UK Film Council sets out new plan to steer film through the recession
The UK Film Council today launches a three month public consultation into the most significant revision of its activities since it was created in 2000.
- NO CUT IN FUNDING FOR FILM PRODUCTION
- A NEW FUND TO PROMOTE DIGITAL INNOVATION
- A NEW SET OF POLICIES, TO ADAPT TO THE CHANGING FILM LANDSCAPE
- A 20% REDUCTION IN OVERHEADS, TO PUSH MORE MONEY INTO FILM ACTIVITY
LONDON – 17 November 2009: The UK Film Council today launches a three month public consultation into the most significatn revision of its activities since it was created in 2000.
UK Film: Digital innovation and creative excellence sets out the policy and funding priorities for the next three years (April 2010 to March 2013), and specifically proposes:
- a new £15m Film Production Fund which has four distinct creative gatekeepers, is focused on the pursuit of creative excellence and puts more emphasis on first- and second-time filmmakers;
- a producer equity position in all UK Film Council-funded feature films;
- a minimum 25% target for non-London originated film production;
- a new £5m Innovation Fund, to promote new business models and ensure UK film's successful transition into a fully digital age;
- sustained investment in the BFI, to support the conservation of UK film heritage and improve access to film culture;
- a renewed emphasis on attracting inward investment to the UK film sector and underlining the continued importance of the Film Tax Relief;
- prioritising skills training for new technologies and post-production;
- additional funding to support the industry in combating film theft;
- continued support for film distribution and audience-focused initiatives; and
- an ongoing commitment to achieving a more diverse and inclusive workforce and film culture.
Launching the consultation document, Tim Bevan CBE, Chairman of the UK Film Council, said that the new three year business plan was a robust response to the economic downturn and its effect on film financing, rapid technological change and the reduction of the UK Film Council's income due to the 2012 Olympics.
Bevan added: "The support the UK Film Council has given film culture and the film industry over the past ten years has been enormous, but we're now operating in a very different environment and we need to adapt to meet the needs of a new generation of audiences and filmmakers. To do that when the UK Film Council is itself having to find savings of £25 million over the next three years is a real challenge. But it's now more important than ever to ensure we invest as much money as possible in film production, in creative and cultural excellence, and in helping UK film make a successful transition into the digital age – and that's exactly what we're proposing to do."
John Woodward, Chief Executive of the UK Film Council, outlined plans to replace the Premiere, New Cinema and Development Funds with a single unified Film Production Fund which, alongside an ongoing commitment to support world-class filmmakers, will provide a new space and funding stream to support experimental filmmaking. He confirmed that, topped-up with recoupment from successful film investment, the new fund could well have more money to spend on development and production than is currently the case.
Woodward also unveiled proposals for a new Innovation Fund to help UK film companies across the value chain make the successful transition into the digital age. Its remit would include identifying new business opportunities that technology and innovation can help unlock, providing financial support for innovative film organisations looking to develop new sources of revenue, and enabling better working between innovators, audiences and film companies.
Woodward commented: "By creating two substantial new funds – one to support the move into a fully digital world and one to champion the very best of UK film talent – the UK Film Council is underlining its support for British filmmakers at a time of genuine uncertainty. Separate to the consultation process itself, we are also cutting our overheads by 20% to push more money into front-line film activity. The next three months are about consulting with people from across the film sector, listening to their views on our proposals and locking in the right priorities going forward from April 2010 – but until then, it's very much business as usual."
UK Film: Digital innovation and creative excellence is available online at http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/consultation2009
The questionnaire can be completed online at http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/survey
For more information, please contact:
Oliver Rawlins, Head of Communications
T: 020 7861 7505
M: 07855 326362
E: oliver.rawlins@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
Oliver Foster, Head of Press and Public Affairs
T: 020 7861 7508
M: 07920 560509
E: oliver.foster@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
Tina McFarling, Head of Industry Relations
T: 020 7861 7900
M: 07879 421578
E: tina.mcfarling@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
UK Film Council Press Office
T: 020 7861 7901
E: press@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
Notes to Editors
AVERAGE ANNUAL INCOME FOR 2010-2013
Source | £ | % |
Lottery income | £31,810,000 | 55.2 |
Transfer of Lottery funds to the Olympics | (£4,890,000) | (8.5) |
DCMS grant-in-aid | £25,670,000 | 44.5 |
Recoupment income from UK Film Council investments | £4,870,000 | 8.5 |
EC grant, bank interest and other income | £170,000 | 0.3 |
TOTAL | £57,630,000 | 100.0 |
PROPOSED AVERAGE ANNUAL EXPENDITURE OVER THE PLAN PERIOD*
Priority | £ | % |
BFI | £16,000,000 | 27.0 |
Production Fund | £15,000,000 | 25.3 |
Operations** | £7,127,000 | 12.0 |
Screen Agencies | £6,300,000 | 10.6 |
Innovation Fund | £5,000,000 | 8.5 |
Film Skills Fund | £3,250,000 | 5.5 |
Prints and Advertising Fund | £2,000,000 | 3.4 |
First Light Movies | £1,100,000 | 1.9 |
Office of the British Film Commissioner | £800,000 | 1.4 |
Film Exports | £500,000 | 0.8 |
Research, statistics and market intelligence | £500,000 | 0.8 |
Diversity | £360,000 | 0.6 |
International support (MEDIA Desk UK, and other activities) | £358,000 | 0.6 |
Sponsorship | £300,000 | 0.5 |
Intellectual property and combating film theft | £250,000 | 0.5 |
Certification | £159,000 | 0.3 |
Cross art-form venues | £100,000 | 0.2 |
Co-production | £83,000 | 0.1 |
TOTAL | £59,187,000 | 100.0 |
* Annual expenditure is anticipated to slightly exceed income. However, based on DCMS re-forecasting of likely income from the Lottery alongside our own recoupment, we anticipate having sufficient cash reserves at April 2010 to meet the expenditure gap anticipated in this three year plan.
**Operations incorporates the direct costs of grant award administration, application support, and monitoring and evaluation (£3.1 million), together with organisational overhead costs including capital spend (£4.0 million). A reduction in total administration and overhead costs of 20% is underway and does not form part of the consultation.
UK FILM COUNCIL (www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk)
- The UK Film Council is the Government-backed lead agency for film in the UK, supporting the UK film industry, celebrating UK film culture and nurturing UK film talent at home and abroad.
- Since its creation in 2000 the UK Film Council has backed more than 900 films, shorts and features, which have won over 300 awards and entertained more than 200 million people around the world.
- Its support develops new filmmakers, funds exciting new British films and gets a wider choice of films to audiences throughout the UK. It also invests in training British talent, promoting Britain as an international filmmaking location and raising the profile of British films abroad. In addition, it funds the British Film Institute.
- Films backed by the UK Film Council include Fish Tank, Bright Star, Man on Wire, In the Loop, Bend it like Beckham, The Constant Gardener, Gosford Park, Happy-Go-Lucky, Red Road, St Trinian's, This is England, Touching the Void, The Last King of Scotland, Vera Drake and The Wind That Shakes the Barley.
- Current UK Film Council funding initiatives include:
- the world's first Digital Screen Network, which has invested in 240 digital screens in cinemas across the country, increasing film choice, bringing the 3D experience to a wider audience, and ensuring the UK has more digital screens than any other European country;
- over 200 film societies and independent regional film venues;
- UK film festivals, including the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival and the Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival;
- working with Skillset, the UK skills and training industry body for the creative industries, to enable almost 7000 people to further their filmmaking careers;
- giving over 20,000 young people the opportunity to get involved in filmmaking through First Light Movies and Mediabox;
- sponsoring the pilot and now the current rollout of FILMCLUB to thousands of schools, introducing new generations of children to the best of British and international cinema.
