£500k ring-fenced funding for comedy production in Northern Ireland

BBC Comedy and BBC Northern Ireland have ringfenced over half a million pounds of funding for brand new Northern Irish comedy in 25/26.

The teams will be looking for shows which have authentic Northern Irish DNA, authentic portrayal, and Northern Irish talent central to the package. It can be a brand-new project, or an existing commission that is moving from script to its next phase of development. It could also augment active developments. The money will be used for pure production – eg read-throughs, tasters, pilots, and short films. It will not be used for script development or for series, but we will still be commissioning scripts through the usual process, and we will have an eye to commissioning scripts which could lead into this production fund.

The new initiative was announced by Head of BBC Comedy Jon Petrie and Senior Head Content Commissioning BBC Northern Ireland Eddie Doyle at the 2025 BBC Comedy Festival in Belfast.

Do I have to be based in Northern Ireland?

You don’t have to be based in Northern Ireland, but we will be prioritising developments from local companies, or companies with a substantive Northern Irish base. We also encourage and support production company partnerships.

How do I apply for the fund?

The fund isn’t something that you need to specifically apply for, but it’s a funding opportunity to be aware of while you’re developing. As always, any ideas should have a strong comedy voice at the heart and meet the current commissioning briefs.

Please speak to your commissioning editor in BBC Comedy or Jason Butler in BBC Northern Ireland for further questions.

Visit the BBC Northern Ireland commissioning website for further information about specific editorial priorities and read Jon's speech from the 2025 BBC Comedy Festival in Belfast.