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Academy First Person
DANGER:THE BOTTOMLINE
Despite record expenditure in the UK production sector, Steve Norris, British Film Commissioner, spells out fears for the future.
With all of the self-analysis that seems to have been part of the British film industry since the publication of the Film Policy Review Committee report, “A Bigger Picture”, in 1998, it still seems odd to me that the issues that really affect those working at the coal- face of production are often overlooked.
And as far as film is concerned, there are so many key issues to address. How are we going to train a new creative generation capa- ble of engaging a more demanding and audio-visually sophisticated public? How can we maximise the bounty of the National Lottery plus tangible UK tax benefits? How do we create an industry strong enough to stand on its own feet if tax benefits are one day no longer available to us?
They are all big issues, yet without the physical means to trans- late great creative ideas through to the finished result, I would argue that they become largely irrelevant.
As recently as 1992 the UK saw the production of only 30 feature films throughout the whole year (both indigenous and overseas pro- ductions) with a total production expenditure of £98 million. Compare that to the year 2000 when 90 or so projects were made in the UK and total production expenditure rose to over £750 million.
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