great migrations

Great Migrations

Great Migrations is a new development lab for East and/or Southeast Asian (ESEA) writers, writer-directors and producers based in the UK, delivered by MilkTea Films and supported by the BFI Creative Challenge Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.

Great Migrations is a programme conceived, led and produced by MilkTea founder and company director, Chi Thai, as a response to the historical under-representation of ESEA talent in the UK screen sector, as highlighted in reports such as Disrupting the Narrative and The Exclusion Act.

Our aim is to actively redress this disparity by creating a bespoke, genre-focused development lab for ESEA writers, writer-directors and producers. By targeting commercial genre filmmaking: horror, sci-fi, thriller, and high-concept drama, we will foster the emergence of ESEA-led stories that are both culturally grounded and commercially viable.

The programme is UK-wide in reach, with a strong emphasis on equity, diversity, inclusion, sustainability and well-being. Aimed at early and emerging ESEA writers, writer-directors and producers who are seeking to develop genre (scripted) feature film projects. Participants may have experience in short films, theatre, television, or other storytelling forms, or a debut feature. The focus is on talent with demonstrable creative potential who are ready to take the next step toward commercial feature development.

Participants will be offered an honorarium (up to £2420 per participant, based on London Living Away day rate of £110 per day for 22 days) for their participation in the programme, as well as reimbursement of travel expenses and support towards any access requirements.

MilkTea will be hosting an information webinar on 6 January 2026. To sign up for this please follow this link.

If you have any questions about the programme please reach out to us on hello@milkteafilms.com

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The programme will unfold in three stages:

A Residential Retreat (16-20 March 2026)

A structured, intensive retreat in Kent where participants will:

Workshop projects in various stages of readiness from early treatments to screenplays in a supportive peer-led environment, facilitated by industry experts.
Attend expert masterclasses, Q&As, case studies from funders, producers, distributors, sales representatives and more to learn about the film value chain and how that impacts on their projects.
Accommodation, travel & subsistence will be covered.

Development Phase (8 weeks, 23 March to 29 May 2026)

Post-residential, participants will continue developing their projects from outline to treatment (or early draft script) with script editor support.

Market Day (1 day in early June 2026)

A one-day event to present developed projects at a “mini-market”, each participant will meet a variety of industry decision-makers on a one-on-one basis to present the project to.
Mentoring session to strategise next steps for the project.
Reflect and plan for long-term project sustainability and career progression.

Participants will be expected to:

Engage fully for the whole programme (residential, development phase and market day)
Embrace the spirit of community-led learning
Commit to progressing their project under the guidance of the programme.
Remain committed to progressing their project post-lab with a view toward production.

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Guidelines & Eligibility

This lab is aimed at Early and Emerging career filmmakers based on the BFI’s following definitions:

‘Early Career’ is defined as not having written, directed or produced a fiction feature film that has received UK distribution in the last five years unless they have self-financed and/or self-distributed the work themselves. ‘Emerging’ is defined as having no more than three feature film projects produced and/or comparable television, theatre or immersive work.

Applicants will need to be from an ESEA background. We use the term ESEA to mean anyone from the following countries and their diasporas who live and work in UK; Brunei, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, North Korea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Applicants must not have already accepted a place on another BFI Creative Challenge Fund programme.
Applicants must have had a piece of work selected for a BAFTA and/or Academy qualifying festival, or if the applicant is not from a screen industry background, an equivalent to this will be considered, such as longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for authors, or Bruntwood prize for playwrights, or other equivalent industry recognition.
Applicants must have an early treatment or early script for a genre feature and a genuine commitment to developing it throughout the programme.
Only one application per person, only one project per application.
Once made projects must be capable of being certified as British through any of the following:

Cultural Test for Film, Animation or Video Games
One of the UK’s official bi-lateral co-production treaties
The European Convention on co-production

Over 18 years of age
Not in full time education
A UK resident

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To apply

Please complete this form and submit by 17:00, 16 January 2026, that will ask:

Name
Role (as in writer, writer-director, or producer)
Email
Place of residence
Information about the qualifying work
Your work bio (100 words max)
Title and description of the project you are applying with (100 words max)
Genre type of project you are applying with
Information about the project team, if any.
Why you would like to attend Great Migrations and why now (250 words max)
Your three favourite genre films and why (300 words)
Link to cv and pdf of treatment or screenplay of the project you are applying with
Are you currently/or have you previously received support from the BFI Development funding or other BFI sources for this project.
Have you received National Lottery Funding from the BFI in the past?
Have you received National Lottery Funding from other distributors in the past?

***

Timeline

16 December: Launch for submissions
6 January: Information webinar
16 January: Deadline for submissions
16 February: Announce selected participants
16-20 March: Residential
23 March - 29 May: Development phase
2 June (tbc): Market Day

Great Migrations

Great Migrations is a new development lab for East and/or Southeast Asian (ESEA) writers, writer-directors and producers based in the UK, delivered by MilkTea Films and supported by the BFI Creative Challenge Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.

Great Migrations is a programme conceived, led and produced by MilkTea founder and company director, Chi Thai, as a response to the historical under-representation of ESEA talent in the UK screen sector, as highlighted in reports such as Disrupting the Narrative and The Exclusion Act.

Participants will be offered an honorarium (up to £2420 per participant, based on London Living Away day rate of £110 per day for 22 days) for their participation in the programme, as well as reimbursement of travel expenses and support towards any access requirements.

MilkTea will be hosting an information webinar on 6 January 2026. To sign up for this please follow this link.

If you have any questions about the programme please reach out to us on hello@milkteafilms.com

The programme will unfold in three stages:

A Residential Retreat (16-20 March 2026)

A structured, intensive retreat in Kent where participants will:

Workshop projects in various stages of readiness from early treatments to screenplays in a supportive peer-led environment, facilitated by industry experts.

Attend expert masterclasses, Q&As, case studies from funders, producers, distributors, sales representatives and more to learn about the film value chain and how that impacts on their projects.

Accommodation, travel & subsistence will be covered.

Development Phase (8 weeks, 23 March to 29 May 2026)

Post-residential, participants will continue developing their projects from outline to treatment (or early draft script) with script editor support.

Market Day (1 day in early June 2026)

A one-day event to present developed projects at a “mini-market”, each participant will meet a variety of industry decision-makers on a one-on-one basis to present the project to.

Mentoring session to strategise next steps for the project.

Reflect and plan for long-term project sustainability and career progression.

Participants will be expected to:

Engage fully for the whole programme (residential, development phase and market day)

Embrace the spirit of community-led learning

Commit to progressing their project under the guidance of the programme.

Remain committed to progressing their project post-lab with a view toward production.

Guidelines & Eligibility

This lab is aimed at Early and Emerging career filmmakers based on the BFI’s following definitions:

Applicants must not have already accepted a place on another BFI Creative Challenge Fund programme.

Applicants must have an early treatment or early script for a genre feature and a genuine commitment to developing it throughout the programme.

Only one application per person, only one project per application.

Once made projects must be capable of being certified as British through any of the following:

Cultural Test for Film, Animation or Video Games

One of the UK’s official bi-lateral co-production treaties

The European Convention on co-production

Over 18 years of age

Not in full time education

A UK resident

To apply

Please complete this form and submit by 17:00, 16 January 2026, that will ask:

Name

Role (as in writer, writer-director, or producer)

Email

Place of residence

Information about the qualifying work

Your work bio (100 words max)

Title and description of the project you are applying with (100 words max)

Genre type of project you are applying with

Information about the project team, if any.

Why you would like to attend Great Migrations and why now (250 words max)

Your three favourite genre films and why (300 words)

Link to cv and pdf of treatment or screenplay of the project you are applying with

Are you currently/or have you previously received support from the BFI Development funding or other BFI sources for this project.

Have you received National Lottery Funding from the BFI in the past?

Have you received National Lottery Funding from other distributors in the past?

Timeline

16 December: Launch for submissions

6 January: Information webinar

16 January: Deadline for submissions

16 February: Announce selected participants

16-20 March: Residential

23 March - 29 May: Development phase

2 June (tbc): Market Day