And, so the end is near, we await the final curtain…the abolition UK Film Council has not been one of the better decisions of the new coalition government.
We understand their desire to get rid of wasteful quangos, expensive committees that sit around, talk for weeks on end, occupy expensive office space and achieve precious little but the UK Film Council was a doer rather than a talker.
It employed only 75 members of staff and availed itself of some of the best expertise in the British film industry. It was also a champion for film education.
It was in the forefront of the adoption of digital technology. It provided the IFT with its digital projector. The idea behind the loan of projectors was that it boosted the range of films made available to the cinema-going public – something that we have been only too happy to comply with.
It also made more money available to small production companies to expand the print-run for certain films allowing for a wider distribution – again allowing more people to see different types of film.
But the biggest contribution the UK Film Council makes to the life of the nation is its championing of new film-making talent and its investment in British film.
It was one of only three bodies that regularly invested significant amounts in homegrown film production. The other two funders were BBC Films and Channel 4. But, as the BBC’s and Channel 4’s production budgets were slimmed down by the recession the presence of the UK Film Council became even more important.
For some reason private enterprise in this country is incredibly reluctant to invest in film. It doesn’t matter how much a film like Harry Potter, James Bond, Bend It Like Beckham or Shakespeare In Love makes, The City cannot be persuaded to loosen its purse strings to any great extent.
The best way to finance film is for a company to commission a number of films, then the hits subsidise the less successful titles. As it works at present, every film has to be a hit otherwise the investment is lost.
But, what makes – or rather made the UK Film Council – so important is that they were willing to invest in films which would propel talented young film-makers into the spotlight as well as making sure that films which reflected the British way of life and British heritage got made.
It was an important buffer to counter the effects of Hollywood’s cultural imperialism.
The question that everyone is asking but no-one seems to be answering is: ‘How is British film is going to be financed now that the UK Film Council is being wound up?’
For those of you who thought that the UK Film Council was just throwing away tax-payers money think again. It allocated lottery money and by and large it invested wisely. Mostly the films made money and those that didn’t were usually critically acclaimed.
Just look at these figures:
UK Film Council invested £545,000 in The Wind That Shakes The Barley. Total UK take: £4,870,290. Total global take: £14,777,563.
UK Film Council invested £945,043 in Bend It Like Beckham. Total UK take: £10,710,687. Total global take: £28,417,222.
UK Film Council invested £564,010 in Bright Star. Total UK take: £910,160. Total global take: £12,824,055.
UK Film Council invested £1,900,000 in The Constant Gardener. Total UK take: £6,946,011. Total global take: £53,257,699.
UK Film Council invested £469,066 in Red Road. Total UK take: £418,322. Total global take: £728,759.
UK Film Council invested £590,000 in Fish Tank. Total UK take: £110,982. Total global take: £1,252,957.
UK Film Council invested £70,000 in Girl With The Pearl Ear-ring. Total UK take: £3,846,087. Total global take: £20,317,942.
UK Film Council invested £2m in Gosford Park. Total UK take: £11,056,143. Total global take: £56,662,652.
UK Film Council invested £563,825 in In The Loop. Total UK take: £2,289,631. Total global take: £5,028,695.
UK Film Council invested £35,000 in Man On Wire. Total UK take: £1,022,208. Total global take: £3,395,671.
UK Film Council invested £130,000 in Vera Drake. Total UK take: £2,868,581. Total global take: £8,565,782.
UK Film Council invested £48,000 in My Summer of Love. Total UK take: £356,370. Total global take: £1,786,985.
UK Film Council invested £1,235,500 in Nowhere Boy. Total UK take (to-date): £1,002,835. Total global take (to-date): £1,833,009.
This makes impressive reading in my book. Even difficult films like Red Road and Fish Tank which didn’t make their money back in the UK still returned a healthy profit if you took global figures into account.
These are treasured examples of contemporary British cinema. If the UK Film Council isn’t about who is going to fund these types of films after 2012? If British cinema is to continue we need a mixture of intelligent home-grown crowd-pleasers and critically acclaimed award-winners. If our film industry is to survive into the next decade, it is imperative that we keep both sides of the equation balanced.
