10/07/2002 - Budget and personnel cuts and a return to its origins for Brit Film´s pre-eminent film production house

The board of FilmFour put an end to speculation by issuing an official press release in which it announced a radical transformation of one of the United Kingdom´s most important film production and distribution companies. The company, that will continue to be known as FilmFour, is to maintain production activities, albeit with a vastly reduced budget, said to be in the region of €15m (last year´s budget was €45m) but is to cease all distribution and sales activities. FilmFour will be absorbed by Channel 4, one of the United Kingdom´s major private TV networks, and many of FilmFour´s 60 employees are likely to join the ranks of the unemployed.
FilmFour will cease to make high-budget international profile films (such as the recent and hugely expensive flop, Charlotte Grey starring Cate Blanchett) and return to grassroots with cutting edge low-budget films made for the British market. The new FilmFour intends concentrating on British filmmaking talent while maintaining its role as a discoverer of and nursery for fresh young talent and new forms of cinematographic expression. All films produced are assured a first TV airing on one of the four FilmFour Tv channels although the burden of finding funding will lie squarely on producers´ shoulders.
Given the gradual nature of the proposed changes, the following films will go into production as scheduled: Motorcycle Diaries, about a journey the young Che Guevara made, directed by Walter Salles, and Damien O´Donnell´s Edgardo Mortara starring Anthony Hopkins and Javier Bardem.
Interviewed by the BBC, Kim Howells, the Minister for Films said this does mean curtains for the British film industry while director, Ken Loach, whose Kes was a FilmFour production said «FilmFour would do well to look to European film, because we have so much in common».

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