01/12/2003

The producer of Chariots of Fire, Lord David Puttnam, who is strong lobbyist within the UK film industry, has said he is in favour of a film and television production fund for the North East of England that would help the region re-invent itself as a hub for film and TV activities.

Lord Puttnam made the comments while at a party celebrating the first birthday of Northern Film & Media (NFM), the agency partly funded by the UK Film Council and responsible for promoting culture in the North East of England. He said: “Content creation, including crucially digital content remains key. With this in mind, I am entirely supportive of plans for a film and television production fund for the North East, which would help this region to get its stories on our film and television screens”.

He went on to add “Let’s be crystal clear about this, in the end, it is our ability to create entertaining and engaging content which will determine the competitiveness of our audiovisual industries. That remains true even in an era dominated by digital technology; technology is only ever a bridge, not a destination in itself. That has been true ever since the dawn of cinema; after all cinema was invented by scientists, the Lumiere Brothers, but though they didn’t realise it, and even tried to resist it, the technology was simply a bridge to a new way of telling stories”.

According to Tom Harvey, the chief executive of NFM, the agency has already invested over £2.3m in more than 400 projects in the North East, attracting 100 productions that in turn spent over £2m in the region and created 32,000 working days for local actors and crews. Now NFM plans to set up a £4-6m Film and TV Fund, which would bring in productions that could generate as much as £28m of spend on local crew and facilities according to Harvey.

During NFM’s birthday party, the agency was also awarded the status of Skillset Approved Regional Partner in recognition of NFM’s commitment to training.