30/10/2002 - Film Council continues revamp by opening doors to distribution and exhibition specialists

Two new Board members have joined the British Film Council: Nigel Green, joint managing director of leading independent distribution company Entertainment Film Distributors, and Stephen Knibbs, senior vice president of exhibition chain UCI Cinemas.
The new members are the first to represent the distribution and exhibition sectors, as most other 13 members are producers or TV executives such as Tim Bevan (Working Title), Duncan Kenworthy (Toledo Films), Chris Auty (Civilian Content) and Dawn Airey (BSkyB).
Under the aegis of chairman, Sir Alan Parker CBE, and deputy chairman, Stewart Till, the board of directors meets on a monthly basis and controls the overall policies of the Film Council.
Commenting on the newly appointed board members, filmmaker and chairman Alan Parker said that Nigel Green and Stephen Knibbs will bring “a new level of skill to the Board as regards film distribution and exhibition. The timing is good because we are now working on proposals to encourage real structural change in the UK film industry and expertise from the distribution and exhibition sectors is going to be particularly important over the coming months”.
A few weeks ago, Peter Buckingham was appointed as head of the Film Council’s Distribution and Exhibition Fund, responsible for implementing a range of proposals aimed at tackling structural weakness in the UK distribution and exhibition sectors.

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