Film City Futures

What Film City Futures does

Film City Futures is a Scottish charitable non-profit (registered as Jump Cut Crew, charity SC031842 and company SC220474), founded in 2017 and headquartered at Film City Glasgow, with a satellite presence at the Scottish Documentary Institute in Edinburgh. It employs 5 people and operates the FOCUS programme, a public-facing business development initiative providing free specialist consultancy, webinars, workshops, and intensive business labs to Scotland-based screen sector micro-businesses and SMEs in film, TV, animation, and adjacent digital content. The product portfolio has expanded to include the HORIZONS-2 accelerator for Glasgow-based start-ups, the FOCUS Bootcamp, the FOCUS On webinar series, the Creative Connexions events, and the FOCUS Consultancy Fund. Since launch, the programme has served more than 300 companies and delivered over 100 webinar events.

The business model is grant-funded rather than revenue-generating. Funding is drawn from Screen Scotland (via the National Lottery), the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund channelled through Glasgow City Council, Creative Scotland, and Scottish Enterprise. Most services are provided free of charge to eligible Scotland-based companies; nominal participation fees apply only to certain two-day intensive business labs (£100 for Legal & Business Affairs, £150 for Co-Production). Distribution is direct, via in-person events at Film City Glasgow, online Zoom webinars (with international reach), and competitive application for intensive programmes, with marketing primarily through the website, email newsletter, Instagram, and Eventbrite.

The organisation has no proprietary technology stack and offers no public or partner-facing API or AI tooling. Its competitive position rests on a curated network of 300+ Scottish screen companies, an expert roster of senior practitioners, and the protected niche created by its public-sector funding and Scottish-jurisdiction mandate.

Name

Film City Futures

Legal name

Jump Cut Crew

Website

https://filmcityfutures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Film City Futures is a Scottish charity that delivers the FOCUS programme, providing free business development support, webinars, workshops, and accelerator programmes to Scotland-based film, TV, animation, and digital content SMEs through grant-funded public sector partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Glasgow

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: Film City Futures operates as a charitable initiative funded primarily through public sector grants. Funding is received from Screen Scotland (National Lottery), UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund (via Glasgow City Council), Creative Scotland, and Scottish Enterprise. The organisation provides free services to eligible screen sector companies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Film City Futures delivers the FOCUS programme, a business development support initiative for Scotland's screen sector. It provides free specialist consultancy, webinars, workshops, and networking events to independent film, TV, and animation SMEs that lack in-house expertise in development, financing, legal, international co-production, distribution, and business strategy. The organisation also runs the HORIZONS-2 accelerator for Glasgow-based start-ups and the FOCUS Bootcamp for emerging screen companies.

Product overview

Film City Futures operates a unified service portfolio anchored by the FOCUS Programme, Scotland's primary business development initiative for the screen sector. The core offering combines the FOCUS Programme itself (providing expert consultancy, webinars, and workshops) with specialized accelerator programmes including HORIZONS-2 for start-ups and the FOCUS Bootcamp for emerging companies. Additional components include intensive Business Labs on topics like co-production and legal affairs, the FOCUS On webinar series for targeted skill development, and the Creative Connexions event series for industry networking. The FOCUS Consultancy Fund provides financial support for companies accessing specialist expertise. Together, these products form an integrated ecosystem supporting companies from early-stage development through established growth.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FOCUS: A project delivered by Film City Futures that supports independent micro-businesses and SMEs in Scotland's screen sector with specialist business development advice.
• HORIZONS
• HORIZONS-2
• Creative Connexions

Products and services

• FOCUS Programme A flagship business development support programme for Scotland's screen sector, providing free expert consultancy, webinars, workshops, and networking events for independent film, TV, and animation companies to grow their businesses.
• HORIZONS-2 Accelerator Programme An accelerator programme for Glasgow-based start-ups and emerging production companies, designed to support business growth and prepare participants to navigate the evolving media landscape through seminars, workshops, and mentorship.
• FOCUS Bootcamp A 3-day intensive course followed by 1:1 consultancy sessions aimed at new and emerging screen companies to develop skills, knowledge, and contacts needed to grow and thrive.
• FOCUS On Webinar Series Online webinar sessions covering specific industry topics such as PR and market positioning, SPVs, film finance structuring, and film sales, delivered by industry experts.
• Creative Connexions Series A series of in-person events focusing on specific creative topics such as pivoting across scripted and unscripted content, true crime genre, and digital-first content strategy.
• FOCUS Business Lab Two-day intensive programmes on specific business topics such as co-production and co-commissioning in TV, and legal and business affairs for independent production companies.
• FOCUS Consultancy Fund A funding mechanism providing co-financing to eligible screen sector companies for specialist business development consultancy services.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 300 companies have accessed FOCUS programme services
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Scottish Documentary InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFOCUS is delivered by Film City Futures in partnership with Scottish Documentary Institute (SDI). SDI co-hosts the programme and provides expertise in documentary production and screen sector development.
• Jump Cut CrewcoreOthersJump Cut Crew t/a Film City Futures is the registered operating company. The data controller for Film City Futures is Isabella Bassett at Jump Cut Crew, company number SC220474, a registered Scottish charity with charity number SC031842.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• PACT (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television): UK trade association representing independent production companies, providing lobbying, training and member services to indies. Adjacent rather than directly competitive; PACT is a partner in Film City Futures' FOCUS programme and represents the constituency the FOCUS programme supports.
• Screen Scotland: Scotland's national agency for film and media, a core funder and strategic partner of Film City Futures. Although not a direct peer (it is a public funder rather than a delivery body), it shapes the same Scottish screen-SME ecosystem and is explicitly cited as a strategic ally.
• Watershed: Bristol-based cultural and media centre running talent development, training and sector support programmes for the South West screen and creative-tech community. An enabling/thematically related organisation with a comparable regional SME-support mission, though broader in scope than Film City Futures.

Broad incumbents

• ScreenSkills: UK industry-led skills body for the screen sectors, delivering training, CPD and workforce development across film, TV, animation and games. Comparable in mission (developing the screen-sector talent and business base) but operates at far greater scale and across the whole of the UK.
• BFI (British Film Institute): UK-wide lead body for film and the moving image, distributing National Lottery funding and running skills, talent and business-support initiatives (e.g., BFI NETWORK) for indies. A larger, UK-wide incumbent whose regional talent programmes compete and overlap with Film City Futures' Scotland-only focus.

Regional players

• Screen Yorkshire: Regional screen agency supporting film and TV production, skills and business growth across Yorkshire and the Humber. Comparable in remit — driving growth for a regional indie base — to Film City Futures' mission in Scotland.
• Screen Ireland: Ireland's national development agency for film, television and animation, investing in Irish creative talent and screen SMEs. Functions as a regional industry-development counterpart, providing funding and skills programmes to independent producers comparable to FOCUS's mission.
• Ffilm Cymru Wales: Wales's national body for film and television, providing funding, training and sector development for Welsh screen SMEs and indies. A regional counterpart to Film City Futures' Scotland-focused FOCUS programme, with similar public-funding backbone and SME-support remit.
• Northern Ireland Screen: Northern Ireland's lead public agency for the screen industries, delivering funding, training and business development for NI-based production companies. Directly comparable to Film City Futures at the regional level, with the same role of channelling public funding into local indie growth.

Direct peers

• Calling The Shots: Bristol-based non-profit that runs training, mentoring and talent-development programmes for emerging independent screen producers in the South West of England. Closely comparable to Film City Futures in mission (SME screen-sector business development), delivery model (labs, bootcamps, mentorships) and non-profit funding structure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/filmcityfutures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/film-city-futures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Film City Futures