UK Film Council
Encyclopedia
The UK Film Council was set up in 2000 by the Labour
Government as a non-departmental public body
to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee governed by a board of 15 directors
and was funded through sources including the National Lottery
. John Woodward was the Chief Executive Officer of the UKFC. As at 30 June 2008, the company had 90 full-time members of staff. It distributed more than £160m of lottery money to over 900 films. Lord Puttnam described the Council as "a layer of strategic glue that's helped bind the many parts of our disparate industry together."
On 26 July 2010 the Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition
announced that the council would be abolished; Woodward said that the decision had been taken with "no notice and no consultation". UKFC closed on 31 March 2011, with many of its functions passing to the British Film Institute
.
The Development Fund aimed to broaden the quality, range and ambition of film projects being developed in the UK. With £12 million of Lottery funding to invest over three years, the fund aimed to build a talent-driven home for writers, directors and producers. It helped filmmakers of all experience levels develop their ideas and screenplays into viable feature films, be they fiction, documentary or animation, up until the moment they were ready to get production finance. There were two funding programmes, one for first-time feature filmmakers and one for established filmmakers. The First Feature Film Development Programme aimed to identify and support emerging filmmakers (e.g. screenwriters, writer/directors and writer, director, producer teams) who had not made a feature film or who had not yet had a feature film released theatrically or broadcast on UK television. Awards were made up to £25,000. The Feature Film Development Programme was a dedicated industry funding programme for producers, production companies and filmmakers with a demonstrable track record of success in feature filmmaking or in production in the audio-visual arena, looking for funding and financing partnerships. The fund also offered Signature Awards to help further encourage ambitious and original filmmakers and projects.
Funded films included Jane Campion
's Bright Star; Oscar-winning filmmaker Andrea Arnold
's second feature Fish Tank; Armando Iannucci's In The Loop; and Sam Taylor Wood's Nowhere Boy, written by Matt Greenhalgh
.
The New Cinema Fund supported emerging talent and established filmmakers working outside the mainstream, focusing on the most innovative writing and the most gifted directors. The fund had £15 million of Lottery money to invest over three years and funded eight to ten feature films each year. It had a strong commitment to supporting work from the nations and regions, from black, Asian and other minority ethnic filmmakers and encouraged the use of digital technology in the production, distribution and exhibition of films. It also supported over 100 short films each year through its short film schemes. Four flagship short film schemes operated nationwide: Cinema Extreme
(administered by The Bureau); the Completion Fund
(administered by Maya Vision International); The Magic Hour (administered by 104 films); and Blank Slate (administered by B3 Media
). The remaining short film funding offered by the UK Film Council was administered by the regional screen agencies
and the national screen agencies via the Digital Shorts Scheme
and Digital Nation (formerly known as Digital Shorts Plus).
Films supported by the fund included James Marsh's Oscar-winning Man on Wire; Armando Iannucci
's In the Loop (Sundance 2009); Jane Campion's Bright Star; Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank; Dominic Murphy's White Lightnin’ (Berlin and Sundance Film Festivals 2009); Sally Potter's Rage (Berlin Competition 2009); Noel Clarke’s Adulthood (BAFTA Rising Star); Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley (Cannes, Palme d'Or); Shane Meadows's This is England (BAFTA, Best British Film); Kevin Macdonald's Touching the Void (BAFTA, Best British Film); Andrea Arnold's Red Road (Cannes, Jury Prize); Paul Andrew Williams's London to Brighton (Edinburgh International Film Festival, Best New Director); Alexis Dos Santos's Unmade Beds (also at Berlin and Sundance 2009); and Duane Hopkins's Better Things (Cannes, Critics’ Week).
The Premiere Fund invested £8 million of Lottery funding per year into mainstream, commercially-driven films encouraging the involvement of British creative talent in a range of films to attract audiences the world over.
Funded films included Mike Leigh
's award-winning Happy-Go-Lucky; Oliver Gerald McMorrow’s Franklyn; Christopher Smith's Triangle; Oliver Parker's Dorian Gray; Stephen Frears's Cheri; Bob Weide's How to Lose Friends and Alienate People; Anand Tucker's And When Did You Last See Your Father?; Julian Jarrold's Brideshead Revisited; Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson's St Trinian's; Rupert Wyatt’s The Escapist; Roger Michell's Venus; Vito Rocco’s Faintheart; and Gabor Csupo's The Secret of Moonacre.
The Office of the British Film Commissioner worked to ensure that the UK remained an attractive production base for international films. Activities included: encouraging and supporting international films being made in the UK; strengthening the UK's production infrastructure; promoting UK talent and product around the world; working with the UK's Government to ensure that film friendly policies were in place; and reviewing and developing international co-production treaties, allowing the UK to collaborate with other countries to make films.
The Prints and Advertising Fund – provided £2 million per year to help UK distributors produce extra prints of non-mainstream or more commercially-focused British films, or to publicise films more effectively through advertising and other channels.
The Cinema Access Programme (launched in 2003) – provided £350,000 to help cinemas purchase subtitling and audio-description technologies that improve the cinema-going experience for people with hearing and sight impairments. The programme also provided funds to YourLocalCinema.com, the film listings website of choice for film-goers with sensory impairments, and the Film Print Provision strand, an ongoing funding initiative that helps distributors produce fully accessible film prints.
The Digital Fund for Non Theatrical Exhibition (launched in 2004) – a £500,000 fund to help expand the activities of film clubs, societies community groups and mobile film exhibitors in order to improve viewing opportunities for audiences in rural areas across the UK that might not be able to support a full-time cinema.
The Digital Screen Network (set up in 2005 by the UK Film Council and the Arts Council England) – a £12 million investment to equip 240 screens in 210 cinemas across the UK with digital projection technology to give UK audiences much greater choice.
Capital funding – the Small Capital Fund (2006) provided £800,000 to help smaller cinemas meet the costs of essential building refurbishments and other improvements such as disabled access; and the Capital and Access Fund for Cinemas (2007) provided £500,000 to help cinemas upgrade their equipment and premises to improve the cinema-going experience for audiences.
FindAnyFilm.com – the film search engine which told users when, where and how a film is available in the UK, legally and across all formats and platforms – cinema, TV, DVD & Blu-ray sale or rental, or download.
The Skillset Film Skills Fund
which ensured a strong, consistent supply of skilled and talented professionals in line with market demand and aims to build a bigger and better future for the film industry in the UK. As the first ever comprehensive training strategy for the British film industry, it was launched in September 2003.
First Light
, a digital short filmmaking scheme that offered children and young people more opportunities to participate in and learn about filmmaking.
FILMCLUB, free to all state after school programmes in England, FILMCLUB opened the world of film to school children with free DVDs for screenings, visits from film professionals and an interactive website.
via its Regional Investment Fund for England (RIFE) which provided funding for production, screen commissions, cinema exhibition, training, archives and education within each English region
. These were: EM Media; Film London; Northern Film & Media; North West Vision and Media; Screen East; Screen South; Screen West Midlands; Screen Yorkshire and South West Screen. It also funded three national screen agencies responsible for developing film television and broadcast new media in the UK nations: Scottish Screen
; Northern Ireland Screen
; and the Film Agency for Wales.
which champions moving image culture, education and cinema heritage to benefit as wide an audience as possible and aims to deepen and encourage public debate about film. The BFI is responsible for delivering that part of the UKFC's strategy "to help UK audiences enjoy the best of British and world cinema".
, Emily Blunt
, Pete Postlethwaite
, Damian Lewis
, Timothy Spall
, Daniel Barber
and Ian Holm
have been campaigning against the Council's abolition. The move also led the American actor and director Clint Eastwood
, who had filmed Hereafter
in London, to write a protest letter. A grass-roots online campaign was launched and a petition established by supporters of the Council.
Countering this, a few professionals including Michael Winner
, Julian Fellowes
, Chris Atkins supported the Government's decision. A number of other organisations such as
Save The British Film Industry responded positively.
At the closure of the UK Film Council on 31 March 2011, The Guardian
reported that "The UKFC's entire annual budget was a reported £3m, while the cost of closing it down and restructuring is estimated to have been almost four times that amount." One of the UKFC's last films, The King's Speech, is estimated to have cost $15m to make and grossed $235m, besides winning several Academy Awards. UKFC invested $1.6m for a 34% share of net profits, a valuable stake which will pass to the British Film Institute
.
Regional bodies
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Government as a non-departmental public body
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee governed by a board of 15 directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
and was funded through sources including the National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
. John Woodward was the Chief Executive Officer of the UKFC. As at 30 June 2008, the company had 90 full-time members of staff. It distributed more than £160m of lottery money to over 900 films. Lord Puttnam described the Council as "a layer of strategic glue that's helped bind the many parts of our disparate industry together."
On 26 July 2010 the Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition
United Kingdom coalition government (2010–present)
The ConservativeLiberal Democrat coalition is the present Government of the United Kingdom, formed after the 2010 general election. The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats entered into discussions which culminated in the 2010 coalition agreement, setting out a programme for government...
announced that the council would be abolished; Woodward said that the decision had been taken with "no notice and no consultation". UKFC closed on 31 March 2011, with many of its functions passing to the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
.
Objectives
In its own words, the aim of the UKFC was:"To stimulate a competitive, successful and vibrant UK film industry and culture, and to promote the widest possible enjoyment and understanding of cinema throughout the nations and regions of the UK. The UKFC had a mandate that spans cultural, social and economic priorities."This represented a significant change from the UKFC's objectives when it was first established, when it stated its purpose was to create a "sustainable UK film industry".
Filmmaking
Arguably the most visible activity of the UKFC was its direct funding for feature and short films. There were three funds offering around £17 million Lottery funding per year for the production and development of films.The Development Fund aimed to broaden the quality, range and ambition of film projects being developed in the UK. With £12 million of Lottery funding to invest over three years, the fund aimed to build a talent-driven home for writers, directors and producers. It helped filmmakers of all experience levels develop their ideas and screenplays into viable feature films, be they fiction, documentary or animation, up until the moment they were ready to get production finance. There were two funding programmes, one for first-time feature filmmakers and one for established filmmakers. The First Feature Film Development Programme aimed to identify and support emerging filmmakers (e.g. screenwriters, writer/directors and writer, director, producer teams) who had not made a feature film or who had not yet had a feature film released theatrically or broadcast on UK television. Awards were made up to £25,000. The Feature Film Development Programme was a dedicated industry funding programme for producers, production companies and filmmakers with a demonstrable track record of success in feature filmmaking or in production in the audio-visual arena, looking for funding and financing partnerships. The fund also offered Signature Awards to help further encourage ambitious and original filmmakers and projects.
Funded films included Jane Campion
Jane Campion
Jane Campion is a filmmaker and screenwriter. She is one of the most internationally successful New Zealand directors, although most of her work has been made in or financed by other countries, principally Australia – where she now lives – and the United States...
's Bright Star; Oscar-winning filmmaker Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold OBE is a filmmaker and former actress from England, who made her feature film directorial debut in 2006 with Red Road.-Early TV work:...
's second feature Fish Tank; Armando Iannucci's In The Loop; and Sam Taylor Wood's Nowhere Boy, written by Matt Greenhalgh
Matt Greenhalgh
Matt Greenhalgh is an English screenwriter. He created and wrote the BBC television series Burn It, and the television film Legless. He adapted Deborah Curtis's Touching From a Distance—a biopic of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis—into the 2007 film Control, for which he was nominated for the...
.
The New Cinema Fund supported emerging talent and established filmmakers working outside the mainstream, focusing on the most innovative writing and the most gifted directors. The fund had £15 million of Lottery money to invest over three years and funded eight to ten feature films each year. It had a strong commitment to supporting work from the nations and regions, from black, Asian and other minority ethnic filmmakers and encouraged the use of digital technology in the production, distribution and exhibition of films. It also supported over 100 short films each year through its short film schemes. Four flagship short film schemes operated nationwide: Cinema Extreme
Cinema Extreme
Cinema Extreme is a major UK short film funding awards scheme, created in 2002. The scheme is funded by the UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund and Film4 and managed by The Bureau with the aim "to seek out and develop filmmakers with a distinctive directorial voice and cinematic flair"...
(administered by The Bureau); the Completion Fund
UK Film Council Completion Fund
The UK Film Council Completion Fund is a major UK short film funding awards scheme, funded by the UK Film Council, and managed by Maya Vision International...
(administered by Maya Vision International); The Magic Hour (administered by 104 films); and Blank Slate (administered by B3 Media
B3 Media
B3 Media is a British organisation that assists filmmakers and other artists develop, produce and market their work. The etymology of the company name, B3, derives from their studio based in Brixton, London at 3B Electric Avenue....
). The remaining short film funding offered by the UK Film Council was administered by the regional screen agencies
Regional screen agencies
Following a major review of the film infrastructure in the United Kingdom during 2000, the UK Film Council set up nine Regional Screen Agencies, one in each regions of England, to deliver support for film-making, exhibition and related media activities....
and the national screen agencies via the Digital Shorts Scheme
Digital Shorts (UK Film Council funding scheme)
The Digital Shorts scheme supported by UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund and is partnered with organisations in each region and nation of the UK to enable filmmakers to make innovative shorts using digital technology.The nine agencies are:*...
and Digital Nation (formerly known as Digital Shorts Plus).
Films supported by the fund included James Marsh's Oscar-winning Man on Wire; Armando Iannucci
Armando Iannucci
Armando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish comedian, satirist, writer, director, performer and radio producer. Born in Glasgow, he studied at Oxford University and left graduate work on a PhD about John Milton to pursue a career in comedy....
's In the Loop (Sundance 2009); Jane Campion's Bright Star; Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank; Dominic Murphy's White Lightnin’ (Berlin and Sundance Film Festivals 2009); Sally Potter's Rage (Berlin Competition 2009); Noel Clarke’s Adulthood (BAFTA Rising Star); Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley (Cannes, Palme d'Or); Shane Meadows's This is England (BAFTA, Best British Film); Kevin Macdonald's Touching the Void (BAFTA, Best British Film); Andrea Arnold's Red Road (Cannes, Jury Prize); Paul Andrew Williams's London to Brighton (Edinburgh International Film Festival, Best New Director); Alexis Dos Santos's Unmade Beds (also at Berlin and Sundance 2009); and Duane Hopkins's Better Things (Cannes, Critics’ Week).
The Premiere Fund invested £8 million of Lottery funding per year into mainstream, commercially-driven films encouraging the involvement of British creative talent in a range of films to attract audiences the world over.
Funded films included Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
's award-winning Happy-Go-Lucky; Oliver Gerald McMorrow’s Franklyn; Christopher Smith's Triangle; Oliver Parker's Dorian Gray; Stephen Frears's Cheri; Bob Weide's How to Lose Friends and Alienate People; Anand Tucker's And When Did You Last See Your Father?; Julian Jarrold's Brideshead Revisited; Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson's St Trinian's; Rupert Wyatt’s The Escapist; Roger Michell's Venus; Vito Rocco’s Faintheart; and Gabor Csupo's The Secret of Moonacre.
The Office of the British Film Commissioner worked to ensure that the UK remained an attractive production base for international films. Activities included: encouraging and supporting international films being made in the UK; strengthening the UK's production infrastructure; promoting UK talent and product around the world; working with the UK's Government to ensure that film friendly policies were in place; and reviewing and developing international co-production treaties, allowing the UK to collaborate with other countries to make films.
Distribution and exhibition
The UK Film Council's Distribution and Exhibition Department worked to make non-mainstream films more widely available to cinema audiences in the UK through the following schemes:The Prints and Advertising Fund – provided £2 million per year to help UK distributors produce extra prints of non-mainstream or more commercially-focused British films, or to publicise films more effectively through advertising and other channels.
The Cinema Access Programme (launched in 2003) – provided £350,000 to help cinemas purchase subtitling and audio-description technologies that improve the cinema-going experience for people with hearing and sight impairments. The programme also provided funds to YourLocalCinema.com, the film listings website of choice for film-goers with sensory impairments, and the Film Print Provision strand, an ongoing funding initiative that helps distributors produce fully accessible film prints.
The Digital Fund for Non Theatrical Exhibition (launched in 2004) – a £500,000 fund to help expand the activities of film clubs, societies community groups and mobile film exhibitors in order to improve viewing opportunities for audiences in rural areas across the UK that might not be able to support a full-time cinema.
The Digital Screen Network (set up in 2005 by the UK Film Council and the Arts Council England) – a £12 million investment to equip 240 screens in 210 cinemas across the UK with digital projection technology to give UK audiences much greater choice.
Capital funding – the Small Capital Fund (2006) provided £800,000 to help smaller cinemas meet the costs of essential building refurbishments and other improvements such as disabled access; and the Capital and Access Fund for Cinemas (2007) provided £500,000 to help cinemas upgrade their equipment and premises to improve the cinema-going experience for audiences.
FindAnyFilm.com – the film search engine which told users when, where and how a film is available in the UK, legally and across all formats and platforms – cinema, TV, DVD & Blu-ray sale or rental, or download.
Education and training
The UKFC also funded:The Skillset Film Skills Fund
Skillset
Skillset is the Sector Skills Council which supports skills and training for people and businesses to ensure the UK creative media industries competitive and productive.-History:It was founded 1992 and is jointly funded by industry and government...
which ensured a strong, consistent supply of skilled and talented professionals in line with market demand and aims to build a bigger and better future for the film industry in the UK. As the first ever comprehensive training strategy for the British film industry, it was launched in September 2003.
First Light
First Light
First Light may refer to:* First Light , 2007* First Light * First Light , 1971* First Light , a 1987 nonfiction book on astronomy by Richard Preston...
, a digital short filmmaking scheme that offered children and young people more opportunities to participate in and learn about filmmaking.
FILMCLUB, free to all state after school programmes in England, FILMCLUB opened the world of film to school children with free DVDs for screenings, visits from film professionals and an interactive website.
Regional and national film activity
The UKFC funded nine regional screen agenciesRegional screen agencies
Following a major review of the film infrastructure in the United Kingdom during 2000, the UK Film Council set up nine Regional Screen Agencies, one in each regions of England, to deliver support for film-making, exhibition and related media activities....
via its Regional Investment Fund for England (RIFE) which provided funding for production, screen commissions, cinema exhibition, training, archives and education within each English region
Regional Development Agency
In the United Kingdom, a regional development agency is a non-departmental public body established for the purpose of development, primarily economic, of one of England's Government Office regions. There is one RDA for each of the NUTS level 1 regions of England...
. These were: EM Media; Film London; Northern Film & Media; North West Vision and Media; Screen East; Screen South; Screen West Midlands; Screen Yorkshire and South West Screen. It also funded three national screen agencies responsible for developing film television and broadcast new media in the UK nations: Scottish Screen
Scottish Screen
Scottish Screen is the national body for film and television in Scotland, established in April 1997. It took on the functions of the Scottish Film Council, the Scottish Film Production Fund, Scottish Screen Locations and Scottish Broadcast and Film Training, forming a unitary organisation.Scottish...
; Northern Ireland Screen
Northern Ireland Screen
Northern Ireland Screen is the national screen agency for Northern Ireland. The agency's purpose is to promote the development of a sustainable film, animation and television production industry.- History :...
; and the Film Agency for Wales.
Film culture and history
The UKFC also funded the British Film InstituteBritish Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
which champions moving image culture, education and cinema heritage to benefit as wide an audience as possible and aims to deepen and encourage public debate about film. The BFI is responsible for delivering that part of the UKFC's strategy "to help UK audiences enjoy the best of British and world cinema".
Response to abolition
On 26 July 2010 it was announced that the council would be abolished; Actors and professionals including James McAvoyJames McAvoy
James McAvoy is a Scottish stage and screen actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in 1995's The Near Room and continued to make mostly television appearances until the early 2000s. His notable television work includes State of Play, Shameless, and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune...
, Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Emily Olivia Leah Blunt is an English actress best known for her roles in The Devil Wears Prada , The Young Victoria , and The Adjustment Bureau . She has been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, two London Film Critics' Circle Awards, and one BAFTA Award...
, Pete Postlethwaite
Pete Postlethwaite
Peter William "Pete" Postlethwaite, OBE, was an English stage, film and television actor.After minor television appearances including in The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He played a mysterious lawyer, Mr...
, Damian Lewis
Damian Lewis
Lewis was born in St John's Wood, London, the son of Charlotte Mary and J. Watcyn Lewis, a City broker. His paternal grandparents were Welsh. His maternal grandfather was Lord Mayor of London Ian Frank Bowater and his maternal grandmother's ancestors include Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of...
, Timothy Spall
Timothy Spall
Timothy Leonard Spall, OBE is an English character actor and occasional presenter.-Early life:Spall, the third of four sons, was born in Battersea, London. His mother, Sylvia R. , was a hairdresser, and his father, Joseph L. Spall, was a postal worker...
, Daniel Barber
Daniel Barber
Daniel Barber was an American Episcopalian minister and prominent Roman Catholic convert.-Life:...
and Ian Holm
Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
have been campaigning against the Council's abolition. The move also led the American actor and director Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, who had filmed Hereafter
Hereafter (film)
Hereafter is a 2010 American drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, from a screenplay by Peter Morgan and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film tells three parallel stories about three people affected by death in similar ways - all three have issues of communicating with the dead; Matt Damon plays...
in London, to write a protest letter. A grass-roots online campaign was launched and a petition established by supporters of the Council.
Countering this, a few professionals including Michael Winner
Michael Winner
Michael Robert Winner is a British film director and producer, active in both Europe and the United States, also known as a food critic for the Sunday Times.-Early life and early career :...
, Julian Fellowes
Julian Fellowes
Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, DL , known as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, as well as a Conservative peer.-Early life:...
, Chris Atkins supported the Government's decision. A number of other organisations such as
Save The British Film Industry responded positively.
At the closure of the UK Film Council on 31 March 2011, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reported that "The UKFC's entire annual budget was a reported £3m, while the cost of closing it down and restructuring is estimated to have been almost four times that amount." One of the UKFC's last films, The King's Speech, is estimated to have cost $15m to make and grossed $235m, besides winning several Academy Awards. UKFC invested $1.6m for a 34% share of net profits, a valuable stake which will pass to the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
.
External links
Regional bodies