30/11/2010

After abolishing the UK Film Council earlier this year, UK Minister for Culture and the Creative Industries Ed Vaizey has announced that the British Film Institute, (BFI) will be the lead strategic body on film and the distributor of lottery funds to UK filmmakers from April 2011. The BFI will also take over responsibility for the work in support of tax credit certification of UK films, which will remain in place; overseeing the strategy and public funding to support film in the nations and the regions; and audience development and education.

The share for film of lottery funds would increase from around £27m to around £43m annually by 2014. In addition, building on its existing filming locations service and on its work to support exports of British films internationally, Film London will be given the responsibility for promoting the UK as the best place to invest in film.

The BFI will reform its governance and management structures and along with the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), will lead a review on how to build a more sustainable British film industry and how to develop audiences for British films in the UK. The BFI will work with Film London, BAFTA and BBC Worldwide to consider the role BAFTA and BBC Worldwide could play to support the distribution of British films abroad.

The English Regional Screen Agencies outside London are transforming their network into Creative England, a simpler, more efficient structure with an expanded remit to support the creative industries across England.

Vaizey said, “Our biggest challenge is to make sure that the success of British films means success for British filmmakers. What we have announced today will deliver this.”