The end of UK film as we know it?

What impact will the abolition of the UK Film Council have on Nottingham?

Recently news that the UK Film Council was to be abolished under our new coalition government flooded the web last week. As the industry tried to take in the surprising decision, Tim Bevan, Chief Executive of UKFC announced that even they had been kept in the dark: “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 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.”

The UK Film Council (UKFC) is the government backed lead agency for film in the UK ensuring that the economic, cultural and educational aspects of film are effectively represented at home and abroad. This year sees them celebrating their tenth anniversary, that’s ten years helping bring films such as The Last King of Scotland, Atonement and legendary Nottingham film This is England to the big screen. The UKFC website boasts that since 2000 they have invested £160 million in UK film productions, supported more than 35,000 jobs, and made a return of £4.7 billion in inward investment into the UK economy and that from every £1 invested £5 has been returned. 

Last year in the East Midlands alone, EM Media the regional screen agency, part financed by the UKFC, co-financed eight films and made 76 investments in film projects. These films have gone on to be seen in 35 countries worldwide. Richard Knight from Freshly Made Films, who has been a part of EM Media’s DV shorts scheme, which is funded by the UKFC, told us that he felt, “in times of austerity it’s always going to be the arts that suffer before such fundamentals as health and education, and quite rightly so. But replacing the UKFC with absolutely nothing is at best short-sighted, and at worst, a lasting blow for the British Film Industry.”

Still from Samantha Morton's The Unloved - filmed entirely in Nottingham

Filming in the East Midlands rose dramatically from 2003, with 800 films filming in the region in 2008. Most people recognise local boy Shane Meadows’ legendary film and BAFTA award winning This is England as a Nottingham classic. Other films that have brought recognition to the region include local girl-done-good Samantha Morton’s The Unloved, which was filmed entirely in Nottingham and included cast from Nottingham’s Television Workshop where Samantha was once a member. It brought critical acclaim to Samantha and the city, highlighting the problems that used to exist in children’s homes.  Then, of course, there was Bunny and the Bull, starring the IT Crowd’s Richard Aeyode, which was filmed wholly at the University of Nottingham’s Kings Meadow campus and is bedfellows with Control, Bronson, Unmade Beds and Skeletons in what is a very long list of East Midlands connected films. Almost all of these films received funding from the UKFC and some starred members of Nottingham’s acclaimed Television Workshop, run by Ian Smith, and which is also backed by UKFC.

Tim Smith who is one of the founders of Shop in Nottingham and who runs Fourmost Films, as well as being another former member of the Television Workshop is part of the movement that has set up a petition and will be taking place in a protest in London’s Leicester Square on 28 August to highlight the importance of UKFC and what losing it will really mean to British film: “Nottingham has such a vibrant scene which a lot of people have a passion for saving, Nottingham uses UKFC funding to fund educational and cultural projects such as the Television Workshop and EM Media’s DV Shorts which have provided opportunities for people to get started in the industry, learn and gain employment which is so important, now more than ever. The UKFC have raised the profile of British film to that of our overseas counterparts, our films have won high accolades and the government need to decide how they should continue to facilitate it. There is no information so far on what will be replacing it, no consultation took place and it would be a devastating blow to loose it.  The UKFC reaches so many people, not just directly but down to those who go and see the films, it all trickles down and it is all set to be lost. So many popular British actors have worked with and benefitted from UKFC there are sure to be a host of famous faces lining the streets on the day of the protest.”
 

Nick Whitfield's Skeletons has had critial acclaim before its release this month

In a recent interview with Nottingham based Wellington Films, Rachel Robey and Al Clark were equally vocal about the importance of UK film and especially Nottingham's part in it:  "There’s a great heritage here: Steven Frears, Alan Silitoe, Shane Meadows. Jonathan Glazier went to Nottingham Trent - there’s been a good procession of people. EM Media have been very successful; at Edinburgh Film Festival last year, they had six films which is far more than any other screen agency. So in output, Nottingham has been incredibly important in British film making. It’s worrying that the film fringe in Nottingham is being jeopardised with all the funding cuts that are coming in with the new government."

People are clearly getting behind the movement as the Save the UK Film Council Facebook page received around over 20,000 hits within the first 48 hours and now has over 37,000 people supporting it.  The question we have to ask is what will losing the UKFC’s money mean to film production in the region? With local film makers, directors, producers, actors and many more people relying on the UKFC’s support and whose films rely on the UKFC’s funding. Some people may believe that this type of funding is a luxury, but the honest truth is that the money from these films does not just line the pockets of those who make them - when a production comes to any city such as Nottingham, money is spent on hotels, restaurants, shops and places such as the castle, pubs etc which are used as filming locations and will be paid for their time and hire of their space, all these places employ local people and therefore we all benefit. Films bring money, people and ultimately tourism to our city.

It is of course also the honour of seeing these great Nottingham films making their cinematic debuts, there’s something to be said about watching your street or your city on the big screen. I don’t think losing the UKFC will be the end, there will still be money to be distributed in the region on filming, but an organisation such as the UKFC is a dedicated group of individuals who work hard to bring UK made films to the forefront of worldwide cinema, the question is what exactly will happen to the industry now?

You can sign up to the online petition and learn more about the protest here

Share this article