Our Support Scheme

BoostHbg has had several different types of grants and support schemes throughout the years. We have taken what we learned from these different versions and developed a structure that focuses on tailormade support. What used to be individual support schemes are now tools in the toolbox of a more flexible and long-term development programme where there is room to both explore and optimise.

What this means for an individual project is that you both get a cash grant as well as a contact person at BoostHbg to guide you through the process and help you make a plan for how to best use the resources. You will also become part of a network of other creators supported by us working with their own projects where you get a chance to share knowledge and inspire each other. You will aim to meet your audience early in the process and bring this feedback into the project to make it better. The goal is not to have a completed game or film at the end of the project period, the goal is to test a specific part of the project and develop it further. We want you to succeed but we also see the value of learning when things don’t go as planned.

BoostHbg is not a traditional production fund but we can help you investigate specific parts of your project and by doing so develop it. That way you will be able to bring a stronger project to other financiers and partners.

The guiding words for the BoostHbg support schemes are: flexibility and longevity.

BoostHbg supports creators who dare to explore the opportunities and meet the challenges that an everchanging and globalized media landscape presents for storytellers within the audio-visual production industries. You are curious and ambitious, you want your project to reach its audience – whether that means 10 people or 100 000. You see your storytelling as your profession, regardless if you have yet to achieve your goals. You want to create the opportunities so that you can make a living with your craft.

Criteria that you must meet in order to receive a grant:

• It must be clear in the application how your project relates to BoostHbg’s mission and purpose, specifically how the project addresses questions regarding audience empowerment and content overload within the audio-visual production industries.
• Applicants must reside in Skåne and be a key person in the project.
• Projects cannot be tied to an education. BoostHbg is for creators who work professionally with their craft (in either an early or advanced stages of their careers).
• BoostHbg does not support projects that are specifically geared at marketing.
• Must have a professional budget and financing plan.
• Must have an idea about the project’s target audience.
• Must have a strategy on how the project will reach its audience.

In addition to these criteria, the selection group will also take the following into account:

• Originality of idea, vision, and creativity
• Craftmanship
• Representation
• Feasibility
• Sustainability

BoostHbg’s primary community are the digital audio-visual production industries and the projects we support must be relevant for the questions that we explore. The reason that we point this out is that as a resource centre we want to be able to gain knowledge together with you and through that enhance our shared community. We are open for different and boundary pushing projects that might not fit into any specific category, as long as the learnings relating to audience empowerment and content overload can be extrapolated to our core industries.

Realistic goals

Relevant projects can be films, digital games of various kinds, TV series, and stories that transcend these boundaries. Just remember, this is not a production fund. That means that the 50 or 75 000 SEK that you are granted are not meant to be a part of a larger production budget that you then have to wait to complete through other funds. This is rather a step before you get the big bucks, a way for you to develop the project in order to then attach further funding.

The thing that you want to do during the project period should be realistic to achieve with the money you receive. The process starts when you get the grant and the point is to use that time to its fullest extent.

Meet you audience

During this process you will have to meet your audience in some way. This can take many shapes and could be a wide audience or a smaller group of key individuals. Perhaps if you are developing a game you will test it by creating an analogue prototype that you invite a group of people to play? Maybe you explore how to tell your story by developing the script together with your target audience? Maye you want your TV series to be the next SKAM so you create an Instagram pilot? We are open to many different processes as long as they relate back to our key questions. It is about having the courage to invite in feedback and achieving your goal by finding the right steps to take.

You can read more about the projects that received support in spring 2021 here to get a sense of what types of exploration we support.

You send in an application using the e-services managed by Helsingborg stad, this is a two step process. There are two deadlines per year.

• Step 1 consists of a few shorter questions which will be evaluated before you send in a complete application. This is to ensure that a project meets BoostHbg’s criteria before you spend your time filling out a full application. This is also a way to guide you to think about how this specific grant is relevant for your project at this stage. After the deadline we will assess the applications and invite the qualified applicants to send in a full application.
• Step 2 is the complete application and is also sent in via the e-services provided by Helsingborg stad. If you move on from Step 1 you will be sent a link to the full application. To see the questions in the application, click here. If you are invited to send in a step two application but not given a grant we will provide individual feedback on your application.

What is expected of me if given a grant from BoostHbg?

Receiving support from BoostHbg is not a one-way street. If you get support that also means you get access to a network of other creatives as well as a contact person at BoostHbg who can help you achieve your creative goals. But that also means that there are expectations on you to share insights into your process. The following is expected when you receive support from BoostHbg:

• Regular communications with BoostHbg contact person about the ups and downs of the project so that we know what the status is and can together come up with a plan on how to use the money effectively.
• That the goal is realistic to achieve during the project period. Extensions will need to be discussed with your contact person and will only be granted if there is a clear and pressing reason for it.
• You must participate in at least one start up session with the group that BoostHbg invites you to, after that participation in group activities is voluntary and based on relevance and needs. The goal with the group activates is to create opportunities for networking and knowledge sharing in a way that is both relevant and adds value.
• Give back to our community in some way by sharing your knowledge, your project, and your learnings. The format on what this looks like depends on the project and will be discussed with your contact person. It could be through a blog post, participation in a conference, or hosting an open workshop.
• It should be clear that BoostHbg has supported the project, you will get guidelines about this when you receive the grant.

We hope that by discussing your ideas with your contact person at BoostHbg you will find the optimal way to spend the grant money in order to achieve your stated goals. There are a few different types of things you can spend this money on, think of them as tools in your toolbox:

• Personal grant for prototyping: money that goes directly to you and is used to create a prototype or a prototyping process. It can be used both to cover expenses and your own time.
• Coach: you can hire a coach in order to raise your competencies within a specific area in order to strengthen the project. They will then invoice BoostHbg directly for their hours and the money comes from your ear marked grant money.
• Trips: money can be used for fees and travel connected to relevant festivals, conferences, workshops, and forums which benefit the project you are developing with BoostHbg.