Caroline's Response to UK Film Council Under Threat

by Caroline_Norbury on 27-Jul-10 17:48

It’s been a turbulent week already here at South West Screen – and it’s only Tuesday.

The Government has demanded cuts from all departments to achieve its spending targets so we were fully expecting to see a reduction in funding from the UK Film Council. But the news that the Government may abolish the film Council altogether has come as a surprise.

At the moment, we only have the bare bones of the DCMS statment to go on, so we are awaiting further developments. But, we have taken some comfort from the news that the Government does recognise the important work the Regional Screen Agencies do in meeting the different needs of each region’s  creative media industries, and that it is committed to maintaining Lottery investment in film.

Since we were set up by the Film Council in 2002, South West Screen has invested funds from the UK Film Council to support creative talent and make the world of watching, making and working in film accessible to as many people as possible. Our new feature filmmaking initiative, iFeatures, underlines our commitment to the media community in our region. But we recognise that the creative media industries are constantly growing, evolving and converging and we are changing, too, to keep pace with that.

We know how important the creative industries are to the South West and the UK as a whole, both culturally and economically, and we are confident that we have the talent here in the South West to continue to drive the sector forward. We hope that by continuing to invest in the Creative Industries, with Government support, and by building relationships with new and existing partners, we will be able to continue our work in supporting this exciting and dynamic sector. We hope to get more clarity on the situation with the UK Film Council in the coming days and weeks so will make sure we keep you posted.

Read our official statement here.

Tagged:Caroline Norbury, UK Film Council, DCMS

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