reach 360 young people. It is fine if the network centre wants to focus the talent development aspect wider, but this needs to be realistic and manageable.
Q: In terms of diversity, are you expecting applicants to show a targeted or generic approach?
A: It is up to each applicant to develop an approach to diversity that makes sense within its own local context. Your application should explain how the network will embed diversity within its plans and activities and why it has chosen the approach that it has.
Q: Is the focus on the process of engaging young people in creating short films, or on the quality of the output?
A: It is both. The training and professional development activity that the young people will experience needs to be of a high quality and the creative end product needs to be a short film of broadcast quality.
Q: Will the films need to be made as a series or as one-offs?
A: Again, Arts Council England does not want to be prescriptive here. It will be up to the network centre to determine its approach
Q: Is it possible that Channel 4 won’t select some of the films produced and delivered?

A: That is a possibility. They will choose films once seen but retain editorial control. A film that is not selected will not be able to be branded as a ‘Random
Acts’ film but can of course be distributed in other ways