A press release just in from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport: today film experts are meeting culture minister Ed Vaizey to talk about how film funding in the UK might look in a world without the UK Film Council, which the coalition government abolished in July. (Its chief executive, John Woodward, also announced his resignation this Monday morning.)
Representatives of bodies including Arts Council England, the BFI, BBC Films, Film 4 are attending.
This is what Vaizey says about the meeting:
"There is no question that public support for film is continuing. Indeed, the major investment through lottery funding will increase from next year and the valuable film tax credit remains.
"I want a robust and coordinated strategy to promote the UK as the best place to invest in film making and to provide real support and advice to film makers and investors alike. I want to make sure that public funds generate value for a wider audience and are focused where they can really make a difference."
Someone, at some point, is going to have to take on the fund-distributing role of the UK Film Council. I suspect it might end up going back to Arts Council England, which is of course already a lottery distributor and did the job before the UK Film Council was set up. (Before it was decided that film needed its own body, but so the wheels of history turn.) It's also possible that the BFI might take on the job, thus corralling national film responsibilities into one place.
Some have remarked that it might have been a good idea to sort out plans for the future before abolishing the existing body...
