Parminder Nagra and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in Bend It Like Beckham.Christine Parry
Britain's new coalition government is sharpening its axe and one of the first to feel the blade is the UK Film Council, which culture minister Jeremy Hunt is proposing to close within two years.
In the view of Mr. Hunt, the move would ensure "greater value for money," although predictably not everyone agrees. Director Mike Leigh, who's been the beneficiary of film council support in the past, called the decision " remarkable and extremely worrying." The Deadline London blog, which broke the story of the council's demise, quotes writer-director Armando Iannucci calling the decision-makers "wangpots." (If you want even more inventive cussing, you should rent, or even better buy, Iannucci's terrific political satire In the Loop. Yes, it too received film council funding.)
The film council, which employs 75 people, supports and promotes the UK movie industry by dispersing £15-million ($24-million) worth of lottery funds for feature films every year, as well as supporting British cinemas, festivals, and money for foreign films to be shown across the country. By its own reckoning, it has spent £160-million ($257-million) in its ten-year history on movies from Bend it Like Beckham to this year's hit Streetdance 3D. (The film council does not trumpet its contribution to 2004's non-hit Sex Lives of the Potato Men, although its critics do, often and loudly.)
The council has been controversial pretty much from the first frame, and a quick glance at any number of message boards reveals that its death isn't unanimously condemned.
For one thing, the government has said it's committed to maintaining film funding, and a popular production tax credit (at least for now; nothing is sacred under the approaching spending review, in which government departments are being asked to outline cuts of between 20 and 40 per cent.)
Some filmmakers complain that the UK Film Council is cliquey, that it's too bureaucratic and its application processes are unnecessarily complex. It has also been slammed both for being too populist in taste and too obscure, which is perhaps a sign that it's doing the right thing. It gave funds to Leigh's Vera Drake and Happy-Go-Lucky, for instance, two films which could not be more different in tone and outlook.
One person in the film business I spoke with compared the council's role to Telefilm Canada's in providing invisible but important support for the industry, and said, "it's not a lot of money so it must be a symbolic move - they're trying to show there's a new sheriff in town." (Hunt, the culture minister, has said axing the council will mean savings of £3-million, or $4.8-million). Another film producer told me that while the council sometimes seemed out of touch with independent filmmakers, it had undoubtedly helped put British movies on the map and that he was sorry to see it go.
The next few months will certainly be filled with similar announcements. Anyone interested in conservation will not be happy to hear, for example, that English Heritage may also be facing the chop.
(Photo: Parminder Nagra and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in Bend It Like Beckham. Credit: Christine Parry)