21/04/2009

The UK Film Council (UKFC) along with the Technology Strategy Board and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills has announced a new £5 million funding programme to drive digital innovation.

Titled ‘Accessing and Commercialising Content in a Digitally Networked World’ the funding will support new business models and services that maximise revenue streams for content creators and rights holders. The UKFC will joint fund successful film related applications with up to £1 million of funding. The UKFC hopes that the initiative will make it easier to identify content and rights holders, help rights holders collect revenue and develop new business models to monetise Intellectual Property.

The fund will also explore innovative projects that allow audiences to discover film in new ways in the digital era.

UKFC Head of Distribution and Exhibition Pete Buckingham said, “As the UK film industry moves into the digital age, it is essential that issues such as rights revenue and ensuring access to content are revisited. New business models that work in the digital world are needed to ensure that audiences continue to have the widest possible access and that content creators and rights holders work in an environment that recognises the value of content.

“Programmes such as this, encouraging collaboration between the worlds of film and technology have a vital role to play in ensuring that the UK industry remains at the forefront of innovation and makes that transition successfully.”