Congo: Inside the Heart of Darkness: Free Radical Films Film maker Elizabeth Jones trekked three days through the jungle with Channel Four News correspondent Jonathan Miller to track down evidence of forced labour in tin mines. They found thousands of miners forced at gun point to dig for tin ore that is destined for electronics industry.

Courts pension investigation: Old Street Films
This three month investigation into a failed pension scheme revealed a &30M black hole in Courts the furniture stores company pension scheme which left workers facing retirement with an uncertain future.

The launch of More4 News has also seen the expansion of independent fund commissions to the evening news programme on the digital channel More4.

We want stories that make headlines and set the news agenda. They may be domestic or international. We work with lone film makers and larger production companies. The films range in length from five to fifteen minutes.

Who are we?

Fiona Campbell is the Independents' Commissioning Editor. Working closely with Executive Producer Mike Radford, Fiona is in charge of all UK based commissions and investigations. Deborah Rayner Senior Foreign Editor of Channel 4 News oversees the commissioning of foreign independents.

Iain Overton is in charge of all UK and foreign independent commissions and investigations for More4 News.

What we want

You should provide us with a short synopsis that explains your story. You can email this to Fiona and Mike at c4indyfund@itn.co.uk. In particular you should be aware of what is already in the public domain - and make clear to us what elements of your story are new.

We are looking for investigations, exclusives, unique access. Remember that Channel Four News has a large internal newsgathering operation so don't offer stories likely to be covered better or quicker by our in house teams. More4 news is interested in important under-reported stories and differing viewpoints on important issues.

You should explain to us why your story will make news. A few paragraphs may be all you need to test our initial interest.

We will reply to you by email in a matter of days with our thoughts and any follow up questions.

In addition to original proposals, the Indy Fund will also buy-in exclusive pre shot material that can be edited by in house staff or attract additional funds for further production.

How we work

Once we are interested in your story we will arrange a meeting face to face. For this we will ask you to prepare a budget. It is a simple list of direct costs involved in getting the film made. We can assist in finding crews, post production facilities and key personnel. More often than not we will attach a Channel 4 News reporter who is skilled at tailoring a piece to the needs of a programme. Your profit is in the minutage fee we pay ie: you will receive a fee for each minute or part thereof broadcast. We pay half the agreed budget up front and the balance upon transmission.

Contact the Indy Fund team:

Fiona Campbell, Commissioning Editor
Fiona.campbell@itn.co.uk

Mike Radford, Executive Producer
Mike.Radford@itn.co.uk

Iain Overton, Film Unit Executive, More4 News
Iain.Overton@itn.co.uk

Please send all proposals to c4indyfund@itn.co.uk