UK Film Council to be abolished
26th July 2010

A number of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) fifty-five public bodies are set to be merged, abolished or streamlined as part of the Government’s drive to cut costs and increase transparency, accountability and efficiency, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced today. This inlcudes abolishing the UK Film Council and establishing a direct and less bureaucratic relationship with the British Film Institute. Some key functions carried out by these bodies would be transferred to other, existing organisations.

The UK film industry has a turnover of £6.8 billion. It contributes a total of over £4.5 billion a year to UK GDP, returns more than £1.2 billion to the Exchequer and supports a total of 100,000 direct and indirect jobs. The UK box office has grown by 62% since the UK Film Council was (in 2009 it reached record levels of £944 million), with British films accounting for 23% of all UK cinema takings over the ten years to 2009.

Responding to today's announcement by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of plans to abolish the UK Film Council, Tim Bevan CBE, Chairman of the UK Film Council, said: "Abolishing the most successful film support organisation the UK has ever had is a bad decision, imposed without any consultation or evaluation. People will rightly look back on today's announcement and say it was a big mistake, driven by short-term thinking and political expediency. British film, which is one of the UK's more successful growth industries, deserves better.

"Our immediate priority now is to press the Government to confirm that the funding levels and core functions that are needed to underpin British film are locked-in, especially at a time when filmmakers and film companies need more support than ever as they make the challenging transition into the digital age. To that end, we will work with the DCMS over the summer to identify how they can guarantee both continuity and safe harbour for British film."

About the UK Film Council

The UK Film Council is the Government's 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. It employs 75 people. Since its creation in 2000, the UK Film Council has invested over £160m of Lottery funding into more than 900 films which have entertained over 200 million people and helped generate over £700 million at the box office worldwide, generating £5 for every £1 of Lottery money it has invested.

Its support develops new filmmakers, funds ambitious 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.

Since 2000 the UK Film Council has funded such films as Bend it like Beckham, Bright Star, The Constant Gardener, Fish Tank, Gosford Park, Happy-Go-Lucky, In the Loop, The Last King of Scotland, Man on Wire, Nowhere Boy, Red Road, St Trinian's, This is England, Touching the Void, Vera Drake ,The Wind That Shakes the Barley and Streetdance 3D, the UK's first 3D film.

Upcoming films backed by the UK Film Council include Mike Leigh's Another Year, Stephen Frears's Tamara Drewe, Nigel Cole's Made in Dagenham, Joe Cornish's Attack the Block, Rowan Joffe's Brighton Rock, Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk about Kevin, Justin Chadwick's The First Grader, Tom Hooper's The King's Speech, Peter Mullan's Neds and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights.

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 UK, increasing film choice, bringing the 3D experience to a wider audience, and ensuring the UK has more digital cinemas than any other European country;
  
  
• awarding three newly-formed consortiums a total of £1.2 million of Lottery funding, to bring the latest in digital cinema to venues across four 'under-screened' UK counties (North Yorkshire, Shropshire, and Wiltshire and Test Valley (Hampshire)), giving rural audiences the opportunity to enjoy a modern digital cinema experience – including 3D film screenings, live opera, theatre and sport satellite events beamed across the UK – without having to travel long distances;
  
  
• supporting 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, enabling almost 7,000 people to further their filmmaking careers;
  giving over 20,000 young people the opportunity to get involved in filmmaking through First Light and Mediabox;
  
  
• bringing FILMCLUB to thousands of schools, introducing new generations of children to the best of British and international cinema.

Recent figures show that in 2009;

• Cinema admissions rose to 174 million, the highest figure for seven years
• British films and talent won 36 major film awards, 17% of the total available;
• inward investment reached a record £753 million, up 111% on 2008;
• UK film exports exceeded £1.3 billion, 92% higher than in 2001.