New era for film in the UK?

The BFI is predicting a new era for film in the UK as it prepares to restructure and reorganise in light of its promotion to the dizzy heights of the leading UK body for film. But what is this new era really going to mean to the quality and diversity of content on our screens?

2010 is all set to prove itself as a bumper year at UK box office, thanks to recession, big blockbusters and 3D. But with Little Fockers currently top of the box office pops after packing away over £3m in ticket sales in its first five days of release in the UK, it feels unlikely that this new era will fuel any real change in the type of content that keeps the cinema near you in the red.

Change however does trickle beneath the frozen waters of Hollywood dominance. Curzon Cinemas has launched Curzon On Demand a service that allows you to view the latest cinema releases from the comfort of your own home. This is a great opportunity for those who can’t reach specialist cinemas such as the Curzon to access the latest independent releases as well as the occasional classic.

And following on from the success of the National Theatre and New York Met, the Bolshoi Ballet now plan to beam four of their performances to 300 cinemas around the world.

But is a new era really coming for the UK film industry, or merely a shift in who gets the cash from the DCMS? Too soon to say. But as 2010 rolls into 2011 it looks likely that hard times will hit us all. This could be good news for a recession friendly industry that provides affordable escape from the harsh realities of being hard up. But in terms of fueling the industry with new talent, fresh ideas, innovative ways of working and stories from around the world, the new era might not bring anything new at all.

UKFC – RIP? probably not.

It’s no great surprise that the UK government’s Department for Culture Media and Sport today announced that it plans to abolish the UK Film Council.

The government deals out around £25m to the UKFC each year and if you want to get a health check on the industry it presides over, check out the organisation’s latest Statistical Yearbook.

There is no denying that the British film industry is something to be proud of. The list of films, careers and talent the UKFC has invested in over its ten year existence is impressive. If you don’t believe me, check here for a list of its achievements, along with the number of jobs the industry creates, the huge growth of the UK box office over the past decade and the amount of money (£1.2 billion) the nation’s film industry pours back into the Exchequer’s coffers each year.

The flip side though is a couple of nagging questions. Firstly, does the UK need two national film organisations? The BFI is a charity and protected by Royal Charter so the DCMS can’t touch it. But is it, as an organisation, ready/fit for purpose to take back on the work the UKFC took off it ten years ago and drive the industry forward through its difficult, but unavoidable, transition into the digital era?

The second question is where is the sustainability of the British film industry? Don’t get me wrong the industry is well deserving of public funding and more than returns its investment back to the public purse. But do proposals such as PACT’s new business model for UK film producers offer a feasible and bureaucratically cheaper alternative?

Tim Bevan, Chairman of the UKFC, has reacted to today’s news by claiming that the government’s decision is a bad one, “imposed without consultation or evaluation… driven by short-term thinking and political expediency." And that the British film industry deserves better.

This is the crux of why the UKFC will not rest in peace. Knee jerk cuts will only stunt the industry’s growth and fuel resentment amongst those who will be denied access to opportunities within it, whose stories will never be told on the big screen and whose local cinemas are at risk. All of which will only make for a small society.