Film Policy in the United Kingdom: New Labour at the Movies

Abstract

The article summarises key aspects of government intervention in the British film industry since the election of a Labour government in 1997. The process of amalgamating a variety of existing institutions (including British Screen, the British Film Commission and the Arts Council's Lottery Film Department) into the new UK Film Council is described and the implications for developments in the English regions is considered. The issue of the continuing American dominance of the industry is explored and this is related to the contentious concept of an economically 'sustainable' domestic industry. In conclusion it is proposed that more careful attention be given to the cultural and educational implications of current policy.

Film Support and the Challenge of ‘Sustainability’: On Wing Design, Wax and Feathers, and Bolts from the Blue

“…The fact that the Film Council was initially steered strongly towards industrial sustainability is consistent with a 'defensive instrumentalism' which some have argued is characteristic of New Labour's general approach to policies of support for culture (Belfiore, 2012). A prioritisation of economic goals for film support chimed with New Labour's broader strategy of supporting growth in 'creative industries' but failed to address the complexities surrounding excessive reliance on inward investment from Hollywood (Dickinson and Harvey, 2005). Although the UKFC eventually distanced itself from this objective in favour of a more rounded agenda, it was forever tainted by the impression that securing a sustainable industry was its primary raison d'être and a mission that, in the end, it had not managed to accomplish.…”

“…Nowell-Smith and Dupin (2012) provide an extensive history of the BFI -one of the UK's oldest cultural institutions and the predominant support body for film prior to the arrival of the UKFC -from 1933-2000. Some earlier work has focused specifically on the efficacy of film support during the more recent period when the UKFC was in operation (Dickinson and Harvey, 2005;Hill, 2012;Magor and Schlesinger, 2009;Perkins, 2012;Wayne, 2006;Street, 2012). This article adds to this earlier work by utilizing the case study of the UKFC to probe how film policy is interpreted, developed and re-shaped institutionally by the public support bodies which are charged with enacting it.…”

“…But the latter is not a single unified constituency and so, even were the Council's efforts confined to supporting production, it still faced a complex array of competing pressures in relation to how best to direct its support. For example, whereas some producers were calling for tax breaks to be framed in such a way that cultural stipulations would not deter inward investment, others were less convinced about the merits of directing public support towards major international players and wanted to see more emphasis on support for bone fide British film-makers (Dickinson and Harvey, 2005;Wayne, 2006).…”

British Film Policy in an Age of Austerity

“…At the same time, cultural film subsidy was maintained at a certain level, mostly through the British Film Institute and Channel 4 (Dickinson and Harvey 2005). This time the Coalition is pursuing the opposite strategy: the maintenance of subsidy to the commercial film sector at the expense of state support for the remaining remnants of a socially and culturally progressive film policy in the UK.…”

Professionalising the British film industry: the UK Film Council and public support for film production

“…While there is a paragraph near the end of A Bigger Picture (1998, p. 50) calling for the 'rationalisation of Government machinery in the longer term', there is dispute over how this came to be included. The accepted narrative is that the creation of one 'superbody' responsible for all aspects of film in the UK was a key recommendation of the report (Dickinson andHarvey 2005, Hill 2012). However, as outlined by both Doyle (2014) and Schlesinger (2015), there was little or no discussion of this during the deliberations of the various subgroups set-up to discuss film policy more generally.…”