Media art

Media art grant is a personal grant for private individuals, intended for the production of small-scale works of media art. The grant is always work-specific. The amount of the media art grant is 6,000 euros.

The applicant must have a Finnish social security number. Support is applied for through the online application system.

Support criteria

• Applicant works professionally in media art.
• Support will be used for making a new work of media art.
• AVEK support does not cover all production costs of the work; it must have other confirmed financing.
• All copyright licences and possible other compensations for third parties have been taken into account in the application.
• Public premiere or exhibition for the work has been confirmed.

Support will not be granted for

• completed works
• presentation programmes, serialised programmes, educational establishment productions, educational films, amateur works, music videos, background projections
• equipment purchases
• exhibitions, presentations, events

Application annexes

• script or other content plan
• working plan and timetable
• budget and financing plan with itemised costs, support received and applied for, and possible self-financing share.
• screening and distribution plan
• applicant’s CV
• in case of a working group, CVs of all members
• brief introduction of essential personnel
• link to sample images, applicant’s webpage, etc.

Agreement procedure

• The first instalment of the support granted can be paid when the recipient has accepted the terms of payment and use of the support in AVEK’s application system.
• The support is paid in two instalments. The first instalment will be paid after the acceptance of the payment terms and the second instalment after the approval of the final report. The first instalment is usually about 80% of the support granted.
• If the support money has not been withdrawn within three months of the support decision, the decision will expire.

Final report annexes

A final report must be submitted to the online application system.

• written report of the realisation of the work. How the work and its distribution were realised.
• breakdown of costs with comparison of actualised and budgeted costs
• work presentation of up to 500 characters for use in public communications and a list of key authors.
• 1–2 photographs in digital format for publicity use. The image files must be in JPG or PNG format. AVEK and Kopiosto ry have the right to use the images free of charge in the presentation of their activities, such as in publications and on the internet. The maximum file size is 8 MB. The file name can be up to 55 characters long.
• link to completed work, or the work in other form agreed
• other possible annexes or links

Overdue final report prevents the granting of new support.

The agreement may be cancelled and the support recovered

• If the support is not used within the agreed timeframe and for the approved purpose.
• If the recipient has provided AVEK with misleading information that has affected the granting of the support or continuation of payments.
• If the final report is not submitted within the agreed time limit and in the agreed form, and the recipient has not agreed on a new procedure with AVEK.

The notice of termination will be made in writing.

We award grants for private individuals or working groups as personal grants for writing the script of a media art work. The amount of the scriptwriting support is 3,000 euros.

The applicant must be an audiovisual industry professional and have a Finnish social security number. Generally, scriptwriting support can only be received once per production. (Applicants must note that AVEK will not grant overlapping scriptwriting support with the Finnish Film Foundation in the case of the same applicant, subject, work phase and time period.)

Support will not be granted for

• completed works
• promotional and presentative programmes for companies, institutions or organisations, custom order productions
• productions fully financed by television companies (productions ordered by TV companies)
• feature-length fiction films
• fiction series
• feature-length animated films
• music videos, background projections
• educational establishment’s own productions
• educational films and learning materials
• self-financed films or works of media art
• hobby-based productions
• equipment purchases

Application procedure

• Support is applied for through the online application system.
• No application periods.
• Two separate forms of support for the same production cannot be applied for simultaneously.
• Applications submitted by e-mail will not be processed.
• Applications are processed in the order they are submitted. Average processing time is approximately 4-6 weeks.

Application annexes

• synopsis / treatment
• working plan and schedule
• account of the applicant’s previous activity
• other possible annex e.g. scriptwriter’s word

Agreement procedure

• The first instalment of the support granted can be paid when the recipient has accepted the terms of payment and use of the support in AVEK’s application system.
• The support is paid in two instalments. The first instalment will be paid after the acceptance of the payment terms and the second instalment after the approval of the final report. The first instalment is usually about 80% of the support granted.
• If the support money has not been withdrawn within three months of the support decision, the decision will expire.

Final report

A final report must be submitted through AVEK’s application system

• the final report should include a summary of the project content as well as a one-liner
• the finished script should be included as an annex (as a PDF file)
• no financial report on the use of the support is required

The agreement may be cancelled and the support recovered

• If support is not used within the agreed time for the approved purpose.
• If recipient has provided AVEK with misleading information that has affected the granting of the support, or continuation of payments.
• If final report is not submitted within agreed time limit and in agreed form, and recipient has not agreed on a new procedure with AVEK.

Notice of termination will be made in writing.

We grant support for audiovisual production companies (registered Finnish societies) for the development costs of a media art production.

The applicant must be obliged to keep accounting records.  Previous supports granted by AVEK must be settled as agreed upon applying.

The amount of development support applied for is 6,000 or 10,000 euros, depending on the work plan. Development support may be granted for the same production up to a maximum of two times. A total of 16,000 euros can be granted as development support for the same project.

Support can be applied for e.g. script development, preliminary research, preliminary shooting, and acquiring financing for the production. AVEK’s support won’t cover all development costs.

Valid Finnish Film Foundation budgeting and reporting forms can be used for the application.

Support will not be granted for

• completed works
• promotional and presentative programmes for companies, institutions or organisations, custom order productions
• productions fully financed by television companies (productions ordered by TV companies)
• feature-length fiction films
• fiction series
• feature-length animated films
• music videos, background projections
• educational establishment’s own productions
• educational films and learning materials
• self-financed films or works of media art
• hobby-based productions
• equipment purchases

Application procedure

• Support is applied for through the online application system.
• No application periods.
• Two separate forms of support for the same production cannot be applied for simultaneously.
• Approved final report for earlier support received for the same work is a prerequisite for new support.
• Positive decision for one production stage does not obligate AVEK to later grant further support to the production.
• Applications submitted by e-mail will not be processed.
• Applications are processed in the order they are submitted. Average processing time is approximately 4-6 weeks.

Application annexes

• synopsis
• script or content plan
• maker’s/director’s words
• work/production plan and schedule
• cost estimate for production phase (development budget)
• total production budget and financing plan
• written account of self-financing share
• screening/distribution plan
• key personnel introduction
• account of applicant’s previous activity
• Trade Register extract (no more than six months old)
• link to editor’s cut / sample materials

Self-financing

A written account of self-financing must be submitted as an application annex. Approved forms of self-financing are

• work of production company’s owners in the production
• use of own equipment
• salary transfers from key members of the working group, agreements in writing
• bank guarantee or other corresponding guarantee from a financial institution
• own spare capital

Agreement procedure

• A written support agreement for the support granted will be made with the recipient.
• Decision is binding when all contractual parties have signed a support agreement.
• The production plan, the total budget and funding plan approved by all funders, the copyright transfer agreements, the funding decisions/agreements and support instructions will be annexed to the support agreement.
• If the agreement is not made within three months of the support decision, the decision expires.

Final report annexes

The final report and the annexes are submitted to the AVEK online application system.

• Written report. The producer’s report on the implementation, costs and funding of the production phase / production, as well as any deviations from the budget.
• Script / content plan. Must be submitted if support has been provided for the development of the script.
• A summary and comparison of the main points of the actual and budgeted costs and funding, signed by the producer.
• breakdown of costs with comparison of actualised and budgeted costs
• Itemisation of self-financing
• Confirmation of actual costs and funding by an accounting firm / accountant. This confirms that the reported costs and funding are based on the company’s accounts and relate to the production in question.
• Audit report. Mandatory if the total support granted by AVEK for the project is 20,000 euros or more.
• A work presentation of up to 500 characters for use in public communications and a list of key authors.
• Images
  The image files must be in JPG or PNG format. AVEK and Kopiosto ry have the right to use the images free of charge in the presentation of their activities, such as in publications and on the internet. The maximum file size is 8 MB. The file name can be up to 55 characters long.
• Links: Web addresses that provide additional information about the project. The links are not mandatory.

Copyrights

Support recipient is responsible for the appropriate copyright obligations for the work receiving support, e.g. licensing and reporting of rights.

Information about copyright is available from the industry practitioners, e.g. Kopiosto ry, Teosto ry, Kuvasto ry, Gramex ry, and Sanasto ry.

The agreement may be cancelled and the support recovered

• If support is not used within the agreed time for the approved purpose.
• If recipient has provided AVEK with misleading information that has affected the granting of the support, or continuation of payments.
• If final report is not submitted within agreed time limit and in agreed form, and recipient has not agreed on a new procedure with AVEK.
• If the costs are under the budget on which the support agreement was based, the amount of AVEK support may also be reduced proportionately and the extra money recovered if the second instalment is not sufficient to cover it.

Notice of termination will be made in writing.

We grant support for audiovisual production companies (registered Finnish societies) to cover the actual production costs of a media art production. The applicant must be obliged to keep accounting records.

The amount of the production support is 15,000 euros. Production support may only be granted for a production once.

Valid Finnish Film Foundation budgeting and reporting forms can be used for the application.

Support will not be granted for

• completed works
• promotional and presentative programmes for companies, institutions or organisations, custom order productions
• productions fully financed by television companies (productions ordered by TV companies)
• feature-length fiction films
• fiction series
• feature-length animated films
• music videos, background projections
• educational establishment’s own productions
• educational films and learning materials
• self-financed films or works of media art
• hobby-based productions
• equipment purchases

Support criteria

• The production is professional.
• Production has other confirmed financing.
• AVEK support does not cover all production costs of the work.
• Production/work must have a confirmed domestic, national, and professional distribution.
• Previous AVEK supports have been reported accordingly.

Application procedure

• Support is applied for through the online application system.
• No application periods.
• Two separate forms of support for the same production cannot be applied for simultaneously.
• Approved final report for earlier support received for the same work is a prerequisite for new support.
• Positive decision for one production stage does not obligate AVEK to later grant further support to the production.
• Applications submitted by e-mail will not be processed.
• Applications are processed in the order they are submitted. Average processing time is approximately 4-6 weeks.

Application attachments

• synopsis
• script or content plan
• maker’s/director’s words
• work/production plan and schedule
• cost estimate for production phase
• total production budget and financing plan
• written account of self-financing share.
• screening/distribution plan. For production applications, written confirmations of public screenings.
• key personnel introduction
• account of applicant’s previous activity
• Trade Register extract (no more than six months old)
• link to editor’s cut / sample materials

Distribution

Precondition for production support and post production support is a confirmed domestic, national, and professional public distribution in Finland for the work in question. Accepted forms of distribution are

• distribution on a TV channel or the  TV online platform
• theatrical distribution
• professional streaming service in its various forms
• professional gallery or museum distribution/exhibition
• some other professional form of public performance or distribution

Festival screenings, private screenings or similar will not be accepted as the only form of distribution.

Self-financing

A written account of self-financing must be submitted as an application annex. Approved forms of self-financing:

• work of production company’s owners in the production
• use of own equipment
• salary transfers from key members of the working group, agreements in writing
• bank guarantee or other corresponding guarantee from a financial institution

Agreement procedure

• A written support agreement for the support granted will be made with the recipient.
• Decision is binding when all contractual parties have signed a support agreement.
• The production plan, the total budget and funding plan approved by all funders, the copyright transfer agreements, the funding decisions/agreements and support instructions will be annexed to the support agreement.
• If the agreement is not made within three months of the support decision, the decision expires.

Final report annexes

The final report and the annexes are submitted to the AVEK online application system.

• Written report. The producer’s report on the implementation, costs and funding of the production phase / production, as well as any deviations from the budget.
• A summary and comparison of the main points of the actual and budgeted costs and funding, signed by the producer.
• breakdown of costs with comparison of actualised and budgeted costs
• Itemisation of self-financing
• Confirmation of actual costs and funding by an accounting firm / accountant. This confirms that the reported costs and funding are based on the company’s accounts and relate to the production in question.
• Audit report. Mandatory if the total support granted by AVEK for the project is 20,000 euros or more.
• A work presentation of up to 500 characters for use in public communications and a list of key authors.
• Images
  The image files must be in JPG or PNG format. AVEK and Kopiosto ry have the right to use the images free of charge in the presentation of their activities, such as in publications and on the internet. The maximum file size is 8 MB. The file name can be up to 55 characters long.
• Links: Link to completed work, or the work in other form agreed

Copyrights

Support recipient is responsible for the appropriate copyright obligations for the work receiving support, e.g. licensing and reporting of rights.

Information about copyright is available from the industry practitioners, e.g. Kopiosto ry, Teosto ry, Kuvasto ry, Gramex ry, and Sanasto ry.

The agreement may be cancelled and the support recovered

• If support is not used within the agreed time for the approved purpose.
• If recipient has provided AVEK with misleading information that has affected the granting of the support, or continuation of payments.
• If final report is not submitted within agreed time limit and in agreed form, and recipient has not agreed on a new procedure with AVEK.
• If the costs are under the budget on which the support agreement was based, the amount of AVEK support may also be reduced proportionately and the extra money recovered if the second instalment is not sufficient to cover it.

Notice of termination will be made in writing.

If recipient is unable to complete the work in jointly agreed manner AVEK has the right, in cooperation with other financers and co-producers, to complete the work as it sees fit while respecting moral copyrights.

International co-productions

Support may be granted for an international co-production with a Finnish production company as a minority co-producer. There is no fixed support amount for international co-productions. The need for support is specified in the application.

• Support may be granted to the Finnish production company for the production’s Finnish production costs.
• The Finnish producer must have the Finnish screening and distribution rights for the work.
• Production must have a confirmed domestic, national, and professional distribution.
• Support may be granted as development support or production support.
• A co-production agreement must be attached to the support agreement

Eco support is meant for media art productions that have already gotten AVEK’s development or production support.

The support is an incentive to apply principles of sustainable development in productions.

Costs related to this support must already be presented to AVEK in the original development or production budget.

Decision to grant the eco support is made by the commissioner who had made the previous support decision.

Already in the earlier application phase, the applicant must present to the commissioner the production’s sustainable development goals and appoint a person who is responsible for the sustainability in the production.

Support can be applied for the extra costs caused by sustainable development in the production, based on the reporting of realised costs, actions made and the realisation of sustainability goals. Eco support can cover 50% of the realised extra costs.

The support is applied from films post production support, after the final reporting of the original development or production support. Application must be marked with the name “EKO: the production’s name” (the original name of the production that has already gotten support). Before sending the application, please contact the commissioner who granted the previous support.

Who can apply?

Mediarata project support is primarily aimed at independent companies producing media art as well as other Finnish organizations or consortiums aiming at a continuous production of new works of media art. A consortium means a collaborative venture between two or more production companies. In these cases, one of the companies will act as the applicant and take care of the reporting. All companies in the consortium must keep track of the costs and submit the information based on the books to the applicant company for reporting.

Eligible for support are legally competent companies and societies registered in Finland.

For what?

Support can be awarded for projects fulfilling the aims of the Mediarata support by developing and producing new works of media art, and by developing the company’s production strategy, production processes, or production services. The project must include the development of at least two or more works of media art.

The grant includes coaching in collaboration with Creve, a business service for the creative industry. The coaching fee to be paid by the participants is €150/person. The applicant must include the costs in the budget for the applicable support and the final report. More information about the coaching will be provided at the Mediarata information event on 2 November at 13:00–14:00, held on Creve’s Zoom.

Schedule

• The application period starts 1 October and ends 7 December 2020 at 16:00.
• The decisions are announced in January 2021.
• A project report and a final report of the grant must be submitted as agreed with AVEK, but in any case, by 7 December 2022, at the latest.

Applying

Mediarata project application will be made in the AVEK online application system. The applicant organisation will create their own usernames for the system during the first registration.

Use the Media art production support application form. Te project should be named in the AVEK online application system as follows:

MERA: Project title

The application must include an itemisation of the ways in which the company will develop production models and culture, as well as of the related costs. In addition to this, the application must include an itemisation of the content of the works in the project, the development thereof and the costs by each piece of work.

Decisions

An expert group evaluates Mediarata applications. Media Art Commissioner Milla Moilanen will work as the representative of AVEK in the group.

Project application evaluation is based on an overall assessment taking into account the project’s objectives and its implementation plan in relation to Mediarata’s objectives. Additionally, the contentual, functional and professional quality of the project’s undertakings as well as the continuity of media art production culture is taken into account in the evaluation process.

The expert group may request additional information or invite representatives of the applicant organisations to an interview.

The AVEK board of directors confirms the expert group decisions. Applicants are notified of the decisions via e-mail.

Payment and reports

A written contract will be made with the approved applicants.

Support will be paid in three installments. A free-form interim report will be made in between the payment instalments, including cost monitoring.

The project’s final report must be submitted as agreed. The report must contain an itemisation of the costs based on the project’s financial books starting from the application submission date, a written report of the projects and the realisation of goals, and work samples. If the grant exceeds €20,000, the report must also include an auditor’s statement.

Why the application may be rejected

• A project support application received after the closing date will be rejected.
• The application will not be processed if the applicant’s previous AVEK grants have not been reported on as agreed.
• Support will not be granted for the company’s basic activities, fixed costs, purchase of core software, or equipment.
• Support will not be awarded retroactively.

Financing and restrictions

Support may cover up to 80% of the project’s eligible costs. Together with other public subsidies, it may not exceed the amount of eligible costs.

The eligible costs of the project are those that have been realised in the categories specified on the application after the application was submitted.

Based on a Ministry of Education and Culture special subsidy, Mediarata support is EU state aid regulation compatible de minimis (minor) support. The maximum total of the support is 200,000 euros per company or organisation during a period of three consecutive tax years.

Application instructions

The applications should also adhere to the general support guidelines for media art production support, found on this page under ‘Production support’.

Attachments to the application

1. Synopsis: A short description of the project for developing the production culture of media art, as well as the works promoted within the project.
2. Script or another content plan: Description and plans of the works to be promoted in the project. At least 2 works from different authors, 1 page per piece. You may also attach scripts as necessary.
3. Foreword from the author / director and producer: Foreword from the persons primarily responsible for the art and production of the project.
4. Work/production plan and schedule: A Mediarata project plan that specifies how the applicant entity will implement the project that promotes the production culture of media art. What will be done, where, when, why and how, by whom and for whom? The work plan should also specify the status of the planning or production of the media art works at the start of the project, and how the production will proceed during the project. It is not necessary to complete all works during the project.
5. Cost estimate, i.e. a budget and a financial plan:
   Cost calculations related to the project. The cost calculations should specify which actions for promoting the production culture and which costs of the works promoted in the project will be covered by the project budget.
   The financial plan should include the Mediarata grant requested from AVEK, self-financing and any other funding. The Mediarata grant may only cover up to 80% of the project costs.
6. Itemisation of self-financing: E.g. the use of production equipment owned and your own human resources, as well as confirmation of other funding, such as the company’s own spare capital.
7. Presentation and distribution plan: The presentation and distribution plans for the works to be promoted in the project, as well as a detailed description of any promotion of presentation and distribution involved in the project.
8. Key personnel introduction: A list of the key participants of the project; short introductions.
9. Account of applicant’s previous activity: The latest annual report and audit report. If the company form does not require mandatory reporting, a free-form financial report will suffice. In the case of a consortium of multiple companies, please provide the attachments from all companies involved.
10. Trade Register extract: No more than 6 months old. In the case of a consortium of multiple companies, the Trade Register extract of the applicant company will be sufficient. If the applicant is a registered association, a Register of Associations extract should be attached to the application.
11. Other potential material:
    a. Link to the website of the applicant entity
    b. Any other links to work samples, raw materials of the media art to be promoted in the project, etc.