Supplementary written evidence submitted by the
British Film Institute

Dear Chair,

I hope this letter finds you well.

I am writing to you following the Prime Minister’s announcement that Parliament will dissolve next week ahead of the General Election. I regret that the BFI will not have the opportunity to provide oral evidence to the inquiry, nor to host Committee members at the BFI National Archive’s Conservation Centre in Berkhamsted as planned to discuss the importance of preserving the UK’s moving image heritage. In light of the election announcement, I wanted to share some final thoughts on the inquiry, the challenges and opportunities facing the UK film and high-end television (HETV) sector, and the role the BFI will work to play in it going forward.

Firstly, I would like to thank you and the Committee for the time and effort you have put into the inquiry. UK film and HETV have undergone radical change in recent years, delivering record jobs and growth as well as UK stories loved around the world. Nuanced and responsive policymaking is essential if we are to continue this success into the future. Your work has galvanised much-needed action and discussion on some of the key issues facing our sector.

The BFI’s written response to the inquiry, which I re-attach here, sets out our positions on the wide range of issues under exploration by the Committee. But even in the short time since we submitted this in late 2023, the landscape for UK film and HETV has changed. This includes through the Chancellor’s announcement of valuable new measures to support studio space, visual effects and independent film at Spring Budget 2024.

The introduction of the new Independent Film Tax Credit (IFTC) is transformational. It will support UK filmmakers from a range of backgrounds to bring diverse and authentic stories.  It will also help people across the UK to carve out sustainable and rewarding careers in both above and below-the-line roles by supporting the growth of our domestic film sector. The IFTC will better enable the BFI’s own work to foster UK talent, including our investment of £54m of National Lottery funding in filmmaking (as well as £15m in skills development) over the current funding period. The measure has been universally welcomed by industry, and the BFI has been working closely with UK Government to prepare for its implementation. Your work through this inquiry, and your advocacy to UK Government on behalf of independent film, has played a major role in making the IFTC a reality. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your support on this.

While these new measures are welcome, the wider value chain of UK film and HETV also requires policy attention. As you heard in your oral evidence session in April, the UK’s exhibition and distribution sectors face major challenges. Cinemas face rising costs and box office returns that remain below pre-pandemic levels. Amidst financial uncertainty, cinemas are increasingly reliant on strong performances from a handful of established franchises, while audiences face financial barriers and perceive there to be a lack of choice. These challenges are well reported and in keeping with those faced by other cultural venues across the UK. They have resulted in cinema closures, job losses, and a worrying lack of film exhibition provided in certain parts of the UK. In turn, distributors’ margins are squeezed by declining revenue from exhibition, a decrease in revenue opportunities from physical media, and by cost increases in some aspects of advertising and marketing.

From Lerwick to Penzance, cinemas are vital to connect audiences with film, and often act as a hub for their local community. A healthy distribution sector is essential for a diverse and profitable exhibition sector - getting films into cinemas and onto streaming platforms and helping them to find their audience through press and marketing activity. Even as more people access content digitally, the big-screen experience remains irreplicable – as demonstrated by the huge demand for Barbie and Oppenheimer last summer, and the overwhelming success of the most recent edition of the BFI London Film Festival.

With no grant-in-aid funding at our disposal, and only 2.7% of National Lottery receipts to award for project-based activity, the BFI’s capacity to support independent cinemas and distributors in the face of these challenges is limited. New mechanisms must be found to support the long-term health of these sectors, and the BFI will continue to advocate for the introduction of such measures by future Governments. This could include the Film Distributors Association’s proposal for enhanced tax relief for distribution, as well as tax relief for exhibition. We would also point to the £5m Grassroots Music Fund, announced as part of the Creative Industries Sector Vision and awarded by Arts Council England, as an example of UK Government support for essential cultural infrastructure through grant-in-aid funding.

Beyond these issues, the BFI is developing assets to inform future policymaking in other areas too. The advent of streaming has transformed UK film and HETV since the Committee’s last inquiry into film in 2003. Going forward, UK film and HETV face questions on how we can foster the most productive working relationship between online AV services (including international SVoD companies) and the UK domestic sector. To explore this question, the BFI is scoping an impact assessment on how regulation of online AV services is being used by countries around the world to support domestic industry. The sector must also grasp the question of how it makes future use of rapidly developing AI technologies, and we are scoping horizon scanning research on this topic too, as well as on how we can make the most of rapidly developing AI technologies. We will share the findings of this work with the Committee and any future Government, with the aim of supporting the most effective possible policymaking on these issues in future. 

To help address the challenges in collecting data across a transient workforce and forecasting need in a dynamic industry, we have recently worked with partners in the West Midlands and Wales to pilot new models for tracking and forecasting skills gaps in local workforces We hope to publish this shortly. The BFI is chairing the Creative Industries Council’s working group on Good Work, and we will soon announce a new £1.5m National Lottery programme providing advice, support, and training to businesses on quality employment practices for the sector. Through this work we aim to help make the sector a healthy, happy and safe place to work, and to support its ability to attract and retain the talent we need. Similarly, we are undertaking a review of some of the infrastructure needed to support international and domestic production in locations across the UK, and how this can be funded going forward. Informed decision-making on these issues is essential if our sector is to deliver on the huge potential it offers to people across the country.

Throughout the inquiry, Committee members have been clear on the importance of developing film and HETV across the devolved nations and regions of the UK, as well as supporting those from underrepresented backgrounds to engage with the sector. I would like to impress the BFI’s dedication to delivering on both these matters. In addition to the work listed above, equity, diversity and inclusion and UK-wide development are two of the core principles that underpin our ten-year strategy, Screen Culture 2033. All our activity works to deliver positive change in these areas. We understand that it is essential to tailor delivery to the varying landscape in each nation and region, including the individual policy context of the devolved nations. We also know that those on the ground with the most detailed understanding of what is needed in their area. We work closely with partners across the UK to fund and deliver activity, from Screen Scotland and Screen Alliance North to Queen’s Film Theatre Belfast and Bristol’s Watershed. I direct you to our responses to questions 2.ii and 6.iii in our full written submission for further information on our position and activity on each of these issues respectively.

More specifically, I also wish to provide further detail on our work on skills and talent development across the UK and with those from less advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, which Committee members discussed with our Director of Skills & Workforce Development, Sara Whybrew earlier this week. I attach an appendix setting out further information on our National Lottery-funded activity in these areas, which I hope you will find useful.

Evidence submitted to the Committee has recognised the importance of early age interventions to ensure we have the skills and workforce needed for our screen sector to flourish. More broadly, education is key to the BFI’s goal of deepening the public’s appreciation, understanding and enjoyment of screen culture. The BFI advocates for the development of creative competencies as part of a dedicated creative and cultural education, so valuable transferable skills can be developed at a younger age. We currently provide National Lottery funding to Into Film to work with teachers across the UK to deliver a range of film and moving image related courses for 14-18-year-olds across the UK. Last year 84% of schools reached through this programme were outside of London and the South East. I had hoped to use our intended oral evidence session to explore this topic with the Committee further, but will now look to do so on another occasion in the future.

As the UK’s lead body for film and the moving image, the BFI will continue to do everything in our ability to support them to flourish. We welcome all the support that UK Government has provided to the sector in recent years; from the IFTC, to the UK Global Screen Fund, to measures including the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas in England and the Production Restart Scheme in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, the BFI’s own capacity to deliver on behalf of the sector has been pressured by a real-terms reduction of around 50% in core grant-in-aid funding for film. Going forward, we will make the case to any future Government on the importance of investing in the BFI to enable us to work closely with them to deliver the greatest possible benefit to the film and HETV sector, as well as to the public right across the UK.

UK film and HETV are to be treasured. They enrich the lives of people in every part of the UK, and we are globally recognised for our creativity, innovation and storytelling. Once again, I would like to thank you and every member of the Committee for helping to support the sector’s success into the future. I look forward to working with you and the wider CMS Committee in time to come.

Yours Sincerely,

Ben Roberts

Chief Executive