Let's talk numbers

What has happened to the UK film industry? From being either a bit of a flop with films best forgotten or, at best, small but devoted audiences watching Loach and Leigh pursue their idiosyncratic ways the last four or five years have seen the industry turned round. And the figures are impressive.

Between 2000 and 2009 the UK film industry’s contribution to the economy rose by 44% to £4.3bn. Amongst the key performers were blockbuster films like Harry Potter and Casino Royale but almost important were films of the class of The Constant Gardener and The Queen which were nominated at the Oscars. Not quite getting the footfall in the multiplexes but nevertheless garnering huge acclaim and interest at places like Cannes were films like Red Road or The Wind that Shakes the Barley. And the reason is simple: tax relief. Offering tax-breaks to filmmakers actually creates tax revenue. Everyone benefits, including filmmakers lower down the chain. And the filmmakers that benefit the most are the ones who do the most creative thinking when it comes to accessing funding.

It is worth considering for a moment crunching some numbers that might make filmmakers and industry professionals smile in these economically moody times. The UK Film Council has an annual budget of around £70m. Nearly half of the money comes from lottery funds and most of the rest comes directly from Government. They have a very wide remit to support national and regional filmmaking in a variety of ways, from supporting new talent with schemes like the First Feature Award worth £25k to new screenwriters or in the Production Company Vision Awards where up to £2m is available to companies to develop new features. It really is worth as well looking further than the funding available to make a film. There are grants of £1,500 available to support a film at a film festival abroad, for example, the IFSS (International Festival Sales Support) or the £4m of the Prints and Advertising Fund which aims to support the distribution and marketing of ‘specialised’ films, including for example, Red Road, London to Brighton and The Lives of Others.

As every filmmaker comes to expect though, the news isn’t all good. Funding for the 2012 London Olympics has meant diverting money from film support so that the UK Film Council is expecting to have to implement 15% cuts from next April, meaning in real terms a drop of around £4.4m. However, currently identified by propeller4film there is upwards of £1.6m available funding for filmmakers. Obviously, these funds have criteria which may not allow everyone to submit an application but with such a huge range and amount of money available it must mean that there are funds out there that would be appropriate to most projects in one way or another. Amongst the funds and to whet appetites, Britdoc are offering up to £60k to support contemporary documentary filmmakers, the Wellcome trust has up to £70k available in 3 different funds for the development of arts and broadcast funds and finally for the really imaginative how about working in Scotland with Scottish talent and supported by a £50k grant via Scottish Screen’s Vital Spark scheme or for the big ideas people there is £100k available for full-length features. And just a little bit further afield is the Dutch-based Jan Vrijman fund aimed at documentary makers when at the last round of awarding in February 2009 over Euros 220K was given to 21 projects. There message is – there still is money out there, despite the bad news.

Now – here’s a real teaser - anyone fancy persuading the Government to re-invest a little bit more of that £4.3bn?