Viral to Vérité:
Producer-Creator Fusion Lab

What Is the Producer Lab?

The Industry Has Changed. This Programme Has Changed With It.

The audience has moved. YouTube’s UK reach now surpasses the BBC. TikTok is where the next generation of British storytellers are finding their voice — and their fans. But there is no clear road from a viral short to a feature film in a cinema.

Until now.

Viral to Vérité: Producer-Creator Fusion Lab is a ground-breaking, BFI National Lottery-funded development programme designed to change that. We find the most exciting digital-first creators in the UK, and we give them the professional tools, mentorship, and industry connections they need to turn their IP into a finance-ready feature film.

This isn’t a training course. This isn’t a workshop series. This is a full development lab — the same kind of intensive, structured programme that has launched careers in British independent cinema — reimagined from the ground up for a new generation of storytellers.

For commissioners, streamers, and financiers looking for the next wave of British cinematic IP: the ideas you’re searching for are already out there, sitting on YouTube and TikTok, waiting for a platform. This programme is that platform.

Ten creators. Ten feature films. One year. Ready for investment.

Who Is It For?

You’ve built an audience. You’ve got the story. Now it’s time to make the film.

The Viral to Vérité Lab is for UK-based content creators and early-career producers who are ready to take the next step — from phone screen to cinema screen. If you have a feature film idea and a digital audience that proves people are already watching, this is the programme you’ve been waiting for.

You’re eligible if you:
  • Are a UK resident, over 18, and not in full-time education
  • Are an early career producer — meaning you haven't produced a feature film
    that received professional UK distribution in the last five years
  • Have a single feature-length fiction project in active development (a treatment or draft script)
  • Have a proven digital presence — whether that's a YouTube channel, TikTok following,
    or an engaged online community built around your creative work
This is a producer-led programme. You bring the project and drive it forward. If you have a writer or director already attached, they’re welcome to join relevant sessions too — but the producer is the lead applicant.

The programme is open to creators across the entire UK. You do not need to be based in London or the South East.

Programme Structure

Twelve Months. Five Phases. From Draft Concept to Market-Ready Package.
 
The Lab runs from November 2026 to June 2027, delivered 80% online and 20% in person,
making it genuinely accessible for creators across the UK.
 

Key Dates

Date
Milestone
7 September 2026
Open call launches — applications open
14 September 2026
Briefing Webinar 1 (6pm — accessible for working creators)
21 September 2026
Briefing Webinar 2 (11am)
5 October 2026
Application deadline
19–23 October 2026
Participant interviews (online, 30 mins each)
23 October 2026
Cohort of 10 announced
26–30 October 2026
Onboarding and contracts
2 November 2026
Programme begins — Session 1
31 January 2027
Milestone 1: Draft script + Audience Migration Data due
22–26 February 2027
Residency Lab — Bournemouth
25 April 2027
Milestone 2: Finance plan + pitch deck due
20 June 2027
Final Showcase — investor pitch event

Deliverables — What You Leave With

You Won’t Just Leave With a Certificate. You’ll Leave Ready for Investment.
Every participant completes the Lab with a fully assembled Market-Ready Package — a set of materials specifically designed to attract finance and move your project into production.

Your package includes:
 
  • A Polished Feature Script — industry-standard, long-form, and ready for a script editor or development executive to read
  • An Audience Migration Strategy — a data-driven roadmap showing financiers exactly how your existing digital audience converts into a theatrical one, de-risking the investment in your project
  • An Enhanced Pitch Deck & Casting Overview — a visually compelling, professional presentation complete with preliminary casting attachments, market value assessment, and technical specifications
  • A Finance Strategy — a full production budget prepared by a professional Line Producer, a multi-source finance plan, and a shortlist of identified co-production partners


These aren’t just development materials. They are the exact tools you need to walk into a meeting with a financier, a sales agent, or a streaming commissioner and be taken seriously.

Who Is Delivering It?

Taught By the Industry. Designed for the Creator Economy.

The Lab is delivered by White Lantern Film Advance Ltd — a BFI-affiliated organisation with over 15 years of experience running professional film development and training programmes, including 11 years managing the regional BFI Film Academy.

The programme is led by Adam J. Merrifield, a producer with internationally distributed feature film credits including I WAS HONEY BOO BOO, PLAYED AND BETRAYED and DIE BEFORE YOU DIE, and a founding member of Screen Wessex — the new strategic agency for Dorset’s screen industries.

Alongside Adam, you’ll work with a specialist roster of industry practitioners, including:
  • A Lead Script Editor with BFI-funded feature credits
  • An AI-Creative Technologist at the frontier of hybrid digital storytelling
  • An Audience Growth & Migration Strategist who understands how digital communities convert into audiences
  • A Production Accountant specialising in IFTC and National Lottery compliance
  • A Line Producer who builds a professional production budget for every single participant's project
  • A Casting Director to begin attaching talent to your project
  • A Marketing Strategist to shape your pitch deck and visual identity
  • A Legal Specialist covering IP protection and co-production structures
  • A Wellbeing Facilitator integrated throughout, with a particular focus on the residency


The steering group includes BH Movies (independent cinema production and international distribution), TLS Ideas Studio (a TikTok Live agency managing a roster of high-reach UK creators), and Unit Base One (the BCP region’s premier professional film hub).

Time Commitment

Ambitious But Manageable — Designed Around Your Life.

The Lab is built with working creators in mind. The majority of delivery is online, at times designed to work around your existing schedule.

Here’s what to expect:
  • 6 group sessions via Zoom (bi-weekly, 2 hours each) = 12 hours
  • 1:1 script editing sessions ahead of the residency = approx. 2–3 hours
  • 5-day in-person residency in Bournemouth (22–26 February 2027) — travel and accommodation covered = approx. 35–40 hours
  • 1:1 Finance Forge mentorship sessions across March–April = approx. 8–10 hours
  • Market packaging reviews and pitch rehearsals = approx. 4–6 hours
  • Independent development work between sessions (script drafting, research) = variable, guided by your milestones


Total facilitated time: approximately 65–75 hours across 8 months.

All participants are paid the Real Living Wage for their time in facilitated sessions, ensuring this programme is accessible regardless of your financial situation.

How to Apply

Show Us Your World. Tell Us Your Story.

Applications open on 7 September 2026 via our online portal. To apply, you’ll need to submit:

  1. A treatment or draft script for your feature-length fiction project — this is how we assess where your project is creatively and how ready it is for development

  2. A Digital Reach Report — a summary of your online presence: follower counts, engagement rates, platform analytics, and audience demographics. This is what tells us you already have the audience that makes your project commercially compelling

  3. A short statement of intent (approx. 500 words) — who you are, why this project, and what you’re hoping to get from the programme

  4. Confirmation of eligibility — UK residency, early career status, project in active development

 

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to a 30-minute online interview in the week of 19 October 2026. The final cohort of 10 will be confirmed by 23 October 2026.

We strongly encourage you to attend one of our free Briefing Webinars (14 September at 6pm or 21 September at 11am) to hear more about the programme before applying. Recordings will be available on the landing page.

FAQs

No. This programme is specifically designed for early career producers — people who have not yet had a feature film professionally distributed in the UK in the last five years. If you’re a creator who has never made a film, that is exactly who this Lab is for.

You need to have a feature-length fiction project in active development. That means at minimum a clear idea you’re developing, and ideally a treatment or early draft. You don’t need a finished, polished script — that’s what the programme helps you build.

Absolutely. This is a UK-wide programme. The majority of delivery is online, and travel and accommodation for the in-person residency in Bournemouth are fully covered.

No. Zero. You retain 100% of your IP throughout the programme and after it ends.
No rights, no Executive Producer credits, no first-look deals.
The whole point is to make your project investment-ready so you can take it to market on your own terms.

Yes — and you get paid on top of that.
There are no fees to participate.
All participants receive the Real Living Wage for their facilitated hours.

Potentially, yes — but you’ll need to make clear that the activity in this programme is entirely additional to and not already covered by your existing development finance.
Check the eligibility criteria carefully or contact us to discuss.

Not necessarily. This is a producer-led programme and you can apply as the producer of a project you’re developing.
If you do have an attached writer, director, or writer-director, they’re welcome to join relevant sessions.

We have a dedicated access budget and have specifically built the programme to be
as flexible and inclusive as possible.
A significant portion is delivered online, and we pay travel and accommodation for the in-person residency.
Please flag any access needs in your application — we will do everything we can to accommodate them.

Yes. That’s exactly who this programme was designed for. Your digital audience, your storytelling instincts, and your world-building skills are precisely what British cinema needs right now. We provide everything else.

Register Interest

The creator economy has already proved you can build an audience. Now it's time to build the film.

 

Applications open 7 September 2026.

Be the first to receive application materials, webinar invites, and programme updates. Drop your details below and we'll be in touch as soon as the open call launches.
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