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17 Feb 2012
Film London Opens Filmmaker Applications for 2012 London UK Film Focus
Film London has announced the return of the London UK Film Focus (LUFF) for the 9th year. The four day event, which will take place 25-28 June 2012, will see international film buyers head to BFI Southbank to acquire British feature films and bring them to an international audience.
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LUFF is unique as it is the only export market which supports new UK films and UK film companies. Run by Film London and backed by the BFI and the Mayor of London, LUFF forms a key contribution to the UK film export strategy and plays an important role in bringing valuable film business to the capital through UK sales agents.
LUFF 2012 returns with the successful Breakthrough strand, which is now open for applications. Breakthrough offers an important platform for emerging British film-makers seeking sales representation, plus providing a chance for international buyers to monitor upcoming UK talent.
Previous success stories of LUFF acting as a launch pad for Breakthrough films include Wild Bill, which will be released in the UK in March and whose screening at LUFF last year kick started an extensive international festival and distribution campaign.
Film-makers interested in applying for Breakthrough must have a recently completed feature length project of theatrical quality ready for June 2012 with predominantly British content, cast or production team. Deadline for submissions is 23 March 2012.
For full details of the Breakthrough application requirements, please click here.
To apply, please visit the London UK Film Focus website for further details.
LUFF attracts well over 120 film buyers representing all world territories and programmers from a number of prominent international film festivals who come to see around 50 titles.
The event generates significant income for sales agents and in 2011 resulted in approx $11.5m worth of sales, a record-breaking figure. Helena Mackenzie, Head of Inward Investment & Business Development at Film London concludes that "the strength of LUFF is seen in the quality of its delegates and the successes it consistently achieves in sales, as well as its film programme".
The LUFF 2012 is supported by Film London, the BFI, the Mayor of London, Film Export UK and UK Trade & Investment.
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16 Feb 2012
British Film Set to Receive Major Increase to BFI Lottery Film Fund
Well over £200 million more than expected should go to the arts over the next five years, because of increased National Lottery ticket sales, Culture Minister Ed Vaizey announced this week within his State of the Arts 2012 speech (a link to a transcript of the full speech can be found at the bottom of this article). It is now predicted that around £240 million will go to the British Film Institute (BFI) between 2012/13 and 2016/17. This is a significant 20% increase on estimates made at the time of the comprehensive spending review in October 2010.
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Commenting on the new estimate, Variety calculated that it "would translate as an average budget of $78 million a year to be spent on U.K. film production, distribution, training and industry development. The government previously said the BFI's lottery funding would increase from $43 million to $68 million a year by 2014. That compares to the budget of $40 million a year received by the U.K. Film Council before its closure last April."
The Minister also revealed that the latest projections find that £1.25 billion of National Lottery income is now expected to go to Arts Council England (ACE) between 2012/13 and 2016/17.
Mr Vaizey said:
"In a time of economic uncertainty, the arts are more important than ever. The cultural value is immeasurable and we are in no doubt about the contributions that the arts make to our economy, our communities, our schools, and our wellbeing.
"It is a sign of the Government's commitment that in a time of economic austerity, we have been able to limit the reduction in arts funding via the Arts Council to less than five per cent in real terms. We reformed the National Lottery so that the arts, film, sports and heritage would all benefit. The increase in ticket revenue is great news for artists and audiences across the country."
The total funding now expected to go the Arts Council England is £2.3 billion over the next four years, combining grant in aid and projected income from the National Lottery.
Arts, sport and heritage were already set for a major boost in Lottery revenues following changes to the way cash is distributed announced in 2010. Each has seen their share of available money increase from 16.6 per cent to 20 per cent from April this year.
As a result of increased sales, a higher share of the total and the end of the transfer of funding for Olympic costs, ACE could see its funding from the Lottery more than double from the £123 million it received in 2010/11.
To read Culture Minister Ed Vaizey's full 'State of the Arts 2012' keynote speech, please click here.
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16 Feb 2012
New Head of Drama Appointed at BBC Scotland
Chris Aird has been named as the new Head of Drama for BBC Scotland. Chris, who started his career at BBC Scotland, will return there to take up his new role in April 2012, leaving his current post as Executive Producer for BBC Independent Drama.
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The BBC commented that, "Chris has a strong track record across drama development, production and commissioning in both the BBC and the independent sector."
His credits include Spooks, Hustle, Prisoners' Wives, Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Casualty, Hotel Babylon and BBC One's phenomenal Sunday night hit, Call The Midwife.
He started his BBC career in Scotland in 1995 where he was a Researcher/Director in News and Current Affairs. Following this, Chris worked extensively within BBC Drama and for leading drama Indies, Kudos and Carnival Film & Television. As well as television, he also has experience working within BBC Radio Drama including Radio 4's Afternoon Play and the Friday Play.
Donalda MacKinnon, Head of Programmes and Services, Scotland, says: "We are delighted that Chris will be taking on the leadership of BBC Scotland drama at a very exciting time for the department with Waterloo Road moving to Scotland, our flagship drama River City in brilliant form and a strategy for growth planned in Scotland in the coming years. At BBC Scotland, Chris will be taking on a drama department in great shape and with a very exciting future ahead of it."
Nick Brown, Director Drama Production, adds: "We are ambitious about developing and producing great in-house drama across the whole of the UK. Chris's appointment in Scotland brings experience, great taste and lots of commitment to help us achieve that. I am really looking forward to working with him."
Ben Stephenson, Controller, Drama Commissioning: "Chris is a fantastically talented and experienced executive who will bring all the energy, passion and creativity to his new job that he has bought to all his work over the years, including his work recently on mega hit Call The Midwife."
Chris Aird: "I am tremendously excited at the prospect of developing and making a range of drama in Scotland. Drama at the BBC currently feels in rude health with hugely talented writers, directors and actors at the heart of everything we do. I can't wait to get started."
His appointment comes at a busy time for BBC Scotland Drama with productions including Waterloo Road (BBC One), River City (BBC One Scotland), Lip Service (BBC Three), Case Histories (BBC One), and BAFTA Scotland award-winning Field Of Blood (BBC One Scotland) among its many credits.
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10 Feb 2012
Vision3 Wins Outstanding Achievement Lumiere Award
The Creative Team of PG Affiliate, Vision3 has been awarded the International 3D Society's Lumiere award for Outstanding Achievement (Short Subject/Narrative) for 'The Foundling'. The film, directed by Barney Cokeliss and produced by RSA Films, was praised for its exceptional use of 3D to drive the emotion and story.
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Adam May, Head of Production at Vision3 was present in LA at the Beverly Hills Hotel to accept the Lumiere at the glitzy award ceremony on behalf of Chris Parks, Angus Cameron, Luke Beauchamp and the Vision3 Team.
Chris Parks, commented to Screen: "The textures, colours and designs of the Circus lent themselves beautifully to 3D and we really wanted to use the medium to help convey the feel of that environment but also to add to the very strong narrative thread that runs throughout the film."
Vision3 stated that they were hugely honoured by the award, and would love to thank all involved in making this remarkable 3D project.
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10 Feb 2012
New Investment for Post Production and VFX through NI Innovation Vouchers for Digital Media
Applications are now open for the next round of applications for Northern Ireland Innovation Vouchers, which are available for the Post Production and Visual Effects sectors. Innovation Vouchers are designed to enable small Northern Ireland enterprises to access knowledge and expertise to develop innovative solutions to business issues.
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The programme provides a voucher of up to £4000 to enable small enterprises to engage with one of the 41 universities, colleges and other publicly funded research organisations throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
A company may apply for up to three vouchers for different projects. A 2nd or 3rd voucher can be applied for once the previous project is completed and the voucher has been redeemed. It is only possible to have one 'live voucher' at a time.
With a deadline of 29th February 2012, this Digital Media Call for applications include the possible activities (this list is not exhaustive): -
•Augmented Reality
•Mobile Gaming
•Animation
•Music (developing technology including mobile, web, software. Virtual acoustic instruments, sound and interactivity, digital composition)
•Post Production and Visual Effects
•E-Learning
•New Business Model Development
Applications should clearly demonstrate the following:
•The innovative nature of the project
•The deliverables expected from the project and the resultant benefits to the company
•The specialist skills and expertise required from one of the 41 Public Sector Knowledge Providers
Where there is a solution available from the private sector or from other Invest NI support mechanisms, it is unlikely that an innovation voucher will be awarded.
For more information and details on how to apply please visit the Invest NI website.
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10 Feb 2012
BFI Shorts Production Scheme Now Accepting Applications from Producers, Writers and Directors
BFI Shorts 2012 is a new short film production scheme which will support up to 20 live-action fiction projects, with budgets ranging from £25,000 to £50,000. They are looking for a diverse slate of films that tell compelling stories and have the ability to engage, inspire and entertain audiences.
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The sheme is now accepting applications from directors, writers and producers. If you are interested in applying, please read the Guidelines for Applicants and FAQ for further information about the application and selection process.
The deadline for applications is 5pm, Friday 23 March 2012.
BFI Shorts 2012 forms part of the BFI's commitment to supporting emerging filmmaking talent and providing opportunities for filmmakers to demonstrate their potential to create feature films. The BFI is the lead body for film in the UK with responsibility for championing emerging and world-class filmmakers.
Lighthouse has been appointed as the management company for BFI Shorts 2012 and is running this call for applications. Programme Producer, Emily Kyriakides, is working in partnership with producer Nicky Bentham of Neon Films and development producer Becca Ellson to oversee the selection and executive production of the films.
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10 Feb 2012
£15m Content Fund for Film and TV Launched by Screen Yorkshire
A new £15 million fund to invest in creative content within film, TV, games and the digital sector within Yorkshire and Humber has been announced by Screen Yorkshire. The Yorkshire Content Fund has secured £7,500,000 of investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which will be further matched by private sector investors on a project-by-project basis.
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The Creative and Digital Industries employ approximately 113,000 people within Yorkshire and Humber, the fastest growing region for these sectors between 1998 – 2008, with 16% growth. The Yorkshire Content Fund will support the further growth of these industries and create hundreds of jobs.
The Yorkshire Content Fund is managed by Screen Yorkshire and will invest in content creation by Yorkshire-based companies as well as being used to attract productions looking to establish a base and film within the region. No public monies will be used for the fund's overheads and investments will be made on market rate commercial terms, with the intention that investment returns will produce a legacy fund to support content development and production in Yorkshire for many years to come.
The fund is launched on the back of a number of critically acclaimed projects which previously received Screen Yorkshire investment including Paddy Considine's Tyrannosaur and Ben Wheatley's Kill List, from Sheffield's Warp X and Andrea Arnold's new version of Wuthering Heights.
Sally Joynson, Chief Executive of Screen Yorkshire, said: "The Yorkshire Content Fund marks a new era for the region's creative businesses and for Screen Yorkshire as an organisation. These are difficult times and access to capital is still limited so to secure such a major pot of investment for the creative industries in Yorkshire and Humber is an incredible win for the region and for Screen Yorkshire. The fund will also create hundreds of jobs across the supply chain, which is so critical at the moment. I'm sure Yorkshire can now continue to create great content and to build on its legacy of film and TV productions such as Red Riding; The Damned United and This is England and video game production such as Broken Sword and Worms. It's an exciting time to be in the creative industries in Yorkshire and Humber."
Cameron McCracken, Managing Director of Pathe UK and Screen Yorkshire Board Member, said: "I'd like to congratulate Sally and her team for the huge achievement of securing this fund for Yorkshire and Humber. At a time when true risk equity is scarce, an investment fund of this scale will attract inward investment and act as a catalyst for substantial production activity throughout the region."
Charles Cecil, Managing Director of York-based Revolution Software and Screen Yorkshire Board Member, said: "The advent of ubiquitous broadband has opened up huge opportunities for video games developers to self-publish their titles and, in doing so, retain the lions' share of the revenues - Yorkshire, in particular, has a large number of successful, independent developers who find themselves in a fantastic position to grasp these opportunities. However, to capitalise on these opportunities upfront investment is required and can be very challenging to secure in this tough financial environment. The Yorkshire Content Fund will address this issue and also lead to significant job creation."
Mark Herbert, Managing Director of Sheffield's Warp Films, said: "Yorkshire has virtually everything you need to produce TV and film– stunning and diverse locations, skilled and experience crew and now the new Yorkshire Content Fund. Finance is always a critical part of the jigsaw of getting TV or film made so this fund can only help in increasing production levels and creating jobs within Yorkshire."
Alex McWhirter, Chief Executive of Finance Yorkshire, said: "The Yorkshire Content Fund will be an excellent addition to financing options for Yorkshire's creative businesses. Finance Yorkshire have been working closely with Screen Yorkshire to ensure our funds complement each other and that we signpost businesses to the relevant party for investment. I look forward to working closely together over the forthcoming years to grow this dynamic sector."
The Yorkshire Content Fund is officially open to applications and interested parties can apply at http://www.screenyorkshire.co.uk.
This project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted £7.5 million investment from the European Regional Development Fund as part of Europe's support for the region's economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme 2007-13.
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02 Feb 2012
UK Production Investment and UK Box Office See Billion Pound Records in 2011
An all-time record of £1.26 billion was invested in UK-based film production across multiple genres and budgets within 2011, according to new figures published by the BFI's Research and Statistics Unit this week.
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Spend on UK Film Production also broke last year's figure of £1.25 billion and with a record breaking 28 international feature films contributing over £1 billion, using UK crew, services and facilities.
Films such as Streetdance 2 3D, Welcome to the Punch, Skyfall, Great Expectations, Batman: The Dark Knight Rises, The Sweeney, 360, Snow White and the Huntsman, Shadow Dancer, Now Is Good and World War Z, all contributed to the record breaking figures, and all of which had PG members attached within a wide range of departments and roles.
The figures collated by the Research and Statistics Unit did however show a drop in the number of UK film productions within budgets of £500k and over at 71 productions in 2011 down from 78 in 2010. A total of 98 films were made on budgets of less than £500k, bringing the overall number of domestic UK feature films produced in 2011 to 169, below 2010's total of 262 films.
This in turn led to a year-on drop of 9.4% on expenditure for making UK domestic feature films with the figure at £194m against 2010's £214m. However both the number and UK spend on co-productions with other countries saw healthy increases. UK co-productions, the majority which were with other EU member states, increased by one third to 40 in 2011 from 30 in 2010 and recorded a UK spend of £59.0m, up from £56.3m in 2010.
The UK box office also had a very healthy and record breaking 2011, passing the £1 billion mark in gross UK box office value for the first time.
British Independent Film also saw its highest ever market share with £13.5%, spurred on my films such as The King's Speech, The Inbetweeners Movie and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, again all of which had multiple PG Members contributing to them in various positions.
Including all British features as well as those shot in the UK but financed abroad, the market share figure for British films at the UK box offices, reached 36.2%. The figure tops last year's total market share of 24%, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows contributing to the healthy improvement.
Total UK cinema takings admissions were also up 1.4% from 2010 at 171.6m, making it the third highest total of the last decade.
Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI, commented: "Film is at the very core of Britain's cultural life and today's figures show that the appetite for cinema-going across the UK is as healthy as ever. 2011 was a phenomenal year, with the box office results showing that independently produced British films captivated audiences. That said, we are pragmatic; it's still a challenging time for filmmakers trying to raise finance to make independent British films in this tough economic climate. As we enter 2012 many challenges remain, but today's figures clearly show that keeping audiences at the heart of everything we do will help the British film industry to enjoy even greater success in the future and continue to be an important contributor to the UK economy."
Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, said: "2011 was an amazing year for British film and for audiences, but it's vital that we make sure this success continues throughout 2012 and beyond. Lord Smith's recent review of film policy highlighted ways to remove barriers to production and ensure that film plays an important role in driving economic growth. I look forward to working with the BFI and the industry on the review's recommendations and ensuring that we continue to nurture and grow this thriving sector of industry."
To view the full report and figures from the BFI Research and Statistics Unit, please click here.
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02 Feb 2012
£8 million Contributed to Voluntary Skills and Training by UK Film Industry
The UK film industry's leading lights came together last night to celebrate their continued investment in skills and training through the Skills Investment Fund (SIF), which recently reached £8 million in total contributions.
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Representatives from across the industry, including studio heads, producers and leaders of the major funding bodies joined Skillset to raise a toast to UK film's massive achievement in supporting skills and training over more than a decade.
While the SIF is a voluntary levy on productions shooting in the UK, the vast majority (more than 700) have contributed to it, helping to fund new trainees coming into the industry and to provide specialist training for existing professionals.
The SIF is one of the key funding streams of Skillset's UK-wide film skills strategy, A Bigger Future, which provides industry with an innovative, shared approach to investing in skills, helping to drive its growth and competitiveness.
The event was sponsored by Warner Bros., which has contributed more than 10% of the SIF's total, and helped it to pass the £8 million mark with its recent blockbuster Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
Chair of Skillset, Stewart Till, said: "The SIF is a shining example of what can be achieved when an industry takes ownership of investment in its skills needs."
Film producer and Chair of the Skillset Film Skills Council, Iain Smith, said "As we experience the disruptive effect of technological change, it is more important than ever that we continue to invest in the skills needed to sustain and grow our remarkable film industry. By doing this, we will be ensuring that we can continue delivering a broad choice of quality products to the audience at home and abroad."
The Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, said: "Lord Smith's review of film policy observed that the development of skills and talent provides the backbone which underpins the success of the entire film sector - a sentiment with which I agree entirely. There has been fantastic progress in recent years and it is brilliant that industry has been playing such an active role in this area. Of course, there is more that is to be done and I look forward to working with Skillset and the BFI as they respond to the Review's recommendations and build on the successes of the work already delivered."
President and Managing Director of Warner Bros., Josh Berger, said: "We are proud of our contribution to the Skills Investment Fund. It is reflective of our long term association with, and commitment to, the UK film industry and our belief in the creativity and talent of those working it in today, and those who will work in it tomorrow."
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02 Feb 2012
The Pixel Lab 2012 - Applications Open for European Producers
Now in its third year, Power to the Pixel brings its leading cross-media course, The Pixel Lab to the Resort Schwielowsee, Potsdam, Germany once again. The course will select up to 40 European producers, storytellers, decision-makers and executives to attend the six-day residential workshop from 1st - 7th July 2012.
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The Pixel Lab is a unique, project-focused business development course for European film and media professionals. The course aims to give participants the skills necessary to create, finance and distribute cross-media stories - stories that can span any combination of film, interactive, live event, mobile, gaming, TV, publishing, online. The Pixel Lab focuses on future proofing project development, company growth and competitiveness in the international multi-platform marketplace.
The course looks at the whole digital ecosystem for film and media businesses - how the way audiences are engaging with films across platforms is affecting the way that we develop, finance and distribute story properties of the future
Further to the residential workshop, producers attending The Pixel Lab with a cross-media project receive distance mentoring over the summer to help take their project to the next level. For the final stage project producers come to London in mid October 2012 where they will receive pitch presentation mentoring from an industry expert, attend Power to the Pixel's internationally renowned Cross-Media Forum, culminating in project presentations to select invited industry guests and an afternoon of business meetings with financiers and potential partners.
Teaching is led by the current international practitioners working in the cross-media space. Confirmed tutors for 2012 include: Nuno Bernardo, CEO & Producer, beActive (PORT), Wendy Bernfeld, Digital Rights Licensing & Founder, Rights Stuff (NETH), Sean Coleman, Award-winning Cross-Media Writer and Producer (UK), Ben Grass, MD Pure Grass Films (UK), Tishna Molla, COO & Producer, Power to the Pixel (UK), Michel Reilhac, Executive Director ARTE France Cinéma (FR), Liz Rosenthal, Founder & CEO, Power to the Pixel (UK), Adam Sigel, Content Strategist, Writer & Producer (USA), Inga von Staden, Media Architect & Educator (GERM), with more tutors to be announced.
See last year's Pixel Lab tutors here and the full list of award-winning participants from The Pixel Lab 2011.
Application deadline is 30 March 2012 18.00 BST.
For further information on programme and applications please visit The Pixel Lab 2012 website here.
The Pixel Lab is supported by the Media Programme of the European Union, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, TorinoFilmLab and Skillset via its Film Skills Fund.
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27 Jan 2012
BFI Awarded over £13m to 20 British Independent Feature Films from April 2011
The BFI have revealed the 20 Independent British Film productions that have all together seen lottery funding of £13.2m from the Lottery Film Fund since 1st April 2011. The films awarded funding have collectively seen over 25 PG Members contribute to them across several departments.
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With five of the supported films by female directors and ten of them from first or second time filmmakers, the BFI commented that "The diversity of projects supported, from documentary to 3D, demonstrates that the UK's biggest public film fund is supporting new and emerging, as well as established, UK film talent across a range of genres and budgets."
The 20 films that have been awarded funding have collectively contributed to 16 BAFTA nominations as well as many of them having been chosen to screen at international film festivals including Shadow Dancer, Grabbers and Wuthering Heights which are all currently showing at the Sundance Film Festival.
Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI commented: "We're delighted to be part of such a wide range of dynamic new British films. One of the most exciting things about the BFI's Film Fund is that we can support talented new filmmakers making their first features, and help some of the UK's most well known and respected directors create ambitious, large scale films. This remarkable breadth of inspiring films offers such an exciting proposition for audiences, and this is just the beginning."
A Full List of Feature Independent British Film Production awards approved since 1 April 2011 (most recent first):
Project Title / Director / Production Company / Award Amount
• Last Days on Mars (aka The Animators) / Ruairi Robinson / Qwerty Films Ltd / £1,000,000
• Blood (aka Conviction) / Nick Murphy / Neal Street Productions and Red Production Company / £700,000
• Bomb / Sally Potter / Adventure Pictures Ltd / £1,020,000
• Mister John / Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor / Desperate Optimists Productions Ltd. / £300,000
• Spike Island / Mat Whitecross / Fiesta Productions / £900,000
• Smash and Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers / Havana Marking Roast Beef Productions / £165,000
• This Is London / Julien Temple / B&W Films Ltd / £355,000
• Seven Psychopaths / Martin McDonagh / Blueprint Pictures / £1,057,500
• Broken / Rufus Norris / Cuba Pictures Limited / £267,500
• Fast Girls / Regan Hall / DJ Films / £630,000
• Great Expectations / Mike Newell / Number 9 Films / £2,000,000
• Sightseers / Ben Wheatley / Big Talk Pictures and Rook Films / £300,000
• Swandown / Andrew Kötting / Fly Film Company / £215,750
• Last Passenger / Omid Nooshin / NDF International / £428,000
• The Story of Film: An Odyssey / Mark Cousins / Hopscotch Films / £185,000
• Under The Skin / Jonathan Glazer / Modern Films Ltd. / £1,673,744
• Welcome To The Punch / Eran Creevy / Beat Films Ltd / £500,000
• StreetDance 2 3D / Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini / Vertigo Films / £500,000
• The Pervert's Guide To Ideology / Sophie Fiennes / P Guide Productions and
Blinder Films / £270,000
• Shadow Dancer / James Marsh / Unanimous Entertainment and Element
Films / £750,000
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27 Jan 2012
Skillset Report to Improve Industry Training Receives Government Support
The UK Government through the Creative Industries Council has backed a report by the Creative Industries Council Skillset Skills Group, to identify the key challenges facing employers, training and education providers of the Film, TV and Creative sector and what needs to be done if it is to fully realise its potential for growth and international competitiveness.
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The formation of the Creative Industries Council was announced in the Government's the Plan for Growth, published alongside the Budget in March 2011 and is chaired by Secretaries of State, Vince Cable and Jeremy Hunt.
Ministers Ed Vaizey (Culture and the Creative Industries), John Hayes (Skills), and Nick Gibb (Schools) also attended the council this week and following the endorsement from Government, Skillset will now be responsible for leading and co-ordinating investment funding bids, which will aim to deliver the strategic and recommendations agreed within the report.
A total of 17 recommendations to the Creative Industry Council were made by the Skillset Skills Group, which is chaired by Skillset's Chief Executive, Dinah Caine, and made up of industry leaders (full list at bottom of article), partner Sector Skills Councils and the CBI.
Skillset noted that the report identified eight particular challenges that cut right across the Creative Industries, from industry ownership of investment in skills, to the fusion of creative and technical disciplines in education and the need to cut red tape for businesses employing freelancers.
Dinah Caine commented: "We are delighted that Skillset was asked to lead the work of this group, and has now been asked to take the lead in making these recommendations a reality.
"This work will address the key challenges our industries face by fostering the skills and talent they need to remain internationally competitive and a driver of growth in our economy. We now look forward to working with our industries and the Government in realising these ambitions for our sector."
Skillset confirmed that key recommendations from the report included:
• Create an online professional learning network for employers and individuals, implement sector-wide management and leadership programmes and establish virtual boards of experienced professionals to provide support and guidance to start-ups and small creative companies;
• Reform the ICT syllabus in schools. Computer science, arts and/or a creative subject (music, film, media, and photography) should be included in the National Curriculum as core subjects, and also as options within the English Baccalaureate;
• The Creative Industries and the National Apprenticeship Service should lead on a promotional campaign to raise the profile of Apprenticeships and challenge traditional notions that they are for those unable to study at university, or that they are "just for boys";
• Education and training providers collaborating with the Creative Industries need to combine arts, design, technology and business, reflecting how the Creative Industries are being transformed by the fusion of these disciplines;
• Establish a single careers resource for the Creative Industries with authoritative careers information and rich media content, supported by online mentoring;
• Establish group Apprenticeship approaches for the Creative Media and Fashion and Textile industries, allowing employers to manage apprentices collectively, in partnership with other businesses;
• Extend the Skillset Tick across the sector. The scheme provides a kite mark for industry-accredited HE and FE courses and is to be extended to apprenticeship provision. It acts as a guide for both prospective students and potential employers;
• Improve the quality of industry internships, with employers not just complying with legislation but also working with trade unions, employee representative groups and Government to challenge poor working practices and champion the principles of fair access to the sector;
• Improve the national account system for the Creative Industries by working with the Office for National Statistics to shape the methodology for data collection; reduce duplication, identify knowledge gaps and drive up the quality of the evidence base so that employers make better investment in recruitment and training and prospective entrants make informed decision on career route.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt stated: "This is an excellent report. It gives us a clear picture of the issues we face in making sure that those working in our creative industries have the skills needed to drive growth.
"We need to do all we can to develop the talent in our creative businesses. I urge all involved in the creative industries to take these recommendations on board."
Business Secretary, Vince Cable also commented: "The UK Creative Industries have a well-deserved world-wide reputation for excellence. This report makes a number of strong recommendations to develop skills and nurture emerging talent in creative industries, particularly through our expanded and improved apprenticeships programme. We look forward to Skillset and others in the creative industries taking this plan forward and implementing it.
"The Government understands the vital role played by smaller firms, especially in the creative industries. We are committed to providing extra help to enable small employers to hire their first apprentices. We'll also continue to develop new advanced and higher-level apprenticeships to deliver the world-class skills individuals and firms need to get ahead."
The full report can be found at www.skillset.org/cicskills.
The membership of the Creative Industries Council Skillset Skills Group was as follows:
• Dinah Caine OBE – CEO, Skillset (Chair)
• Phil Clapp, CEO, Cinema Exhibitors' Association (on behalf of the Film Skills Council)
• Remi Harris, Director of Operations, UK Music
• Janet Hull, Director of Marketing & Reputation Management, IPA
• Lesley Morris, Head of Design Skills, Design Council
• Anne Morrison, Director, BBC Academy
• Ian Scott, Supply Director, Mulberry
• Martin Spence, Assistant General Secretary, BECTU, attending on behalf of the Federation of Entertainment Trade Unions
• Stephen Uden, Head of Skills, Microsoft
• Simon Ward, British Fashion Council
• Daniel Wood, Communications and Public Affairs Manager, UKIE
• Alison Young, Management Development Director, Pearson plc
• Hasan Bakhshi, Creative Industries Director, Policy & Research Unit, NESTA
• James Fothergill, Head of Education and Skills, CBI
• Pauline Tambling, Joint CEO, CCSkills
• Kate O'Connor, Deputy CEO, Skillset
• Karen Price, CEO, e-skills UK
• Harriet Buxton, DCMS
• Andrew Battarbee, BIS
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27 Jan 2012
Sargent-Disc Launch SD Online 2.0 iPhone App
Version 2.0 of the SD Online App was launched for iPhone this week by PG Affiliates, Sargent-Disc, specialists in payroll, accounting and software services for the Film and Television sectors. The app which is free to download will enable film and television practitioners to instantly and securely access a full range of payroll information wherever they are in the world.
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Available from Sargent-Disc for clients and their employees, the company confirmed that the key features of SD Online 2.0 for iPhone include:
• Online payslips
Employees can view payslips and get a full history of earnings on set, location, in the edit suite or office, or in the comfort of their own home
• Secure messaging
Track sensitive communication and avoid sending confidential information by email
• Reports archive
Detailed and accurate management reports are published and archived for easy access online.
The app will also provide users with access to a full archive of payroll reports, with detailed and accurate management reports published for each pay period.
The app can be downloaded from iTunes by clicking here or by searching for ""SD Online" within iTunes.
Laurence Sargent, Director, Sargent-Disc commented, "The launch of SD Online 2.0 is a milestone for Sargent-Disc and I am delighted that our clients and their employees can now enjoy the freedom to access their payslips from their phones whilst on set or on the move. Even better still, it won't cost them a penny more."
Others features of the App for production payroll include:
• An advanced user interface for high level interactivity - normally associated with the desktop.
• Industry pay scales for a range of departments and grades to help production budgeting.
• Improved reporting and analysis utilises a range of filters, searches and data views which makes SD Online 2.0 quicker and easier to find data on screen, or in a report. Freelancers and studios can access all of their data through one login to report across multiple employments, departments, payrolls, companies, productions and tax years.
Providing services at every stage of the production process, Sargent-Disc has recently provided payroll services to multiple 2012 Golden Globe and BAFTA nominated features and TV programmes including War Horse, We Need to Talk about Kevin, Hugo, Senna, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Shame, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Downton Abbey.
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27 Jan 2012
New Industry Jobs to Hit North through £75k Fund
The creation of new Film, TV and Digital Media jobs in the North East region is the aim of the new Creative Jobs Fund launched this week by Northern Film and Media. The new £75k fund, which has been modelled on the Regional Growth Fund, will create an investment pot of £150k through match funding.
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Grants will be made available to North East film, TV or digital media companies that have ready to go expansion programmes or production projects in place and that can generate and/or sustain a significant number of new jobs.
Funding in the region of £5k to £20k will be given to each selected organisation to help stimulate the growth and Northern Film and Media confirmed that they will also consider higher amounts for exceptional applications.
The guidelines for those applying for the fund are:
• Investment must be completed before the 31st March 2012
• New jobs must be created with the investment
• A minimum of 70% of activity must be based in the North East region (Tyne & Wear, Northumberland, County Durham and Tees Valley)
• Applicants must not have not previously received support from ERDF via Northern Film & Media
• Applicants must provide evidence of 50% confirmed match funding with minimum of 25% in cash.
Please also note that as the fund is set up to specifically target new job creation in the creative industries, projects that show the best value for money per job created will be favoured.
Tom Harvey, CEO of Northern Film & Media, commented, "There are around 2,100 people working in the North East creative industries and the sector has experienced solid growth through relatively small levels of public subsidy over the past decade.
"We want to see more creative companies securing investment from centralised or non-sector specific funds. If they are to be successful, they will have to demonstrate an ability to generate a significant amount of jobs.
"This pilot fund will test the ability of the sector to deliver on the outputs expected from larger initiatives such as the Regional Growth Fund."
Northern Film & Media is backed by the ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007-13. The ERDF programme is bringing over £300m into the North East to support innovation, enterprise and business support across the region.
The deadline for submissions is 8th February 2012.
To apply online, please click here or you can contact Joanna@northernmedia.org on 0191 275 5966 or roxy@northernmedia.org on 0191 275 5963 to discuss your application.
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20 Jan 2012
New Finance Fund to Support Feature Film Production in Scotland
New debt and equity finance funding will be made available through The Mackendrick Film Fund for Scottish and international feature film productions, which the fund deems to have a "demonstrable Scottish emphasis and key Scottish elements, such as location, cast or creative talent."
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Originally set up by producer Claire Mitchell to fill the gap of a Scottish branded film fund in the light of more US feature films shooting in the region, the fund has now received its first investment with PG Affiliate, Creative Scotland committing £500,000.
The fund which runs in partnership with Aegis Film Fund Ltd, Chancery UK LLP (who will distribute the fund to investors) and Prescience Film Finance, aims to benefit from the experience of its partners bring who collectively have co-funded films such as the multiple Oscar winning The King's Speech, Conviction, Horrid Henry 3D and The Guard.
Peter Nichols, Founder of the Chancery Group, Chairman of Prescience & Partner Mackendrick Capital Partners said:
"This is an exciting development and I am delighted that Claire has brought together all the various partners in the Mackendrick Film Fund to help create a Scottish centric investment in film. The Fund will undoubtedly help nurture the development of the film industry in Scotland and add to the Scottish economy by bringing projects to life taking advantage of the technical skills, screen talent and locations there.
"The involvement of Creative Scotland in getting behind the film industry in Scotland is a very positive sign of commitment to strengthening the industry."
The Mackendrick Fund is currently working on an investment to produce 'Born To Be King' a romantic comedy set to star Ewan McGregor and Kate Hudson, which is set to be directed by Peter Capaldi. The film is due to shoot in June 2012. Hopefully this will be amongst the first of many Mackendrick Film Fund productions."
Caroline Parkinson, Director of Creative Development, Creative Scotland said:
"Creative Scotland is committed to investing in Scotland's creative future and the Mackendrick Fund significantly enhances the opportunities for producers to realise their ambitions. Scotland's film sector is rich in talent and ideas and the Mackendrick Fund will offer crucial financing to an industry that's set to grow in Scotland."
Claire Mundell, Founding Partner, Mackendrick Capital Partners and Director, Synchronicity Films said:
"We look forward to offering film curious investors the chance to participate in the some fantastic commercial films whilst we also help producers realise their projects. We hope in doing so that The Mackendrick Film Fund can play a part in making Scotland an attractive global film destination."
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20 Jan 2012
BBC Reveals Five New TV Drama Commissions for BBC One in 2012
A new drama slate from the BBC confirms the commission of five new productions for BBC One in 2012. Revealed by Ben Stephenson, BBC Drama Commissioning, it was also confirmed that 'Death in Paradise' and Jimmy McGovern's 'Accused' will both be re-commissioned.
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Ben Stephenson commented: "2012 is a massive year for drama on BBC One as Danny Cohen (Controller, BBC One) and I up the scale and pace of our output in order to secure the next generation of mainstream hits, risk taking and originality.
"The unique nature of our funding means that only BBC One drama can bring you this kind of quality and range to ensure there really is something for everyone. I believe BBC One showcases the biggest and broadest range of what mainstream drama can offer of any channel in the world. This year alone will see BBC One launching over 20 new titles, as well as bringing back over 15 returning series.
"BBC One is the home of big characters, big emotions and big stories – and it is these three components that will define drama on the channel over the next few years. The five new commissions announced today deliver on the big three themes.
"War Of The Roses is one of the most ambitious projects ever attempted by the BBC – a huge slice of history told from the perspective of the powerful women behind the throne. The Secret Of Crickley Hall, written and directed by Joe Ahearne, is a terrifying and haunting ghost story. Truckers by William Ivory, a series about truck drivers whose lives on the road conflict with their lives at home, is full of big laughs and emotions.
"On the back of the success of Great Expectations this Christmas comes The Moonstone, the world's first detective story and a powerful love story with the brilliant detective Sergeant Cuff at the centre. Also next Christmas, Room On The Broom, from the makers of The Gruffalo, is a captivating story about friendship, family, cats and witches."
All five dramas detailed below were commissioned with Danny Cohen:
War Of The Roses
A serial based on Philippa Gregory's novels, adapted by Emma Frost, made by Company Pictures.
Based on the best-selling series of books The Cousins' War, by acclaimed historical fiction novelist Philippa Gregory. This new series will be set against the backdrop of one of this country's most bloody periods, The War of the Roses, when two dynasties, the Yorks and the Lancasters, fought through several generations for the right to rule England.
Told uniquely from the perspective of the women who shaped their men and who shaped history in the process. Murderers, mothers and lovers, queens and witches, it's about women and power at a time when women could still be burnt at the stake for sorcery.
The Secret Of Crickley Hall
A 3x60 minute drama adapted and directed by Joe Ahearne (Trance, Apparitions, Doctor Who, This Life), made by BBC Drama Production North.
Adaptation of James Herbert's best-selling ghost story especially for Halloween. A haunted house chiller, full of scares, but underpinned by the moving tales of children and parents separated, 70 years apart.
The Moonstone
3 x 60 minute event drama for Christmas 2012, written by Ed Whitmore (Waking The Dead, Inspector Linley, CSI), made by BBC Drama Production.
Adaptation of Wilkie Collins' rollicking adventure yarn and powerful love story about the theft of an Indian jewel by a British army officer at the storming of a Maharajah's palace.
Described by TS Eliot as 'the first and greatest of English detective novels', it is widely regarded as being responsible for introducing the first fictional policeman into literary fiction - Sergeant Cuff of Scotland Yard.
Cuff is called in to solve the theft of the precious stone and uncovers secrets, lies, passion, hypocrisy, and murder.
The Moonstone is the story that tests all of his deductive powers.
Truckers
A 6 x 60 minute series, written by William Ivory, made by Company Pictures.
William Ivory's new series introduces a rogue's gallery of irascible characters, men and women, all of whom work for the same haulage company driving 40 ton articulated lorries across the Midlands.
It's a warm, funny, bitter-sweet character-driven show about getting by in difficult times.
Room On The Broom
A 1 x 30 minute drama for Christmas 2012, made by Magic Light Pictures.
From the makers of The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, Room On The Broom is another magical tale about friendship and family from best-selling author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler.
A story about a kind witch who invites a surprising collection of animals to join her on her broom, much to the frustration of her cat. The gang ultimately save the witch from a fearsome dragon, and in gratitude she rewards them with a magnificent new broom which has room for everyone.
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20 Jan 2012
Elstree Studios to Support Brit Comedy Feature 'Fortune Cookies' with New Educational Scheme for UK Film
Studio space will be provided by PG Affiliate, Elstree Studios, supporting 'Fortune Cookies', a social enterprise British comedy feature from Reelscape Films made in conjunction with a new 16-week educational programme, enabling secondary school students to have an impact on feature film production.
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Coming from new writer / director Brenda Lee, the cross-cultural family comedy, will be shot in the East Midlands and London in 2012 and Elstree will host the film's fictional game show scenes.
The film is accompanied by a new unique educational scheme encompassing workshops and work experience where young people from various secondary schools will have a real involvement on the production of a commercial movie whilst also aiming to increase their engagement with the key themes of Learning, Literacy and Livelihoods.
Roger Morris, Managing Director of Elstree Film Studios says, "We're very pleased to help Becky with her film. We're very supportive of young British filmmakers and we're looking forward to working with Reelscape Films on this project."
Reelscape Films' MD Becky Adams says, "I'm thrilled to be filming my first feature film Fortune Cookies at Elstree. It's the perfect studio for our shoot and the students involved in the production are already very excited to be coming to a studio so steeped in cinema history and with many of their favourite shows and films being filmed there at the moment. To achieve our learning objectives for the educational scheme we need this kind of excitement in our students and need to offer them opportunities in world class facilities like this. And I also have to admit that I'm very excited by the magic of Elstree too!"
The film centres on the heart of a Chinese family who are obsessed with Les Dennis' TV game show Fame to Fortune. All except eldest daughter Susan Lee who would like to escape her eccentric, yet traditional family life for the bright lights of the West End. The family are at risk of losing their beloved takeaway to local loan sharks and when they get a chance to appear on Fame to Fortune to win enough money to easily cover their debts, they believe their problems are over until Susan reveals the show recording clashes with her stage debut.
You can visit the film's website for more details at www.fortunecookiesmovie.co.uk.
For further details on Reelscape Films and Fortune Cookies please contact: Becky Adams, Producer, Reelscape Films, 07930 646 721, becky@reelscapefilms.co.uk.
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20 Jan 2012
This Week's New PG Member Feature Film and TV Drama Releases including Coriolanus and W.E.
This week sees a huge 15 film and TV productions currently on release worked on by PG Members! Opening on cinema screens today (Friday 20th January 2012) are Ralph Fiennes', Coriolanus based on the William Shakespeare play and Madonna's story of Wallis Simson and Edward VIII, W.E. On the small screen, first world war drama, Birdsong debut's on BBC 1 this Sunday at 9pm and Mad Dogs (Series 2), Stella, Hustle (Series 8), Call the Midwife and Above Suspicion: Silent Scream, all continue.
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New Feature Film
New Feature Films Released this Week with PG Members include:
W.E.
Semtex Films
New Yorker Wally Winthrop is obsessed with the ultimate love story from the past: King Edward VIII's rejection of the British throne for his lover Wallis Simpson. Romance drama 'W.E.' follows both these women in a two-tier film that travels back and forth through time to reveal that underneath the glamour of the original Royal affair, all was not quite what it seemed. Directed by Madonna.
Guild Members:
Nigel Wooll - Executive Producer
Jane Soans - Supervising Location Manager
Philippa Naughten - Production Co-ordinator
Yuen-Wai Liu - Assistant Production Co-ordinator
Will Tyler - Financial Controller
Gemma Todd (Smithers) - 1st Assistant Accountant
Rachel James - Post Production Accountant
Josh Allan - Accounts Assistant
Coriolanus
Atlantic Swiss Productions
One of the city's most beloved heroes is banished after his hatred of the people sparks rioting and chaos. Swearing to get even, he joins forces with his arch-enemy who is intent on destroying the Roman capital. But can his cunning ways help him outwit the most devious leaders in the ancient world? Directed by Ralph Fiennes and adapted from William Shakespeare.
Guild Members:
Polly Hope - Production Co-ordinator
Debbie Moore - Financial Controller
Debbie Peterson - Assistant Accountant (UK)
Affiliates / Business Partners:
International Film Guarantors
Fujifilm Motion Picture - Fujicolor ETERNA 500T 8573 and ETERNA 250D 8563 (DoP - Barry Ackroyd BSC).
New TV Drama
Stella
Tidy Productions / Sky
Fri 20th Jan (Ep 3) @ 9pm - Sky1
(or Catch Up or Watch on Sky Go here)
The people of Pontyberry attend the funeral of local rugby legend Dick the Kick, and Emma is forced to make sacrifices ahead of her wedding day. Meanwhile, Jagadeesh excitedly plans Sunil's Grease-themed stag weekend and Stella saves up to buy bunk beds for her boys.
Guild Members:
Janis McMorrine - Production Accountant
Hustle (Series 8)
Kudos Film and Television
Fri 20 Jan (Ep 2) @ 9.00pm - BBC1
(or Catch Up or Watch on iPlayer here)
The tricksters discover a valuable Picasso has been stolen, so they try to sell a forgery of the painting back to the original owner - only to come unstuck when Mickey is kidnapped. To rescue their leader, the grifters have to find out who took the original and then steal it back, but with so many fakes and double-crossers lurking behind every corner, they have a challenge on their hands to save Mickey in time. Sheila Hancock, Bill Bailey and Martin Kemp guest star.
Guild Members:
David Wilcock - Production Accountant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
TPH Global - Eclipse Accounting Software
Call the Midwife
Neal Street Productions
Sun 22nd Jan (Ep 2) @ 8pm - BBC 1
(or Catch Up or Watch on iPlayer here)
Jenny sets out to help a heavily pregnant teenage girl who escaped an abusive life in Ireland and made her way to London, only to be taken in by a cafe owner who forced her into prostitution. Meanwhile, new midwife Chummy (Miranda Hart) arrives at Nonnatus House, and despite an overwhelming eagerness to please, she makes slow progress - a problem not helped by her inability to ride a bicycle. Jessica Raine and Amy McAllister co-star in the period medical drama.
Guild Members:
Caroline Russell - Production Accountant
Jo Sanders - Assistant Production Accountant
Catherine Francis - PG Accounts Trainee
Affiliates / Business Partners:
TPH Global - Eclipse Software and Payroll Services
Birdsong
Working Title Television
Sun 22nd Jan (Ep 1) @ 9pm - BBC 1
(or Catch Up or Watch on iPlayer here)
First of a two-part drama based on Sebastian Faulks' novel about two lovers brought together and torn apart by the First World War. France, 1910, and Englishman Stephen Wraysford arrives to work at the textile factory of the Azaire family, only to fall desperately in love with his host's wife Isabelle. Before long, the pair begin an illicit and all-consuming affair, with huge consequences for them both. Eddie Redmayne (My Week with Marilyn) and Clemence Poesy (the Harry Potter films) star as the lovers, with support from Joseph Mawle, Richard Madden and Matthew Goode. Adapted by Abi Morgan, writer of The Hour and The Iron Lady.
Guild Members:
Sophie Treacher - Production Co-ordinator
Reka Angyalosy - Production Accountant (Hungary)
Louise O'Malley - Production Accountant
Above Suspicion: Silent Scream
La Plante Productions
Mon 23rd Jan (Ep 3) @ 9pm - ITV 1
(or Catch Up or Watch on ITV Player here)
Travis follows her instincts independently from the team, but her devotion to the force begins to lead her down a dangerous path. Langton continues to suspect that his colleagues scuppered his chances of becoming Commander, and tries to secure a confession from one of them. Crime drama, starring Kelly Reilly, Ciaran Hinds, Michelle Holmes and Shaun Dingwall.
Guild Members:
Simon Windsor - Production Accountant
Mad Dogs (Series 2)
Left Bank Pictures
Thurs 26th Jan (Ep 2) @ 9pm - Sky1
(or Catch Up or Watch on Sky Go here)
The friends go on the run in Ibiza with the bag of money in tow, but strange forces come into play when they try to cover their tracks by heading to a remote mountain village. Psychological thriller, starring Max Beesley, Philip Glenister, John Simm and Marc Warren.
Guild Members:
Rachel Proudlove - Production Accountant
Miguel Munoz-Pariente - 1st Assistant Accountant
Beewan Athwal - Post Production Supervisor
Other Releases Currently Screening...
War Horse
DreamWorks SKG
Directed by Steven Spielberg's, a tale of loyalty, hope and tenacity set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War. "War Horse" begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse and a young man, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man's Land.
Guild Members:
Nick Laws - Unit Production Manager
Samantha Knox-Johnston - Production Supervisor
Victoria Hawden - Production Co-ordinator (Devon)
Matthew Jenkins - Assistant Production Co-ordinator
Maggie Phelan - Financial Controller
James Richardson - Production Accountant
Betty Ainslie - Cost Accountant
Elizabeth Hurley - Cost Accountant
Michael Mungroo - Assistant Accountant
Clair Hanson - Assistant Accountant
Kelly Johnson - Assistant Accountant
Lara Sargent - Post Production Accountant
Martin Joy - Location Manager
Chris Norman - Key Assistant Accountant
Yuen-Wai Liu - Daily Assistant Co-ordinator
Shame
Film4 / See-Saw Films
Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his wayward younger sister (Carey Mulligan) moves into his apartment stirring memories of their shared painful past, Brandon's insular life spirals out of control. Written and Directed by Steve McQueen.
Guild Members:
Neil Cairns - Post Production Accountant
The Iron Lady
Pathe / Film4
Starring Meryl Streep and Directed by Phyllida Lloyd CBE, The Iron Lady tells the story of Margaret Thatcher, tells the story of how the country's first female PM broke through traditional barriers to succeed in a male-dominated political world.
Guild Members:
Anita Overland - Co-Producer
Sarah-Jane Wheale - Production Manager
Michael Mann - Assistant Production Co-ordinator
Helen Swanwick - Production Secretary
Rachel Plose - Production Accountant
Marie Dong - 1st Assistant Accountant
Victoria Rickham - 2nd Assistant Accountant (Payroll)
Ewan Taylor - PG Accounts Trainee
Philip Lobban - Location Scout
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Warner Bros.
Robert Downey Jr. returns as the world's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, with Jude Law once again at his side as Dr. Watson. When the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead, everything points to suicide. But Sherlock Holmes deduces murder, and falls into a cunningly constructed web that can only have been spun by arch enemy Professor Moriarty...and draws him into a deadly global game of cat of mouse.
Guild Members:
Steve Clark-Hall - Co-Producer
John Bernard - Line Producer (France)
Mark Mostyn - Unit Production Manager
Brian Donovan - Unit Production Manager (Additional Photography)
Brigitte Ward-Holmes - Construction Co-ordinator (Only in Prep)
Aneta Chalas - Production Secretary (Additional Photography)
Michele Tandy - Financial Controller
Lisa-Kim Ling Kuan - Production Accountant
Cristiano D'Urso - 1st Assistant Accountant
Ann Ormesher Johnson - Assistant Accountant
Chika Anisiobi - Assistant Accountant
Sabbir Ahmed - Assistant Accountant
Alastair McNeil - Assistant Accountant
Rajashree Patel - Post Production Accountant
Max Keene - 1st Assistant Director
Valeria Bullo - 2nd Unit Production Secretary
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Pinewood Studios Group - Shot at Shepperton and Pinewood Studios
3 Mills Studios - Location Shooting
Sargent-Disc - Software and Payroll Services
Kodak - Kodak Vision3 250D 5207, Vision3 200T 5213, Vision3 500T 5219
Dreams of a Life
Cannon and Morley Productions
Carol Morley's study of the life of Joyce Vincent; a woman who died in a London bedsit in 2003 and lay undiscovered for three years. Using interviews and imaginary scenes from Vincent's life, the documentary explores the circumstances that lead to a person being completely alone in a city of over 8 million people and seeks to bring her back to life.
Guild Members:
Helen Bingham - Production Accountant
Hugo
GK Films
Directed by Martin Scorsese. Set in 1930's Paris, 'Hugo' tells the magical tale of an orphan who has secretly lives in a train station and spends his time tending to the railway's clocks. When he tries to fix a mechanical man, he sets in motion a series of events that threaten to unlock all his secrets.
Guild Members:
Angus More Gordon - Unit Production Manager
John Bernard - Line Producer (France)
Emma Bendell - Production Controller
Jamie Lengyel - Supervising Location Manager
Hannah Godwin - Production Co-ordinator
Claire Robertson - Production Accountant
Karen Bicknell - Payroll Accountant
Tina Pisano - Assistant Accountant
Sarah Hunt - Assistant Accountant
Donna Casey - Assistant Accountant
Lucy Howell - Accounts Assistant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Pinewood Studios Group - Shot at Shepperton and Pinewood Studios
Arri Media - Camera: Arri Alexa, Cooke S4 and 5/i Lenses
My Week with Marilyn
The Weinstein Company / BBC Films / Lipsync Productions / Trademark Films
A fascinating insight into a young Oxford graduate's seven days with Hollywood's most famous movie star, 'My Week With Marilyn' takes place during the filming of 'The Prince and the Showgirl', the 1957 film that brought Sir Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe together for the only time.
Guild Members:
Mark Cooper - Co-Producer
Sara Desmond - Production Manager
Matthew Jenkins - Production Co-ordinator (Additional Photography)
Yuen-Wai Liu - Assistant Co-ordinator (Additional Photography)
Vinnie Jassal - Location Scout
Liz Barron - Financial Controller
Peter Eardley - Production Accountant
Jennine Baker - Production Accountant(Additional Dance Sequence Only)
Elizabeth Walker - Pre Production Accountant
Trevor Stanley - Post Production Accountant
Warren Demer - Assistant Accountant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Pinewood Studios Group - Shot at Pinewood Studios
Kodak - Kodak Vision2 50D 5201, Vision3 250D 5207, Vision3 200T 5213, Vision3 500T 5219
TPH Global - Eclipse Accounting Software and Payroll Services
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20 Jan 2012
Project Pinewood Planning Permission Refused by Government
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has this morning announced the decision refuse planning permission for 'Project Pinewood'. Announced in 2007, the proposed £200m expansion to Pinewood Studios was intended to add readymade replicas of international streetscapes for filming as well as adding new housing for over 1000 residents.
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In a statement released this morning by Pinewood Shepperton PLC, Andrew Smith, Group Director Corporate Affairs & Company Secretary commented, "Pinewood Shepperton plc is disappointed by today's decision by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to refuse planning permission for Project Pinewood. The Company will now take time to review the decision in detail."
He continued, "The Company's investment in the Project Pinewood land and costs incurred for the planning application are not material to the long term prospects of the Company. The Company will continue to implement its master planning consents at Pinewood and Shepperton studios and pursue its international strategy of developing studios overseas."
If permission had been granted for Project Pinewood today, reported plans were in place to add a multitude of international streets sets including downtown New York, Chicago, Paris, Venice, and Amsterdam as well as popular settings including a college campus, an Amphitheatre, US west coast housing and a castle.
The planned expansion project has however been met with opposition from local residents who formed a "Stop Project Pinewood" group on the grounds of disruption to their community and protecting the local greenbelt and wildlife. The original planning application was rejected by South Bucks District Council in October 2009.
Today's announcement comes as a result of Pinewood's appeal against that decision from which a public inquiry commenced on 5th April 2011.
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19 Jan 2012
Skillset Launch UK Film 'Trainee Placement Scheme' Across Multiple Departments
Skillset, the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the Creative Industries, has launched the UK Film 'Trainee Placement Scheme' which aims to help those whom have had a little industry experience or training to develop skills and cultivate strong networks in the film industry. On the other side of the fence, the scheme will be supplying a number of trainees across many departments and please also see below if you are interested in taking any on.
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Interested in Film Training?
Now open for applications, the scheme will offer trainees paid placements on feature film productions shooting within the UK, with the opportunity to earn while they learn, in craft and technical departments from March 2012.
PG Member and Skillset Craft and Technical Skills Academy Director, Alison Small commented, "This unique scheme will give the best talent across the UK a way into the film industry and give film productions access to high calibre trainees".
Having undergone some initial training, trainees can be employed by UK film productions for short periods of between 4 and 18 weeks.
Applicants will need the following experience for this scheme:
• Graduates from a Skillset Film or Media Academy and graduated in the past 18 months;
• New to the industry, having completed, in the past 18 months, a Skillset funded New Entrant Training Programme
• None of the above but able to provide two testimonials from professionals who have recently worked in the UK Film Industry.
Applicants who have previously had paid work in the film industry MUST have commenced that work less than 12 months ago. Trainees will be placed on the scheme database for up to 12 months.
Skillset have also confirmed that the following numbers of trainees are required across the following departments:
• Camera (including lighting) – 14
• Editing – 4
• Costume and Wardrobe – 6
• Art Department (including props) – 14
• Production Sound – 9
• Script supervisors – 5
The deadline for applications is Friday 3rd February 2012. Successful applicants will be invited to interview with an industry panel at the end of February / early March 2012.
Further details can be found at http://www.craftandtech.org/trainee-news/
Looking for talented film trainees?
Film productions which have paid the SIF (Skills Investment Fund) have the chance to recruit skilled trainees to work in their craft and technical departments at heavily subsidised rates.
To find out how you can recruit subsidised trainees please contact kristenp@skillset.org or tel 020 7713 9800.
For further information about the Trainee Placement Scheme please email info@craftandtech.org.
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17 Jan 2012
Fujifilm Shorts Competition 2012 Opens for Entries
Fujifilm Shorts 2012, the free to enter short film competition run by PG Affiliate, Fujifilm Motion Picture, is now open and accepting entries at www.fujifilmshorts.com. The award, now in its fourth year, also includes one category with an Open brief. As in previous years, two prizes will be awarded - 'Best Film' and 'Best Cinematography'.
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All submissions must be shot, in their entirety, on Fujifilm Motion Picture film stock and must have been completed after 1 January 2010. All submissions must be less than 30 minutes long. Entrants can submit as many short films as they like.
Fujifilm Motion Pictures will select a shortlist of nominated films for final judging and a panel of industry experts will be selected by Fujifilm to judge the finalists. The judges will award two prizes, the overall 'Best Film' and a prize for the 'Best Cinematography'. All nominated films will be judged for both prizes.
Major Prize Sponsors include PG Affiliates, Panalux and Technicolor, as well as PG Business Partner, Panavision. Prizes include:
• £2,000 worth of Fujifilm Motion Picture stock of your choice in either 16mm or 35mm.
• A 'Rushes Package' courtesy of Technicolor - including film processing (a maximum of either 8,000ft of 16mm or 6,000ft of 35mm), a one light transfer, sync sound and Digi-Beta deliverable.
• Technicolor Creative Services Soho will provide a print of the two winning films on Fujifilm's new show print stock, Eterna-CP 3514DI. This service will include Laser Film Recording services onto 35mm Fujifilm RDI Intermediate film from the winning film's tape or data masters.
• A 35mm or 16mm Camera and Dolly hire package courtesy of Panavision.
• Lighting hire package courtesy of Panalux.
• Studio hire package courtesy of Island Studios, London.
• A final audio and colour grading package courtesy of Rain Post Production.
• A main and end titles design and creation package courtesy of Fugitive Studios.
• An insurance package worth £1,500 courtesy of Towergate Camerasure.
• There are additional prizes for the cinematographers of each of the two winning films - The cinematographers of the 'Best Film' and 'Best Cinematography' will each win one free ticket to the Camerimage, International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography, in Poland, December 2012. The prize includes flights, accommodation and industry festival passes.
• The British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) will welcome both of the winning cinematographers of the 'Best Film' and 'Best Cinematography' awards, as guests of Fujifilm, to all BSC social and technical events for a period of one year.
• The two winning films will be considered for a worldwide distribution deal with Future Shorts.
• All 12 nominated films will be screened as part of the festival programme at the Rushes Short Film Festival in London in July 2012.
• The two winning films will be screened as part of the festival programme at the Born Shorts International Short Film Festival 2012 in Bornholm, Denmark.
• The two winning films will be screened as part of the festival programme in Cannes for Cannes In A Van and in London at the Screen Social.
• The two winning filmmakers will also have a free pass to Hay Film School's workshops at the 4th Festival of British Cinema (2012) in Hay-on-Wye, where their winning films will also be screened as part of the festival programme.
• One year of free subscription to British Cinematographer Magazine.
The winners will also be featured on our Fujifilm Exposure website with extensive PR coverage from Fujifilm Motion Picture.
All submissions must be on DVD and posted, together with a completed entry form to Jerry Deeney, Fujifilm Shorts, 17 Soho Square, London, W1D 3QJ. The closing date for entries is 30 March 2012 and the two winners will be announced at the Rushes Soho Shorts Festival awards ceremony on 19 July 2012.
Visit www.fujifilmshorts.com to download an entry form and to see full terms and conditions.
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16 Jan 2012
Government Publishes Film Policy Review ‘The Future of British Film’
The Government’s Film Policy review, commissioned by Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey and chaired by Lord Chris Smith has been published today, which includes a total of 56 recommendations to Government, industry and the British Film Institute (BFI) regarding the future of British Film.
The Government’s Film Policy review, commissioned by Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey and chaired by Lord Chris Smith has been published today, which includes a total of 56 recommendations to Government, industry and the British Film Institute (BFI) regarding the future of British Film.
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Broadcasters providing further investment directly into new British feature film production, incentives for better collaboration between producers, directors and distributors, a stronger financial support for industry training and skills development and changes to film education were all points highlighted in the review.
The panel was asked to identify barriers to growth in the British film industry with principal objectives being, to provide greater coherence and consistency in the industry, to determine how best to set policy directions for the increased Lottery funding, to identify ways to develop and retain UK talent, to increase audience demand for film, including independent British film.
DCMS also highlighted that the review has been undertaken during challenging economic times and that the recommendations have been designed to help ensure that film is one of the sectors which plays a full role in driving growth, creating jobs and stimulating inward investment and exports.
Lord Smith said: "British film is going through a golden period. A run of British-made and British-based movies has been taking audiences around the world by storm. But we cannot be complacent – this review highlights the things that the BFI, Government and industry can do to ensure that we continue to build on recent successes. British film is in prime position to make a major contribution to the growth of the UK's economy, to the development of attractive and fulfilling careers for young people and to the creation of job opportunities across the country."
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said: "I am committed to creating a more stable and successful film industry and I thank Chris Smith and the panel for the huge amount of work that has gone into preparing this report. I know the panel has worked very closely with representatives from the entire film community and I look forward to examining what the report recommends to government, industry and the BFI."
DCMS highlighted the following points from the review in summary:
• A new programme to bring film education into every school, giving every pupil the chance to see, understand and learn about British film. Film education has a vital role to play in ensuring that everyone in the UK has the opportunity to engage with film. By enhancing the stock of knowledge and information about film, in particular among children and young people, film education can assist in growing the audience of today and tomorrow, ensuring that audiences have an improved understanding and appreciation of different kinds of film, whilst stimulating creativity.
• A call for the major broadcasters to invest more in the screening, acquisition and production of independent British film. Given that the majority of people still watch most of the films they see on television, an increased commitment to screening British films would also have an important impact on the vitality of cultural life in the UK. Similarly, the broadcasters could be a powerful force for sharing information and knowledge about the breadth of film available – through increased programming about film, online content and mobile 'apps'.
• Incentives ensuring a more collaborative approach between producers, directors and distributors which in turn will facilitate financing of projects. If public funding was used to encourage distribution and production companies to approach the financing and distribution of projects as equal partners, their financial interests would be brought into alignment and valuable commercial knowledge could be exchanged to the wider long-term benefit of the industry.
• A strong commitment to combat piracy and illegal exploitation of intellectual property. Copyright infringement and theft is one of the major factors behind declining revenues. The creative industries make the biggest use of copyright and design by contributing over £36 billion to the economy, supporting 1.5 million jobs. To maximise this important contribution to the economy, and to further economic growth, an effective strategy for significantly reducing copyright infringement and theft is vital.
• A scheme to bring digital screens and projectors to village and community halls across the country. The Big Lottery Fund and BFI should work together to create a programme of assistance for local film clubs and societies in areas of rural deprivation or isolation, including the provision of screening facilities for village and community halls.
• An annual celebration, focused on a British Film Week, to re-establish the brand of British film. The Panel would like to see the BFI working closely with distributors and exhibitors on an annual celebration which would provide audiences across the UK with access to the full spectrum of British film, giving them a greater insight into its breadth, depth and originality.
• Stronger investment in training and skills development, especially to seize new technology opportunities. The development of skills and talent provides the backbone which underpins the success of the entire film sector in the UK; from production, sales, distribution, and exhibition to archive. If the UK is to maintain its competitive position in a digital age, it must continue to invest in the development of that talent and those skills.
The full review can be read by clicking here and PG Members can find the review within both the Hot Topics and Industry Documents pages within the Members Area of the PG website.
A video with Lord Smith explaining the key recommendations can also be found here, hosted by DCMS.
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Creative England Details Locations and Production Services Team
The Locations and Production Services team at Creative England is now in place and full contact details for all of the staff can be found below. Headed up by Kaye Elliott (previously Head of Inward Investment at Vision+Media) the Locations and Production Services team will provide a joined-up and cohesive service to assist with all filming enquiries throughout England.
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Creative England said, "We will be working hard over the coming months to make it as simple as possible for production companies to get the service they want and need and offering a truly joined up service across England. We almost have all of the team in place, with plans to provide more support in the South in 2012. Most of the team have previously worked in the screen agency network which ensures that the local knowledge that is so important has been retained."
The points of contact for all filming and crew enquiries are as follows:
National
NICK BEECH
Production Liaison Coordinator
Nick.beech@creativeengland.co.uk
Direct Dial: 0161 2814328
Contact Nick for any general enquiries about the service or if you
have a filming enquiry for anywhere in England and Nick will compile a coordinated response.
North of England
BOBBY COCHRANE
Production Liaison Manager
Bobby.cochrane@creativeengland.co.uk
Direct Dial: 0161 281 4353
Mobile: 07976 629 933
North & Central
Chris Hordley
Production Liaison Manager
Chris.hordley@creativeengland.co.uk
Mobile: 07904 557830
Central England
STEPHEN BADHAM
Senior Production Liaison Manager
Stephen.badham@creativeengland.co.uk
Direct Dial: 0121 265 7120
Mobile: 07980 671928
South of England
FIONA FRANCOMBE
Senior Production Liaison Manager
Fiona.francombe@creativeengland.co.uk
Direct Dial: 0117 9529983
Mobile: 07770 430328
National Crew enquiries
NICKY BALL
Crew and Facilities
Nicky.ball@creativeengland.co.uk
South of England
Production Liaison Coordinator
(Recruitment is currently underway for this post)
For general enquiries, email production@creativeengland.co.uk.
For more information, visit the Filming in England pages on the Creative England website
Don't forget that you can also get instant updates from Creative England by following them on Twitter @creativeengland.
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15 Dec 2011
HMRC Film Tax Credit Statistics Released
HM Revenue and Customs have announced this morning statistics relating to The Film Tax Credit. Full details of the report can be seen on the full report linked to below.
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In summary, from the FTR's inception in Jan 2007 to May 2011:-
- 650 film productions have made claims totalling £645 million
- 9% of claims were made by large budget films (over £20m) at an average of £3.7million per claim totalling £340m
- 88% of claims were made by 'limited budget' productions (under £20m) at an average of £0.3million per claim totalling £230m
John Graydon of RSM Tenon noted "This is great news for filmmakers and for the UK economy. It demonstrates that filmmakers are using the film tax relief more than ever. A study into the economic impact of the tax relief found that for every £1 paid out in tax relief, £13 was contributed to the UK's GDP.
To view the full report, please click here.
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09 Dec 2011
End of Year Awards Round-Up – Wins for PG Members at the BIFA and WFTV Awards
Alongside many wins for films that were contributed to by a wide range of PG Members, the end of year awards also saw individual awards given to PG Member, Graham Easton who was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 2011 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) and to PG Member, Jane Frazer who was named the winner of the International Film Guarantors Project Management Award at the Women in Film and Television Awards (WFTV).
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The prestigious Special Jury Prize at the BIFAs was awarded to Graham for his positive and longstanding contribution to the British Film Industry through Film Finances Ltd, where he now acts as a consultant.
Accepting his award, Graham spoke of his joy at being able to help so many British films through to completion. The appreciation for Graham's hard work in achieving that was spoken of within many heartfelt tributes at the ceremony.
The Guild was also delighted to see Jane Frazer win the Project Management Award, sponsored by PG Affiliate, International Film Guarantors at this year's WFTV Awards.
As well as seeing the successful releases of One Day (Co-Producer) and Hanna (Line Producer – Finland) this year, Jane has also Co-Produced, Gambit starring Colin Firth and Alan Rickman, which is currently in Post Production and due for release next year.
Another highlight came as the Best Achievement in Production BIFA Award went to Weekend, which was Production Managed by PG Member, Yuen-Wai Liu. Yuen came through the Guild's Assistant Co-ordinator Trainee Scheme and it is fantastic to see her progress to this level and high recognition so quickly!
Congratulations also go out to PG Members, Tina Ellis (Assistant Accountant) and Ann Lynch (Post Production Supervisor) for their hard work on the highly critically acclaimed documentary, Senna, which won the Best British Documentary at the BIFAs.
A full list of award winners can be found below:
British Independent Film Award Winners 2011
BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM Sponsored by Moët & Chandon – TYRANNOSAUR
BEST DIRECTOR Sponsored by The Creative Partnership - Lynne Ramsay – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR] Sponsored by 3 Mills Studios - Paddy Considine – TYRANNOSAUR
BEST SCREENPLAY Sponsored by BBC Films - Richard Ayoade – SUBMARINE
BEST ACTRESS Sponsored by M.A.C - Olivia Colman – TYRANNOSAUR
BEST ACTOR - Michael Fassbender – SHAME
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Vanessa Redgrave – CORIOLANUS
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Michael Smiley – KILL LIST
MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER Sponsored by STUDIOCANAL - Tom Cullen – WEEKEND
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION Sponsored by Deluxe142 – WEEKEND
THE RAINDANCE AWARD Sponsored by Exile Media - LEAVING BAGHDAD
BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT - Maria Djurkovic – Production Design – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
BEST DOCUMENTARY – SENNA
BEST BRITISH SHORT – CHALK
BEST FOREIGN INDEPENDENT FILM - A SEPARATION
THE RICHARD HARRIS AWARD (for outstanding contribution by an actor to British Film) - Sponsored by Working Title - Ralph Fiennes
THE VARIETY AWARD - Kenneth Branagh
THE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE - Graham Easton
Women in Film and Television Award Winners 2011
The Barclays Corporate Business Award - Sarah Cooper
The BBC News And Factual Award - Sue Perkins
The Channel 4 Creative Innovation Award - Deborah Sathe
The Deluxe London Director Award - Mandie Fletcher
The Envy Producer Award - Andrea Calderwood
The Eon Productions Lifetime Achievement Award - Victoria Wood
The International Film Guarantors Project Management Award - Jane Frazer
The ITV Achievement Of The Year Award - Alex Crawford, Sara Sidner, Zeina Khodr
The Littlestar Contribution To The Medium Award - Janice Hadlow
The MAC Best Performance Award - Emily Watson
The Panalux Craft Award - Victoria Boydell
The Skillset Inspirational Woman Award - Anna Scher
The talkbackTHAMES New Talent Award - Dr Maggie Aderin Pocock MBE
The Technicolor Writing Award - Joanna Scanlan, Vicki Pepperdine, Jo Brand
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09 Dec 2011
Support for Welsh Creative Industry Grows as Government Launch New Digital Development Fund
The Welsh creative industries can now apply for new funding of up to £50,000 and up to 50 per cent of a project total through the new Digital Development Fund, launched yesterday by the Welsh Government. The fund aims to support creative industries in developing digital opportunities, new creative products and new services that can be exploited across multiple digital platforms and in international markets.
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The Welsh Government stated that the goal of the new fund is to "accelerate the growth of Creative Industries businesses in Wales" and that the fund "offers clear potential to achieve significant sales revenues from commercial deals".
As well as providing funding up to £50,000 and up to 50 per cent of each project, it was also confirmed that support given under the Digital Development Fund is not repayable.
The fund is now on a 12-month pilot and it is currently accepting any feedback that can help it to improve the service. As the fund is rolled out, eligibility criteria and guidance may be amended where required.
Further Information
To download the Digital Development Fund eligibility criteria (Word, 53K), click here.
To download the Digital Development Fund application form (Word, 804K, click here.
To download examples of eligible Digital Development Fund projects (PDF, 46K), click here.
To download a monitoring form to accompany the application form (Word, 29K), click here.
You can also find out more by calling 03000 6 03000.
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08 Dec 2011
This Week's New PG Member Feature Film and TV Drama Releases (Week 9/12 to 14/12)
With Hugo, My Week with Marilyn, The Deep Blue Sea, The Awakening, Wuthering Heights and Johnny English Reborn all now screening in UK cinemas, this week also sees several high-end TV Drama broadcast premiers hitting the small screen. After its successful debut last week, Charlie Brooker's, Black Mirror returns for its second of three episodes, this time centered on a futuristic reality talent show. BBC's Merlin, E4's Misfits and Sky1's The Cafe also continue, all with just a handful of episodes left before the current seasons reach their conclusions. The final episode of new island murder mystery, Death in Paradise will see the first series conclude this week on BBC1. Click "Show more" for full details and previews.
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New TV Drama
New TV Drama Broadcasting this week with PG Member includes:
Merlin (Series 4)
BBC / Shine
Sat 10th Dec (Ep 11) @ 8:15pm - BBC 1
(or Catch Up or Watch on iPlayer here)
Morgana finds an ally in powerful warlord Helios and they plot to take over Camelot. However, Arthur and his people are so preoccupied with a visit from the beautiful Princess Mithian, it is left to the returning Gwen to raise the alarm - and her appearance soon reopens old wounds .
Guild Members:
Amanda Wilkie - Line Producer
Laurence Parker - Production Accountant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Kodak - Kodak Vision3 500T 5219, Kodak Vision3 200T 5213, Kodak Vision2 50D 5201 (D.O.P Dale McCready)
Black Mirror
Zeppotron
Sun 11th Dec (Ep 2) @ 9.35pm - Channel 4
(or Catch Up or Watch on 4oD here once broadcasted)
Dark satire set in a future reality where everyone is confined to a life of physical drudgery - unless they can impress the judges of a popular talent show. Written by Charlie Brooker.
Guild Members:
Beth Timbrell - Production Co-ordinator
Kelly Lee - Assistant Production Co-ordinator (Production Co-ordinator - Episode 3)
Christine Murray - Assistant Accountant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
TPH Global - Eclipse Accounting Software and Payroll Services
Misfits (Series 3)
Clerkenwell Films
Sun 11th Dec (Ep 7) @ 10pm - E4
(or Catch Up or Watch on 4oD here)
Seth finds a resurrection super-power and uses it to bring his ex-girlfriend Shannon back to life. However, the action comes at a price as she develops a thirst for blood, and he is torn between his love for Kelly and the guilt he feels over his old flame's death .
Guild Members:
Christine Healy - Line Producer
Andrew Hill - Production Accountant
Jo Sanders - Assistant Accountant
Death in Paradise
Red Planet Pictures
Tues 13th Dec (Ep 8) @ 9pm - BBC 1
(or Catch Up or Watch on iPlayer here)
Dwayne is in high spirits after meeting a new woman on a night out, but his joy is cut short when she is found dead the following morning. It soon transpires the victim was living under a false identity and gathering evidence against a money-laundering ring, but as the team struggles to piece together the clues, Richard hears the news he has been longing for - his old job is available if he wants it. It looks like the Caribbean cops will be solving this murder without their British DI .
Guild Members:
Steven Groom - Production Accountant
Freya Pinsent - Production Accountant
Samantha Beddoe - Location Accountant
The Cafe
Sky / Jellylegs Productions
Wed 14th Dec (Ep 5) @ 9pm - Sky1
(or Catch Up or Watch on Sky Go here)
Sarah reveals the outcome of her meeting with a literary agent in Bristol, but gets no answer when she calls Richard to tell him the news. Meanwhile, Brenda makes a formal offer for the lease of Cyril's, but Carol is more concerned about the whereabouts of Stan .
Guild Members:
Rob Champion - Location Manager
Affiliates / Business Partners:
TPH Global - Eclipse Accounting Software and Payroll Services
Other Features Currently Showing...
Hugo
GK Films
Directed by Martin Scorsese. Set in 1930's Paris, 'Hugo' tells the magical tale of an orphan who has secretly made his home in a train station and spends his time tending to the railway's clocks. When he tries to fix a mechanical man, he sets in motion a series of events that threaten to unlock all his secrets.
Guild Members:
Angus More Gordon - Unit Production Manager
John Bernard - Line Producer (France)
Emma Bendell - Production Controller
Jamie Lengyel - Supervising Location Manager
Hannah Godwin - Production Co-ordinator
Claire Robertson - Production Accountant
Karen Bicknell - Payroll Accountant
Tina Pisano - Assistant Accountant
Sarah Hunt - Assistant Accountant
Donna Casey - Assistant Accountant
Lucy Howell - Accounts Assistant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Pinewood Studios Group - Shot at Shepperton and Pinewood Studios
Arri Media - Camera: Arri Alexa, Cooke S4 and 5/i Lenses
My Week with Marilyn
The Weinstein Company / BBC Films / Lipsync Productions / Trademark Films
A fascinating insight into a young Oxford graduate's seven days with Hollywood's most famous movie star, 'My Week With Marilyn' takes place during the filming of 'The Prince and the Showgirl', the 1957 film that brought Sir Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe together for the only time.
Guild Members:
Mark Cooper - Co-Producer
Matthew Jenkins - Production Co-ordinator (Additional Photography)
Yuen-Wai Liu - Assistant Co-ordinator (Additional Photography)
Vinnie Jassal - Location Scout
Liz Barron - Financial Controller
Peter Eardley - Production Accountant
Jennine Baker - Production Accountant(Additional Dance Sequence Only)
Elizabeth Walker - Pre Production Accountant
Trevor Stanley - Post Production Accountant
Warren Demer - Assistant Accountant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Pinewood Studios Group - Shot at Pinewood Studios
Kodak - Kodak Vision2 50D 5201, Vision3 250D 5207, Vision3 200T 5213, Vision3 500T 5219
TPH Global - Eclipse Accounting Software and Payroll Services
The Deep Blue Sea
Camberwell / Fly Films / Film4 / Lipsync Productions / Protagonist Pictures / Artificial Eye
Based on Terence Rattigan's play, 'The Deep Blue Sea' tells the story of a judge's wife who shocks polite society in post-war London when she falls for another man. Walking out of her marriage and leaving a privileged and respectable life behind her, she follows her heart and moves in with a young pilot in this moving story of forbidden love.
Guild Members:
Maxine Stanley - Production Accountant
Justin Miller - Assistant Accountant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Kodak - Kodak Vision3 200T 5213, Vision3 500T 5219
TPH Global - Eclipse Accounting Software and Payroll Services
The Awakening
StudioCanal / BBC Films / Origin Pictures
A ghost-debunker comes to a boy's school to disprove the existence of ghosts, only to find her own beliefs challenged.
Guild Members:
David Broder - Location Manager
Alison Goring - 2nd Assistant Director
Peter Eardley - Production Accountant
Jacqueline McBride - Assistant Accountant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Fujifilm - Originated on Fujifilm 35mm ETERNA 400T 8583 (DoP Edu Grau)
TPH Global - Eclipse Accounting Software and Payroll Services
Wuthering Heights
Ecosse Films
Based on the novel by Emily Bronte and adapted for the screen by Academy Award winning writer-director, Andrea Arnold.
Guild Members:
Helen Swanwick - Accommodation Scout
Maxine Davis - Production Accountant
Claire Mitchell - Assistant Accountant
Anthony Flint - Cashier
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Fujifilm - Originated on Fujifilm 35mm ETERNA Vivid 160T 8543 and ETERNA 250D 8563 (DoP Robbie Ryan BSC.)
Kodak - Kodak Vision3 5219 500T
Johnny English Reborn
Universal Pictures
Released: 7th October 2011
Comedy which sees the return of the unlikely secret agent inimitably played by Rowan Atkinson. Tracked down to his remote Asian hideaway, he's brought back from self-enforced retirement by a desperate MI-7 who needs his unique skills once again.
Guild Members:
Ronaldo Vasconcellos - Co-Producer
Sasha Harris - Production Manager (Additional Photography)
Gareth Tandy - 2nd Unit 1st Assistant Director
Beth Timbrell - Production Co-ordinator
Nathan Woods - Financial Controller
Dan Hillsdon - Production Accountant (UK)
Jackie Gilbey - Payroll Accountant
Isaac Sananes - Location Accountant
Helen Bingham - Cashier
Ann Lynch - Post Production Supervisor
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Kodak - Kodak 35mm Vision3 5219 500T, 35mm Vision3 5213 200T (D.O.P Danny Cohen BSC)
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08 Dec 2011
UK Film Industry Training Given Boost through New Skillset Funds
Two new funding programmes for organisations who can deliver high quality, film-industry relevant training have been launched by Skillset, the Creative Industries' Sector Skills Council through their Film Skills Fund (FSF). The funds will also help support the development of Producers, Writers and Directors.
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Skillset are now accepting applications for the Developing Creative Talent: Writers, Directors, Producers programme and the 2011 Regional Funding Programme, both with application deadlines of Friday 13 January 2012.
Developing Creative Talent: Writers, Directors, Producers
Skillset has committed to invest a total budget of £200,000 in the delivery of the Developing Creative Talent: Writers, Directors, Producers programme.
Skillset expects to support five projects to deliver creative talent training aimed at writers, directors and producers on programmes with a project and team focus, around real world working practices which bring together creative teams.
Projects must be delivered between February 2012 and March 2013.
In particular they are looking to fund:
- Scriptwriting and script development - schemes which build development skills within writers, producers and directors;
- Programmes with an emphasis on mentoring;
- Training around short film production.
Who can apply to this programme?
- Organisations (not individuals) can apply for grants to deliver continuing professional development (CPD) training for existing professionals in 2011-12 that addresses our funding priorities.
- Organisations must have experience of delivering successful industry-led training or demonstrate how they will secure this expertise.
Who cannot apply to this programme?
- Individuals cannot apply for funding under this scheme. If you want support for your own training needs, you may be eligible to apply for money for training from Skillset. Click here to find out how to access money for training as an individual.
- Grants will not be made from this programme for projects whose outcomes are solely geared to the practices and business interests of a single organisation.
For further information about this scheme, please click here to view or download the full guidelines from Skillset.
If you are interested in applying for this programme, please click here to visit the How to Apply page.
Regional Funding Programme
Skillset has committed to invest a total budget of £400,000 in the delivery of this regional funding programme, for supporting film industry-relevant training delivered locally within the regions.
The scheme aims to support training that will:
- Develop local skills and talent;
- Stimulate local economic growth;
- Enable local stories to be told.
Skillset expects to allocate the £400,000 against our strategic priorities in approximately the following proportions:
- £175,000 craft, technical and new technologies;
- £120,000 business and entrepreneurial skills, including impact of digital on business models;
- £75,000 creative talent development;
- £30,000 health and safety.
Projects must be delivered by the end of 2012.
In particular Skillset are looking to:
- Deliver up-to-date craft and technical skills and training in new technologies in regions with studios;
- Provide 'taster' training for potential new entrants in areas of skills shortages, i.e. craft and technical grades;
- Support local business owners build their skill base to grow their businesses;
- Help companies respond to the challenges and opportunities of digital technology;
- Promote diversity in the industry.
Who can apply to this programme?
- Organisations (not individuals) can apply for grants to deliver continuing professional development (CPD) training for existing professionals in 2011-12 that addresses our funding priorities.
- Organisations must have experience of delivering successful industry-led training or demonstrate how they will secure this expertise.
Who cannot apply to this programme?
- Individuals cannot apply for funding under this scheme. If you want support for your own training needs, you may be eligible to apply for money for training from Skillset. Click here to find out how to access money for training as an individual.
- Grants will not be made from this programme for projects whose outcomes are solely geared to the practices and business interests of a single organisation.
If you are interested or are intending to apply, please read the funding programme guidelines in full beforehand by clicking here.
If you are interested in applying for this programme, please click here to visit the How to Apply page.
Successful applications for both programmes will be awarded funding as part of A Bigger Future 2, the UK film skills strategy that makes training in industry priority areas affordable and accessible to those who need it most.
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08 Dec 2011
British Film to See Extra £1m Investment from BFI Distribution and Exhibition Fund
The Prints and Advertising (P&A) Fund of the BFI is to receive an additional boost of £1m. The fund is set up to enhance the distribution and marketing strategy of specialised and commercially focused British films, enabling them to reach a wider audience across the UK.
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Launched by the BFI on 1st April 2011, the fund aims to benefit UK audiences by:
- Widening access in terms of the range of films available;
- Widening opportunities to view such films across the UK; and
- Widening audience awareness of the range of films potentially available.
Since April, the P&A fund has already invested over £2.5m in 23 British films, helping independent features such as Lynne Ramsay's We Need To Talk About Kevin and Ralph Fiennes' Coriolanus.
The BFI confirmed that its Board of Governors approved the additional £1m "to meet the exceptionally high demand of the fund" and also "as a response to the strength of independent British films currently scheduled for release".
They also added that, "Distribution companies releasing specialised films are often smaller companies incurring a level of financial risk when getting these films to audiences. Yet with audiences showing demand for such titles, we have intervened to ensure that they are seen more widely across the UK."
Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI, said:
"As the UK's rich and diverse film talent achieves success worldwide and our competitive tax system helps bring record levels of inward investment at home, it's more important than ever for the BFI to ensure that momentum is maintained. By providing strategic, targeted support at the right time and in a way that industry needs, we are helping lay the foundations for film to spearhead the growth of Britain's creative industries and help drive growth in the UK economy."
To find out more, the full guidelines of the BFI P&A fund can be viewed and downloaded by clicking here.
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07 Dec 2011
Communications Review Non-Confidential Responses Published by DCMS
The Government's large-scale communications review has taken a step forward today with the publication of nearly 170 non-confidential responses to Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt's Communications Review open letter. Published today through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the responses (linked to in the below article) come from a wide range of individuals and organisations from the media and communications sectors, including many from the UK Film Industry.
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The open letter had asked a broad range of questions about the communications sector to give industry and other interested parties the opportunity to highlight key issues and themes that could be addressed in the Review.
Telecommunications companies, consumer groups and academics were among those who sent in their views and all of the non-confidential responses are now available online.
DCMS have stated that a recurring request in the responses was for Government to recognise where the regulatory framework is currently working well, and to ensure that unnecessary changes are not made where there are no identifiable benefits for industry or consumers.
The responses are being used to inform the Communications Review Green Paper, which is set to be published early next year.
Responses were received from:
- Academics;
- Film and TV companies;
- Telecommunications companies;
- Broadcasters;
- Publishers and the press;
- Consultancy firms;
- Trade associations and trade unions;
- Manufacturers;
- Regulatory bodies;
- Charities and Consumer groups;
- Governments;
- and Individuals
The 168 non-confidential responses published today, can be viewed by clicking here.
Next Steps?
DCMS have also confirmed the following timetable with regards to the review's progress going forward:
- Work undertaken throughout 2011 will result in the publication of a Green Paper in early 2012 setting out options for a regulatory framework to support the communications sector.
- A consultation about the proposals in the Green Paper will inform a White Paper, and a draft bill which will be completed by mid-2013.
- DCMS intend to have the legislation in place by the end of this Parliament.
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07 Dec 2011
Two New Development Film Funds Launched by Creative England
Creative England has this week launched The Development Fund and Film Networks Fund which will support the development of established and emerging English regional filmmaking talent through support from BFI Lottery Funding. The two new schemes will target Producers, Writers, Directors, Networks and Organisations based within the English regions.
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The new national body stated that the two new funds will be key drivers in delivering Creative England’s Talent Development aims: to nurture regional filmmaking talent by supporting development of their work; to encourage a diverse and engaging on-screen cultural identity for the English regions; to stimulate innovative creative and commercial approaches to filmmaking; and to promote the talent and creativity of the English regions to the world.
Full information on both funds from Creative England can be found below, as well as a link download The Development Fund and Film Networks Fund guidelines and access the online application forms.
The Development Fund is inviting applications from individual writers, writer/directors and/or producers based in the English regions for the development of all types of feature films, including animation and documentary. Applications are also invited from writer/director/producer teams. Funding is available for the costs of developing a screenplay (or the equivalent for documentaries) such as research costs, writer's fees, script editor/developer support and script readings. Funding will also be available for screenplays that are ready to be presented to potential financiers, to help with budgeting, scheduling, casting, producing teaser trailers/pilots, and other expenses associated with raising finance and generating sales and distribution interest. The Development Fund totals £250,000 in its current round and applications are welcomed on a rolling basis. Awards will range from £2,500 to £25,000.
The Film Networks Fund is open to networks and organisations whose work supports and promotes filmmaking activities in the English regions. Funding will be available for a range of eligible activity including provision of editorial and technical support for emerging talent looking to produce work, delivery of networking, screening and industry speaker events and master classes, and provision of peer-to-peer support, mentoring, training and advice. The Film Networks Fund is a fixed call with £150,000 to award in this round. Awards will range from £2,500 to £25,000, and the deadline for applications is 30 January 2012.
As well as distributing Lottery awards, the Talent Development team will also provide advice, brokerage and practical help to filmmakers in developing and producing their projects.
Creative England's Head of Talent Development Chris Moll said: "We're targeting our Development Funds at those unique regional voices with great new stories to tell, combined with the skill to drive their project forward both creatively and commercially. We'd like to hear from applicants from all around the country, so that we can reflect the real diversity that is out there in the regions. Our funding for Film Networks is intended to help filmmakers even further by boosting the regional infrastructure for talent development and help strengthen the many initiatives running around the country that are already doing great work. "We plan to complement this with a new microbudget programme next year, and we are also continuing to work closely with the BFI to ensure the regions are central to future national talent development strategy. We want to make sure that we really make the most of this opportunity to work together to fully realise the creative, cultural and economic contribution that talent in the regions can make to British film."
Eddie Berg, the BFI's Director of Partnerships, said: "The launch of Creative England's talent development funds will be welcomed by writers, directors and producers across England, and will complement well the talent development activities of the BFI's Film Fund which benefits applicants throughout the UK. We are absolutely committed to supporting the UK's emerging filmmaking talent and Creative England is a key delivery partner in fulfilling this commitment; we look forward to working closely together in supporting distinctive, diverse and exciting filmmaking talent in the English regions."
To download The Development Fund and Film Networks Fund guidelines and access the online application forms, please click here.
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02 Dec 2011
This Week's New PG Member Feature Film and TV Drama Releases (Week 2/12 to 7/12)
This week will see the much anticipated release of Academy Award winning director, Martin Scorsese's ambitious 3D feature film, Hugo. It also seems to be a strong time for high-end UK TV Drama with the continuation of the ever-successful Misfits and Merlin, alongside the on-going inaugural series of tropical island murder mystery, Death in Paradise and new sea-side comedy, The Cafe. Black Mirror, a brand new three-part drama serial also launches this week from the pen of Charlie Brooker. Click "Show more" for full details and previews.
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New Feature Films
New releases with PG Member involvement opening this Friday 2nd December 2011 include:
Hugo
GK Films
Directed by Martin Scorsese. Set in 1930's Paris, 'Hugo' tells the magical tale of an orphan who has secretly made his home in a train station and spends his time tending to the railway's clocks. When he tries to fix a mechanical man, he sets in motion a series of events that threaten to unlock all his secrets.
Guild Members:
Angus More Gordon - Unit Production Manager
John Bernard - Line Producer (France)
Emma Bendell - Production Controller
Jamie Lengyel - Supervising Location Manager
Hannah Godwin - Production Co-ordinator
Claire Robertson - Production Accountant
Karen Bicknell - Payroll Accountant
Tina Pisano - Assistant Accountant
Sarah Hunt - Assistant Accountant
Donna Casey - Assistant Accountant
Lucy Howell - Accounts Assistant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Pinewood Studios Group - Shot at Shepperton and Pinewood Studios
Arri Media - Camera: Arri Alexa, Cooke S4 and 5/i Lenses
New TV Drama
New TV Drama Broadcasting this week with PG Member includes:
Merlin (Series 4)
BBC / Shine
Sat 3rd Dec (Ep 9) @ 8:00pm - BBC 1
(or Catch Up or Watch on iPlayer here)
The knights discover an eerie shrine deep in the forest, which Merlin tells them is best left undisturbed. But the warlock's warnings go unheeded by Sir Elyan, whose careless actions spark a chain of events more terrifying than anyone could possibly have imagined.
Guild Members:
Amanda Wilkie - Line Producer
Laurence Parker - Production Accountant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Kodak - Kodak Vision3 500T 5219, Kodak Vision3 200T 5213, Kodak Vision2 50D 5201 (D.O.P Dale McCready)
Black Mirror
Zeppotron
Sun 4th Dec (Ep 1) @ 9pm - Channel 4
(or Catch Up or Watch on 4oD here once broadcasted)
First of three darkly comic horror stories about the power of technology in the 21st century. Prime minister Michael Callow faces a dilemma when Princess Susannah, a much-loved member of the royal family, is kidnapped, and he and his staff struggle to deal with shifting public opinion as information about the case spreads across the internet. Written by Charlie Brooker.
Guild Members:
Beth Timbrell - Production Co-ordinator
Kelly Lee - Assistant Production Co-ordinator (Production Co-ordinator - Episode 3)
Christine Murray - Assistant Accountant
Misfits (Series 3)
Clerkenwell Films
Sun 4th Dec (Ep 6) @ 10pm - E4
(or Catch Up or Watch on 4oD here)
A one-night stand with a mysterious girl leaves Rudy with a strange, disease-like power - but he is forced to enlist Simon's help after discovering that he must get rid of it within the next 24 hours. Meanwhile, Curtis's gender-swapping ability seems to be malfunctioning, and Seth finally locates the superpower he has been looking for.
Guild Members:
Christine Healy - Line Producer
Andrew Hill - Production Accountant
Jo Sanders - Assistant Accountant
Death in Paradise
Red Planet Pictures
Tues 6th Dec (Ep 7) @ 9pm - BBC 1
(or Catch Up or Watch on iPlayer here)
Richard sees the dark side of show business when a comeback concert ends in the most public of murders. If sun, sea and sand were not bad enough, he now has to conquer his fear of snakes to find the elusive killer.
Guild Members:
Steven Groom - Production Accountant
Freya Pinsent - Production Accountant
Samantha Beddoe - Location Accountant
The Cafe
Sky / Jellylegs Productions
Wed 7th Dec (Ep 4) @ 9pm - Sky1
(or Catch Up or Watch on Sky Go here)
The night of the Sound of Music sing-along event arrives, but Chloe is desperate to get all the gossip on what happened between Sarah and John at the quiz - and she is not disappointed. Stan urges Carol to forget her financial concerns and join in with the evening's fun, and the unveiling of the costumes goes very differently for Mary and Chloe.
Guild Members:
Rob Champion - Location Manager
Other Features Currently Showing...
My Week with Marilyn
The Weinstein Company / BBC Films / Lipsync Productions / Trademark Films
A fascinating insight into a young Oxford graduate's seven days with Hollywood's most famous movie star, 'My Week With Marilyn' takes place during the filming of 'The Prince and the Showgirl', the 1957 film that brought Sir Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe together for the only time.
Guild Members:
Mark Cooper - Co-Producer
Matthew Jenkins - Production Co-ordinator (Additional Photography)
Yuen-Wai Liu - Assistant Co-ordinator (Additional Photography)
Vinnie Jassal - Location Scout
Liz Barron - Financial Controller
Peter Eardley - Production Accountant
Jennine Baker - Production Accountant(Additional Dance Sequence Only)
Elizabeth Walker - Pre Production Accountant
Trevor Stanley - Post Production Accountant
Warren Demer - Assistant Accountant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Pinewood Studios Group - Shot at Pinewood Studios
Kodak - Kodak Vision2 50D 5201, Vision3 250D 5207, Vision3 200T 5213, Vision3 500T 5219
The Deep Blue Sea
Camberwell / Fly Films / Film4 / Lipsync Productions / Protagonist Pictures / Artificial Eye
Based on Terence Rattigan's play, 'The Deep Blue Sea' tells the story of a judge's wife who shocks polite society in post-war London when she falls for another man. Walking out of her marriage and leaving a privileged and respectable life behind her, she follows her heart and moves in with a young pilot in this moving story of forbidden love.
Guild Members:
Maxine Stanley - Production Accountant
Justin Miller - Assistant Accountant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Kodak - Kodak Vision3 200T 5213, Vision3 500T 5219
The Awakening (15)
StudioCanal / BBC Films / Origin Pictures
A ghost-debunker comes to a boy's school to disprove the existence of ghosts, only to find her own beliefs challenged.
Guild Members:
David Broder - Location Manager
Alison Goring - 2nd Assistant Director
Peter Eardley - Production Accountant
Jacqueline McBride - Assistant Accountant
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Fujifilm - Originated on Fujifilm 35mm ETERNA 400T 8583 (DoP Edu Grau)
Wuthering Heights
Ecosse Films
Based on the novel by Emily Bronte and adapted for the screen by Academy Award winning writer-director, Andrea Arnold.
Guild Members:
Helen Swanwick - Accommodation Scout
Maxine Davis - Production Accountant
Claire Mitchell - Assistant Accountant
Anthony Flint - Cashier
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Fujifilm - Originated on Fujifilm 35mm ETERNA Vivid 160T 8543 and ETERNA 250D 8563 (DoP Robbie Ryan BSC.)
Kodak - Kodak Vision3 5219 500T
Johnny English Reborn
Universal Pictures
Released: 7th October 2011
Comedy which sees the return of the unlikely secret agent inimitably played by Rowan Atkinson. Tracked down to his remote Asian hideaway, he's brought back from self-enforced retirement by a desperate MI-7 who needs his unique skills once again.
Guild Members:
Ronaldo Vasconcellos - Co-Producer
Sasha Harris - Production Manager (Additional Photography)
Gareth Tandy - 2nd Unit 1st Assistant Director
Beth Timbrell - Production Co-ordinator
Nathan Woods - Financial Controller
Dan Hillsdon - Production Accountant (UK)
Jackie Gilbey - Payroll Accountant
Isaac Sananes - Location Accountant
Helen Bingham - Cashier
Ann Lynch - Post Production Supervisor
Affiliates / Business Partners:
Kodak - Kodak 35mm Vision3 5219 500T, 35mm Vision3 5213 200T (D.O.P Danny Cohen BSC)
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02 Dec 2011
Ed Vaizey and BFC Visit US Studios to Boost UK Inward Investment
The UK Film Industry and inward investment has been promoted by MP Ed Vaizey, UK Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, during a trip to LA alongside representatives from the British Film Commission (BFC). The timely visit comes as Prime Minister David Cameron's recently announcement that the UK film tax relief has been extended until at least 2015.
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The visit sees Ed Vaizey and British Film Commission (BFC) CEO Adrian Wootton, meeting with a number of senior representatives from LA's top studios and production companies over two days.
The Film Minister will also be a special guest at the LA BAFTA's annual Britannia Awards. The visit aims to further develop relationships between the US and UK to increase the number of American productions shooting in the UK. It will also allow Vaizey to personally observe the thriving US film industry ahead of the publication of a comprehensive film policy review, due shortly.
The BFC stated that, the UK is home to world-class talent, in front and behind the camera, state of the art facilities and fantastic locations. In recent years it has been increasingly popular with big budget US productions for both its production and post production services. The BFC, the national body responsible for attracting, encouraging and supporting the production of international feature films in the UK, reported record breaking figures for inward investment in 2010 at almost £1bn.
Ed Vaizey MP, UK Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, said: "Now that the film tax relief has been confirmed, this is an important opportunity to meet with the studios who invest over $1 billion a year in the British film industry.
"Industry leaders here are in no doubt about the quality of British films - last year The King's Speech dominated the awards season and there's huge anticipation on both sides of the Atlantic ahead of the opening of The Iron Lady.
"So I look forward to productive discussions about how we can continue to forge closer relationships that will lead to more investment in the UK."
Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of British Film Commission and Film London, said: "The film industry in LA is hugely important to us and it is fantastic Ed Vaizey is able to promote what the UK has to offer. In producing big-budget features in the UK, these productions benefit from our excellent facilities, the unrivalled experience of our crew and of course the tax relief which helps make the UK a cost effective option. In return, their investment drives our industry forward and plays an important role in ensuring we maintain our global competitiveness."
Productions which have recently shot in the UK include Snow White and the Huntsman starring Charlize Theron, Bryan Singer's Jack the Giant Killer, Gravity starring George Clooney, Ridley Scott's Prometheus, World War Z starring Brad Pitt, while the 23rd Bond film, Skyfall, is currently in production. These six productions alone have been contributed to by over 70 PG Members from a wide range of positions and grades.
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02 Dec 2011
New Microsite and Guide Launched For Filming in London in 2012 and During Olympic Games
Film London has opened a brand new microsite, which will act as a one-stop guide and online gateway for Filming in London during 2012. The guide will also help to ensure that productions continue to choose London during the Olympics (27 July-12 August) and Paralympic Games (29 August-9 September) in 2012.
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The new site has been put together alongside the Mayor of London as well as the other delivery bodies for the 2012 Olympic Games to ensure it can provide both domestic and international filmmakers with all of the necessary tools and information on shooting in the capital next year for Film, TV and Commercials.
Film London stated that it is providing a new system for filming applications, plus advice and information via the 2012 Microsite to offset any logistical challenges due to the scale of the event.
The regional body also confirmed that the microsite will soon be compatible on all handheld devices and smartphones and that they hope it will provide a central and streamlined system for the entire capital, allowing productions to apply to shoot in London without requiring prior knowledge of the city.
Particularly useful to Producer and Location Manager PG Members, Film London have also ensured that it contains key dates, road closures, location availability and hotels which will continue to be updated during the run up to and during the Olympic period.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said "Film production generates over £860m for London each year and by making it as easy as possible to film here we will ensure London maintains its status as the most creative and culturally rich city on earth and this service will help support film-making in the capital long after the Games are over".
While Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London and the British Film Commission, reassured the industry that Film London "can guide productions around the Games and make sure they can access the best of what London has to offer: world class talent, facilities and locations".
Film London also confirmed that The London Media Centre (LMC) is expected to service up to 6,000 international and UK media professionals during the Games. Part of this service will include managing their filming requests and Film London staff will work with the LMC broadcast team to assist news crews, as they capture the best of the city while they are in London for the Olympics.
To view the new Filming in London 2012 microsite from Film London, please visit http://www.filmlondon.org.uk/filmingin2012.
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02 Dec 2011
Complete the Short 3 Mills Studios Short Social Media Survey for a Chance to Win a Present Pack!
PG Affiliate 3 Mills Studios are offering the chance to win a present pack including a 4GB USB memory key, a large cotton shopping bag, a mini-umbrella and a Mug. For your chance to win one of these sets, all you need to do is spare a few moments to share your thoughts on Social Media.
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3 Mills Studios are conducting a very short survey which will only take a couple of minutes to complete. All feedback will be treated as anonymous.
Please answer all questions, as only fully completed questionnaires can be entered into the competition. The competition will close at 5pm on the 8th December 2011 and is subject to terms and condition (please see below).
Please click here to take survey.
Competition Terms and Conditions
1. To be entered into this competition, please complete the whole survey, including your contact details.
2. The prize draw will close at 5pm on 8th December. 5 winners will be drawn at random on 9th December 2011
3. Responses sent in after the 8th December 2011 will not be entered into the competition.
4. Entries are limited to one per person.
5. Prizes are non-transferable and have no cash value.
6. Winners will be notified by email.
Any personal information will be kept strictly confidential.
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01 Dec 2011
Fujifilm "YMC16" 16mm Short Film Competition
PG Affiliate, Fujifilm Motion Picture UK are offering a complete 16mm Film and Processing Package as part of a new short film competition alongside You Must Create (YMC) clothing. The competition will use Complete16, the unique 16mm film and processing package from Fujifilm Motion Picture UK in conjunction with UK based laboratories and PG Affiliates, Technicolor and Deluxe Soho.
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The successful entrant will be provided with five rolls of 16mm x 400ft Fujifilm Motion Picture stock of their choice, free of charge, under the Complete16HD package deal, which also includes 16mm negative developing, ultra-sonic clean and prep for TK, best light HD transfer, sound sync, and encoded to hard drive as: Apple ProRes 422, Avid Media or 10bit uncompressed Quicktime file.
The winner will also receive £1,000 worth of YMC clothing.
The brief is to submit an original and inspiring treatment for a short film, which must be no longer than five minutes in length. It is an open brief, but your film must include at least one man and one woman in the storyline. YMC will supply one male and one female outfit from their 2012 Spring/Summer Collection to be used in the winning film. How you choose to portray these outfits is at the discretion of the filmmaker. They are looking for interesting new ideas, not a standard advertising campaign.
All treatments must be submitted by Friday 27th January 2012. Submissions can be received as the filmmaker sees fit. e.g. scripts, storyboards, Quicktime Mpegs, etc. Treatment submissions will not be returned to the entrants, unless specified.
The winner will be notified by Friday 3rd February and the completed film must be delivered by Friday 2nd March 2012.
To download the application form and to view the full terms and conditions for this competition (found at the bottom of the form), please click here.
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10 Nov 2011
This Week's New PG Member Feature Film and TV Drama Releases (Week 9/11 to 15/9)
This week will see the release of Academy Award winning writer-director, Andrea Arnold's much anticipated adaptation of Emily Bronte's novel, Wuthering Heights and a chilling and ghostly tale in, Nick Murphy's, The Awakening. You can also look out for the continuation of ITV's, The Jury (Series 2) and of BBC's, Merlin (Series 4) both which are premiering new episodes this week. For more information about all of these productions and the Guild Members who worked on them and to find out how you can catch up with The Jury and Merlin, please continue reading.
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New Feature Films
New releases with PG Member involvement opening this Friday 11th November 2011 include:
The Awakening (15)
StudioCanal / BBC Films / Origin Pictures
Opens UK Wide
A ghost-debunker comes to a boy's school to disprove the existence of ghosts, only to find her own beliefs challenged.
Guild Members:
David Broder - Location Manager
Alison Goring - 2nd Assistant Director
Peter Eardley - Production Accountant
Jacqueline McBride - Assistant Accountant
Wuthering Heights (15)
Ecosse Films
Opens UK Wide
Based on the novel by Emily Bronte and adapted for the screen by Academy Award winning writer-director, Andrea Arnold.
Guild Members:
Helen Swanwick - Accommodation Scout
Maxine Davis - Production Accountant
Claire Mitchell - Assistant Accountant
Anthony Flint - Cashier
New TV Drama
New TV Drama Broadcasting this week with PG Member includes:
The Jury (Series 2)
ITV Studios
Wed 9th (Ep 3) / Thurs 10th (Ep 4) / Friday 11th (Ep 5) @ 9pm - ITV 1
(or Catch Up or Watch on ITV Player here)
The lives of 12 people are turned upside down when they are summoned for jury duty in a controversial murder retrial.
Guild Members:
Christine Healy - Line Producer
Andrew Hill - Production Accountant
Jo Sanders - Assistant Accountant
Merlin (Series 4)
BBC / Shine
Sat 12th Nov (Ep 7) @ 8:20pm - BBC 1
(or Catch Up or Watch on iPlayer here)
Morgana sets out to uncover Merlin's secret, an act that would change the course of destiny.
Guild Members:
Amanda Wilkie - Line Producer
Laurence Parker - Production Accountant
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10 Nov 2011
BREAKING NEWS: Government Announces Extension of UK Film Tax Relief
The Prime Minister has today announced the extension of film tax relief, the Government's targeted tax break for the British film industry, until the end of December 2015. Many thanks to PG Affiliate company RSM Tenon for sharing this information with us and the membership.
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The film tax relief scheme promotes the sustainable production of culturally British films and in 2009/10 provided around £95 million of support to the British film industry, supporting over £1 billion of investment in 208 films.
Recent productions certified as British under the cultural test include films such as Brighton Rock, Attack the Block, StreetDance3D, Gnomeo & Juliet, Clash of the Titans, Horrid Henry 3D, Coriolanus and Harry Potter Deathly Hallows (Parts 1 and 2).
Prime Minister, David Cameron said:
"I am delighted to announce the extension of film tax relief to the end of 2015, guaranteeing millions of pounds of support for the British film industry. The last year has seen massive success, both at home and abroad, for a whole host of UK films. I look forward to seeing the UK film industry continue to thrive over the coming years, supported by the Government's film tax relief."
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said:
"The UK film industry makes a vital contribution both to the economy and cultural landscape and the Government is committed to supporting it through film tax relief. This scheme, along with the quality of the UK's infrastructure and high levels of skills, has led to the UK being recognised around the world as an attractive destination for film production."
Film Minister Ed Vaizey said:
"The huge success of British films at the Oscars, the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs this year is clear recognition of our world class talent and creativity. But as a vital creative industry, it also has huge potential for economic growth. Film tax relief is at the heart of our drive to support the production of culturally British Films within a sustainable and vibrant industry. I'm delighted that we can give certainty to the industry for the next four years."
Chairman of Pinewood Shepperton plc, Lord Grade of Yarmouth, CBE, said:
"We are delighted by today's announcement that the Government has extended its film tax relief until the end of 2015. This decision will deliver certainty for the UK's talented film makers and will provide the platform for growth, investment and jobs in a growing segment of the economy."
The extension of film tax relief follows the European Commission's State Aid approval of the Government's application to extend the duration of the scheme to 31 December 2015. The design of the scheme remains the same as that previously authorised.
The relief is aimed directly at film production companies for the expenses they incur on the production of a film intended for theatrical release in commercial cinemas. For a film to be eligible for relief, it must be certified as British, either by passing a cultural test or under an agreed co-production treaty, and must incur at least 25% of the total production expenditure in the UK.
Relief can only be claimed on production expenditure in the UK, up to a maximum of 80% of the total budget, and a higher rate of relief is available for limited-budget films (with total production expenditure of £20m or less). Companies not making a profit may be able to surrender the relief for a payable tax credit worth up to 20% of the total budget for a limited-budget film and up to 16% for other films. A higher value of support may be achieved if the relief is used to reduce company tax liabilities.
Certification of films is currently administered by the British Film Institute on behalf of the Department for Culture Media and Sport.
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02 Nov 2011
Broadcasters to See New Funding as Creative England Secures £5 Million from Government for Digital Businesses
The Government has this week revealed that new regional agency Creative England has been a successful bidder for investment as part of its Regional Growth Fund (RGF), which will bring in a total of £1.4 billion to private sector investment operating across England from 2011 to 2014.
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The £5 million awarded to Creative England's comes as part of the RGF "Digital Champions" Scheme, which aims to provide development funding and market expertise to small creative and digital businesses working in cross-platform content services.
The scheme will be beneficial to the television sector in particular in developing new market propositions and content and the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have all been confirmed as participating companies, alongside organisations from further digital avenues including The Peel Group, Cisco, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Santander.
Targeting areas that the Government deem to be vulnerable to public sector job losses alongside low levels of private sector growth, is also a key aim of the scheme, with the South West, West Midlands, Birmingham, the North and North West regions all identified.
The Government have estimated that the final allocation of funding should reach successful bidders by spring 2012, after the required final legal have been completed. The funding will then be allocated by Creative England with further support from private partners, who will provide a range of small business expertise.
Caroline Norbury, CEO of Creative England, said: "Within a month of kicking off the new agency, we are delighted to be able to announce funding for our first non-film sector initiative. Creative England's core mission is to unlock potential for small businesses in the creative industries, and help them seize the massive opportunities presented by the digital revolution. Digital Champions will help put SMEs in touch with large established companies, to collaborate, experiment and innovate, and ultimately grow. We are pleased that our bid has been successful and we look forward to announcing further details to industry soon."
Creative Industries Minister Ed Vaizey said: "The Government is investing in companies and projects to help them grow and create new jobs. This project aims to help small and medium-sized companies develop. Hopefully it will enable these areas to become real centres for digital and creative businesses."
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "We need to be doing all we can to enable businesses and organisations to create much needed jobs and inject private investment into the economy. We have announced today that a further 119 projects will benefit from the fund, and expect to deliver a huge number of jobs across their businesses and in the supply chain. This is a very significant boost to local communities, and the Regional Growth Fund will help businesses to drive local growth."
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13 Oct 2011
Former EM Media Head, Suzanne Alizart Appointed Interim CEO of The Film Agency for Wales
Suzanne Alizart is to act as The Film Agency for Wales' interim Chief Executive, covering Pauline Burt's maternity leave. Suzanne began her role at the Agency on Monday 3rd October and will cover Pauline's duties until she returns to the office in March 2012.
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As previous Head of Content Creation for EM Media, Suzanne oversaw the strategic, financial and deal direction of production, distributing lottery funding and reporting to EM Media's Board. Her credits include Weekend and Oranges and Sunshine along with the 2008 story of Charles Bronson aka Mickey Peterson directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Tom Hardy and, Tyrannosaur, Paddy Considine's debut feature as writer-director.
Suzanne also previously collaborated with the Film Agency for Wales with the EM Media co-financed feature, A Boy Called Dad, co-produced by Mark John of Cardiff-based Vision Thing, which shot partly in North Wales. She also enjoyed a close-working relationship across the EM Media Senior Management, working strategically with her colleagues across exhibition, education and the archive.
Commenting on the appointment, Peter Edwards Chairman of the Film Agency for Wales says: "Despite the economic and political challenges, Pauline has done an incredible job to build the Film Agency for Wales as the lead authority on film in Wales."
"Given her experience with EM Media, a notably prolific and innovative screen agency in England, Suzanne has the necessary skills and experience to lead the team over the next few months and to continue with the important on-going strategic and partnership work that is central to our role. She has a particular understanding of the complex funding regimes involved, talent development and reaching audiences, and will undoubtedly remain true to our core values of accessibility and transparency."
Suzanne added, "Coming from an integrated screen agency background and dedicated to achieving the very best economic and cultural outcomes for film, I am tremendously excited to be given the chance to apply my skills and experience in a broader national context. The Film Agency for Wales is known for its enabling approach, highly-skilled team and successful output, with recent films including Submarine, Sleep Furiously and Patagonia, as well as the inspirational roll-out of FilmClub packaged and the innovative network approach of the Wales Specialist Film Exhibition Group and Festival Forum. I am delighted to be on board, particularly during this time of opportunity with the Chris Smith Film Policy Review, BFI forward plan and Welsh Government support mechanisms all actively progressing."
Suzanne began her career in the film industry at Intermedia, where she trained in broadcast production, before becoming a Film Production Officer with the regional arts board. She studied at the University of Nottingham and is currently studying for a Graduate Diploma in Law at Nottingham Law School.
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13 Oct 2011
Halo Post Production Take Over Former Pepper Post Site, with New Staff Announcments
Halo Post Production have taken possession of 25 Noel Street, previously occupied by MPC and Pepper Post Production, which follows the Future Film Group's decision for Pepper Post to cease trading in June this year. The move will see Halo occupy one of the largest film mixing stages in the UK in addition to three further sound suites which will be used for factual, drama work. Offline cutting rooms, online editing and grading suites will also be available to clients in the 10,000 sq ft Soho premises.
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The sound studios opened for business in late September 2011 in response to high demand. Arthur Christmas, the new animated feature from Sony/Aardman is the first film to mix in the Studio 1. The rest of the facility will open for business in stages up to Jan 2012. Studios 1 and 3 have their Dolby licenses re-instated and additional upgrades will be made to further enhance their technical capabilities, with a view to mixing quality features, as well as theatrical trailers and commercials. The other studios will also be updated for 5.1 TV work.
David Turner, (ex Videosonics and Pepper) has joined HALO as Director of Film Post Production and Roger Beck, previously CEO of Technicolor has accepted the post of Chief Operating Officer overseeing the integration of the new premises and services into the core company.
Commenting on the move David Turner said, "The UK film industry desperately needs quality dubbing stages like Studio 1 at Noel Street, not just for mixing British films but also for continuing the historic relationship London has with the big Hollywood studios. HALO's decision to take over the premises works on so many levels, not least to save and enhance this spectacular and highly regarded dubbing theatre from possible demise. Together we're committed to strengthening the entire Noel Street facility through investment and better utilisation of the space, moving HALO centre stage within the Soho TV and film postproduction arena."
CEO John Rogerson added, "This move represents a long held ambition to enter the film mixing market. It's something we have put much thought into and our aim is to become the first choice mix stage for both US and UK clients. Having David Turner on board is great for us, his experience and knowledge of the features market is invaluable and we're looking forward to working closely with him. Roger Beck will fill an important role in the team for us, it's fantastic to work with him again and having someone of his experience on the team to help us move forward both in the UK and abroad. All in all, Noel Street offers a great opportunity to grow our business in new and interesting areas as well as solving many of the capacity issues we've faced over the past 12 months."
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13 Oct 2011
Free Seminar Exploring New Landscape for Film Funding with Creative England, BFI and Film4
Organised by Teesside University, The BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead will host a free to attend seminar exploring all of the recent changes to UK film funding. Speakers include Caroline Norbury, CEO, Creative England, Chris Collins, Senior Production and Development Executive, BFI and Lila Rawlings, Development Editor, Film4. The seminar will take place on Wednesday 9th November 2011 from 6-9pm. Booking is required and the link can be found within the main body of this article.
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When replacing the UK Film Council earlier this year, the British Film Institute described the current financial climate as being a 'new era for film'. The messages coming out of BFI appear to be positive and forward-thinking but the detail of this new landscape is still to be defined.
Navigating the new landscape of film financing – an event organised by Teesside University, brings together a panel of experts working at the frontier of film funding to discuss and debate key questions:
> what is next for the independent film industry?
> what fallout might there be since the demise of the UK Film Council?
> how will Creative England play a key role on a much reduced budget?
> what is the role of the regional screen agencies?
> what does this new landscape mean for the independent filmmaker and how will you fund your films in the coming years?
These issues and more will form the focus of our panel debate but we anticipate that other points of discussion will concern international co-production and opportunities for emerging film makers wanting to get their foot in the door.
The event will be chaired by independent film producer and Teesside University academic Samm Haillay and offers an opportunity to network and discuss the future of film with influential panellists from both sides of the filmmaking fence.
Speakers:
- Chris Collins, Senior Production and Development Executive, BFI
- Samm Haillay, independent film producer
- Caroline Norbury, CEO, Creative England
- Lila Rawlings, Development Editor, Film4.
Canapes and refreshments will be provided.
To book your place, please visit: http://ht.ly/6P7t0
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12 Oct 2011
BFI Imax to Host WFTV '3D Future' Seminar at BFI London Film Festival (Free Entry for PG Members)
Tickets are now available for the '3D Future Seminar' taking place at the BFI Imax as part of the BFI London Film Festival. Women in Film & TV presents this informative and lively panel discussion taking place on Wednesday 19th October 2011, with 3D experts and practitioners including Melissa Byers of PG Affiliate, Vision3. Production Guild Members can attend for free and stardard tickets are priced at £10.00 (the booking link can be found within the main body of this article).
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After the rush of excitement kicked off by James Cameron's Avatar in 2009, 3D has dominated cinema screens, captivated audiences and had film producers breathing a collective sigh of relief. But are the glory days already over?
Women in Film & TV presents this informative and lively panel discussion with 3D experts and practitioners, including:
Allan Niblo – Producer, Street Dance 3D
Phil Streather – Producer, Carmen 3D
Melissa Byers – Stereo Cinematographer/ Stereographer, Vision3
Chaired by Screen International's Wendy Mitchell, our panellists will ask whether 3D is living up to its high expectations as the saviour of cinema or, if recent box office blips suggest, it remains a gimmick destined to fall in and out of filmgoers' favour.
WFTV is inviting its own members, LFF industry delegates, and members, students and associates of the following organisations to come along to this event for FREE:
Skillset | Shooting People | BFI | BAFTA | NFTS | LFS | Film London | PACT
Directors UK | British Council Film | Production Guild | Directors Guild
Raindance | Actors Guild | Writers Guild | BIFA |Production Base | BECTU
The Script Factory |Pinewood Studios Group | Imaginox | Mosaic | Deluxe London*
*If you do not belong to any of these organisatons, you can book a standard ticket for £10.00. WFTV reserves the right to deny access to this event.
To book a ticket now, click here.
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07 Oct 2011
BBC to Axe 2,000 Jobs Alongside Major Programming Changes within 20% Budget Cut Plan - Although TV Drama will see Reinvestment
The BBC plans to cut 2,000 jobs, to move a further 1,000 staff from London to Salford and to make radical changes to programming in order to reach an overall budget cut of 20% over the next five years.
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16% of the cut will be made up from the drop in licence fee revenue due to 2010’s government spending review in which the BBC licence fee was frozen at £145.50 until 2016/17. The BBC have stated that the other 4% of the budget cut will be made to enable it to “re-invest in new content and digital developments”.
Although BBC One is also due to see an overall budget cut by 3% with a reduction in entertainment programmes, leading to fewer panel and chat shows, the broadcaster did confirm that budgetary savings will be reinvested in Drama and Comedy.
Director General, Mark Thompson revealed the plans for the cuts named Delivering Quality First (DQF) at an unveiling to staff on Thursday morning and stated that the result would lead to “a smaller, radically reshaped BBC” and that he hoped a proportion of staff facing job losses could be "retrained and redeployed".
It was also made clear that none of the BBC’s television channels will close, although some major changes include BBC Three entirely moving to Salford by 2016, BBC Three and Four are to become feeder channels for BBC One and Two respectively and daytime programming will move to BBC One with BBC Two broadcasting news, current affairs and repeats of prime-time shows.
Further increases in funding will also occur for BBC One and BBC Four factual programming and extra protection and improvement for Children’s channels and the BBC’s Proms coverage.
Although Radio 4’s programme budget is confirmed to be unaffected by DQF, the broadcasters radio coverage will also see major changes including a reduced drama on Radio 3 and 4, a reduction in original programming including comedy on Radio 2 and Radio 5 Live, a higher rate of content sharing across different BBC radio regions and a lower number of lunchtime concerts on Radio 3.
DQF will also lead to the eventual end of Radio 4 on long-wave, which will see no reinvestment. Medium-wave will see budget reductions for local radio in England where coverage replicates FM.
Other areas highlighted by the plans are a 15% reduction in BBC’s sports budget which includes a sharing of rights with BSKYB for Formula One coverage, BBC News will have more focus on top breaking news stories with less reporting on science, the arts and culture, the BBC HD channel will close and be replaced by BBC Two HD and red button services will be reduced after the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Licence fee payers will however be consulted about the planned cuts and will have the opportunity to respond, confirmed by BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten at the DQF announcement.
Commenting to the BBC, a spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said, “We welcome that the BBC is thinking hard about what it does and where it should focus in future. We are committed to an independent, strong and successful BBC that is the cornerstone of British broadcasting.”
Mark Thompson ended his address on Thursday with a warning over the impact that further cuts to the licence fee would have on the organisation stating, "I don't think we could do this again. Another real terms cut in the licence fee would lead to a loss of services, or potentially a diminution of quality, or both.”
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07 Oct 2011
Film London and Arts Council England Opens 2011 FLAMIN Productions for Applications
£360,000 will be invested into London's filmmakers over the next three years, through the Film London and Arts Council England's, FLAMIN Productions. Now open for applications, the 2011 commissioning scheme run through the Film London Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) will provide up to £50,000 per commission to London based film-making artists and aims to greenlight up to five new projects within the first round.
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Funded by Arts Council England, Film London describes FLAMIN Productions as a "unique production fund which provides artists with the opportunity to produce ambitious and original moving image works."
It is the only scheme of its kind in the UK, funding large scale, single screen works which represent a major step in an artist's practice. Vitally, shortlisted artists will also have access to development funding and support, plus bespoke training, advice and professional mentoring.
The scheme has recently seen success from filmmakers, such as Ben Rivers whose debut, 'Two Years at Sea' (pictured above) won the FIPRESCI Award for Best Film in the Orrizonti section at the Venice Film Festival, where it enjoyed its World Premiere. The BFI London Film Festival will host the UK Premiere of the film later this month.
Film London also noted that in addition to Rivers, since FLAMIN Productions launched, it has commissioned a total of 10 artists' including Phil Coy, Charlotte Ginsborg, Anja Kirschner & David Panos, Hilary Koob-Sassen, Ursula Mayer, Elizabeth Price, Laure Prouvost, Grace Schwindt and Emily Wardill. Completed films have achieved success and wide audience reach across galleries and cinemas.
When speaking about the launch, Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London commented: "The world of artist film-making continues to deliver a range of work made for a variety of exhibition platforms which constantly challenges not only the viewer, but the artform itself. I am so very proud that, with funding from Arts Council England, Film London can continue to be at the heart of this sector, supporting the artists who are driving it forward."
FLAMIN Productions launched in 2009 commissioning works which draws on the legacy of both fine art and film.
The deadline for applications is 5pm, Monday 05 December 2011.
To view the FLAMIN Guidelines directly, please click here.
To view the FLAMIN FAQs directly, please click here.
More information can be found via the FLAMIN website.
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06 Oct 2011
BFI and Pinewood Studios Reveal First Feature as Part of New Brit Film Initiative
As Pinewood Studios celebrated its 75th Anniversary last week, it was also revealed that 'Last Passenger' will be the first feature made under the recently announced partnership between the BFI and The Pinewood Studios Group, which aims to invest in a number of British independent films each year.
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Also made in association with Future Films/2B Pictures, Pathé and NDF International, Last Passenger has now commenced production at Shepperton Studios.
The film which will star Dougray Scott and Kara Tointon, is written and directed by Omid Nooshin and produced by Ado Yoshizaki Cassuto and Zack Winfield.
The joint press release described the feature as a "claustrophobic suspense thriller in the Hitchcockian-Spielberg tradition of the everyday man thrust into an extraordinary situation." with a "relentless momentum and genuine heart to get audience pulses racing - at 100 miles per hour."
In order to realise their ambitions for the project, the director and producers and 'dummy' trailer that they hoped would capture the suspense and action of the film – and they did so for a mere £500. On the back of this trailer, Pathé, which had approached the team to handle worldwide sales for the film was able to secure nine territories including Russia, Brazil, Turkey, Portugal and Indonesia at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Zack Winfield and Ado Yoshizaki, Producers of NDF International comment: "On the back of the trailer the project gained incredible momentum. To attract talented actors like Dougray Scott and Kara Tointon, as well as exceptional partners such as the BFI, Pinewood Studios, Future Films and Pathé is hugely exciting and we now can't wait to get started."
Stephen Margolis, CEO of Future Films comments: "Last Passenger is an excellent example of the work we like to do: finding the right price and structure for a film and turning the film-makers dream into reality."
Chris Collins, Senior Production Executive at the BFI Film Fund comments: "The BFI are delighted to support the debut feature of Omid Nooshin. Omid is an exciting talent, part of a new generation of young British filmmakers who are pushing the boundaries of expectations in genre work and who have the skills to make films with high value at low cost. He has attracted a great team - including his producers Zack Winfield and Ado Yoshizaki Cassuto - and we wish them the best of luck with the shoot."
Nick Smith, Commercial Director at The Pinewood Studios Group comments: "Last Passenger is an exciting step forward for Pinewood Films and is exactly the sort of project we had in mind when we launched the initiative earlier this year. We are thrilled to be supporting some exciting and creative British filmmakers and wish the entire cast and crew every success."
Last Passenger tells the story of Lewis Shaler (Dougray Scott), an overworked doctor and devoted single dad heading home with his young son on the last train from London. When he strikes up a relationship with a beautiful and flirtatious stranger, Lewis believes life is finally looking up. But events then take a dark turn when he discovers the guard has mysteriously vanished and the brakes have been sabotaged. Unknown to the handful of remaining passengers, a vengeful sociopath has taken control of the train and is hell-bent on crashing it, taking his passengers with him to the grave.
To find out more about the film and to watch the trailer that started it all off, please visit the website: http://www.lastpassengermovie.co.uk
The film can also be followed on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/LastPassengerMovie
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06 Oct 2011
Creative England Reveals Staff and Details Lottery Funding as it Opens for Business
Creative England has this week opened its doors, confirming the appointment of seven new board members and three new senior managers. Film Culture Funding will begin on Monday 17th October 2011 with Talent Development funding in place from this November.
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The new agency will, for the first time, provide joined-up support for England's creative industries outside of London, supporting Film, Television, Games, and Digital and Creative Services.
Creative England now receives DCMS Grant-in-Aid from the BFI to support the strategic development of film in the English Regions, and is a BFI delegated body for the distribution of National Lottery funds for film.
BOARD MEMBERS
The first seven appointments to the Creative England Board are:
Alison Owen, Founder and Managing Director, Ruby Films
Andrew Chitty, Managing Director, Illumina Digital
Bill Lawrence, Executive Director, Reel Solutions
Charles Wace, Chief Executive, Twofour Group
Heather Rabbatts CBE
Jonnie Turpie, Digital Media Director, Maverick TV
Richard Klein, Controller, BBC Four
Announcing the new Board members, John Newbigin, Chair of Creative England said: "I warmly welcome these seven people, who between them bring an extraordinary wealth of experience and wisdom, covering a wide spectrum of the creative industries and extending right across England. Just as importantly, each one of them brings a sense of commitment and enthusiasm for the job that needs to be done. They will help to give Creative England the best possible start in life. Over the coming months we will be adding further members to the Board, so that we have the fresh skills and fresh perspectives to keep Creative England right at the leading edge of the country's creative industries and culture."
SENIOR MANAGEMENT
The three Senior Managers appointed to lead Creative England's three film priority areas are:
Chris Moll, Head of Talent Development
Jay Arnold, Head of Film Culture
Kaye Elliott, Head of Location and Production Services
Caroline Norbury, Chief Executive of Creative England, said: "I am delighted to confirm Jay, Chris and Kaye as Creative England's first senior managers, and I'm more than confident that they have all the skills required to lead our three key film priority areas. With extensive experience working in their specialist fields on a regional level, they bring a wealth of knowledge to the table, as well as their own clear vision of how Creative England can build on past successes to deliver for each area. Now the real work begins, as each of them gets their teams in place and get to work."
Head of Talent Development Chris Moll, previously Executive Producer at South West Screen and architect of the iFeatures and Digital Departures feature film initiatives, will lead a national team dedicated to supporting the creative and career progression of the brightest new, emerging and established talent in the English regions. Chris will also be working closely with the BFI to ensure that the regions are central to any future national talent development strategy, and that the necessary partnerships and resources are secured to fully realise the immense creative, cultural and economic contribution that talent in the regions can make to British Film.
As Head of Film Culture, Jay Arnold will lead a national team dedicated to championing and nurturing film culture in all its variety to the benefit of audiences across the English regions. Jay, who was previously Head of Cultural Sector Investment at Screen Yorkshire, will now work closely with the BFI to deliver Creative England's Film Culture brief in the English regions: to grow and broaden audiences throughout England for a diversity of film and film venues, to support regional screen heritage and to contribute to increasing audience understanding and enjoyment of film through education initiatives.
As Head of Location and Production Services, Kaye Elliott will lead a national team dedicated to delivering Creative England's Locations and Production brief: to maximise inward investment by promoting the English regions' locations, and to provide support for film productions. Kaye, who was previously Director of Inward Investment at Vision+Media, will oversee a comprehensive production and locations service and develop the infrastructure to support and grow film production in the English regions. She will also manage Creative England's inward investment activity, working with national partners including the British Film Commission, Film London, the national guilds and the UK nations.
FILM FUNDING
The Film Culture Fund will be the first scheme to open for applications on 17 October 2011. The Fund will aim to ensure audiences have access to a wide and diverse range of film content, to deepen and enrich audiences' experience through education opportunities, and to integrate the unique resources of regional screen heritage into wider film provision.
Funding will be aimed at organisations such as cinemas, film archives, film festivals and the non-theatrical exhibition sector (mobile cinema and film societies), for project activity including:
- Audience development within the film exhibition sector
- Film education activities which are linked to and support
- Ffilm exhibition infrastructure (e.g. cinemas, film festivals, film societies and other platforms)the acquisition, preservation and conservation of and access to regional screen heritage.
Read the Film Culture guidelines here.
Talent Development funding will open for applications from November 2011. There will be support for organisations and networks working with talent on a local/regional level, and for individuals, such as writers, directors and producers. Preparations are also underway for an English regions-wide digital feature film initiative, which will provide an integrated development, production and training offer to writer/director/producer teams who have already demonstrated exceptional ability and vision in relation to their work in shorts, television, theatre and other related fields. This is planned to launch in late 2011/early 2012. Full Talent Development funding guidelines will be made available on the Creative England website in November.
Read more about Creative England's film support at www.creativeengland.co.uk/film-support, where you can also download FAQs about the transfer of Lottery responsibilities from the regional screen agencies to Creative England.
Ed Vaizey, Minister for the Creative Industries, said: "This marks a new chapter for the creative industries in the English regions, which are a crucial part of the UK economy and essential for driving growth and employment. I commend the dedication and commitment of everyone that has worked so hard to get Creative England up and running, and look forward to working with the agency, particularly on the current film policy review, which is seeking to boost growth and help tackle some of the barriers to the further expansion of the creative industries."
Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI, said: "The BFI is delighted that Creative England is open for business. They will be crucial delivery partners for the BFI's Forward Plan, helping to ensure we can effectively support British film industry and culture, as well as nurturing film talent. As we welcome Creative England we also recognise the contribution of the Regional Screen Agencies, who have achieved so much during the last decade and on whose work Creative England will build and expand. We very much look forward to working in close partnership."
For more information about Creative England film funding, visit www.creativeengland.co.uk/film-support, call 0844 824 6041 or email lottery.admin@creativeengland.co.uk.
For general information about Creative England, contact 0844 8246042 or email info@creativeengland.co.uk. Creative England also launched their Twitter account today, which can be found at twitter.com/creativeengland
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06 Oct 2011
PG Website Phase 2.02 Launched
As some of you have already noticed, the next stage of Phase 2 on the PG website has been implemented. This gives Members more control over their profile, credits and availability and brings two important and exciting areas of improvement with new functionality.
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What's in Update 2.02?
1. Members can now easily move credits up and down the list on their profile page.
2.Editing and delete credits are now also new options from the edit profile section.
3. The Member and Availability Search Page has been reformatted to provide easier access and better usability with new search by name and search by grade options found at the very top of the page.
4. A new advanced search section collates all other search fields into one area.
5. If availability dates are searched against, the website will automatically limit search results to members within those availability dates only.
A full guide for Phase 2.02, including screenshots and instructions for all the new features, can be viewed by clicking here.
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23 Sep 2011
Cheshire County Signs Film Industry Charter
All four Cheshire councils have signed a new Production Liaison Charter, which is a recognised, UK-wide industry standard that communicates support for filming and the benefits it brings to the local economy. Cheshire is the first county in the North West to be officially recognised as a 'Filming Friendly' county. The signing event was hosted by Vision+Media's film office.
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Kaye Elliott, Director of Inward Investment, at Vision+ Media said:
'Cheshire is taking the lead in the North West by making this commitment to publicly support filming. Dramas and comedies - from Peter Kay's Britain's Got the Pop Factor, to Waterloo Road, Coronation Street, and Hollyoaks – as well as epic commercials and landmark documentaries, have all chosen Cheshire as a filming location. The county regularly sees some of our best loved stars filming here.'
There was a signatory for each participating council (Warrington, Cheshire East, Cheshire West, and Halton); Vision+Media; and Visit Cheshire.
Each council will undertake to ensure a positive approach to filming; nominate dedicated employees as a first point of call to accelerate filming requests when needed; and attend quarterly Production Liaison Partnership meetings with Vision+Media to discuss filming issues. All these measures make Cheshire a more attractive option to production companies seeking a base for their projects.
Chris Brown, Chief Executive, Marketing Cheshire, says:
'Cheshire has always been supportive of the creative industries and welcomes filming opportunities whenever possible. Filming is beneficial to Cheshire in so many ways; production companies spend money when they film here and often employ local crew and businesses; it lifts the county's profile; and we know that 'film tourism' – where film-goers and TV viewers seek out the locations that have entertained them – is an important source of local tourism revenue.'
Kaye Elliott agrees: 'From the splendour of Cheshire's stately homes and villages to its vibrant cities and towns of Chester, Warrington, and Ellesmere Port – Cheshire is a county with a rich source of filming locations. Last year, (2010 - 2011) Cheshire supported 130 filming days at an estimated value to the county of £2,860,000. Filming is an important area of commerce and we are delighted to be signing the Charter on a day when business is the focus at the Celebrating Cheshire event. '
The signatories on the charter are:
Warrington – Cllr Terry O'Neill – Leader of Warrington Borough Council
Cheshire East –John Nicholson, Strategic Director-Places and Organisational Capacity
Cheshire West and Chester -- Cllr Mike Jones, Leader of the Council
Halton – Cllr Rob Polhill, Leader of the Council.
Chris Brown – Chief Executive, Marketing Cheshire
Kaye Elliott, Vision+Media, Director of Inward Investment
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23 Sep 2011
First Chief Executive Appointed at Creative England
Creative England has appointed Caroline Norbury as its first Chief Executive Officer. Caroline's role will be to develop the new organisation when it starts operating next month, becoming the first dedicated support agency for England's creative industries outside of London.
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From October, Creative England will receive DCMS Grant in Aid monies from the BFI to support the strategic development of film in the English Regions. Creative England will also become the BFI's delegated body for the distribution of National Lottery funds for film.
Announcing the appointment, Creative England Chairman John Newbigin said: "I welcome Caroline's appointment as CE's first CEO. She brings to the job her wide experience as a working producer and as Chief Executive of one of the most successful of the regional screen agencies. Her consistent advocacy of closer collaboration between the English regions, her commitment to building industry wide partnerships, and her embrace of film as part of a wider world of digital media, puts her in a particularly strong position to make Creative England an effective agency to support talent, businesses and audiences, right across the country.
"That she has been chosen from an exceptionally strong field of candidates, drawn from private and public sectors, from the UK and internationally, is proof both of the importance of her role, and of the strength of her qualities."
Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI, said: "I'm delighted that Caroline is to fill this important role in the new landscape of public support for film in England. I have no doubt, that her experience leading a regional screen agency and her very substantial contribution to bringing the vision of a Creative England to fruition, means that she is in the best possible position to guide it through its early years. I look forward to working in close partnership with her and her colleagues."
Caroline Norbury said: "I look forward to working with John and the Board to get Creative England out of the starting blocks. Our first big job is to make sure there is a seamless transfer of film provision for England's rich and varied industry outside of London, and to get Creative England staff in place to deliver that service. This will be our main focus in the next few months, but I am totally committed to achieving the long term goal of transforming the provision for creative industries in England moving forward."
Reporting to the Creative England Board, which is currently being recruited to take office on 1 October, Caroline will oversee the staffing and structure of Creative England, whilst building on strong local partnerships throughout the English regions and pursuing public and commercial funding for wider creative industry initiatives. She will lead the agency as it works to transform film culture and creative industries strategy in the English regions, described by Minister Ed Vaizey as "...helping small companies grow, helping new talent establish itself and mobilising public and private investment to grow England's creative industries."
Since 2002, Caroline has been the Chief Executive of South West Screen and in June 2011 was appointed as Interim Establishment Director of Creative England. Caroline has extensive experience of the media industry as a producer, director and commissioning executive. Prior to establishing South West Screen she ran First Take Films, an agency dedicated to developing new talent and new voices. Caroline is a member of BAFTA and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She studied for her first degree in Government at the University of Essex and has an MA in Cultural Leadership from City University, London.
When it launches next month, Creative England will be the first ever agency to provide joined up support to the content industries of Film, Television, Games, and Digital and Creative Services in the English regions outside London.
For more information, please visit http://www.creativeengland.co.uk.
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15 Sep 2011
Film London Reveals New Partnership with Toronto International Film Festival
A new strategic partnership has been formed between the Film London Production Finance Market (PFM) and the Toronto Film Festivals International Financing Forum (IFF), which aims to strengthen the international reach of both markets and provide producers with a new platform for showcasing their latest projects.
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A formal swapping of producers and projects will see the new alliance giving a Canadian producer the opportunity to present a project at the PFM as well as a reversal with a UK producer pitching their project at the IFF.
Both 2011 events will be run in association with two of the nation's leading film festivals, the IFF with this year's Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and the PFM with the BFI London Film Festival.
They will provide a platform for UK and Canadian producers to showcase new projects to international markets and financiers, through sales agents, distributors, funders, agents, and executive producers.
As a result of the new partnership, London-based Sam Taylor of Film & Music Entertainment has been selected to present her latest project, Cassy and Jude at the 2011 IFF. Comprising of around 45 new projects, the event will take place between Saturday 10th and Monday 12th September 2011 and is to be presented by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC).
Likewise, the PFM will this year also host Canadian producers Scott Garvie and Patrick Cassavetti of Shaftesbury Films with their new project, Prisoner of Tehran. With 800 face to face meetings expected over the two days between producers and financiers, this year's PFM will take place between Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th October 2011.
Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London said: "It is fantastic to be partnering with OMDC to not only give a UK producer the opportunity of attending IFF, but also to further broaden the PFM as a truly international Market."
Karen Thorne-Stone, President and CEO of the Ontario Media Development Corporation said: "OMDC is delighted to partner with Film London in this new initiative which will give Ontario creators enhanced access to financing and business partnerships in the international marketplace".
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14 Sep 2011
Tanya Seghatchian to Step Down as Head of Film Fund at the BFI
Tanya Seghatchian is to leave the British Film Institute (BFI) as the current Head of the Film Fund, as revealed in a statement released today by the organisation.
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Tanya, who was also previously head of the Development Fund at the UK Film Council before its closure, will stand down from her role to return to a career as a filmmaker.
Many award-winning British feature films, including Tom Hooper's The King's Speech, Jane Campion's Bright Star and Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank were made whilst Tanya was head of the film fund, which saw her take on the responsibility for funding and then overseeing development and production.
A number of upcoming releases also saw Tanya's involvement including Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin, Terence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea and Steve McQueen's Shame, each of which will receive its UK premiere at the 55th BFI London Film Festival this October.
On announcing her decision to leave Tanya Seghatchian said: "It's been a pleasure and a privilege to have spent four years working with some of the UK's most talented filmmakers. With the dedicated team at the Film Fund we've achieved more than I'd dare hope amidst a recession, an abolition and a lengthy transition process. In a spectacular year for British film, we've backed great British filmmakers and some strong new voices."
Tanya continued, "Our films are currently enjoying critical success and major festival exposure ahead of the awards season, as well as taking money at the box office. But even so, four years determining the tone and direction of Lottery backed investment in British film is long enough. Having overseen the transition of the Film Fund from the UK Film Council to the BFI, I feel that it's time for someone else to be the public sector champion for the remarkable filmmaking talent we have in the UK and I wish the BFI every success in the future."
Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI commented: "Tanya has made a huge contribution to the UK film industry. She brings a rare balance of independence of vision, commercial instinct and cultural understanding, and she has a real eye for backing talent. We have been incredibly fortunate to have had her with us at such a transformational time for the BFI and she leaves an experienced and expert Film Fund team in place, ensuring that filmmakers and the industry continue to be supported. Tanya's heart lies in filmmaking and she will undoubtedly go on to make some great films; we look forward to working with her."
Tanya will now continue to peruse her career as a feature film producer from which she has previously won a BAFTA for producing Pawel Pawlikowski's critically acclaimed film My Summer of Love. as well as contributing to the development of the first four Harry Potter films for Warner Bros.
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14 Sep 2011
Vue Cinemas CEO, Tim Richards Appointed to Skillset Board
Tim Richards, the founder and CEO of Vue Cinemas has joined the Board of Skillset, the sector skills council for the creative industries.
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As deputy chair of Skillset's Film Skills Council of which The Production Guild CEO Emily Stillman sits on, Skillset stated that Tim has played "an instrumental role in driving the development of the groundbreaking skills strategy for the film industry, A Bigger Future 2", the national 3-year film skills strategy, funded by the BFI, which will address the five top training and education priorities for the UK Film Industry.
Chair of Skillset, Stewart Till, said: "Tim has shown throughout his career that he is an ambitious thinker with an instinct for driving his industry forward in new and exciting directions. He is just the kind of person we are looking for to help steer Skillset's work through the exciting and challenging developments that lie ahead for our Creative Industries."
Commenting on his appointment, Tim Richards said: "Skillset does a superb job ensuring the UK's Creative Industries maintain their world class position. I am delighted to be taking this position on the Skillset Board and intend to do all that I can to support their development over the coming years."
Since Tim founded what was to be Vue Entertainment in 1998, the company has seen substantial growth with 69 cinemas now across the UK. The company has also seen high industry recognition, winning the International Exhibitor of the Year Award at Cinema Expo, Vue Westfield winning Best Cinema of the Year four times and Vue Dublin winning Cinema of the Year Ireland.
On top of his professional expertise and accolades, Tim will also bring further experience to the Skillset Board, currently sitting as Board Director of Film London and as a member of the 2011 DCMS Film Policy Review Panel.
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14 Sep 2011
20% PG Member Discount for Cross Media Forum at the BFI London Film Festival
Power to the Pixel is offering a 20% discount on ticket prices to the FIRST 10 members of the PRODUCTION GUILD OF GREAT BRITAIN to register for the Forum. The offer is valid until 18.00 (BST) 30 September 2011. Members can visit the Member Offers Page within the Members Area for details of how to obtain the exclusive discount code.
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Held in association with the BFI London Film Festival, Power to the Pixel’s 5th Cross-Media Forum showcases some of the world’s leading media innovators and tech pioneers working in cross-media, and is aimed at producers, filmmakers, distributors, creatives and technologists. The forum will to be hosting the following public events:
11 October, Conference Summit
The line-up of speakers includes, a keynote from Jeff Gomez, Transmedia Producer & CEO Starlight Runner (Pirates of the Caribbean; Halo; Avatar) who will be speaking in the UK for the very first time.
The Conference covers the latest trends in audience behaviour, business models and case studies of successful cross-media projects. Ticket includes entry to the opening night networking reception.
12 October, The Pixel Pitch Competition
A finance forum where nine international teams will present their cross-media project to a jury made up of leading decision-makers, financiers and commissioners from across the media and tech industries. One lucky team will be awarded the £6,000 ARTE Pixel Pitch Prize.
Full list of speakers and experts can be found here.
Participating companies include:
Aardman |Artangel | ARTE France| beActive | BFI | CNC | Disney | Manning Gottlieb OMD | MediaCom | NFB Canada | Orange | Pure Grass Films| RTL| Starlight Runner| ShineVu | The company P | Turner | Vice | Warp
PLEASE NOTE: The Forum will not be webcast this year.
Find more info here or email info@powertothepixel.com for further details.
Supported by:
The MEDIA Programme of the European Union, BFI, Skillset, ARTE, Telefilm Canada, TorinoFilmLab
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08 Sep 2011
UK Film Centre Opens Doors at the Toronto International Film Festival
A dedicated UK Film Centre has opened its doors at this year's Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Delivered for the first time by Film Export UK in partnership with Film London, the centre will provide a base for UK independent producers and companies to promote UK films and talent, as well as generating business with international investors and markets during the festival.
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The 2011 TIFF kicks off today, Thursday 8th September and runs until Sunday 18th September with over 30 British features and shorts due to be screened over the course of the week.
Open from the 8th – 15th September, the UK Film Centre will be based within the Hyatt Regency Hotel and aims to bring together public bodies, national agencies and and sales companies from across the UK as well as independent Producers to get new British projects off the ground.
Support in the form of grants to UK exporters has for the third year been given by UK Trade & Investment and for the first time by Westminster Council, ensuring that the UK has a strong presence at TIFF once again.
Film London confirmed that over 70 new British films will be on offer from sales companies attending the Festival this year, including many from the eight UK-based sales companies based in the Toronto UK Film Centre.
The UK Film Office has also been made possible thanks to the generous support of the British Film Commission, the BFI, Creative Scotland, Film London, The Film Agency for Wales, Wales Screen Commission and the British Council. These agencies will also use the Office to promote the very best of the whole of the UK industry, including locations, facilities, talent and funding opportunities.
Stephen Kelliher, Chair of Film Export UK said "Film Export UK is delighted to be one of the leading partners bringing the UK Film Centre to the Toronto Film Festival this year. With so many British films in official selection, support for the centre has been widespread and the impressive range of participants we have attracted truly represents the vitality of the British film industry today."
Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London & the British Film Commission said: "The significance of Toronto in the international film calendar - both in terms of its film programme and as a place to do business - is steadily growing. Therefore it is so important that our UK agencies, sales companies and producers have collaborated to deliver the Toronto UK Film Centre which gives the international film community a centralised point to do business with the British while in Toronto. We hope to replicate this kind of unified approach, working in partnership to ensure the UK is well represented and promoted at all the major film festivals and markets across the globe."
The BFI's Film Fund, headed up by Tanya Seghatchian, will be attending TIFF. As well as supporting the 12 films at the festival which have been financed by the Film Fund with National Lottery money through the UK Film Council and the BFI, Fernando Meirelles' 360 (PG Members: Jim Hajicosta - Production Accountant, Robert Seager - 1st Assistant Accountant, Benjamin Breen - 1st Assistant Accountant, Richard Henry - PG Accounts Trainee), Michael Winterbottom's Trishna (PG Member: Alice Dawson - Line Producer) and Terence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea (PG Members: Maxine Stanley - Production Accountant, Justin Miller - Assistant Accountant), the team will be talking to producers, financiers and film-makers about potential future projects.
While in Toronto the British Film Commission will also be hosting a networking event with Film London, UKTI, Screen International and Scottish Development International for UK film-makers and inward investment clients. The event is by invitation only.
For further information about the TIFF, please visit the festival website at http://tiff.net/
Full Details for the UK Film Centre can be found below:
UK Film Centre in Toronto
Festival Room, 9th Floor, Hyatt Regency Hotel
370 King Street West,
Toronto ON M5V 1J9
Canada
Telephone: +1 416 343 1234 Fax: +1 416 924 1778
Producers based at the UK Film Centre include:
Altered Image Films, Blue Horizon Productions, Crowfoot Films, F&ME, February Films, Fly Film Co, Headline Pictures, Ipso Facto, Miraj Films, Rainy Day Films, Red Sun Pictures, Rough Sea Productions and Wellington Films
Sales companies based at the UK Film Centre:
Amadeus Entertainment, Bankside Films, Content Media Group, Ealing Metro International, Exclusive Films International, Intandem Pictures Ltd, Kaleidoscope Film Distribution and Stealth Media Group
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08 Sep 2011
Nominations Open For Women In Film and TV Awards 2011
The Production Guild will be nominating a number of inspirational women for this year's WFTV awards and if you would like to make a nomination, please continue reading for a list of categories and a link to the nomination form. We are particularly pleased to see the new "International Film Guarantors Project Management Award" and welcome the recognition and value of grades such as:- line producer, production supervisor, production manager, location manager, production accountant and Post Production Supervisor.
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Luke Randolph, Managing Director at International Film Guarantors Ltd., explains "International Film Guarantors is delighted to support WFTV in sponsoring this award which is for those who are the logistical life-blood of production without whose unsung skill and expertise neither producers nor completion guarantors can function."
Other awards are listed below and nominations can be made here.
The Deluxe London Director Award recognises outstanding achievement by a woman in directing.
The MAC Best Performance Award recognises outstanding acting achievement by a female performer.
The Writing Award recognises outstanding achievement by a woman writing for the screen or as the author of source material for a script.
The ENVY Producer Award recognises outstanding achievement by a female producer.
The Barclays Corporate Business Award recognises outstanding business achievement by a woman e.g. an executive producer, distributor, legal and business affairs executive, managing director. The Panalux Craft Award recognises outstanding achievement in craft e.g. camera, editing, lighting, sound, post production, special effects, stunt, make-up, costume and production design.
The Skillset 'Inspirational Woman' Award recognises a woman who has made a significant impact in the industry and inspired change, outside of programme or film making. e.g. research, lobbying, mentoring, journalism, authorship, public speaking.
The International Film Guarantors Project Management Award recognises outstanding achievement by a female line producer, production supervisor, production manager, location manager, or production accountant.
The BBC News and Factual Award recognises outstanding achievement in factual programming - documentary, news or current affairs.
The TalkbackTHAMES New Talent Award recognises a woman who, in the last two years, can be seen as a significant emerging talent in film, television or digital media.
The ITV Achievement of the Year Award recognises a woman who, over the last year, has made a significant impact in any aspect of production.
The Channel 4 Creative Innovation Award recognises innovation and originality in the creative areas of film, television and the digital media.
The Littlestar Services Contribution to the Medium Award recognises a woman who has achieved excellence through her exemplary body of work in film, television or digital media. This is an intermediate level of lifetime achievement.
To find out more about Women in Film and TV please visit their website at http://www.wftv.org.uk/
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07 Sep 2011
Best British Film Nominations for Two Features with PG Member Contributions as Raindance Film Festival Line-up Revealed
Acts of Godfrey and A Thousand Kisses Deep have been nominated for Best British Feature at the 19th Raindance Film Festival, as organisers revealed the full festival line-up and nominations. The features saw PG Members on Production, Accounts and Locations and congratulations to all of them for contributing to the success so far.
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Taking place in London from Wednesday 28th September – Sunday 9th October 2011 this year's Raindance Film Festival will see over 90 UK premieres from 36 countries, with over 30 being international premieres.
This year's festival will open with the UK premiere of Another Earth, which proved popular at this year's Sundance Film Festival and it will close with the UK premiere of 'slacker romance' Bonsai, the second film from cult Chilean director Christian Jimenez.
Features Nominated for Best British Film with PG Member Contributions
Acts of Godfrey
Friday 30th September 21:15
Written and directed by Johnny Daukes. God (AKA Godfrey) decides to improve the flagging prospects of Vic as he pairs him up with the unprincipled and sexually predatory Mary. But even with Godfrey's divine powers, the path of true love is best with the twists and turns of fate.
PG Members: Julie Clark (Line Producer) and Freya Pinsent (Production Accountant)
A Thousand Kisses Deep
Thursday 29 September 18:45 and Friday 30 September 12 Noon
Directed by Dana Lustig and written by Alex Kustanovich, Vadim Moldovan. Caught in a timeless world of passions and betrayals, Mia searches for the truth behind a mysterious woman's death.
PG Members: Christopher Granier-Deferre (Co-Producer), Helen Swanwick (Production Secretary), Daniel Palmer (Production Accountant) and Jane Soans (Location Scout).
Raindance Film Festival Screenings will take place at the Apollo Cinema in London's Piccadilly Circus, with the Opening Night premiere of Another Earth at Cineworld Haymarket on 28 Sept.
Tickets and passes to the festival will be on sale from 9th September 2011 at http://www.raindance.co.uk
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07 Sep 2011
BFI London Film Festival Selects Over 15 Features with PG Member Involvement as Full Line-up Details Revealed
Over 35 PG Members will be represented across 16 feature films that have been selected to screen at the 55th BFI London Film Festival, as the full line-up was revealed today at a press event in London. The features with PG Member involvement contribute to all three of the 'Galas & Special Screenings', 'Films on the Square' and 'New British Cinema' categories.
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Taking place over 16 days between 12th – 27th October 2011, this year's BFI London Film Festival will screen a huge 204 feature films and 110 shorts with categories also for French, European, World Cinema, Experimental, Recently Restored Archive and Shorts and Animation.
As previously reported by the Guild, Fernando Meirelles' 360 and Terence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea are to open and close the festival and other Gala highlights this year include George Clooney's The Ides of March, Alexander Payne's The Descendants, Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin and David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method.
This year's Archive Gala title is the BFI National Archive's restoration of Miles Mander's The First Born with a new score by Stephen Horne.
The Film on the Square strand includes new titles such as Roman Polanski's Carnage, Werner Herzog's Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Antolia and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights.
New British Cinema will see UK premieres for D.R. Hood's Wreckers, Dexter Fletcher's directorial debut Wild Bill and Andrew Haigh's award-winning second feature Weekend.
Features Chosen to Screen with PG Member Involvement
Galas & Special Screenings
360
Wed 12 19:00 (ODEON LEICESTER SQ.), Thu 13 14:45 (Vue Screen 5) and Sat 15 14:45 (Vue Screen 5)
A dynamic and moving study of love in the 21st century from the director of The Constant Gardener.
PG Members: Jim Hajicosta - Production Accountant, Robert Seager - 1st Assistant Accountant, Benjamin Breen - 1st Assistant Accountant, Richard Henry - PG Accounts Trainee
Anonymous
Tue 25 19:30 (Empire Leicester Square), Wed 26 12:15 (Vue Screen 5) and Thu 27 12:45(Vue Screen 6)
A star-studded British cast graces Roland Emmerich's exploration of the contested authorship of Shakespeare's works.
PG Members: Alex Boden - Researcher (UK)
Coriolanus
Sun 16 19:30 (ODEON WEST END 2) and Mon 17 12:30 (Vue Screen 7)
A clever, contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's play of political power and intrigue, directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes.
PG Members: Polly Hope - Production Co-ordinator, Debbie Moore - Financial Controller, Debbie Peterson - Assistant Accountant (UK)
A Dangerous Method
Mon 24 20:00 (ODEON WEST END 2) and Tue 25 14:45 (Vue Screen 5)
Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender and Keira Knightley star in David Cronenberg's compelling look at the early days of psychoanalysis.
PG Members: Sheila Fraser Milne - Production Consultant, Rachel James - UK Accountant
The Deep Blue Sea
Thu 27 19:00 (ODEON LEICESTER SQ.)
Terence Davies' poetic and sensitive adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play, with subtly nuanced performances from its impeccable cast.
PG Members: Maxine Stanley - Production Accountant, Justin Miller - Assistant Accountant
Trishna
Sat 22 20:15 (Vue Screen 5), Sat 22 20:30 (Vue Screen 7) Tue 25 09:30 (Vue Screen 5) and Tue 25 12:15 (Vue Screen 5)
Tess of the d'Urbervilles transposed to modern day India by Michael Winterbottom, with Freida Pinto as the tragic heroine.
PG Members: Alice Dawson - Line Producer
W.E.
Sun 23 19:00 (Empire Leicester Square) and Mon 24 12:15 (Vue Screen 5)
Madonna directs this rich, elegantly structured story of two women, decades apart, confronting the consequences of desire.
PG Members: Nigel Wooll - Executive Producer, Jane Soans - Supervising Location Manager, Philippa Naughten - Production Co-ordinator, Yuen-Wai Liu - Assistant Production Co-ordinator, Will Tyler - Financial Controller, Gemma Todd (Smithers) - 1st Assistant Accountant, Rachel James - Post Production Accountant, Josh Allan - Accounts Assistant,
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Mon 17 19:30 (CURZON MAYFAIR) and Tue 18 14:45 (Vue Screen 5)
The much-anticipated film based on Lionel Shriver's Orange Prize-winning novel.
PG Members: Gisela Evert - Post Production Supervisor
Film on the Square
The Awakening
Tue 25 18:15 (Vue Screen 7) and Wed 26 15:00 (Vue Screen 7)
A classy haunted house yarn that boasts a great cast, as deceptively moving as it is chilling.
PG Members: Peter Eardley - Production Accountant, Jacqueline McBride - Assistant Accountant, Alison Goring - 2nd Assistant Director
Chicken With Plums
Tue 18 18:00 (Vue Screen 7), Wed 19 15:00 (Vue Screen 7) and Fri 21 18:30 (CURZON MAYFAIR)
The creators of Persepolis follow their terrific debut with an inspired adaptation of another of Marjane Satrapi's award-winning graphic novels.
PG Members: Jasmina Torbati - Line Producer
Hunky Dory
Tue 25 20:15 (Vue Screen 5) and Wed 26 14:45 (Vue Screen 5)
Marc Evans' latest feature is a sweet and sincere paean to the pre-punk 1970s.
PG Members: Kathy Nettleship - Line Producer, Jennine Baker - Production Accountant, Isabel Chick - Post Production Accountant(for Prescience Film Finance)
This Must Be the Place
Wed 26 20:30 (Vue Screen 7) and Thu 27 12:15 (Vue Screen 7)
Oddball retired rock star Cheyenne (Sean Penn) goes on a rambling road trip across the USA in search of someone his father had been trying to find.
PG Members: Noelette Buckley - Line Producer
Wuthering Heights
Sat 15 18:00 (CURZON MAYFAIR) and Tue 25 12:00 (Vue Screen 7)
Andrea Arnold's radical and beautifully filmed adaptation of this classic tale of obsessive love.
PG Members: Claire Mitchell - Assistant Accountant, Anthony Flint - Cashier,
Helen Swanwick - Accommodation Scout
New British Cinema
Dreams of a Life
Sun 16 21:00 (NFT1) and Tue 18 13:15 (NFT2)
The intriguing story of a young woman discovered in a London flat three years after her death.
PG Members: Helen Bingham - Production Accountant
Strawberry Fields
Tue 18 18:30 (Vue Screen 3), Wed 19 15:30 (Vue Screen 3) and Fri 21 14:15 (Ritzy Screen 2)
An inventive melodrama referencing Tennessee Williams and A Streetcar Named Desire, a complex story of lust, rivalry and liberation in Kent countryside.
PG Members: Rebecca Wolf - Production Accountant, Stuart Williams - 1st Assistant Director
Wreckers
Sun 16 18:30 (Vue Screen 3), Tue 18 15:30 (Vue Screen 3) Fri 21 21:00 (CURZON MAYFAIR)
The debut feature from Dictynna Hood is a haunting tale of secrets and lies in the English countryside.
PG Members: Lita O'Sullivan - Production Accountant
Ticket information for all of these screenings can be found here
Festival organisers also confirmed this morning that the jurors and shortlists for the third annual The BFI London Film Festival Awards will be announced on Tuesday 4th October, and the ceremony will take place on Wednesday 26th October at LSO St Luke's.
BFI Members can book festival tickets online from Monday 19th September. Public booking opens Monday 26th September.
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06 Sep 2011
Alex Boden's British Thriller, 'The Holding' Opens in UK Cinemas this Weekend (Limited Q&A Tickets Available)
Following a successful world premiere at Film 4's FrightFest last month, PG Member Alex Boden's, The Holding will see its nationwide release this Friday 9th September 2011, with tickets also now available for four special cast and crew Q&A screenings.
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The British thriller written by James Dormer and directed by Susan Jacobson is set within the remote english countryside as a mother protects her and her children from the destructive nature of a dark secret. The film explores the lengths people will go to fight for what they value most in life. The Holding features a great British cast including Kierston Wareing (FISH TANK, IT'S A FREE WORLD), Vincent Regan (TROY, 300) and David Bradley (HARRY POTTER Series).
Alongside the release in UK cinemas from this Friday (9th September), four special Cast and crew Q&A Screenings have also been organised across four days:
Friday 9th September 2011 - Watermans, Brentford tickets. Tickets can be booked here.
Saturday 10th September 2011 - Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square. Tickets can be booked here.
Sunday 11th September 2011 - Derby Quad. Tickets can be booked here.
Monday 12th September 2011 - Nottingham Broadway. Tickets can be booked here.
The film is also set for a North American premiere at Chicago International Film Festival in October 2011 and has also been booked at Fantastic Fest in the USA.
More information is available from the film's website found at http://www.theholding-movie.co.uk/ or on the facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TheHoldingUK
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01 Sep 2011
PG Members Represented in Opening and Closing Films for the 55th BFI London Film Festival
Fernando Meirelles's 360 and Terence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea have been chosen to bookend this year's BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express, both of which have contributions from PG Members.
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The European premiere of 360 will open on the festival on Wednesday 12th October and saw PG Members Jim Hajicosta - Production Accountant, Robert Seager -
1st Assistant Accountant, Benjamin Breen - 1st Assistant Accountant and Richard Henry - PG Accounts Trainee, all contributing to the success of the production.
Directed by Fernando Meirelles and with an original screenplay by acclaimed writer Peter Morgan,the film stars Rachel Weisz, Jude Law and Sir Anthony Hopkins in what the BFI describes as a "modern and stylish kaleidoscope of interconnected love and relationships" which links characters from different cities and countries. The film travels through Paris, London, Bratislava, Rio, Denver and Phoenix.
Festival Artistic Director Sandra Hebron said, "I'm delighted that 360 will be our opening night film, and very pleased to welcome back Fernando Meirelles and Peter Morgan to the festival. With its impeccable film making credentials and intriguing premise, 360 combines masterful visual story telling with a modern and moving narrative, helped by strong performances from a terrific ensemble cast."
Director Fernando Meirelles added, "The BFI London Film Festival is one of the best festivals in the world due to its selection of films and the number of theatres the films are shown in. I am very honoured 360, an intimate film that talks about our options in life, has been chosen to open the festival this year, and I want to thank Sandra Hebron for extending this prestigious invitation to me for a second time, following The Constant Gardener, which opened the festival in 2005."
It was also announced that the UK premiere of Terence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea will close out this years festival, which saw PG Members Maxine Stanley - Production Accountant and Justin Miller - Assistant Accountant on the production.
Set in post-war Britain, the feature is an adaptation of Terence Rattigan's classic play. Hester Collyer (Rachel Weisz) leads a privileged life in 1950s London as the beautiful wife of high court judge Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale). To the shock of those around her, she walks out of her marriage to move in with young ex-RAF pilot, Freddie Page (Tom Hiddleston), with whom she has fallen passionately in love.
Festival Artistic Director Sandra Hebron commented, "It's a great pleasure to be able to close the festival with this exquisite new feature from one of our most cherished directors. Terence Davies is a filmmaker who the BFI has supported from the very beginnings of his career, and in Terence Rattigan's centenary year, this beautifully directed and acted film is the perfect closing night film."
Director Terence Davies stated: "As a British filmmaker, to get into the BFI London Film Festival at all is bliss - to get a Closing Night film is sheer heaven! The festival is now, rightly, seen as one of the major European and World Film Festivals; championing not only British but World cinema."
The full schedule for the 55th BFI London Film Festival will be announced on Wednesday 7th September 2011.
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01 Sep 2011
New Film Commission and Tax Credit Launched by Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic has seen the formation of its first official Film Commission and the passing of a new tax credit of up to 25% with the potential of an industry worth an estimated $375 million, employing over 24,000 individuals.
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Announced at an event in Hollywood, Dominican Republic President, Dr. Leonel Fernández Reyna, confirmed that Ellis Perez will head up the new Film Commission having been appointed to position of Director General of Cinematography in the Dominican Republic.
The new Film Commission will aim to help studios, production companies and independent producers find all the services needed to film their projects and will provide support with location scouting, permits, clearances and consultations on all needs relating to filming within the country.
Alongside the formation of the Film Commisssion, the National Congress of the Dominican Republic has also passed a new tax credit for feature films and tv productions shooting in the country of up to 25% and full details of the new film related law within the Dominican Republic can be found at the bottom of this article.
Having hosted shoots on a number of high budget features including Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jurassic Park and Miami Vice, the country has also recnetly seen the annoucement of Pinewood Indomina Studios earlier this year, which will provide a major studio base for productions filming within the region from early 2012.
The new facility will comprise 5,000 sq m of sound stage space along with 15,000 sq m of associated production support facilities. The 35 acre site will include an acre water effects facility including a 75m x 75m exterior water tank with natural ocean horizons, blue screen capabilities and a fully equipped diving and marine department.
A Summary of the new Law for the development of film activity in the Dominican Republic
1. For producers:
i. 25% freely transferable tax credit ("FTTC") on all above and below the line eligible expenditures, for both domestic and/or foreign film and TV productions.
ii. VAT and custom duties exemption on eligible production related expenditures.
2. For Dominican investors in film productions:
i. 100% income tax deductibility ("ITD") for Dominican corporate taxpayers of their investments in eligible Dominican film production companies, with a maximum offset of 25% of the year income tax liability.
3. For investors in industry related infrastructures and providers of technical services
i. 15 years 100% income tax exemption and custom duties exemption on imports that are functional for the infrastructure for investors
ii. 15 years 50-100% income tax exemption for newly built movie theatres.
With regard to the FTTC, the Cinema Law provides to domestic and foreign producers a 25% freely transferable tax credit on all eligible production expenses incurred in the Dominican Republic. This includes above-and below-the-line production expenses. Additionally, the law provides for certain exemptions and immunity from VAT, import and customs duties on equipment, goods and services.
The DGCINE must first approve the film's budget and will subsequently serve as the one-stop-shop for producers in administering the FTTC as well any and all relationship with Tax and Custom Authorities.
Films produced under this incentive are not bound by any cultural requirements.
With regard to the ITD incentive, Dominican corporate taxpayers are offered a generous incentive when they invest in eligible Dominican film production companies. 100% income tax deductibility of such investments with the possibility to offset their income tax liability up to 25%. This provision alone is expected to generate a significant funding base (estimated in excess of $100 million per year) for Dominican film productions from the private sector.
Unlike the 25% freely transferable tax credit, the films produced taking advantage of this newly generated pool of funds must adhere to certain cultural requirements (e.g., Spanish language majority, production location in the DR, talent, crew).
Finally, a substantial long-term 100% income tax exemption, for a period of up to 15 years, is granted to investors promoting the development of new industry related infrastructures (studios, movie theatres, etc.), and to distribution and technical service providers that will establish their business in the DR.
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01 Sep 2011
UK / Israel Co-Production Treaty Agreed
The British Film Institute (BFI) has confirmed that the UK's co-production treaty with Israel has been ratified and has now come into force.
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The treaty will encourage the two nations to work together on account of shared or complementary characteristics that include the structure of each film industry, the film culture of each country and the extent of the availability in each country of film-making facilities, a suitably skilled workforce and locations for filming.
Put into place by the governments within the UK and Isreal, the treaty aims to lead to the growth and competitiveness of the film industries within the two nations as well as the enhancement of their film cultures.
Commenting on the Treaty, the BFI stated, "it will strengthen the relationship between film industries in the UK and Israel by encouraging them to make films together that reflect the creativity of both countries."
The BFI also made it clear that qualifying as a British film is an eligibility requirement for UK Film Tax Relief and for the BFI Film Fund, however films made as official co-productions qualify as British and are not required to pass the Cultural Test for British Film.
The UK has also recently signed treaties with Morocco and Palestine, both of which are awaiting completion of constitutional procedures before they can be ratified and come into force.
The UK's active treaties, guidance notes and further information about the benefits of British film qualification can be found at the BFI here.
PG Members can also now download the the new UK / Israel Co-Production Treaty directly from the Hot Topics and Industry Documents pages.
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01 Sep 2011
Warner Bros. Pictures International Set for Another Record Breaking Year, Surpassing $2 Billion at the International Box Office
Warner Bros. Pictures International (WBPI) has become the second studio to pass the $2 billion mark at the international box office, following on from Paramount Pictures International who reached the threshold in early August 2011.
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It marks the second consecutive year - and the fourth time in eight years - that WBPI has reached the $2 billion figure and comes two months earlier than in 2010, which saw the company achieve the all-time annual international gross record for a single studio, grossing $2.93 billion.
At the time of reaching the $2 billion figure, WBPI confirmed that $857 had been grossed by the final instalment of the Harry Potter series, which is still currently screening but is already the highest grossing film of the year and the third biggest international release of all time - behind James Cameron's Titanic and 3D hit Avatar.
Having now grossed nearly $1.3 billion at the international box office, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II has seen a number of PG Members who have contributed to its success including, David Barron - Producer, John Trehy - Co-Producer, Tim Lewis - Co-Producer, Simon Emanuel - Production Manager, Ali Morris - 2nd Assistant Director (Crowd), Michael Harm - Unit Location Manager, Gary Nixon - Production Accountant, Nichola Coats - VFX Accountant, Jay Rosenwink - Assistant Accountant, Paula Sargeant - Assistant Accountant, Amanda Fernie - Assistant Accountant, Louise Van Hamme - Cashier, Oliver Mitchell - Accounts Assistant, Josh Allan - PG Accounts Trainee).
WBPI also saw success from Todd Phillips' The Hangover Part II, which beat its predecessor to gross $327 million internationally and became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time; followed by the comedy Horrible Bosses, which to date has grossed over $170 million internationally.
Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures commented, "Even beyond the amazing performance of our final Harry Potter film, this has been a spectacular year for the Studio. These incredible numbers are a testament to the diverse and powerful mix of films that our studio releases, along with the hard work and insight of our international distribution teams around the world. We're tremendously gratified to reach this benchmark with so many exciting films yet to come."
"Reaching this number so early in the year is an incredible achievement for our Studio," said Sue Kroll, Warner Bros. Pictures' President, Worldwide Marketing. "We could not have done it without the care and ingenuity of our marketing teams around the world, who have delivered inspired campaigns for every release, from staging a global event for Harry Potter to making each of our wide variety of films into hits. We're thrilled with these results and look forward to the rest of our 2011 slate."
WBPI will now be looking at the fourth quarter of 2011 in its attempt to beat the all-time annual single studio international gross record for the second year running.
Their 2011 slate still includes a number of big releases such as Steven Soderbergh's Contagion, Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, George Miller's Happy Feet Two, Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, and Garry Marshall's New Year's Eve.
Warner Bros Pictures International has been the market leader in six of the last 10 years. The Division has surpassed $1 billion in international gross for a total of 14 years, 11 of which were consecutive and crossed $2 billion four times, including 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2011.
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30 Aug 2011
Peters and May Global Logistics Joins The Production Guild as a Company Affiliate
The Production Guild is delighted to announce that specialist global logistics services company, Peters and May Global Logistics have been approved to join The Production Guild as a Company Affiliate.
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Based in Southampton, Peters and May Global Logistics (P&M) have divisions specialising in dangerous goods, airfreight, powerboats, motor yachts and projects, as well as having extensive shipping knowledge and experience.
Combined with the CEC courier division for urgent deliveries and a broad network of international offices P&M can offer innovative and cost effective logistic solutions.
P&M's recent work on feature film production includes shipping double decker buses to Pinewood Toronto Studios for the Total Recall remake and Sunseeker powerboats for the last Bond film, Quantum of Solace.
To view the Peters and May Global Logistics websites, please visit
http://www.pm-gl.com or http://www.petersandmay.com
To view the PG Affiliates Page for Peters and May Global Logistics, please visit http://www.productionguild.com/about-us/affiliates/33253
Information about all of the PG Affiliate companies can be found here: http://www.productionguild.com/about-us/affiliates
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26 Aug 2011
Tickets Now on Sale for Power to the Pixel's Cross-Media Forum at the BFI London Film Festival
Power to the Pixel will bring its Cross-Media Forum to the BFI London Film Festival again this year. Tickets are now available for the Forum, which aims to showcase some of the brightest talent working in cross-media and includes the Conference Summit on 11th October 2011 and The Pixel Pitch Competition on 12th October 2011.
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11 October, Conference Summit
Speakers for the first day will include, Jeff Gomez, CEO of Starlight Runner and transmedia producer, who will be presenting an opening keynote and speaking in the UK for the very first time.
Renowned for transforming IP into highly successful transmedia franchises, Jeff has worked on blockbuster franchises such as Pirates of the Caribbean; Halo and Avatar.
The Cross-Media Forum will also welcome back Michel Reilhac, Executive Director of ARTE France Cinéma as a keynote speaker who Power to the Pixel describe as one of the most respected advocates of cross-media storytelling in Europe.
The Conference covers the latest trends in audience behaviour, business models and case studies of successful cross-media projects and is followed by the opening night networking party.
12 October, The Pixel Pitch Competition
A showcase of eight international cross-media projects - fiction and non-fiction - with teams pitching to a jury made up of leading financiers, commissioners and decision-makers from the film, broadcast, advertising, tech, online, publishing and mobile industries.
With jurors giving direct feedback to contestants, this finance forum is an ideal opportunity to find out who is funding cross-media properties and how best to approach them. Participating companies last year included Artangel; ARTE; Arts Alliance; BBC; BBH; BFI; CNC; Content Film; Disney; EON; MSN; NFB; Nordisk Film & TV Fond; Orange; Sony; UTA; Warp Films.
Tickets priced at £40 and will be issued on a strictly first come, first served basis.
Find more info here or email info@powertothepixel.com for further details.
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19 Aug 2011
Competition Commission Seeks to Reduce Sky's Control of Pay-TV Movie Rights
Sky's control over pay-TV movie rights in the UK is restricting competition between pay-TV providers, leading to higher prices and reduced choice and innovation for subscribers, according to a provisional report by the Competition Commission (CC) investigating movies within the pay-TV market.
However BSkyB have responded stating that it continues to believe that no regulatory intervention is required and consumers benefit from high levels of choice, value and innovation across a wide range of providers and that it will continue to engage with the CC during the on-going regulatory process.
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In August 2010, Ofcom announced a decision to refer the supply and acquisition of subscription pay-TV movie rights and the wholesale supply and acquisition of packages including core premium movies channels, to the CC for investigation.
Within the provisional findings published today by the CC, the independent public body which conducts in-depth inquiries into mergers, markets and regulated industries it found that, due principally to the incumbency advantage Sky has in the form of its large base of subscribers, would-be rivals are unable to bid successfully against Sky for these rights.
Laura Carstensen, Chairman of the Movies on pay TV market investigation said:
"Sky has had control of recent movie content on pay TV for many years. At the heart of the problem is Sky's strong position in the pay-TV market, with twice as many subscribers to pay TV as all other traditional pay-TV retailers put together. This provides Sky with a great advantage when it comes to bidding for movie rights, which no rival bidder has yet been able to overcome—and, if things stay as they are, we see no likely prospect of change."
However in response Sky stated that, "such exclusivity forms the cornerstone of competition in the television sector: without it, firms would be unable to differentiate their channels from those of other broadcasters, with detrimental effects on incentives to invest in television services."
The CC's initial findings stated that Sky's control over the first subscription pay-TV window (FSPTW) movie rights of the six major Hollywood studios, and therefore over the movie channels incorporating this content, contributes to a lack of effective competition in the overall pay-TV retail market, highlighting the importance of being able to see recent movies to many pay-TV subscribers.
Sky responded to this issue noting, "The short duration of the FSPTW, and competition from licensees operating in other windows, provides Sky, as the licensee of FSPTW rights in the UK, with strong incentives to make effective use of the movies it licenses in this period, to the benefit of both the creators of those movies and consumers."
Sky continued, "No sound reasons have emerged from the CC's investigation to justify departing, in relation to the intellectual property rights licensed by Sky, from the normal starting point in competition law analysis that owners of intellectual property rights should be free to license their rights as they see fit, other than in exceptional circumstances."
The CC also provisionally found that although Sky supplies its movie channels (Sky Movies) to some other pay-TV retailers, this supply has not enabled these retailers to compete effectively with Sky for movie channel subscribers. It continued stating that this leads to many consumers not considering the other ways of watching movies as close substitutes to Sky Movies, which the CC said is confirmed by the value attached to the FSPTW rights of the major studios by Sky and those studios.
Laura Carstensen of the CC stated, "We have found that, as a result of this lack of effective competition, subscribers to Sky Movies are paying more than they otherwise would, and there is less choice than we would expect in a market with more effective competition."
However Sky stated that it believed "consumers in the UK are well served in terms of choice, quality, prices and innovation in relation to ways in which they can watch movies at home" and noting that Sky's 12 movie channels are "priced and packaged attractively (by both Sky and Virgin Media)."
Sky also noted that a subscription to its "Dual Movies" package (which includes all Sky's movie channels, plus Disney's Cinemagic movie channel) and two basic mixes, for example, is available at a price of around £1.20 per day and that according to the CC's analysis, in 2010 subscribers paid on average just under £12 per month for Sky's movie channels, which Sky pointed out was less than the retail price of buying two recently-released movies on DVD.
The CC also provisionally found that although it is aware of some significant developments taking place in the market, it has not seen evidence that these are likely to diminish Sky's bidding advantages to any meaningful degree in the foreseeable future.
Laura Carstensen commented, "We have considered carefully how technology is changing the options available to consumers and the ways in which many firms are now seeking to offer consumers Internet-distributed movie services. We have observed several significant developments taking place in the market at the moment. However, we have found no evidence to date that any of these alternative providers of movie products are likely to affect significantly Sky's ability to secure the first pay-window rights of the major studios in the foreseeable future—though we will continue to monitor developments in this area through to our final report, which we expect to publish early next year."
Sky replied that it believed UK consumers have a multitude of choices, other than a subscription to Sky Movies, if they want to watch movies at home and the number and range of such options is continually increasing.
They were keen to point out that a number of options are available to consumers before and during the FSPTW period including buying and renting DVDs and Blu-rays, purchasing films electronically (electronic sell through) through services such as iTunes, Blinkbox and the Playstation Network as well as traditional and online pay per view options through services like Sky Box Office, FilmFlex via Virgin Media, BT Vision Movies Now, iTunes and Lovefilm.
The CC also provisionally noted that it believes the lack of competition in the market has directly led to less innovation for consumers. Commenting on innovation it stated, "It appears to us that it has been biased towards the developments most favourable to Sky's satellite platform. In our view, the evidence on innovation is insufficient to change our assessment about the level of current competition."
Sky commented that, "No compelling evidence has emerged during the CC's investigation that innovation in the exploitation of movies in the UK has been "held back" by the terms on which they are licensed. On the contrary, the UK is normally regarded as having among the most innovative audiovisual sectors in the world, and services which provide movies in the FSPTW to consumers are no exception."
It continued, "If Sky was doing a poor job in exploiting the rights it licenses from movie studios, including in terms of offering consumers attractive, innovative new ways of watching movies, the studios would seek other licensees, consider exploiting their rights themselves, or curtail the FSPTW in favour of extending other windows."
The CC is now opening up a period of consultation investigating movies within the pay-TV market, with particular regard to the kinds of remedies which it may pursue. The principal possible remedies on which the CC would like to invite views are:
1. Restricting the number of major studios from which Sky may license exclusive FSPTW rights;
2. Restricting the nature of the exclusive FSPTW rights which Sky can license from the major studios (e.g. so that rights for distribution methods such as subscription video on demand could be made available to other providers); and/or
3. 'Must retail' measures requiring Sky to acquire on a wholesale basis and offer to its subscribers any movie channel containing FSPTW movie content created by a rival.
To submit evidence, please email moviesonpaytv@cc.gsi.gov.uk or write to:
Inquiry Manager
Movies on Pay TV
Competition Commission
Victoria House
Southampton Row
London
WC1B 4AD
The summary of the provisional findings and Notice of Possible Remedies are available at: http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/ref2010/movies_on_pay_tv/index.htm.
Sky's response to the provisional findings of the CC can be found here: http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/press_releases/2011/movies_on_pay_tv_market_investigation_overview_submission.
The CC expects to publish the full provisional findings report next week.
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19 Aug 2011
Box Office Revenue and Admissions Rise for UK Market Leader Despite 3D Drop-off
Cineworld, the UK's largest cinema operator has seen an increase in revenue and admissions despite seeing a lower number of 3D and blockbuster feature film releases and a drop in the number of admissions to 3D screenings, according to their first-half year results for 2011.
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The group has seen overall admissions rise to 23.2m, up 2.2% (2010: 22.7m) and box office receipts up 2.0% at £113.9m (2010: £111.7m) even though the price of their average ticket reduced by 2 pence at £4.91 per ticket (2010: £4.93).
Cineworld noted that the first half of 2011 has seen a decrease in high budget films and particularly 3D blockbusters with the first half of 2010 including the release of Avatar and Alice in Wonderland (PG Members: Mary Richards - Line Producer (UK), Amelia Price - Assistant Production Co-ordinator (UK), Michele Tandy - Production Accountant, James Richardson - 1st Assistant Accountant, Sarah Stiff - Assistant Accountant, Claire Kenny - Assistant Accountant, Lara Sargent - Post Production Accountant, Ali James - Assistant Location Manager, Emma Pill - Location Manager)
However the cinema group praised the critical and commercial success of British made The King's Speech (PG Members: Gareth Unwin - Producer, Erica Bensly - Unit Production Manager, Marilyn Goldsworthy - Production Accountant, Matthew Lawson - Assistant Accountant, Peter Eardley - Post Production Accountant, Jamie Lengyel - Location Manager, David Broder - Location Manager, Philip Lobban - Location Scout, Martin Harrison - 1st Assistant Director, Christopher Stoaling - 2nd Assistant Director, Francesca Budd - Director's Assistant), which grossed over £45 million nationally in 2011.
Figures also confirmed that box office takings for Cineworld were spread across a wider number of films during the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2010. The top ten highest grossing films accounted for approximately 40% of Cineworld's box office between 1st January and 30th June 2011 compared with approximately 50% of the total box office for the same period during the previous year.
Having screened 180 film titles during the first half of 2011, Cineworld also commented that non-blockbuster films continued to make a significant contribution to their overall box office and that they would remain an important element of their film strategy.
Notably Cineworld's figures show that just over 16% of their admissions for the first half were attributable to 3D films compared with over 20% in H1 2010. Stephen Wiener, Chief Executive Officer commented that he thought, "Cinema goers are becoming more discerning when choosing between 3D and 2D versions of the same film and the quality of the film remains the primary factor in the decision to see a film in 3D."
The cinema group also confirmed that it has had a particularly strong start to the second half of 2011, led by the success of British production Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (PG Members: David Barron - Producer, John Trehy - Co-Producer, Tim Lewis - Co-Producer, Simon Emanuel - Production Manager, Ali Morris - 2nd Assistant Director (Crowd), Michael Harm - Unit Location Manager, Gary Nixon - Production Accountant, Nichola Coats - VFX Accountant, Jay Rosenwink - Assistant Accountant, Paula Sargeant - Assistant Accountant, Amanda Fernie - Assistant Accountant, Louise Van Hamme - Cashier, Oliver Mitchell - Accounts Assistant, Josh Allan - PG Accounts Trainee).
Figures also confirmed that the chain has remained the largest cinema operator in the UK with a box office market share of 26.4% (2010: 26.3%) as well as seeing a rise in the UK/Ireland market share during the period to 24.9% (2010: 24.2%).
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16 Aug 2011
*Important Member Alert* - Major US Studio Construction Agreement Reached with New Rates Effective from Monday 22nd August 2011
Pact and Bectu have reached an agreement for the Major US Studio Construction Agreement. This is a 3 year agreement that will commence on Monday 22nd August 2011.
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A copy of the agreement will be sent to members and posted on The Production Guild website once we have received a fully executed copy back from PACT.
In the mean time, PG Members can download the updated rate card from the Hot Topics or Industry Documents pages within the Members Only section of the website.
As you will see, the new rates contain a 2% increase per year over 3 years and a one off 6% increase on unsocial hours.
These new rates will take effect from Monday 22nd August 2011.
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16 Aug 2011
Countdown Begins for The Making of Harry Potter Warner Bros Studios Tour
As Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II went over $1.2 billion in worldwide gross this weekend, some further details have been revealed for the much anticipated Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, including the date those all important tickets go on sale.
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Since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone introduced the worldwide film community to such delights as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Diagon Alley and Quidditch, nearly a decade ago, PG Members have taken up over 125 positions across Production, Accounts, Locations, Assistant Directors and Post Production. The success of the Franchise which has now spanned eight hugely successful films, grossing well over $7 billion, has played a crucial part in continuing and strengthening the UK as an elite region for filmmaking.
From spring 2012, Warner Bros Studios Leavesden will open its doors to the public enabling fans from around the world to share in the celebration and success of this British franchise and experience the world of Harry Potter exclusively from behind the scenes.
Warner Bros, who recently purchased Leavesden Studios as a permanent base for filmmaking within the UK, confirmed that the tour will be spread over 15,000 square feet and estimated that it will take approximately three hours to go through.
To take part in this experience, you will need to mark Thursday 13th October in your calendar as the date that tickets for the tour will first go on sale. Warner Bros also confirmed that adult tickets will be priced at £28 whilst children will be able to enter for £21. Tickets will be available directly from http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk or through other approved tour operators.
Announced in March 2011 by PG Member Dan Dark, SVP & Managing Director of Warner Bros Studios Leavesden, The Making of Harry Potter tour will bring to life some of the most memorable sets from the films including The Great Hall designed by BAFTA Award Winning production designer Stuart Craig. The iconic set will be 120ft long by 40ft wide with a solid stone floor and will include the tables and benches used within the films.
Dumbledore's office has also been confirmed as another location to be visited on the tour. Built for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets it will act as a home for the Sorting Hat, The Sword of Gryffindor, Dumbledore's desk which is surrounded by a library of ancient looking books and a series of paintings commissioned specifically for the films, including two of Professor Dumbledore himself; one as played by Richard Harris and the other by Michael Gambon.
Announcing the Tour, Dan Dark commented, "While the Harry Potter film series reaches its highly anticipated conclusion this summer, its incredible filmmaking story and its relationship with Leavesden is set to live on with the launch of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter. The tour promises to be one of the most exciting and memorable visitor attractions anywhere in Europe, delivering an experience never before seen by the general public."
Josh Berger, President & Managing Director, Warner Bros. UK, Ireland & Spain, added, "We're incredibly excited about next year's opening of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter. It will celebrate the exceptional British creativity and craftsmanship that goes into making major movies here in the UK."
Warner Bros also hinted that as the attraction develops, it envisages incorporating some of its other popular franchises shot at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden, possibly opening the door to include Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes and sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
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12 Aug 2011
Film London Announces Recipients of its Pilot Publicity Fund
The three London film festivals to be beneficiaries of the Film London Pilot Publicity Fund (PPF) this autumn have been revealed. All taking place between August and October this year, the scheme will support The London International Animation Festival, The Hackney Film Festival and London Spanish Film Festival.
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Supported by the National Lottery through the BFI and Film London Regional Investment Fund for England, the PPF initiative aims to raise the profile of film festivals in the capital.
Film London stated that with increased spending power and innovative ideas, the initiative provides a unique opportunity for London film festivals to 'punch above their weight' in the capitals crowded media market and to attract larger than average audiences.
The three selected festivals benefiting from this year's initiative are:
The London International Animation Festival (Friday 26th August - Sunday 4th September 2011) - The UK's biggest animation festival. It will screen 280 films from over 30 countries, aiming to showcase the whole spectrum of creative animation. http://www.liaf.org.uk/
The Hackney Film Festival (Thursday 15th – Sunday 18th September 2011) - Presenting a selection of shorts and live performances all by local film-makers and artists, celebrating the work of its residents. http://hackneyfilmfestival.com/
The London Spanish Film Festival (Friday 23rd September – Thursday 6th October 2011) – A selection of the most exciting recent Spanish films with a variety of genres and will include Basque cinema. http://www.londonspanishfilmfestival.com/
The PPF will also promote a spring 2012 festival line up, promoting Bird's Eye View; Tongues on Fire: the London Asian Film Festival and the London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film.
For further information on Film London's PPF please visit: http://filmlondon.org.uk/funding_and_talent/exhibition/pilotpublicityfund
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12 Aug 2011
Creative England Now Seeking Applications for Board Members
Operational from October 2011, Creative England is set to be the new nationwide network to support the content industries of Film, Television, Games, and Digital and Creative Services. It will look to build on the work of the Regional Screen Agencies over the last ten years. With the core purpose of supporting the sustainable growth of independent creative businesses, and the talent that feeds them, in every part of England outside London, it is now seeking experienced industry experts to join the Board.
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Creative England is a not for profit company, limited by guarantee. As a body in receipt of public funds Creative England will give practical support to government policies for growth, recognising the need to build on England's well-established centres of creative excellence while retaining sufficiently broad-ranging networks to reach out to new talent wherever it is located in the country, and to help industry reach out to new audiences and new markets.
They are now looking for dynamic and committed experts to lead this new organisation. This is a fantastic opportunity to play a major part in boosting England's creative industries, one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK.
The Creative England Board will comprise industry experts and influencers ready to lead this new organisation and represent the creative industry sector in the English Regions. Board Members will be responsible for providing visible, effective leadership to the company and setting the longer term strategy, direction and priorities. Collectively, the Creative England Board will be responsible for setting and monitoring financial policies and internal controls.
Board Members will be expected to have substantial experience and knowledge of the film and media industries. They will provide impartial, objective and pragmatic advice to ensure Creative England adheres to corporate governance and compliance with relevant legislation.
Attendance at approximately six Board meetings a year for the first year and four times a year thereafter will be required, and some additional time will be required to review papers. Further meetings may be convened at the discretion of the Chair. The appointment will be for a term of three years, with the option to be renewed for a second term. The ideal candidates will have a demonstrable record of success sitting on high profile creative industry Boards.
DEADLINE: 9th September 2011
INTERVIEWS: Week commencing 19th September 2011
For further details download the information pack here or request via board@creativeengland.co.uk
Email (as above) or post your applications (registered post only): FAO Samantha Harrison c/o Screen West Midlands, 9 Regent Place, Birmingham, B1 3NJ.
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12 Aug 2011
BFI Reveal More UK Film Projects to Receive Transition Funding
The BFI have named a further 22 projects that will receive transition funding totalling £371,324.80 and bringing the number of projects receiving support to 59. All 22 UK based film projects have been dedicated to delivering a wide range of audience development activities for specialised and British film.
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The BFI's Transition Fund was a one-off funding opportunity for the 2011/12 financial year with the objective of ensuring that audience development for specialised and British film across the UK continues to grow.
The fund was specifically geared to those organisations active in this area that have received regular public and in certain circumstances private funding which has now been reduced through no fault of their own because of overall funding or budgetary cuts.
All projects receiving transition funding support were deemed to represent a diverse range of activities and a wide geographical spread by the BFI.
Peter Buckingham, Head of Distribution and Exhibition at the BFI, said:
"We have moved as swiftly as possible to ensure that film organisations are able to survive in this period of transition, and that audiences can continue to benefit from the important work that they do. Collectively, these organisations contribute hugely to the access and promotion of film in the UK. They are incredibly valuable, which is why it has been important for the BFI to help them."
The projects which have received funding in this second slate of awards are as follows:
Amber Side Cinema, Newcastle
Award: £6,000
The Side Cinema run by the Amber Film & Photography Collective shows a range new and classic world cinema alongside films from the collective's local human documentary archive.
Animated Exeter
Award: £6,300
Animated Exeter is now the premier animation festival in the South West
Belfast Film Festival
Award: £30,667.50
The Belfast Film Festival is a year round programme of film events that is entertaining, provocative and provides a platform for cultural debate.
Birmingham International Film Festival
Award: £4,950
The Birmingham Black Film Festival promotes the work of local black film makers and is the only event of its kind in the West Midlands.
Film Junkies, Bournemouth
Award: £5,052
The Bournemouth YMCA's Film Junkies programme produces and screens films highlighting social issues for young people in the South of England as well as organising the One Voice Festival screenings films made by young people outside of formal education.
Byre Theatre of St Andrews
Award: £3,420
The Byre Theatre in St. Andrews, Fife shows a diverse range of art house and non-mainstream cinema reflective of the local audience
Cambridge Film Trust
Award: £20,700
The Cambridge Film Trust delivers screenings, special events and tailor-made projects which enable the widest possible audience to be moved by, learn about and interact with the moving image.
The Oska Bright Film Festival
Award: £4,500
Carousel is an award winning arts organisation based in Brighton that runs the Oska Bright International film and digital media festival featuring work made by people with a learning disability.
Cineclub - The Young Filmmakers Network
Award: £43,362
Cineclub's Membership network provides resources, support and a screening programme for participating schools across England.
Cornwall Film Festival
Award: £7,200
The 2011 Cornwall Film Festival will take place in Newquay to develop a new and larger audience for their annual celebration of Cornish and International film making.
Exposures Student Film Festival
Award: £4,500
Exposures Student Film Festival provides a rare opportunity for audiences in Manchester/North West to see what the next generation of film talent.
Flatpack Festival
Award: £14,400
Flatpack Festival aims to make audience engagement with film a creative process by delivering unique social experiences through the use of innovative screening venues in and around Birmingham.
Independent Cinema Office
Award: £106,650
The ICO is the national organisation for the development and support of independent film exhibition in the UK.
The Bram Stoker Film Festival
Award: £3,600
Held in Yorkshire, this festival is curated around the central themes of gothic horror and the Bram Stoker novels
London International Animation Film Festival
Award: £7,200
The London International Animation Festival is the UK's largest animation festival, with a 10-day festival at the Barbican and several other London venues.
London Screen Study Collection
Award: £10,248.30
Collects viewing copies of all London-related film and video, making these freely available, in addition to curating portable exhibitions and public screening programmes
Power to the Pixel Cross Media Forum
Award: £29,700
Power to the Pixel's Cross Media Forum supports the UK film community in developing new ways of engaging with film audiences on different platforms and using digital media
Quad Cinema, Derby
Award: £10,000
The QUAD cinema Derby organises the ID Fest, the biennial film festival investigating identity through contemporary and archive film.
Reel Solutions - Screenwaves
Award: £3,600
Screenwaves aims to bring specialised films to rural audiences across North Yorkshire.
Regional Screen Scotland
Award: £27,000
Regional Screen Scotland is a development agency that aims to serve film audiences in remote and under-provided communities by providing funding, information and assistance as well as the Screen Machine mobile cinema increasing the availability of specialised films in areas that rarely have access to non-mainstream cinema.
The Africa in Motion Film Festival (Stop and Stir Arts)
Award: £4,500
The Africa in Motion Film Festival in Edinburgh aims to introduce Scottish audiences to the brilliance of African cinema and to overcome the under representation of African film in British cinema-going culture.
Theatr Gwaun Community Trust
Award: £17,775
The Cinema at Theatr Gwuan is enabling audiences in Fishguard to see specialised and British films in a community where the next closest cinema is 15 miles away.
For further information on BFI funding, please visit: http://www.bfi.org.uk/about/funding/
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05 Aug 2011
PGGB Members Contribute to all of the UK's Top 20 Grossing Films of 2010
Figures released within the BFI's Statistical Yearbook have once again proven that members of The Production Guild (PG) play a key and essential part of film production within the UK with over 200 positions being appointed to PG Members across every one of the UK's top 20 grossing films in 2010.
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A total of 207 positions were taken up by PG Members on the top 20 UK films which had a combined gross of £232 million and equated to 23% of the total UK box office (as of 10th February 2011). This also saw a rise in both fields from 2009 which saw figures at £173 million with a 15% share of the gross box office.
The wealth of experience, the broad range of skills and the support from The Production Guild for new industry entrants was also clear in the figures with representation from PG members across a large scope of the UK industry within the production, post-production, locations, assistant directors and accounting departments.
Analysing the range of experience of PG members across the top 20 films, 31.40% were from the most senior positions in their departments through to 26.01% from junior departmental positions, which also includes trainee placements from The Production Guild's flagship Skillset Funded Assistant Production Accountant Training Scheme (APATS), which is currently in its seventh iteration.
Continuing this high level of involvement in all of the UK's top feature film productions looks set to continue in 2011 with PG members already completing production on The King's Speech, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Iron Lady, Johnny English Reborn, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, X-Men: First Class and Captain America: The First Avenger as well as work currently on-going for The Dark Knight Rises, Snow White and the Huntsman, Prometheus, Dark Shadows, Clash of the Titans 2 and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows amongst others.
The Production Guild is also delighted to have been able to place 10 new entrants into the industry on UK productions in 2011 through the latest PG APATS course. This not only included the five selected candidates for the scheme who will gain a valuable 10 months on a range of productions from high budget features to high-end TV dramas as Trainee Assistant Production Accountants but also a further five of the shortlisted candidates for the scheme have been placed on productions as Accounts Assistants this year due to high demand.
Alongside APATS The Production Guild continues its extensive programme of short courses and seminars to allowing members to be kept up to date on policy changes, technological advances, and industry developments across both film and television.
May we take this opportunity to congratulate The Production Guild members for their part in ensuring the UK remains a world class centre of excellence for Film and TV production.
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05 Aug 2011
2011 Statistical Yearbook Published by BFI
The ninth edition of the Statistical Yearbook was published by the BFI this week, being the most authoritative and complete snapshot of the film landscape in the UK. Of particular note was that more people are watching films across a higher number of platforms, inward investment is at its highest ever level, the UK is the third largest film entertainment market in the world and that British stories make up half of the decade's 20 highest grossing films.
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However concern regarding the drop in number of UK productions was highlighted in a report by The Guardian, which can be read in full here. Although UK production activity grew by 7% in 2010, to £1,165 million, from £1,088 million in 2009 the number of productions in the UK fell with 79 UK domestic features (87 in 2009) and
21 co-productions (27 in 2009).
The UK spend associated with inward investment features was £935 million, the highest yet recorded, up 13% from £826 million in 2009. Some of the big budget films contributing to this figure were Captain America: The First Avenger, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, John Carter of Mars, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Sherlock Holmes 2, War Horse and X-Men: First Class.
However the overall production value of UK domestic features was £175.8 million which was 22% down from the 2009 figure. Domestic UK titles in 2010 included Attack the Block, The Deep Blue Sea, Horrid Henry: The Movie, Jane Eyre, Johnny English Reborn, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
It is however worth noting that although the number of co-productions declined to 21, their UK spend increased from £36 million to £54 million. Co-productions in 2010 included Africa United, The Lady, Singularity, The Three Musketeers and Will.
The statics on the top 20 grossing UK films of 2010 also confirmed a fantastic year for the effectiveness of PG Members across the UK industry with every single one of the top 20 films having PG representation in over 200 positions.
Commenting on the findings of the yearbook, BFI Chief Executive Amanda Nevill stated, "Although the wider economic environment remains testing, the outlook for film is still generally positive with much to be optimistic about, particularly in terms of Britain's wealth of talent and creativity in filmmaking and people's appetite to watch both new and classic films on the big and the small screen."
She also noted that the BFI will be looking for new partners to keep the Statistical Yearbook alive as funding moves away from The UK Film Council commenting, "We are in no doubt about the tremendous value and importance of the work of the Research and Statistics Unit, and working with industry partners we are committed
to help ensure it can carry on its great work."
The full BFI Statistical Yearbook 2011 can be downloaded by clicking here.
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03 Aug 2011
Record Breaking Year for Paramount Passing $2 Billion Internationally
Paramount Pictures International (PPI) announced today that it is the first studio this year to surpass $2 billion at the international box office, just 50 days after passing $1 billion on June 10th. The feat not only marks the studio's best year to date but also the second consecutive year in which Paramount has grossed $2 billion at the international box office, achieving the mark on Saturday July 30th, five months earlier than their prior record.
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The news comes as Paramount's Transformers: Dark of the Moon became the 10th feature film in history to pass the $1 billion mark and the third this year alongside Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. As the first film within the Transformers franchise to have a theatrical 3D release, it last week became the first ever Paramount-produced title to cross $500 million at the international box office; as well as becoming PPI's highest grossing international release of all-time.
Paramount Pictures Chairman & CEO Brad Grey stated, "Our team has made creating a best-in-class international operation a cornerstone of our business. I'm grateful for everyone's hard work across the globe that helped us achieve this milestone once again."
PPI President Andrew Cripps also commented, "We are delighted to hit the $2 billion threshold so quickly this year. Credit has to go to the fantastic films we have had to release this year as well as the talented marketing and distribution teams working on Paramount films around the world."
The weekend also saw PPI's continue its releases with Marvel Studios' as Captain America: The First Avenger hit the box office. Directed by Joe Johnston it is releasing in 23 international markets (including the UK, Russia, Australia, Korea, Mexico and Brazil) one week after its international debut in Italy. The film claimed an impressive $49.1 million at the weekend and has an early international cumulative gross of $53.9 million. Marvel Studios' Thor, directed by Kenneth Branagh, has already contributed $267.4 million to PPI's 2011 grosses as well.
Paramount has also seen strong early success with J.J. Abrams' Super 8, grossing $59.7 million so far. The adventure film has yet to open in 20 international markets, including UK/Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Mexico and Brazil.
DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda 2, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, has outperformed the original 2008 film and currently has an international gross of $447.3 million. Kung Fu Panda 2 now holds records as the highest grossing animated film of all-time in eight Asian markets, including China and Korea, and has yet to open in Japan and Italy (both launching later in August).
Paramount's $2 billion 2011 has been built on a strong variety of titles, including Paramount's first in-house animated production Rango, directed by Gore Verbinski, which led first quarter business as it grossed $119.6 million at the international box office, with Japan still to release October 22nd.
Paul Weitz's Little Fockers, the third film in the Meet The Parents franchise, earned $105.3 million of its $162.2 million international total in 2011; and Paramount saw two very strong first quarter performers with the Coen Brothers' Academy Award-nominated western True Grit ($79.9 million) and Ivan Reitman's hit romantic comedy No Strings Attached ($77.6 million).
PPI's also have a number of features still to come in their 2011 line-up including Cowboys And Aliens, Footloose, Paranormal Activity 3, The Adventures Of Tintin, Puss In Boots and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.
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03 Aug 2011
Shadow Culture Secretary Meets Industry Representatives at Pinewood
Ivan Lewis, the Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport heard from the British Film Commission, Warner Bros, Ealing Studios, Pinewood Studios and representatives from the visual effects sector as he visited Pinewood Studios last week.
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The Shadow Secretary met with some of the leading figures in the creative industries for a briefing and discussions focussed largely on skills and what is required to ensure the UK remains competitive in a global market.
Mr Lewis also toured Pinewood Studios to get a first-hand look at what is currently being achieved by those working on productions and visited some of the sets for Dark Shadows, the forthcoming film from director Tim Burton starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.
He was also taken behind the scenes at Centroid 3D, the motion capture specialists based at Pinewood, currently working on a new video game from Supermassive Games.
Andrew M Smith, Director Group Corporate Affairs for the Pinewood Studios Group commented: "It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to show Ivan Lewis the Pinewood site and introduce him to some of the many talented men and women working at the cutting edge of the creative industries. The discussion with colleagues from a number of different sectors helped highlight that in order to maintain the UK's position as a leading centre of excellence for the creative industries, we must urgently address the current skills gaps and train the next generation of talent."
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03 Aug 2011
Sky Launch New 3D Production Company Alongside New 3D Content Partnerships
Continuing their leap into 3D broadcasting, Sky have announced the formation of a brand new 3D production company, Colossus Productions, with leading UK Independent producer, Atlantic Productions, producers of Sky 3D's BAFTA award-winning Flying Monsters 3D. Sky also revealed new partnerships with leading 3D content providers, Disney, Discovery Networks and MTV who have all invested in a series of innovative 3D films, documentaries and live music productions.
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Sky and Atlantic Productions will join forces to create the new production company, Colossus Productions, to develop original 3D programming for both UK and international audiences.
The home-grown shows will be showcased on Sky 3D, Europe's first dedicated 3D TV channel, before being distributed to other platforms and countries. Sky has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Atlantic Productions and has a number of existing commissions in production, including a 3D series on plants currently being filmed at Kew Gardens, presented by Sir David Attenborough, and The Bachelor King 3D, a theatrical-release feature documentary, also with David Attenborough, that looks at the lives of penguins in South Georgia.
Anthony Geffen, CEO and Creative Director at Atlantic Productions, will also serve as Creative Director of Colossus Productions. Atlantic Productions remains fully independent, and will continue to focus on producing innovative, high quality 2D programmes for leading broadcasters in the UK and around the world. Future 3D projects, whether for Sky or other broadcasters, will be produced by Colossus Productions.
The co-investment with Atlantic Productions follows on from Sky's commitment earlier this year to increase the amount it invests each year in original UK programming by 50% to £600 million a year by 2014.
To support these commissions, Sky has also signed exclusive 3D output deals with MTV and Discovery and in continuing its 3D relationship with Disney, Sky has secured rights to an expanded range of 3D film titles.
Sky 3D's portfolio of films has been enhanced significantly having secured the rights for key Disney 3D titles including Toy Story 3, The Lion King, Alice in Wonderland, TRON: Legacy, Mars Needs Moms and Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides.
The MTV deal will cover episodes from the channel's World Stage 3D series, which will include performances by Snoop Dog and the Kings of Leon.
The Discovery deal covers 3D content from a number of channels from the Discovery Network, including Natural History, Engineering and Extreme Sports. It will include 3D Safari, a ten-part series being filmed at Woburn Abbey, and Beautiful Freaks, a natural history special filmed in Namibia.
Since launching in October 2010 with live 3D coverage of the Ryder Cup, Sky 3D has broadcast more than 120 live sports events in 3D, the world 3D TV premieres of Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and the Toy Story trilogy, and a host of UK originated factual, arts and music programming. Sky 3D is available at no extra charge to all Sky TV customers who take Sky World and have a Sky+HD subscription.
John Cassy, Director, Sky 3D, comments: "The BAFTA award-winning Flying Monsters 3D showed just how stunning and genuinely immersive great 3D TV can be. Working alongside Anthony and his talented team will help us continue to deliver the highest quality home-grown 3D content to our growing number of 3D subscribers. We also want to help the UK become a global leader in 3D TV and this deal demonstrates the depth of our commitment. We look forward to extending our selection of content even further by showcasing the best of Discovery, Disney and MTV in 3D."
Anthony Geffen, Atlantic Productions CEO, adds: "We're delighted to have formed this new venture with Sky, who've once again demonstrated their belief in the power of 3D storytelling. With the support of forward-looking broadcasters like Sky, we believe there's a real opportunity for the UK production sector to take a world-leading position in 3D. The formation of Colossus Productions will engender the creation of exciting 3D content to entertain audiences worldwide, and the pedigree of the company will attract top talent from across the industry to work on these projects. This venture with Sky extends Atlantic Productions' historical ethos of creating award-winning television and theatrical titles which embrace new production techniques and technologies, and the company's work will complement our continuing dedication to high-quality 2D programming at Atlantic Productions."
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03 Aug 2011
Bwark Joins the Zodiak Media Group
Zodiak Media Group one of the world’s leading creators, producers and distributors of content for TV, radio, new media and cinema, has announced the acquisition of Bwark, the independent producer of the award winning comedy series The Inbetweeners.
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Bwark has enjoyed recent success with hit E4 comedy The Inbetweeners, in which the third series drew a record audience in October 2010 (both for E4 and 4OD) as well the completion of The Inbetweeners feature film which also premieres on 16th August before going on national and international release.
Bwark has also enjoyed success with TV series Free Agents (Channel Four), Angelo's (Five), and The Persuasionists (BBC2).
The company was founded in 2004 by Iain Morris and Damon Beesley (both former Channel 4 commissioning editors) who also created and wrote The Inbetweeners. Mark Lesbirel (currently Director of Publishing and Home Entertainment, Zodiak Rights) will join Bwark as Managing Director.
With the deal, Zodiak's first since acquiring RDF Media Group last summer, Bwark joins the group's UK, Netherlands and Belgium division run by Divisional CEO Joely Fether.
She commented, "Since they founded Bwark seven years ago, Iain and Damon have firmly established their position as two of the UK's most talented comedy writers and producers. The Inbetweeners sits proudly amongst the best classic comedy series of the last decade and it's incredibly exciting to have their talent and ability within the Zodiak Group. We are hugely excited about working with Iain and Damon to grow our comedy output in the UK and, over the coming years, in the US as well".
Damon Beesley/Iain Morris said
"It's the start of a new chapter for Bwark and we could not be more excited about working together with Joely, Mark and the rest of the Zodiak team. We're looking forward to benefitting from the Zodiak group's global network to build on our existing successes and future hit comedies. With the announcement of this deal and The Inbetweeners Movie released next month it feels like a landmark summer for Bwark."
Zodiak were advised by Olswang. Iain Morris and Damon Beesley were advised by Ingenious Corporate Finance and Marriott Harrison.
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03 Aug 2011
3 Mills Studios Reveal Filming, Event and Hospitality Opportunities During Olympic Period
3 Mills Studios will be in close proximity to the future Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and they have detailed their availability for filming, event & hospitality requirements before and during the Games.
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3 Mills Studios will provide a temporary base or event location, ideally situated to the south of the future Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and only 15 minutes walk from the Stadium, with the rest of London at its doorstep.
The studios are able to provide a range of spaces between 3,000-13,500 sq ft, totalling 108,000 sq ft; easily accommodating the most lavish of events, corporate hospitality or a large team needing a home in the area.
3 Mills has played home to a host of internationally renowned artists, filmmakers and entertainers, including Lady Gaga, Danny Boyle and Tim Burton, to name a few, whilst also acting as an event location. Add to this that it is also the home of the 2012 opening and closing ceremonies team, and you really have the perfect place to immerse yourself in the energy and spirit of east London's creative talent.
For further information of what 3 Mills can offer during the Olympic period and for contact details, please click here download their flyer.
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28 Jul 2011
Onsight Joins The Production Guild as a Company Affiliate
The Production Guild is delighted to announce that production facility company, Onsight have been approved to join The Production Guild as a Company Affiliate.
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With offices conveniently located in London and Shepperton Studios, Onsight is a production facilities company specialising in services to the film and television industries.
By offering a unique set of services from shoot to screen, they aim to provide a reliable understanding of the entire production process with guidance at every stage to ensure smooth workflows and great creative results.
Today Onsight comprises of three departments - Camera Rental, Edit Rental and Lab & Post. The Camera Rental department based at Shepperton provide high-end digital cameras and 2D/3D production equipment. The Edit Rental team supplies post production equipment and technical support whilst the Lab and Post team offer a digital lab and a full post production service in Soho.
Onsight is renowned for the use of innovative technology. As a 3D pioneer, they have been involved in landmark events, including the world's first live 3D sports broadcast and the BAFTA award winning IMAX documentary Flying Monsters 3D with David Attenborough.
To visit the Onsight page on the PG website, please click here.
To visit the Onsight website, please visit http://www.onsight.co.uk/
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27 Jul 2011
Applications are open for EM Media's Career Acceleration Programme (East) Supported by Skillset
EM Media continues its support for the film sector in the East of England with the launch of the Career Acceleration Programme (East). The programme, which builds on a successful scheme already operating in the East Midlands, offers film professionals up to 50% towards the costs of a bespoke package of training and skills support.
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What is it?
EM Media's Career Acceleration Programme (East) will support film professionals in the East of England, by offering up to 50% towards the costs of a bespoke package of training and skills support.
What kind of support is available?
Beneficiaries of the Career Acceleration Programme (East) can receive support to attend film festivals, conferences and training courses which will make a direct impact on their career development, or receive costs towards a mentor if appropriate. All support delivered through CAP (East) aims to accelerate and enhance applicants' chances of industry success.
Am I eligible?
The Career Acceleration Programme (East) is for individuals and companies based in the East of England who work across the development, production, post production, distribution and exhibition sectors of the film industry.
Applicants to the CAP (East) must:
• Be over 18 with a minimum of six months demonstrable industry experience
• Have an address in the East of England (you will need to provide proof)
• Not be in full time education
How do I apply for support?
In the first instance please either email an outline of your proposed training needs and your CV to EM Media (do that HERE) or call EM Media on 0115 993 2333. They will then contact you to arrange a meeting. During the meeting you will undertake a Development Needs Analysis (DNA) with an EM Media representative.
What is a DNA?
The DNA is a means of discussing your career plans and offering advice and guidance on how to apply for EM Media skills investment, using our standard application form and guidelines. In itself it is not part of the application process, but could provide the basis for your application to EM Media for skills support.
What happens after the DNA?
During the DNA your EM Media contact will offer help and guidance about EM Media's formal application process and the type and level of support you may be entitled to apply for through the Career Acceleration Programme (East).
If, following your DNA, you wish to apply for skills support you should download and complete EM Media's standard Investment Application Form. This will then be assessed in line with EM Media's standard application process.
Any questions?
If anything's unclear or you'd like to ask EM Media a question about the Career Acceleration Programme (East) - or anything else - please call them on 0115 993 2333.
Please note: the Career Acceleration Programme (East) is open to applications until 12 noon Monday 26 September 2011. Applications submitted after this date are ineligible and will not be assessed.
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27 Jul 2011
First Pinewood Supported British Film Revealed
The Pinewood Studios Group has today announced that it will be providing facilities and co-investment to support a new British film, A Fantastic Fear of Everything with PG Members: Celia Duval - Line Producer, Francesca Dowd - Production Co-ordinator, Dianne Twiddy - Production Accountant). It is the first film to receive support from 'Pinewood Films' – an initiative launched earlier this year following an announcement that the Company is making a return to investing in film production, supporting independent, British films.
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The psycho-comedy is written and directed by musician-turned-filmmaker Crispian Mills, marking his feature debut. He is joined by co-director and animator Chris Hopewell as part of a collaboration with Collision Films, whose award-winning work includes Radiohead's There There and The Killers' Smile Like You Mean It. A Fantastic Fear of Everything is produced by Geraldine Patten and stars Simon Pegg (Paul, Shaun of the Dead).
Simon Pegg plays Jack, a children's author turned crime novelist whose detailed research into the lives of Victorian serial killers has turned him into a paranoid wreck, persecuted by the irrational fear of being murdered. When Jack is thrown a life-line by his long-suffering agent and a mysterious Hollywood executive takes a sudden and inexplicable interest in his script, what should be his 'big break' rapidly turns into his 'big breakdown', as Jack is forced to confront his worst demons; among them his love life, his laundry and the origin of all fear. A Fantastic Fear of Everything also stars Amara Karan (The Darjeeling Limited), Clare Higgins (Hellraiser), Sheridan Smith (Hysteria) and introduces Alan Drake.
Commencing on 6 July 2011, production will shoot on location at the Pinewood Group's Shepperton Studios and in London. A Fantastic Fear of Everything will be distributed by Universal Pictures and Indomina Releasing.
Commenting on this announcement, Pinewood Chief Executive Ivan Dunleavy, said:
"We are thrilled to be announcing Pinewood's involvement in A Fantastic Fear of Everything. We have waited for the right project, at the right time to launch our new investment scheme and with the involvement of Keel Films, Universal Acquisitions and Simon Pegg this is the perfect fit for the Studios."
Creative Industries Minister Ed Vaizey said:
"I'm delighted to see Pinewood Films getting off the ground with this new production. It's a vote of confidence in the British film industry, and another step forwards in terms of a diverse and vibrant production sector in the UK producing films people want to watch."
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26 Jul 2011
Rhodri Talfan Davies Named as New BBC Cymru Wales Director
The BBC has this week appointed Rhodri Talfan Davies as Director, BBC Cymru Wales. The appointment concludes an extensive recruitment search that followed Menna Richards' departure from the post in February 2011.
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Rhodri Talfan Davies, currently Head of Strategy and Communications at BBC Wales, will report to the Director General, Mark Thompson, and join the BBC Direction Group (BDG) when he begins his new role in September.
He said: "I am thrilled and sincerely honoured to have been chosen for the role of Director. BBC Cymru Wales is of enormous importance to the creative and cultural life of the nation and is performing brilliantly on the UK networks too.
"There's a great wealth of talent in the creative industries in Wales and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to lead the fantastic team at BBC Wales."
BBC Director General Mark Thompson said: "Rhodri brings with him a wealth of experience across journalism, radio, and the development of new digital services. His deep understanding of Wales – and the BBC's crucial role in the nation's life – will equip him brilliantly for the challenge of leading such a successful and ambitious part of the organisation."
Born in Cardiff and a Welsh speaker, Rhodri has enjoyed a rich and varied career both within the BBC and externally. He began his career as a BBC regional television news producer and reporter in Newcastle, Manchester and London before being appointed Head of Regional and Local Programmes in BBC Bristol in 1999.
In 2001, Rhodri was appointed Director of Television at Video Networks where he led the development of the UK's first on-demand television service, HomeChoice (now talk talk TV). In 2004 he was appointed Director of Television Marketing at ntl Telewest before returning to the BBC in 2006 as Head of Strategy and Communications at BBC Wales. Over the last six months, he has led the Digital workstream for Delivering Quality First.
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26 Jul 2011
New Digital Commissioning Editor Appointed at Film4
Film4, Channel 4 Television's feature film division, has announced the appointment of Anna Higgs to the newly-created role of Commissioning Editor to spearhead its digital initiatives under the brand banner of Film4.0.
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As part of its increased funding, Film4 is set to take a pioneering role in exploring the digital, online arena through Film4.0. Its aim will be to find new talent and discover new ways of making, marketing and distributing films and engaging new audiences online.
Film4's reputation for nurturing new talent and building on its family of returning talent in the UK is well-established, and it is now extending its vision to advance digital thinking and practice and encourage audiences to interact in a multi platform environment.
Reporting to Senior Commissioning Editor, Katherine Butler, Higgs' role will be focused on three main areas: commissioning new and established film-makers working in the digital space in new and innovative formats; seeking brand-new talent working in this area; and working across the Film4 slate to exploit new cross-platform audience-facing marketing opportunities.
Higgs will take up her role at the end of September.
Commenting on the appointment, Channel 4's Controller of Film and Drama, Tessa Ross said: 'We are thrilled to have found in Anna the perfect person with whom to launch our new digital venture, Film4.0. She combines a passion for innovation with a clear expertise in delivering it to audience and she will be a wonderful addition to the team.'
Anna Higgs added: "I am incredibly excited to be heading up this groundbreaking initiative. Working with a team that has such phenomenal talent relationships and having the freedom to take risks was simply an unmissable opportunity for me I look forward to Film4.0 making a real impact on how new and established talent works with digital platforms as well as connecting to audiences in new and deeper, more rewarding, ways."
Film4 has most recently worked with Anna on a short film, See Me, which Anna produced for her company Quark Films. Formerly a digital media producer and consultant, upon completing her Masters at the National Film & Television School, Anna co-founded innovative production company Quark. There she produced award-winning projects that bring together documentary, fiction and animation across traditional and new media platforms, including work for the BBC and Channel 4 as well as theatrical features The People vs. George Lucas and First Person Shooter. The success of the company saw Anna named among Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow 2007 and selected as a finalist in the British Council's Young Screen Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2009.
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25 Jul 2011
Middle-Earth Comes to Pinewood Studios
Peter Jackson's two-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's enduringly popular masterpiece THE HOBBIT has just completed a brief period of shooting at Pinewood Studios. The production had been using F Stage and N&P Stages and now heads back to New Zealand for the remainder of the shoot.
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On Wednesday, Peter Jackson released his 3rd production video from behind-the-scenes of Pinewood - http://pinewood.me/HobbitatPinewood
Both films are set in Middle-earth 60 years before Tolkien's THE LORD OF THE RINGS, which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar-winning "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." The adventure of THE HOBBIT follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug.
The film's all-star ensemble cast includes Martin Freeman, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Andy Serkis, Stephen Fry, Luke Evans, Christopher Lee, Richard Armitage and Ian Holm.
The first film, titled "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," will be released on December 14, 2012. The second film, titled "The Hobbit: There and Back Again," is slated for release the following year, on December 13, 2013.
"The Hobbit" films are productions of New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production. Warner Bros Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television licensing being handled by MGM.
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20 Jul 2011
BFI Reveal First Projects to be Awarded Transition Funding
A total of 37 projects from across the UK dedicated to delivering a wide range of audience development activities for specialised and British film will receive funding totalling £888,547.
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The next round of projects to be awarded transition funding will be announced before the end of July.
The Transition Fund for Audience Development was set up swiftly by the BFI in order to support audience development projects facing budget cuts in funding as a result of the changes in the national and regional film funding landscape which have taken place before a new film strategy and funding priorities come into effect from April 2012.
The first round of projects to be funded, all of which demonstrated that their funding for core activities has been significantly reduced or withdrawn for the financial year 2011-12, represents a diverse range of activities and a wide geographical spread. These include FILMCLUB, which provides after-school cinema clubs; YourLocalCinema.com, an online resource for subtitled and audio described cinema, and Flicks In The Sticks, which takes film to rural Shropshire and Herefordshire.
Other beneficiaries of the fund include the British Federation of Film Societies, the British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) and the Encounters International Film Festival in Bristol. Both the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Sheffield International Documentary Festival were awarded funding through the fast track assessment process, as both festivals took place last month.
Peter Buckingham, Head of Distribution and Exhibition at the BFI, said:
"We have moved as swiftly as possible to ensure that film organisations are able to survive in this period of transition, and that audiences can continue to benefit from the important work that they do. Collectively, these organisations contribute hugely to the access and promotion of film in the UK. They are incredibly valuable which is why it has been important for the BFI to help them."
The projects which have received funding in this first slate of awards are as follows:
AV Festival
Award: £20,000
An international festival of electronic arts, featuring visual art, music and moving image across the North East.
BIFAs/British Independent Film Awards
Award: £52,718
The British Independent Film Awards are dedicated to promoting independent British films.
Birmingham International Film Society
Award: £8,000
The Birmingham Film Society shows independent and foreign language film.
Borderlines Film Festival
Award: £11,025
Film festival serving audiences across the rural West Midlands
British Federation of Film Societies
Award: £46,350
The national organisation for the development and support of the film society and community cinema movement in the UK.
Canterbury Anifest
Award: £2,790
Canterbury Anifest is the South East's animation festival.
Chichester International Film Festival
Award: £3,500
The South Coast's largest film festival.
Cornerhouse Manchester
Award: £18,000
Manchester's centre for contemporary visual art, specialised film and digital culture.
Edinburgh International Film Festival
Award: £19,620
International film festival bringing new cinema to audiences.
Encounters Bristol International Film Festival
Award: £50,000
The UK's leading film festival for short films.
Fashion in Film
Award: £17,559
Fashion in Film delivers the Biennial Fashion in Film Festival, a website and publications.
FILMCLUB
Award: £141,000
Nationwide after-school film clubs introduce specialised film into schools.
Flicks in the Sticks
Award: £6,210
Film touring programme in rural Shropshire and Herefordshire.
Glasgow Film Theatre
Award: £7,182
Glasgow Film Theatre is Glasgow's centre for film and moving image media
ICA, London
Award: £23,100
Support for ICA's specialised film audience development work.
Kendal Mountain Festival
Award: £19,350
Festival of films about mountaineering and wilderness pursuits.
Leeds Film
Award: £35,000
Local authority film organisation that delivers Leeds International Film Festival and Leeds Young People's Film Festival.
Light House, Wolverhampton
Award: £12,124
Independent cinema in Wolverhampton that delivers Flip Festival, an animated film festival.
London Metropolitan Archives
Award: £19,000
Holds public screenings of films held in The Corporation of London's archives.
London Short Film Festival
Award: £1,800
Short film festival.
Assembly Rooms Ludlow
Award: £4,100
Rural arts centre and cinema.
mac Birmingham
Award: £8,700
Arts centre and independent cinema - audience development work to support specialised film attendance.
National Media Museum
Award: £38,700
The museum's film programme includes 3 film festivals: Bradford International Film Festival, Bradford Animation Festival and the Fantastic Film Weekend.
ONEDOTZERO
Award: £15,890
Runs the contemporary arts festival including the 'onedotzero adventures in motion' film festival.
PBQ
Award: £20,000
Consortium that provides specialised film content, audience research and advice to independent cinemas across the East Midlands.
Phoenix Square, Leicester
Award: £9,000
The film programme at Phoenix Square Cinema reaches out to Leicester's ethnic majority through screenings chosen by community groups and other access programmes.
Portland Green Cultural Projects
Award: £14,361
Delivers a programme of work in dance and artists' films
Queen's Film Theatre, Belfast
Award: £20,000
The sole full time specialised film exhibitor in Northern Ireland.
The Sensoria Festival
Award: £9,980
Festival of film and music.
Sheffield International Documentary Festival
Award: £77,452
The leading festival for documentary films.
Showroom Cinema, Sheffield
Award: £9,900
Offers a specialised film screening programme, curated and cultural programming, film education activity and the Showcomotion film festival for young people
Southend-on-Sea Film Festival
Award: £20,000
The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival.
Strode Theatre, Somerset
Award: £17,227
A mixed art venue that offers cinema, serving a predominantly rural catchment area
Tricycle Theatre, London
Award: £10,134
The Tricycle Cinema's International Oscar?? Film Season showcases foreign language and world cinema with discussions and an online presence. Works with Film Education to attract young cinema-goers.
Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle
Award: £22,275
The only full time independent first-run specialised cinema in the north-east Also runs cine-literacy activities and events for schools.
Watershed, Bristol
Award: £67,500
Cross arts venue and cinema offering a specialised film programme, archive and repertory screenings, curated seasons, events and online publishing activities.
YourLocalCinema.com
Award: £9,000
Website and information service for accessible cinema.
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20 Jul 2011
Lord Patten Publishes Review of BBC Governance
The governance of the BBC is workable, generally effective and provides benefits to licence fee payers and the industry, but there are areas that could be improved, a review by the BBC Trust Chairman Lord Patten has concluded.
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The review, announced by Lord Patten on his appointment in May, set out to establish whether the current governance arrangements could be improved within the framework of the Royal Charter, which runs until 2017.
It has concluded that:
- There should be clearer roles and responsibilities between the BBC Trust and the Executive Board
- The Trust should build on its existing relationship with Ofcom, which should have a strengthened market impact assessment role
- The complaints and compliance systems within the BBC should be addressed to make them faster, simpler and more transparent.
- A simpler and more easy-to-understand system should be introduced for the way the Trust governs BBC services.
Specific changes include the creation of a new Chief Complaints Editor reporting to the Director-General to co-ordinate complaints handling across the BBC, and clearer and simpler information will be provided to the public on where they should go to complain about BBC content or services.
The Trust will also now formally consult Ofcom on any major proposals from the BBC Executive for changes to the BBC's activities.
The Trust will continue its annual reviews of the impartiality of the BBC's output, and will strengthen this by introducing and leading impartiality seminars that will enable the BBC to consider how to approach emerging and current topics.
To reflect the new responsibility for the World Service that the BBC is taking on, a new Trust committee with oversight of the BBC's international services will also be set up, chaired by the Trust's new International Trustee who will be appointed this autumn.
The Trust will improve its links with the BBC's Non-Executive Directors on the Executive Board, and their role will be strengthened.
The Trust will also simplify the way it governs BBC services, with a focus on simpler service licences which are easy to understand for licence fee payers and the industry. The Trust will conduct a full consultation on any changes, to make sure we retain the confidence of the rest of the media industry.
Chairman of the BBC Trust Lord Patten said:
"The Trust is working well but these changes will help make it an even stronger advocate for licence fee payers. They will strengthen the current governance arrangements, help audiences to understand how the BBC is accountable to them, and ultimately enable us to get on with the job of re-shaping the BBC for the future, ensuring that within a tough licence fee settlement it continues to deliver high quality and distinctive services."
The Trust's governance review conclusions can be read in full here.
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20 Jul 2011
UK Broadcasters and Vision+Media to host Comedy Conference
The BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Sky have announced they will be working with Vision+Media to host a pan-industry Comedy Conference in Salford, Manchester. The free event will be open to all comedy producers across the UK and will seek to offer lively debates and insightful sessions around the issues affecting broadcast comedy.
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The event will take place on Wednesday October 12, 2011 at The Lowry, Salford Quays which is home to the new media hub of the North, MediaCityUK.
The running order of the day is yet to be finalised but it is envisaged that the day will be packed with sessions led by various faces from the comedy world, both on and off screen, as well as commissioners and media critics.
Maureen Walker, Sector Lead, Broadcast, Vision+Media said "we are delighted to support the bringing together of key commissioners, Indies and regional talent in this north west based conference."
Cheryl Taylor, BBC Controller of Comedy Commissioning said "This is a brilliant opportunity for the box-fresh MediaCityUK to play host to what promises to be an informative and entertaining gathering of the Comedy Community."
Elaine Bedell, ITV Director of Entertainment and Comedy said "As we build on the success of Benidorm at ITV and extend our comedy output, it will be a great opportunity to discuss the issues and our aspirations with the comedy community."
Lucy Lumsden, Head of Comedy, Sky, added "With Sky's huge investment in comedy this exciting event provides a great opportunity to share our vision across all the channels for the next few years."
C4's Head of Comedy, Shane Allen said "Discovering and nurturing new talent on and off screen is an incredibly important part of what C4's comedy does. We're acutely aware that up and coming comedy producers need huge support from broadcasters so it's in all our interests to aid the next generation. It's a boom time for comedy and this conference will be a brilliant opportunity to come together and discuss the future and focus on the challenges we face."
"Some of the greatest comedy and comedic talent, past and present, come from across the North of England," added Peter Salmon, Director, BBC North. "This conference underlines our commitment to supporting emerging and forging new relationships."
To register you interest in the conference please email: ComedyConferenceAdmin@BBC.co.uk
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18 Jul 2011
BFI to Host First Showcase for National Youth Film Academy - PG Members Invited
Supported by BFI Future Film, the National Youth Film Academy (NYFA) is a new not for profit organisation created to locate, educate, develop and showcase the talents of exceptionally gifted Young Actors and Filmmakers aged 16-25 years old from around the UK.
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The NYFA is running a pilot course in August 2011 where they will provide 60 young people with an opportunity to train and learn from leading industry professionals, to produce their own short film and then showcase it to top industry Agents, Film Makers, Writers and Casting Directors at the 450 BFI cinema screen on South Bank.
The participants are all given a specific role and are involved at every level; directing, writing, acting and editing.
This project develops the talent of tomorrow. The NYFA audition and vet over 3000 young people across the UK to ensure that you are seeing the highest level of talent; the NYFA gives opportunity to all young film makers regardless of location, previous experience or social background. And on top of that we aim to create a great show that will provide them with a platform to succeed in the industry.
The NYFA is looking support from established industry professionals and would therefore like to welcome PG Members to the very first showcase screening event at the BFI South Bank at 4.00pm – 5.30pm on Friday 26 August for a night to remember! If PG Members would like to attend to the showcase, please email info@nyfa.org.uk and they will send you your invitation.
To view the NYFA website, please visit: http://www.nyfa.org.uk
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13 Jul 2011
Peel Group Completes Pinewood Offer to Acquire 71.1% Share
The Peel Group have announced that their bid to raise their stake in Pinewood has been accepted with the group now holding a 71.1 per cent share of the issued share capital of the company. Within a statement, the Board of Peel Acquisitions confirmed that all conditions in relation to its offer for Pinewood had been satisfied or waived and that the offer was therefore declared unconditional in all respects. The offer remained open until 1pm on July 8th 2011 and Pinewood have now confirmed that four executives from The Peel Group have been welcomed to the Pinewood Board as non-executive Directors.
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Yesterday (Tues 12th July), Pinewood revealed the appointment of Mr John Whittaker, Chairman of the Peel Group and Peel Group executives Mr Mark Senior, Mr Peter Hosker and Mr Neil Lees to the Board as non-executive Directors, effective as of Tuesday 12th.
Pinewood also announced the resignation of Mr Adrian Burn, Mr James Donald and Mr Nigel Hall as non-executive Directors of the Company, effective as of yesterday and confirmed that following their resignations, the functions of the Company’s Nomination, Remuneration and Audit Committees will be carried out by the Board as a whole.
On 25 June 2010, the Company and Peel Holdings Limited entered into a relationship agreement regulating, amongst other things, the number of directors associated with the Peel Group who could sit on the Board of the Company. Prior to the above appointments and resignations taking place, this relationship agreement was duly terminated to allow these changes to the composition of the Board to occur.
Detailed figures of The Peel Group offer and acceptance can be found below:
Level of acceptances
As at 1:00 p.m. (London time) on 8 July 2011, Peel Acquisitions had received valid acceptances of the Offer in respect of a total of 19,808,318 Pinewood Shares, representing approximately 41.9 per cent. of Pinewood's existing issued share capital of 47,248,683 Shares and approximately 59.2 per cent. of the 33,482,183 issued Pinewood Shares to which the Offer related.
This includes acceptances received in respect of 15,441,614 Pinewood Shares (representing approximately 32.7 per cent. of Pinewood's existing issued share capital and approximately 46.1 per cent. of the issued Pinewood Shares to which the Offer related) which were the subject of irrevocable commitments procured by Peel Acquisitions.
Accordingly, including the 13,766,500 Pinewood Shares owned by the Peel Group prior to the Offer, the Peel Group now holds 33,574,818 Pinewood Shares, representing approximately 71.1 per cent. of the existing issued share capital of Pinewood, and carrying approximately 71.1 per cent. of the voting rights currently exercisable at general meetings of Pinewood.
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13 Jul 2011
Skillset to lead Skills Working Group for Creative Industries Council
The UK Government has asked Skillset to lead an industry working group to advise the newly formed Creative Industries Council (CIC), on the skills issues facing the creative sector.
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The Chair of Skillset, Stewart Till, who is a member of the CIC, said, "This Council is an extremely valuable opportunity for key players from within the Creative Industries to work with the UK Government to help provide practical, industry-led solutions to the issues that we need to tackle in order to support growth and worldwide competitiveness."
Business Secretary Vince Cable, who chaired today's meeting of the Council, said: "The Creative Industries Council will provide a forum for action by the industry and will ensure that it has a strong voice in developing a partnership with the Government."
Creative Industries Minister, Ed Vaizey, said: "I look forward to working closely with the Council to ensure the UK's creative industries can continue to thrive and grow."
The Skills Group led by Skillset will specifically develop recommendations for the Council on how to address existing and future skills and talent issues in order to boost the further development of the Creative Industries.
Skillset has used its unique position as the voice of the Creative Industries on skills and talent issues to bring leaders from across industry, partner Sector Skills Councils and the CBI onto the Group. They will also call upon and involve key interested parties from the CIC membership, and other industry groups as well as expert input from the skills and education sector.
Skillset's chief executive, Dinah Caine, who will chair the Group, said. "The Skillset Skills Group will bring together the leading voices on skills and talent development in the UK's Creative Industries to provide a clear vision for how our industries can maintain and build on their position as world leaders. I very much look forward to working with this group of dynamic individuals to bring our passion for developing the most skilled creative workforce in the world to life."
Some of the issues the Group will examine are:
- The adequacy of education about creative careers in schools
- Fair access to the industry
- Clear entry and progression routes, such as apprenticeships and internships
- Ensuring that employers and students can identify quality education and training
- How best to facilitate networks and partnerships between education and industry
- How to lift red tape and introduce flexibilities to deliver better outputs and investment for supporting talent development
- The skills that are needed to aid creative competitiveness and growth – with a particular focus on management and leadership skills
- The adequacy of Labour Market Information on the Creative Industries and how it can be improved.
The Creative Industries Council will report its findings and recommendations to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
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13 Jul 2011
EM Media Call For Projects For Lottery Funding in the East of England
If you live or work in the East of England and have a film initiative or project requiring investment don't miss out on an opportunity to apply for Lottery finance from EM Media.
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Since December 2010, EM Media has invested Lottery finance in over 40 projects from the East of England. These include the Cambridge Young People's Film Festival, the Southend on Sea Film Festival as well as a range of script developments and skills development awards. EM Media are looking to invest in more film projects before the end of September 2011.
Type of projects EM Media can support:
• Initiatives that increase opportunities for audiences to engage with film, for example rural touring, film festivals
• Education-based activity – increasing young peoples participation with film
• Feature film script developments and packaging
In addition to Lottery support EM Media is also running a Skillset-backed Career Acceleration Programme, CAP (East). CAP entitles East of England film professionals to apply for up to 50% towards the costs of a bespoke package of training and skills support.
Please note:
• To be eligible to apply you must meet certain criteria as detailed within our application guidelines which can be found on our home page
• Applications to EM Media should be received no later than 31st July 2011 to allow for the maximum eight week assessment period.
• Applications cannot be made for retrospective activity, i.e. activity that begins before an EM Media decision is made.
• Lottery finance must be invested in film related activity by the 30 September 2011 although applications can be for activity that continues beyond this date.
• For a list of EM Media East investments April to June 2011 click here
Get in touch
• To discuss an application relating to audience development initiatives please call John Tobin on 0115 993 2333 or email john.tobin@em-media.org.uk
• To discuss an application relating to education initiatives please call Antony Thomas or email antony.thomas@em-media.org.uk
• To discuss a skills development application (CAP East) please call Alison Whitlock or email alison.whitlock@em-media.org.uk
• To discuss an application relating to feature film script development please call Anna Seifert-Speck on 0115 993 2333 or email anna.seifert-speck@em-media.org.uk
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13 Jul 2011
BSkyB Open New 'Sky Studios' Facility
Sky Studios, Sky's state-of-the-art production facility formerly known as Harlequin 1, has begun broadcasting from West London. Sky Studios is home to eight naturally ventilated studios including five HD studios, 45 edit suites, 14 voice-over suites, four audio suites and on site post-production facilities.
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The opening of Sky Studios is part of Sky's growing commitment to home-grown British content. Last month, the company announced that it would increase investment in British programmes by more than 50% to £600 million a year over the next three years.
Arranged over five levels, with each floor the size of a football pitch, Sky Studios has been designed so that original content can be filmed, edited and transmitted within a single facility. The building is divided horizontally into three zones - 'make', 'shape' and 'share' - housing content production, platform control and transmission services for all of Sky's sport and news content. Building work began in 2006, and Sky has invested approximately £233 million in the facility.
Earlier this month Sky Sports News' 'Good Morning Sports Fans' became the first programme to be broadcast from the new facility.
Jeremy Darroch, Chief Executive, Sky, comments:
"Opening Sky Studios is a significant step in Sky's development, and this building stands testament to our commitment to home-grown, high quality British content. Not only is Sky Studios the most environmentally sustainable broadcasting facility in Europe, its cutting edge technology will also help us continue to create ground-breaking and innovative programming long into the future."
Providing office space for 1,370 permanent and production staff, Sky Studios was designed and built with maximum energy-efficiency in mind. The facility will include an integrated wind turbine, to provide energy to power lighting throughout the building. Additionally, an on-site Combined Cooling & Heating Power plant supply at least 20% of the energy needed for the building's electricity and heating systems.
In recognition of its innovations in renewable energy and energy efficiency, Sky Studios triumphed in the 'Sustainable Project of the Year' category at the 2010 Sustainability Awards and has also received nominations for The Guardian Sustainability Awards 2011, Building Awards 2011 and 2011 Sustainable Energy Europe Awards.
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13 Jul 2011
Clare Stewart Appointed as New BFI Head of Exhibition
The BFI have this week announced the appointment of Clare Stewart to the newly created role of Head of Exhibition, BFI. Clare is due to start her new post in August this year and will be responsible for the cultural and commercial performance of BFI Southbank, BFI Festivals and BFI IMAX.
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She will also lead the delivery of a dynamic world class programme of British and international cinema that is designed and contextualised to attract the broadest and most diverse audience.
The announcement comes a week after Sandra Hebron revealed that she would stand down from her role as BFI London Film Festival Artistic Director.
Clare, whose career in programming spans sixteen years, joins the BFI from her position as Festival Director of Sydney Film Festival, a role she held for five years. Clare introduced and built the reputation of the festival's Official Competition, successfully increased audiences and box-office takings, attracted new funding and sponsorship deals and curated new experiential strands. Clare's final Sydney Film Festival was June 8-19 2011. In addition to critically and commercially successful festivals, Clare brings venue experience to the task having previously served as the inaugural Head of Film Programs at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne.
Clare Stewart said:
"I am thrilled to be joining the BFI at this significant moment in the organisation's history and to be working with Creative Director Heather Stewart to forge the future strategy for the flagship BFI Southbank venue and leading film festivals. This new position provides the opportunity to align the expertise of the BFI's team of programmers and producers with the objective of further enhancing the cultural and business impact of the BFI's diverse screening programmes."
Heather Stewart, Creative Director BFI said:
"This new role is a great opportunity for the BFI to bring together our exhibition activities and think about how we reach audiences for both historical and contemporary filmmaking in our festivals and all year round. I'm confident that Clare can meet the challenges ahead with flair and imagination. Clare has an impressive track record, most recently leading the Sydney Film Festival from strength to strength, and has proven that she has both the creative and commercial expertise this role needs."
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06 Jul 2011
Avid Expands its European Media Enterprise Team
Avid yesterday announced three new hires to its European Media Enterprise team to focus on growing awareness and sales of Avid media asset management solutions in the sports and government sectors.
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Ben Davison joins as pre-sales consultant and will be responsible for expanding Avid Interplay Media Asset Management's foothold in the sports market. He comes from Red Bee Media, where he was a senior technical specialist. Ben also held positions at Anystream as a sales engineer where he designed and ran large transcoding systems for IPTV and video on demand networks. Prior to that, he spent seven years at Root 6 as a systems engineer designing and installing Avid and Apple production systems.
Carl Perry joins as pre-sales consultant and will add an experienced systems integrator perspective to Avid's MAM sales approach as well as supporting Avid's growth into the government sector. He joins from Siemens, where he held a senior technical role in their media consulting practice and specialised in media asset management solutions. He has worked extensively with the BBC as well as the SABC and a wide variety of other media and telecoms organisations.
Eddie Farish joins as enterprise account manager. In this role, he will manage Avid's UK broadcast and sports accounts. Eddie joins Avid with ten years' experience in the music industry and experience in transmission solutions and media asset management.
Paul Hennessy, vice president of sales EMEA, said: "Interplay Media Asset Management is a world-class solution that content owners around the globe rely on 24/7 to manage, distribute and monetise their assets. At a time when all organisations are looking for ways to manage their content more effectively and efficiently, we see the sports and government sectors as key growth areas for our solutions. I'm sure the expertise Ben, Carl and Eddie bring to Avid will enable this growth to happen."
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06 Jul 2011
BBC Annual WOCC Results Show Slight Growth for Independents
Figures out last week for the BBC's WOCC (Window of Creative Competition) for financial year 2010/2011 show marginal changes to the hours won by in-house versus independent production companies.
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Overall, network programme hours within the WOCC have remained broadly the same between in-house and independents but there has been a slight growth for independents, from 70% to 72% and a slight dip for in-house, from 30% to 28%.
Within individual genres, however, there have been changes in the numbers which shows the WOCC's success in providing a platform for creative competition in action (see numbers below).
George Entwistle, Director BBC Vision, said: "The WOCC was set up to stimulate creativity and every year we see that demonstrated through healthy competition in each of the genres. As one of the key ways the BBC continues to deliver high quality programmes for its audience from both in-house production and the independent sector, the WOCC continues to do a very important job."
Bal Samra, Director Vision Operations, added: "Over the past four years we've seen movements in individual genres. This is how it should be and demonstrates the success of the WOCC in inspiring the best for all audiences."
Last year the BBC worked with a total of 305 independent production companies across the UK strengthening the BBC's supplier base.
Share of WOCC won by in-house/indies:
The BBC's response to the BBC Trust's second review of the WOCC is also published today at http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning.
In the review the BBC has committed to publish the size of the WOCC, by genre, in terms of both hours and money as each buying model is created for each financial year. The first publication will be later this year for the 2013/14 buying model. AIs will also be published for the first time on a twice yearly basis each year on the commissioning website. This will include key pieces of audience qualitative research.
How it works The WOCC applies to all network genres excluding news.
Across the WOCC genres, 50% of BBC output must be made in-house and 25% by indies. Both compete for the remaining 25%.
The levels of the WOCC and the guarantees apply across all BBC output but can differ in size within genres, to fit with the corporation's editorial strategy
In-house and indies must fill their respective guarantees within each genre before competing for the WOCC.
Output is measured by network hours for the financial year. The outcome for independents includes non qualifying independents.
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06 Jul 2011
Sandra Hebron to Stand Down as BFI LFF Artistic Director
The BFI have announced that this year's BFI London Film Festival will be Sandra Hebron's last as Artistic Director, as she has decided to step down from her role at the BFI.
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The BFI commented, "As one of the most highly regarded festival directors in the industry, Sandra has worked on the BFI London Film Festival and the BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival for 14 years. Since taking on the role in 2003, she has taken the London Film Festival from strength to strength, building a reputation for curatorial excellence and increasing audience attendances year on year."
Sandra Hebron said:
"Heading up the BFI's festival team has been a hugely privileged and pleasurable role. I'm very proud of everything we've achieved, and indebted to the many filmmakers and industry professionals who have helped us develop and raise the profile of the London Film Festival. Leaving the BFI at such an exciting time in its history has been a tough decision, but I'm keen to develop my skills in new areas, and I know I leave the festivals in safe hands. In the meantime, I'm very much looking forward to presenting this year's LFF, and to attending many more in the future."
Amanda Nevill, Chief Executive at the BFI, said:
"Sandra is one of the most respected, creative and imaginative film festival directors in the world. She has transformed the BFI London Film Festival into the most exciting two weeks for film in the UK's cultural calendar and her departure is a great loss to the BFI. But she leaves behind a fantastic legacy; a festival with an outstanding international reputation and a highly skilled and creative team. I know that she will make our 55th BFI London Film Festival her best yet and a wonderful parting gift to all of us who care about and love film and we wish her every success for the future."
Originally an academic who researched and wrote in the fields of cultural studies and sociology, Sandra has worked in independent film exhibition for over twenty years. She has also worked in arts funding, and has advised a broad range of festivals and cultural organisations. She has made several short films, and writes and broadcasts regularly about cinema.
The 55th London Film Festival will take place from Wednesday 12 October until Thursday 27 October 2011. The BFI stated that the festival is "much anticipated within Europe's cultural calendar, continuing to champion creativity, originality, vision and imagination, attracting leading international filmmakers and industry professionals, together with large public audiences for two weeks of the best in contemporary world cinema."
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28 Jun 2011
PG Member Appointed as Inaugural Skillset Craft and Technical Skills Academy Director
Skillset the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for Creative Media have revealed that industry expert and PG Member Alison Small has been appointed as the inaugural director of the Skillset Craft and Technical Skills Academy.
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The organisation stated that Alison brings a wide range of skills and professional experience to this new role, including serving as the vice-chair of Women in Film and TV, and working as a freelance consultant and project manager to the international film and TV production communities. She also spent eight years working at the Office of the British Film Commissioner at UK Film Council, where she developed strategies to increase opportunities and finance for the UK.
Alison commented: "This is a fabulous opportunity to ensure our industry stays ahead of the game during a time of major change. The Academy gives the very best talent across the UK access to the highest quality of training and a way into the industry. This will ensure the ongoing development of much-needed skills, making sure we can continue to meet the needs of both future domestic and international production, as well as attracting greater levels of inward investment."
The Academy is collaboration between Skillset - the Sector Skills Council for the Creative Industries - and Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College, with office space at Pinewood Studios for industry engagement. Working closely with studios and other film-based companies, the Academy will become a centre of excellence in craft and technical skills, providing apprenticeships and professional qualifications for people working in trades such as camera, grips, set crafts within the UK film industry, as well as services for trainees and new entrants.
Commenting on Alison’s appointment, PG Member and Producer Iain Smith, chair of the Academy's board and of Skillset's Film Skills Council as well as being recently named as chair of the British Film Commission, said: "Alison is an imaginative and innovative leader with a great knowledge of how the film industry works throughout the world. Her many years of experience will prove invaluable as she continues to strengthen the relationship between the Academy and the UK film industry."
Principal and chief executive of Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College, Paula Whittle, said: "We wholeheartedly welcome Alison's appointment. She has a wealth of experience and thorough knowledge of the film industry. It is this type of insight that will help to carve a pathway to success for our learners and arm the UK film industry with the quality talent and skills it needs to compete internationally. As well as ensuring that our learners come away with a credible qualification, we are confident that under Alison's direction the Academy will continue to provide equality of opportunity and remove traditional barriers to learning. Widening access to the talent pool is vital for the College and the Academy alike to fulfil the aim of producing competent, confident and creative leaders of tomorrow."
The Academy has been made possible through funding received from industry contributions to the Skills Investment Fund (SIF), the voluntary levy on productions filmed in the UK, and is part of Skillset's ‘A Bigger Future 2' initiative.
Over the summer Skillset will be preparing an evidence submission on film skills priorities to the DCMS film policy review, and the craft and technical skills needs of the industry will form a key part of this.
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28 Jun 2011
Former UK Film Council MD Appointed as New BFI Deputy Chief Executive
Tim Cagney has been appointed to the newly created role of Deputy Chief Executive of the BFI, after serving as Managing Director at the UK Film Council. From 7 July 2011, Tim will report directly into BFI Chief Executive Amanda Nevill, working closely alongside her and the BFI's executive team to play a critical part in shaping the new BFI as the organisation transforms into the UK's lead body for film.
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Tim's new role involves him playing an instrumental part in developing the BFI's long-term strategy for film in the UK, leading on business planning and partnerships, including Creative England, Film London, Skillset, First Light and national screen agencies, and championing strategic capital projects, stimulating new business growth, and working closely with the DCMS. Tim will directly manage the MEDIA Desk UK and the Film Certification Unit, he will also take an active role in fundraising.
Greg Dyke, BFI Chair said:
"We are in an exciting time for film in the UK, a time in which the BFI takes a lead role. To achieve this we need the best possible people in the organisation and I am very confident that Tim is the right person for the challenges ahead and will work brilliantly with Amanda Nevill and the team here to take us into a bright new future."
Amanda Nevill, BFI Chief Executive said:
"I'm delighted that Tim is joining the BFI in this new role. Tim has an impressive track record, is an astute and very talented business leader and has already been key in ensuring the smooth transition of new activities to the BFI. Tim will be instrumental in steering the BFI towards a new future that provides an ambitious and coherent vision for film in the UK."
Tim Cagney said:
"It's fantastic to be joining the BFI at such a pivotal time for film in the UK. I'm hugely excited about helping take the BFI to the next level, where a new film industry and organisational focus will help guide it towards a new era for film."
In 2005, Cagney joined the UK Film Council as Head of UK Partnerships, leading its strategy on investment in England through the Regional Screen Agencies and working closely with Skillset on the Bigger Future Skills strategy. In 2010, Cagney became Acting Managing Director for the UK Film Council to lead on the major transition of film activities to the BFI and Film London.
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29 Jun 2011
Northern Ireland Screen Publish New Development Funding Information
If you missed Northern Ireland Screen's development funding event on Monday 27th June, the screen agency have launched a new webpage of funding information with further details and highlights from the event itself.
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Northern Ireland Screen recently stated that its "top priority for 2011-12 is development in all its forms" and that "funding is secure and available for a range of development forms including renewed budget for script development, general project development and digital project development."
The event on Monday 27th June was launched for industry practicioners to find out how to apply for development funding and what the priorities are.
The agency have this week launched a new webpage with details from the event as well as further information on funding from the regional body as well, highlighting:
- Pilot and Slate Development
- Digital Content
- Script Development
- Talent Focus Call
- Landmark Documentary
To view the page, please visit: http://northernirelandscreen.co.uk/sections/112/development-funding-information.aspx
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29 Jun 2011
Prime Focus Bring in New Recruits from Pepper Post
Following the decision of Future Films Group to cease trading of Pepper Post, Prime Focus have announced that it has recruited technical producer Kate Robson, colourist Kevin Horsewood and editor Scott Hinchcliffe to join its award-winning Broadcast post production team.
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Most recently at Pepper, the team has worked together on a variety of primetime favourites – including Hustle, Law & Order, Sherlock, Spooks, Whitechapel, Ashes to Ashes and Midsomer Murders – and they join at the perfect time to help drive Prime Focus' stated intention of delivering more primetime drama programming.
Left-right; Kevin Horsewood; Kate Robson; Scott Hinchcliffe.
With proven post production workflows and an established infrastructure already in place at Prime Focus, the new team will hit the ground running, beginning work immediately on Spooks, the high-end drama series from Kudos for BBC1.
"Joining Prime Focus was a natural choice for us," said Kevin Horsewood. "The company has such a positive attitude and shows such initiative that the decision was easy. They also clearly showed that they take great pride in investing in both the technology and the people that you need to produce really eye-opening television. Scott, Kate and I are absolutely thrilled to be at the forefront of Prime Focus' continued push into high-end drama programming."
"There's a fantastically positive feeling about Prime Focus – nothing seems impossible, or even difficult" added Scott Hinchcliffe. "I can't wait to get stuck into our upcoming slate of programming as soon as possible."
Simon Briggs, Managing Director, UK, added: "I am delighted to bring such an experienced and well-regarded team onboard at Prime Focus. Their contribution will be immeasurable as we continue to develop our drama programming output, helping to drive our business forward and grow the profile of our work. I look forward to seeing our name attached to more and more high-end drama projects over the coming months."
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15 Jun 2011
British Film Commissioner Colin Brown Steps Down
British Film Commissioner Colin Brown announced he would step down from his post at an event in LA this week. Hosted by the British Consul-General, Dame Barbara Hay, the farewell event was attended by key players of the US industry to celebrate a successful term culminating in a record breaking year for inward investment and also to officially welcoming Adrian Wootton and BFC advisory board chaired by Producer and PG Member Iain Smith.
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Colin Brown said at the event: "This will be my last trip to Los Angeles as British Film Commissioner. I have been in that post for four happy years and have now decided to leave in order to do other things in the film business. The pleasure of serving in such a great job has been enhanced by the successes. Last year alone we broke the record for inward investment in the UK with almost $1.5 billion production spend. And, of course out of this activity very tangible financial and creative benefits accrue to all partners. That's what I think we have all become, real partners in film production and the strength of that partnership should continue to grow as the service and benefits of the British Film Commission remain in place and the UK infrastructure continues to deliver great results. I leave behind a fantastic team in the safe hands of Adrian and Film London and I know that their joint efforts will continue to provide the highest level of service."
The work of the British Film Commissioner will continue through the recently rebranded British Film Commission (BFC) operating under the management of Film London and with the existing team in the UK and LA plus an Advisory Board, Chaired by Iain Smith.
Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London and the British Film Commission said: "Colin's contribution to UK inward investment has been fantastic and he has made such a positive impact as the British Film Commissioner. Although we are extremely sad to see him go, I am very confident that the British Film Commission and its new Advisory Board has the talent and expertise to continue building on the unit's recent success and 2010's record breaking year."
Iain Smith, Chair of the BFC said, "I want to congratulate Colin on his achievements over the last four years, and to thank him for making the handover to Adrian and Film London as seamless as possible. Adrian and the team will be carrying on Colin's excellent work by continuing to improve the UK's inward investment strategy, to ensure that we remain one of the most attractive countries in which to make international feature films."
As of 1 April 2011 the BFC team, formerly part of the UK Film Council, now sits within Film London – as a new national division. Following a seamless transition, offices in both central London and the US are maintained. Andy Weltman, the BFC's Executive Vice President, US Production, will continue to head up the US office in LA while Samantha Perahia, Senior Production Executive, will be first point of contact in the UK.
The BFC is responsible for promoting the UK as the best place to produce features films and through the BFC Advisory Board, will set the strategy, policy and delivery objectives of the BFC to bring vital investment to the UK. The UK is the world's busiest film production centre outside of North America. 2010 was a record year for inward investment features shooting in the UK, generating almost $1.5bn, up 15% on the previous year.
The BFC will be delivered through an innovative public/private partnership with key film industry bodies. In addition to commercial sponsorship it will receive funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), via the BFI.
Joining Iain Smith on the Advisory Board are senior film industry executives representing the full breadth of the industry, including national agencies in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to successfully promote the whole UK package.
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15 Jun 2011
Creative England Publishes First Stage Industry Consultation Report
Earlier this year, Creative England asked industry practitioners to give them their views on Creative England: A Consultation on Strategic Priorities for Film for 2011/12. The body which will replace the existing Regional Screen Agencies on 1st October 2011 has released its first stage report on the findings of the consultation.
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Creative England confirmed that it has received more than 470 responses. ranging from key industry organisations, to freelancers and independent filmmakers from across the country. Of those who expressed an opinion, 65% either agreed or agreed strongly that the strategic priorities in the document were the right ones.
Feedback on a number of key areas was received both through direct written responses to the consultation and in the consultation meetings that were held around the country.
Recurring points brought up during the consultation process were branched into five key areas:
- Process - Including the importance of effective dialoge between Creative England and the industry as well as thoroughly researched and clear strategies.
- Structure - Including clear procedures and open access to data and decision making about grants and investments and applications.
- Staffing - Including having experienced staff and board members from varied backgrounds including production, diversity, procedural transparency and sector specialists in exhibition, education and film archives.
- Regional Focus - Including the importance of seperate new regional hubs with assurances that the new regions will equally consider all businesses within the area. Some concerns were highlighted on the loss of in-region staff and the lack of a hub in the East of England.
- Strategic Priorities - Many areas were highlighted during the review including Diversity, Digital Innovation and Access, SME Support, Commercial vs Cultural, Audiences, Exhibition, Education, Partnerships, Training, CPD and Ladders of Progression, Locations and Inward Investment.
The full report on the summary of findings can be viewed here.
Creative England confirmed that it is now putting together an independent panel of industry experts which will advise the Creative England Establishment Board on how to address key areas raised throughout the consultation. The body also confirmed that it will make sure that its findings are shared with the BFI so that they can benefit from your views in their strategy development process.
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15 Jun 2011
New Research & Development Fund Launched for Digital Innovation in Arts and Culture
Arts Council England, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) last week announced the Digital R&D Fund for Arts and Culture, a new £500,000 fund for projects that will harness digital technologies to connect with wider audiences and explore new ways of working.
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The announcment of the new fund follows a speech by Culture Minister Ed Vaizey at the National Theatre in January, calling for cultural organisations to embrace new technologies and the opportunities they offer.
Arts and cultural organisations are being asked to work with those with digital expertise to help them understand the potential offered by new technologies and together develop innovative project proposals for submission to the new research fund
It is hoped that the research and development projects, supported by the Digital R&D Fund for Arts and Culture, will have the potential to produce new data and research insights that can be shared with, and benefit, other organisations in the arts and culture sector.
Hasan Bakhshi, director of creative industries in NESTA's policy and research unit, says: 'The rapid development of digital technologies opens up exciting new opportunities for the UK's world-renowned arts and culture sector. Through this programme we hope to explore what these opportunities are, and rigorously assess them to understand how these technologies can benefit the wider sector.'
Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said: 'Through projects like the National Theatre's NT Live and the RSC's 'Such Tweet Sorrow' we've already seen the massive potential art and technology partnerships have to transform the way people connect with the arts.
'How the cultural sectors engage with emerging and existing digital technologies in the next few years will have far reaching effects on our creative, social and economic lives, as artists and audience members.
'This fund is a golden opportunity for cultural organisations to partner with technical experts, get to grips with the detail, and reap rich rewards. I'm excited to see the ideas they come up with.'
Professor Rick Rylance, Chief Executive of the AHRC, says: 'We're delighted to be collaborating with NESTA and the Arts Council on this exciting initiative. Digital technologies are manifestly altering our world. We can only glimpse their potential for the performing arts and the transformations they might bring. So we keenly need research. This project offers arts and humanities researchers the chance to work collaboratively with arts organisations and cutting-edge technologists to look into a future that might well be present almost before we know it.'
Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications, and the Creative Industries, says: 'I'm delighted to see NESTA, AHRC and the Arts Council collaborating in such a vital area. Our lives are increasingly defined by how we engage and interact with the world digitally and cultural organisations can't afford to be left behind. Too often finances, structures or traditions can constrain the arts from making best use of the technology which now sits at the heart of many people's everyday lives. This programme seeks to show how digital technology can revolutionise our cultural engagement, helping people to derive greater value from cultural activities and to find new ways to generate income. I look forward to seeing the innovative and exciting ideas put forward.'
The call for applications follows a scoping exercise with the sector to determine the areas and themes of most importance. This exercise revealed several themes that the sector is keen to explore and proposals are sought in the following six areas: user-generated content and social media; distribution; mobile, location and games; data; resources and education & learning*.
Organisations that are eligible to apply to the programme include visual and performing arts organisations, cultural organisations in England including arts and cultural archives, literary organisations, museums and galleries, libraries, commercial arts and cultural organisations and creative industry businesses (where the funded activity is self-contained and has a clear benefit to the public).
Applications from arts and cultural organisations are invited from today (Tuesday 7 June) until Friday 2 September 2011. Following interviews with shortlisted applicants, successful applications will be announced in October.
For further information and to submit an application, visit www.nesta.org.uk, www.artscouncil.org.uk or www.ahrc.ac.uk.
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15 Jun 2011
Establishment Board and Director Appointed at Creative England
Creative England Chairman John Newbigin has today announced the appointment of a new Establishment Board for Creative England, made up of the Chairs of the existing Regional Screen Agencies. This Board will oversee the work of an Establishment Director for Creative England to ensure that a fully functioning organisation is ready to replace the existing network of Regional Screen Agencies on 1st October 2011.
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Caroline Norbury, Chief Executive of South West Screen, will be seconded to this interim role of Establishment Director, which will be effective immediately and will run for a maximum of six months.
John Newbigin said: "Creative England is a new organisation with an imaginative new remit set out by the government. But our first responsibility is to ensure that we have the people and resources to replace the Regional Screen Agencies in supporting film-making and film culture across England. Until now we have relied on the goodwill and voluntary hard work of the existing Screen Agency CEOs and their staffs in setting up Creative England but we now need a full-time, fully committed executive if we are to get to the starting line by the agreed date of 1st October.
"Caroline has played a central role in Creative England's development to date and her Board have generously agreed to her secondment so that she can focus on that role temporarily.* She will be tasked with setting up the overall business plan and staffing structure of Creative England's film-related activity, whilst beginning to build capacity for the broader Creative England vision and securing funds for wider creative industries activity. She will be supported in this role by the CEOs and staffs of the existing Regional Screen Agencies and will report to the Creative England Establishment Board.
"We are absolutely committed to creating an organisation that reflects local and regional needs and strengths, building on the work of the Regional Screen Agencies over the last ten years, but launching the new organisation as a single entity in the first instance allows us to reduce cost and time pressures while ensuring a continuity of support for film activity across the English regions. This process, and Caroline's appointment, enjoys the support of our national partner organisation, the BFI."
Amanda Nevill, Director of the BFI, said: "In its forward plan the BFI Board will focus on bringing valuable support to film across the regions, so we are heavily dependant on an effective infrastructure being created to help us deliver that. We pay tribute to the past work of the Screen Agencies and also their recent achievements in the huge task of working towards a new structure. We welcome the creation of this new post of interim Establishment Director and put our support behind Caroline in the role."
*Mehjabeen Price, South West Screen's Director of Finance and Operations, will become Acting Chief Executive Officer whilst Caroline Norbury is seconded.
Caroline Norbury, Chief Executive of South West Screen, will be seconded to this interim role of Establishment Director, which will be effective immediately and will run for a maximum of six months.
John Newbigin said: "Creative England is a new organisation with an imaginative new remit set out by the government. But our first responsibility is to ensure that we have the people and resources to replace the Regional Screen Agencies in supporting film-making and film culture across England. Until now we have relied on the goodwill and voluntary hard work of the existing Screen Agency CEOs and their staffs in setting up Creative England but we now need a full-time, fully committed executive if we are to get to the starting line by the agreed date of 1st October.
"Caroline has played a central role in Creative England's development to date and her Board have generously agreed to her secondment so that she can focus on that role temporarily.* She will be tasked with setting up the overall business plan and staffing structure of Creative England's film-related activity, whilst beginning to build capacity for the broader Creative England vision and securing funds for wider creative industries activity. She will be supported in this role by the CEOs and staffs of the existing Regional Screen Agencies and will report to the Creative England Establishment Board.
"We are absolutely committed to creating an organisation that reflects local and regional needs and strengths, building on the work of the Regional Screen Agencies over the last ten years, but launching the new organisation as a single entity in the first instance allows us to reduce cost and time pressures while ensuring a continuity of support for film activity across the English regions. This process, and Caroline's appointment, enjoys the support of our national partner organisation, the BFI."
Amanda Nevill, Director of the BFI, said: "In its forward plan the BFI Board will focus on bringing valuable support to film across the regions, so we are heavily dependent on an effective infrastructure being created to help us deliver that. We pay tribute to the past work of the Screen Agencies and also their recent achievements in the huge task of working towards a new structure. We welcome the creation of this new post of interim Establishment Director and put our support behind Caroline in the role."
*Mehjabeen Price, South West Screen's Director of Finance and Operations, will become Acting Chief Executive Officer whilst Caroline Norbury is seconded.
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15 Jun 2011
Baroness Visits Pinewood as Government Set to Review How Best to Support the Industry
Baroness Wilcox, Minister for Intellectual Property, represented The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) within the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS) this week as she visited Pinewood Studios to discover how changing technologies are affecting the industry and what the government can do to help the sector's economic growth.
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The IPO is responsible for the national framework of Intellectual Property rights, comprising patents, designs, trade marks and copyright and they already have an established crime group and work closely with the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) to help prevent the illegal recording of films in cinemas.
Among the issues the Minister is currently discussing with companies in the film and television industries are those of copyright offences and what the Office are doing to help them enforce their rights.
Baroness Wilcox said:
"The facilities at Pinewood are fantastic and it proves that the UK has a thriving and innovative creative arts industry. The Government is committed to providing companies such as Pinewood with a solid base on which they can grow and continue to produce world class material.
"We are currently considering a range of recommendations from an independent review of intellectual property which could potentially benefit the film and television industries. Among the suggestions are to update current copyright legislation and to provide creative minds with more enforcement options to protect their intellectual property.
"It is important the Government makes the right decisions in these areas and we are taking these considerations very seriously. That is why I am making the time to meet with various representatives from the creative industries in the UK to see how we can work together going forwards."
The Government is also considering recommendations to change copyright legislation in relation to orphan works. These are materials which are held in archives, but to which the copyright owner is unknown. Currently if the owner cannot be found then that particular recording is not able to be used. A change in legislation might allow the film and television industries to open up and re-digitise archived footage which has previously been locked away. During the visit Baroness Wilcox had a tour of the studios which included the motion capture studio and underwater stage. She met and spoke to members of staff about their work and also met with Pinewood Shepperton plc Chief Executive, Ivan Dunleavy.
Mr Dunleavy said:
"We are pleased that Baroness Wilcox has come to the Studios to see how companies within the creative industries are embracing new technologies to drive growth. I am particularly pleased that the Minister met with our restoration, archive and preservation team, which works with companies that are affected by some of the issues the government is looking at in relation to orphan works.
The Government hopes to publish their response to the review of Intellectual Property shortly.
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15 Jun 2011
Feature Documentary Category Added as New BAFTA Award as Full Schedule Announced
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced today that it will be adding a new category to the Orange British Academy Film Awards to recognise documentary feature films.
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The new category will be called Documentary. A theatrical documentary award was presented by the Academy between 1948 and 1990. Documentaries have continued to be honoured with British Academy Television Awards since then and have been eligible in all relevant categories at the Film Awards. BAFTA's Film Committee has chosen to re-introduce this category now in recognition of the number of high-quality theatrical documentaries released in cinemas in the UK each year.
Films from all countries will be eligible as long as they have a theatrical release in the UK. The award will only usually be presented if 15 or more films are entered. A specialist Documentary Chapter of BAFTA Film Voting Members will vote for a longlist of five films during the Round One vote and then will vote again in Round Two to decide the three nominations. The winner will be selected by all Film Voters during Round Three voting.
The Film Awards are now open for entry. Full rules for all categories, including the new Documentary category, and entry forms are available here:
http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/entering-a-film,131,BA.html
The full schedule for the Orange British Academy Film Awards was also announced today:
Thursday 17 November - Entry deadline
Thursday 8 December - Round 1 opens
Tuesday 20 December - Qualified films screened to members by this date
Wednesday 4 January - Round 1 closes
Friday 6 January - Longlist announced & Round 2 opens
Thursday 12 January - Round 2 closes
Tuesday 17 January - Nominations & Round 3 opens
Wednesday 8 February - Round 3 closes
Friday 10 February - All entered films to open to the public by this date
Sunday 12 February - Ceremony
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15 Jun 2011
London Post Production House Ceases Trading
The Board of the Future Films Group has this week confirmed that London Post Production company Pepper Post has ceased trading. The group confirmed that it is now looking for a buyer for the post house which recently worked on BBC series' Luther and Sherlock and the sale will be handled by David Rubin & Partners, who have confirmed that there has been a number of expressions of interest in acquiring the firm.
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A statement from the Future Films Group Board stated that following a full review of its operations and as part of an overall restructureing of the Future Films Group, the Board has decided to focus on its main activities of media finance, production and digital distribution and is withdrawing from the physical post production sector. Therefore, Future Post Production Limited, trading as Pepper Post is ceasing trading. It is the intention of the Board to focus onfinding a buyer for the business as a going concern, which it believes is int he best interst of its valued staff.
Stephen Margolis, CEO of the Future Film Group said, "Future Films is a leading provider of finance to the media industry and we will continue to focus our efforts of providing finance for film and television productions where we see excelledn growth prospects. The Board and I would like to tahnk the staff for their contribution whilst at Pepper and regret that the state of the market has brought us to this decision."
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15 Jun 2011
EM Media Announces New Board Members
Lisa Opie, Chair of the board of EM Media has confirmed that Roger Morris, MD Elstree Studios (PG Affiliate), Lucy Ward, Director of Norwich-based Wavelength Films and Bill Thompson, Chair of the Cambridge Film Trust have been co-opted to the board of Nottingham-based Screen Agency EM Media in an advisory capacity to ensure full representation from the East of England.
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The appointments follow the expansion of EM Media's geographical remit since the demise of Screen East in 2010 to include the East of England.
EM Media is in its tenth year of successfully developing and supporting the film and digital media sector in the East Midlands.
The agency's support now extends to film and media professionals based in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and the unitary areas of Bedford, Luton, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.
Lisa Opie, Chair of the board of EM Media said: "It is essential that the board of EM Media fully represents the interests of the film industry in the East of England as well as the East Midlands. Our new board members are outstanding industry specialists who bring to our board a wealth of international experience and crucially local knowledge of and commitment to talent across the East of England".
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15 Jun 2011
New 'Director Film' Appointed at The British Council
The British Council – the UK's international cultural relations organisation – has appointed Briony Hanson as its new Director Film. Briony has spent the last ten years at The Script Factory, focusing on the development and training for the film community.
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Graham Sheffield, British Council Director Arts, said: "I am delighted to announce that Briony Hanson has been appointed to the role of Director Film. Her creativity and experience will add further strength to the British Council's UK arts team and regional network. Briony's skills and ideas will ensure a strong profile for film within the arts and the British Council's global activity"
Before working at The Script Factory, Briony was head of the programme unit at the BFI. In addition to her full-time work she has taken on roles varying from being a BAFTA jury member to a tutor in film programming. Briony will join the British Council in mid July.
In many countries, film festivals are an extremely effective way of enabling large numbers of predominantly young, intelligent people to regularly refresh their perceptions of the UK. The British Council film team works to enable festivals to programme high-quality work from the UK. If new work seems particularly suitable for an international market we will actively promote it to our overseas partners and colleagues. Opportunities for UK artists are constantly being created through this ongoing dialogue and advocacy.
The arts are at the heart of the British Council's cultural relations work around the world. Whether it is in Egypt or India, the USA or China, international projects in the visual arts, music, drama, literature, architecture, film and the broader creative industries have the power to shape people's understanding of the UK. International collaborations with institutions and artists bring British creativity to the attention of huge audiences and unlock creative and commercial opportunities for the next generation of artists.
Speaking of her appointment, Briony Hanson commented: "Much of my career has been focused on training, developing and supporting British film talent. To get the chance now to help promote and celebrate that talent internationally is hugely exciting. While it was a hard decision to leave The Script Factory, I simply couldn't resist the chance to join the British Council. I can't wait!"
For more information about the British Council's work in film visit the newly re-launched http://film.britishcouncil.org which replaces britfilms.com. The site is a central resource containing a large database of contemporary British short and feature films and information about the film sector in the UK.
A summary of the British Council's arts programme of work for 2011 can be found here: http://www.britishcouncil.org/bc_arts_calendar-issue-02.pdf
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15 Jun 2011
BBC Begins Sale Process of Television Centre
The BBC this week announced the first phase in the sale of Television Centre, White City, London. Working with commercial property consultants Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), the BBC is seeking expressions of interest from the market for either a conventional, freehold property sale or alternative proposals possibly based around a joint venture partnership. The key objective for any sale or partnership is to maximise the value of the site to the BBC and Licence Fee payers.
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The BBC originally announced its intention to sell Television Centre in 2007. LSH were appointed in November 2010 following a competitive tender to help finalise the strategy to market the 14-acre freehold site.
Apart from a conventional sale, the Corporation is keen to investigate opportunities for redeveloping Television Centre that preserve the key listed elements of the iconic building, but also afford the opportunity to establish a hub for creative businesses and a visitor destination.
The existing Studios and Post Production business will continue to operate following the sale of Television Centre, either remaining on site or in a new location.
Chris Kane, Head of BBC Workplace, commented: "Our key objective is to maximise value to the BBC. With high investor demand for commercial property in London and a shortage of landmark sites as distinctive as Television Centre, we anticipate strong competition for both conventional and innovative proposals."
The BBC's strategy for Television Centre supports the Greater London Authority's (GLA) master plan to redevelop White City, as set out in the draft Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF) currently in consultation.
Richard Deverell, W12 Programme Director, commented: "Television Centre has played an extraordinary and central role in the history of the BBC, which will not be forgotten. Our primary aim of the sale is to maximise the value to the BBC and Licence Fee payer whilst ensuring the teams and operations based there are successfully relocated."
The BBC plans to fully vacate the site in 2015. As a first step, interested parties are invited to register their interest by 1 July 2011. It is the intention of the BBC to arrive at a short list of potential purchasers or joint venture partners; thereafter, selected parties will be formally invited to tender.
Sale of Television Centre – Key Facts
Opening
Television Centre opened on 29 June 1960, as the BBC's first purpose-built centre for television productionTelevision Centre is currently the home of BBC Vision and BBC News – the News Centre opened in 1998 at the front of the building
Location
Four miles outside central London on Wood Lane, White City (near to BBC's Media Village campus) on part of the site used for the Franco-British exhibition of 1908
Architect
Graham Dawbarn, CBE famously came up with the curious design whilst sitting in a pub where he pulled out an old envelope and drew the triangular shape of the site with a question mark in the middle. How could he design a centre with eight studios, production galleries, dressing rooms, camera workshops, recording areas and offices to support them? The centre also needed an area to bring in trucks with sets and a separate area to bring in audiences and guests. He looked at the question mark and in a flash of inspiration realised that it would make the perfect design
Features
The site extends over 14 acres containing five core buildings, a number of which have been extended since the original building was constructedThe main building comprises the distinctive circular office block (also known as the "doughnut") enclosing a 150ft central courtyard, and where TB Huxley-Jones' sculpture of Helios, Greek god of the sun was erected in 1960 The sculpture represents the radiation of television right around the world and the two reclining figures at the bottom are sound and vision, the two components of televisionGrouped around it are the original seven studios, linked by a covered walkway and ring road for delivery and storage of sceneryThe front elevation featuring the flanking wall of Studio 1 – with its famous dots – is the most familiar view of the buildingAdjoining the cylindrical block is a spur which was developed in three phases between the 1960s and 1990s to form interconnecting blocks of office and studio space
English Heritage Listing
In July 2009, parts of TVC were given Grade II listed status, including the main circular ring, excluding the spur, the original scenery block and the former canteenOther sections of the complex are not of special interest: the outer ring of studios, the scenery block of 1953-54; the canteen of 1954-55; the completed spur or 1964, 1978, 1983-8 and 1995-8, and the east tower to the south east of the site
Historical Facts
The centre has 12 studios, ranging in size from 110 square metres to the vast Studio TC1 at 995 square metres – the third largest TV studio in BritainNotable TV programmes that have been recorded here include Fawlty Towers, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Blue Peter, Absolutely Fabulous, classic Doctor Who and Strictly Come Dancing. In addition, Television Centre features the famous Blue Peter garden where some of Blue Peter's celebrated pets are memorialised. The new Blue Peter garden will be located on the roof of the studio block at MediaCityUK, plans for which are currently under discussionThe last major drama series to be shot here was The House Of Elliott in 1994 – after that, drama production moved onto film or single-camera video and Television Centre was not entirely suitable for such productionThe building was damaged by a car bomb located outside Television Centre in March 2001. Staff evacuated the premises and no-one was injured. The attack was attributed to dissident Irish Republicans
Current Occupation
At the end of 2010, just over 5000 staff occupied TVC Once moves to MediaCityUK and Broadcasting House have completed, there will be just under 1200 staff that will need to be relocated Of those remaining, the major occupiers will be BBC Vision. Other divisions affected will be Operations, Audio & Music, Finance and Business, Future Media, and Studios and Post Production.The majority of people and functions will have moved out by summer 2013. It is expected that the site will be fully vacated in 2015The studios at TVC are run by BBC Studios and Post Production Ltd, a wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBCBBC Studios and Post Production has worked with over 250 different media companies and clients in the last year and has plans for future growth. It will continue to operate post sale of Television Centre either remaining on site or in a new locationBBC Studios and Post Production has contracts in place with BBC Vision as their chosen supplier for studios in London until 2015
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15 Jun 2011
Northern Ireland Screen Development Funding Session - 27th June 2011
Northern Ireland Screen is hosting an information session from 10am – 11am on Monday 27th June in QFT, 20 University Square, Belfast BT7 1PA for those interested in finding out how to apply for development funding and what thier priorities are.
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Topics that will be covered in this session include:
- Script development
- Slate development
- Digital content development
- Landmark documentary development
Northern Ireland Screen stated that its top priority for 2011-12 is development in all its forms. Funding is secure and available for a range of development forms including renewed budget for script development, general project development and digital project development.
If you would like to attend the information session, please secure a place by emailing rsvp@northernirelandscreen.co.uk no later than 5pm on Wednesday 22nd June.
Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
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09 Jun 2011
Sky Announces Increased Support for Britain's Creative Industries
Sky has announced plans to significantly increase its support for Britain's creative industries as it continues to broaden the range of programmes enjoyed by customers. This includes a 300% rise in hours of new original British drama.
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Speaking at an event organised by the leading independent think tank, Reform, Sky chief executive Jeremy Darroch said the company intended to increase further its investment in commissioning and producing home-grown programmes. This announcement follows on from recent on-screen successes such as dramas Mad Dogs (pictured) (PG Members Rupert Ryle-Hodges - Line Producer, Sarah Millar - Production Accountant, Maryllis Gonzalez - Assistant Accountant) and Thorne (Charlotte Ashby - Line Producer, Ben Holt - Production Manager, Ana Stichini - Assistant Accountant), the BAFTA-winning factual documentary Flying Monsters 3D , comedies such as Little Crackers and arts programming such as Lucrezia Borgia , the world's first live opera in 3D, and In Confidence .
Reflecting its increasing focus on high-quality British commissions across drama, comedy, factual, entertainment and the arts, Sky now spends £380 million a year on the origination and production of British programming, making it one of the largest investors in UK content. This figure includes investment by Sky in commissioning programmes from the UK's independent production sector as well as Sky's own in-house productions in arts, entertainment, news and sport. It excludes investment in sports rights, overseas programme acquisitions and partner channels.
In his speech, Jeremy Darroch said this level of investment already made Sky one of Britain's biggest supporters of home-grown content and announced that over the next three years Sky intended to grow its investment in British content to £600 million a year, an increase of more than 50%. The increase falls within Sky's previously announced guidance on total programming spend, which includes UK investment.
In outlining the investment plan, Jeremy Darroch said Sky was proud of its track record in creating choice for viewers and supporting the UK creative industries, describing the broadening of Sky's content offering as a natural evolution:
"We are still a young company and we have ambitions to do a lot more and widen our contribution still further...When Sky began, it made perfect sense for us to focus first on areas which were then relatively under-served, sport, movies and 24-hour news in particular. As the business has grown and become successful, it has given us both the opportunity and the incentive to broaden out and create more choice beyond those initial strengths."
Jeremy Darroch went on to explain the rationale for the increased investment:
"Home-grown content resonates strongly and we believe we can both bring more quality and value to existing customers, while also reaching out to more people who haven't yet chosen pay TV. Our plans will take our original entertainment to an entirely different scale, complementing our existing strengths in sport, movies and news. They will mean working with the best production, writing and acting talent and will require focus and creative ambition as well as sustained financial investment."
He added:
"This is a significant undertaking for us and a demonstration of our commitment to the UK. Programming like this is inherently risky and time-consuming. But if we get it right, the results won't just be good for our business, but for customers and Britain's creative industries as well."
The speech also provided additional detail on some of the programme genres set to benefit from Sky's investment plans:
- More original drama – following the success of the likes of Going Postal, The Runaway and the BAFTA-nominated Mad Dogs , the next three years will see a 300 per cent increase in Sky's hours of original British drama. Some of the next projects to reach the screen will include a new series from the creator of State of Play , Paul Abbott, the return of Mad Dogs , the second series of HBO co-production Strike Back , and the first feature-length commission for Sky Movies, Neverland , starring Anna Friel, Rhys Ifans and Bob Hoskins.
- More original comedy - Alongside drama, Sky will continue to invest in original British comedy, working with both established writers and emerging talent. From July, Sky expects to have original comedy all year round, including Stella , a new comedy drama from Ruth Jones, the co-writer of Gavin & Stacey , Ash Atalla's Trollied , and a new series, This is Jinsy, from newcomers Chris Bran and Justin Chubb.
- More original arts – Sky is also committing to tripling the programme budget for the Sky Arts channels, which are now watched by more than 2 million viewers each month. In the last year, Sky Arts has broadcast an increasingly diverse range of programmes across the whole range of arts, including a series of plays to celebrate Anton Chekhov's 150 th anniversary, Songbook, The Book Show , and the return of the South Bank Awards with Melvyn Bragg.
In his speech, Jeremy Darroch also spoke about the important contribution that Sky makes to the UK creative industries, highlighting that:
Today Sky employs around 2,500 people directly in skilled roles in production and broadcasting. Sky is working currently with over 100 independent production companies. Sky's platform investment has supported the growth of a vibrant multi-channel industry, helping the UK to become a European hub for international broadcasters such as Viacom and Turner Broadcasting. Sky helps other channels to fund their own UK content production by investing more than £350 million annually in partners like UKTV, Discovery and History.
The speech, which is available to download here , coincides with the publication of 'TV for Britain – Backing British Creativity' , a book which highlights Sky's wider contribution to the UK's creative industries. A copy of the book can be downloaded from the 'Publications and reports' section of Sky's Corporate website.
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08 Jun 2011
EM Media Now Accepting Applications for Film Activity in East Midlands and East of England
Applicants living in the East Midlands and the East of England can now apply for investment in film related activity from Screen Agency, EM Media.
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If you are based in the East Midlands (covering the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland) or the East of England (covering the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk and the unitary areas of Bedford, Luton, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock) and you have a film related project you'd like to discuss with EM Media please email or call them on 0115 993 2333.
To view or download EM Media's Application Guidelines, please click here.
The EM Media Application form is also available online here.
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07 Jun 2011
Age of Progression Report Analyses Representation across Production Departments
Sargent-Disc, specialists in payroll, accounting and software services for the UK film industry, have undertaken a statistical analysis to look at the representation of the youngest and oldest members of the industry across a range of production departments in the UK.
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Below is a summary of the article. The full article, with interactive charts can be found at http://www.sargent-disc.com/sargent-disc-uk/news-insights/insights/uk-film-industry-age-analysis.aspx
Where to start?
Over the three years of the sample, the departments with the highest number of 16 - 20 year old employees are construction, props and the production office. Over half of 16-20 year olds start their careers in the construction and props departments.
Career progression
The largest proportion of the 20 - 30 age group, work in the production office, with others working particularly in the art department, camera department, direction and costume.
The construction and props departments appear to offer good long term employment prospects, as along with the transport department, they have the highest proportion of over 60s.
It is noticeable that after 30, few people remain in the production office. This suggests that the production office is a good initial place to learn about production, before moving into other departments, such as the locations department.
An aging workforce?
There seems to be a shift towards an older workforce, and one that is working longer. The 16 – 20 age group also grew in proportion to the workforce as a whole, which may reflect an increased emphasis on vocational training and apprenticeships in the UK film industry.
Conclusion
The youngest members of the workforce often enter the industry in unskilled and manual roles, in construction, props and in the production office. It seems that construction and props offer more stability, a 'job for life', yet with returns that are amongst the lowest for the over 60s. The production office remains very attractive to young people, to 'learn the ropes', and although few older people tend to work here, the financial rewards are significant.
As above, the full report can be found at: http://www.sargent-disc.com/sargent-disc-uk/news-insights/insights/uk-film-industry-age-analysis.aspx
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06 Jun 2011
Richard Woolfe Joins Prime Focus Productions as New Creative Director
Prime Focus Productions have announced that Richard Woolf, former Channel Controller at Five and Director of Programmes at Sky1, 2 & 3 has been appointed as Creative Director and will be tasked with developing new drama and entertainment programming for the company.
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Woolfe who will work closely with Prime Focus Productions Managing Director Rod Brown will also oversee the current slate of material which includes Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's cult classic 'Good Omens', and a range of other projects with international broadcasters.
The company stated that the appointment demonstrates "the ambition of Prime Focus Productions' plans, as well as fulfilling (its) launch promise to attract the industry's best to the company."
In 2009, Richard guided Five to become the only terrestrial channel to grow its share in the market despite enormous budget cuts, and was responsible for the relaunch and rebrand of the channel, which saw its greatest ever reach figures and highest share figures for key programmes and day parts.
As Director of Programmes at Sky1, 2 & 3, Richard overhauled the entire channel brand, and oversaw the acquisition and development of award-winning US dramas, including 'Lost' and 'Prison Break', and home-grown entertainment and drama formats including 'Ross Kemp on Gangs'. The production of Terry Pratchett's 'Hogfather' – on which Richard and Rod Brown worked together - marked a new era of domestically produced drama for Sky, entertaining audiences of over 2.8 million and securing Sky1 its first ever BAFTA. In 2008, Sky1 was named Broadcast's Best Digital Entertainment Channel under Richard's leadership.
Prior to his tenure at Sky, Richard was Channel Controller of Living TV, and acquired popular US successes like 'Will & Grace', 'America's Next Top Model', and 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy', and commissioned the flagship show 'Most Haunted' amongst others.
"I am thrilled to be joining Prime Focus Productions," said Richard Woolfe. "I share the passion and vision of Simon and Rod to create a truly global entertainment and drama content brand. I love the can-do-let's-make-it-happen attitude of the entire company and I cannot wait to bring exciting new and genre-busting programming both here and around the world."
"I've worked with Richard in the past and I'm thrilled to have him join us," said Rod Brown, Managing Director, Prime Focus Productions. "Appointing someone with Richard's pedigree in Production and Commissioning delivers on the promise we made when we set up Prime Focus Productions five months ago - to have the best in the industry working together to create superlative entertainment content."
Also joining Prime Focus Productions is Commercial Director of Production Lynn Lugsden, former Commercial Manager at Tiger Aspect Productions. Lynn will oversee the management and exploitation of the Prime Focus Productions brand.
Simon Briggs, Managing Director UK of Prime Focus, commented: "I am extremely excited to have Richard and Lynn join us at this pivotal moment in the evolution of Prime Focus Productions. Richard's track record speaks for itself and he will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the Creative output of the Production division, whilst Lynn is just the right person to drive our commercial strategy."
"Our aim for Prime Focus Productions", Simon continued, "as with all our businesses worldwide, will be to exploit our global footprint, leveraging production and post production services in territory in order to deliver high quality television programmes to broadcasters around the globe. We have a fantastic slate and a tremendous, growing team and the future is incredibly exciting for the Production arm of our business."
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08 Jun 2011
Dancing on Ice Returns to Elstree Studios
Elstree Studios has confirmed reports that Dancing On Ice is returning to Elstree Studios. Elstree was unable to undertake the last series because of the latest Sherlock Holmes' film, A Game of Shadows, with Jude Law and Robert Downey Junior.
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Dancing on Ice series 6 was subsequently made at Shepperton Studios. Before that, all five series were made at Elstree Studios.
Roger Morris, Managing Director of Elstree Studios, commented: "When we announced last year that we were unable to accommodate Dancing on Ice, there was almost a public outcry. It is a great series with a dedicated following and we love working with the show.
"For major audience shows like Dancing on Ice, you need a studio that's easy to get to, and that has the infrastructure and size to accommodate the shows' needs - lots of ice rinks, artists and major television broadcast facilities.
"This is a number one show for us, as I am sure that it is for ITV. We look forward to working with the ITV team to make it really special."
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01 Jun 2011
BBC Reveal New TV Drama Commissions for 2012
Following the success at the BAFTAs where the BBC picked up five of the eight TV drama awards, Danny Cohen, Controller, BBC One, and Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning have announced a wide range of new drama commissions for 2012.
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Ben Stephenson says: "I'm very proud of all the BBC Drama BAFTA winners, I'm especially thrilled that Sherlock picked up the much coveted best series award."
"Series Two of Sherlock will kick off a big year for drama on BBC One. 2012 will be a year of huge cultural significance and BBC One Drama promises to match that ambition by bringing audiences stories with real scale that connect with the hearts and lives of British people."
He continued, "Danny Cohen and I have just commissioned 25 hours of new drama for BBC One at 9pm in 2012, this includes two series (Anthony And Cleopatra and Savage), three serials (Inside Men, May Day, Restless) and two singles (Noah and Bert And Dickie)."
Stephenson concluded, "I believe this demonstrates a bigger commitment to Original British Drama than any other broadcaster in this country. Following the recent rebirth of drama on BBC Two, the drama story continues to grow as we challenge what popular mainstream drama is on BBC One."
Danny Cohen, Controller, BBC One, adds: "Drama is a defining genre for BBC One, and these new commissions reflect the quality, range and ambition we have for our programmes."
New commissions as follows:
Anthony And Cleopatra, 6x60 series, written by Sally Wainwright and made by Red Production Company
New series for BBC One about love and second chances, set in the autumn years of two old school friends. Alan and Celia, both widowed and in their 70s, unexpectedly fall for each other when they meet again after nearly 50 years. Their relationship is a celebratory tale of the uplifting power of love at any age. But this is also a story about family, and about history. Both Alan and Celia have families, and with family comes baggage.
Savage, new series, written by Stephen Butchard, made by BBC Drama Production
A young, honest, Liverpool beat cop witnesses the brutal murder of his closest friend and is torn between his desire to protect his family, his sense of duty to the public and a sudden, intoxicating, compulsion for revenge.
May Day, 5x60 serial, written by Ben Court and Caroline Ip, made by Kudos Film and Television
When a young girl goes missing, feared dead, the community in which she lives looks to one another for answers. Four of the girls neighbours fear someone within their family may be involved. A sophisticated thriller about suspecting those closest to you of committing an appalling crime.
Inside Men, 4x60 serial, written by Tony Basgallop, made by BBC Drama Production
Inside Men is the story of three employees of a security depot who plan and execute a £15 million cash heist. Told entirely from their perspective, our protagonists are not seasoned criminals – just honest, hard working men who see an opportunity, weigh up the risks and take a leap.
Restless, 2x90 serial, written by William Boyd, made by Endor Productions
Adaptation of William Boyd's award-winning book about a young woman who discovers her mother was a British spy in theSecond World War, specialising in espionage in America
Bert And Dickie, 1x90 single, written by William Ivory, made by BBC Drama Production
Just six weeks before the final of the 1948 London Olympics, Bert Bushnell and Dickie Burnell are teamed together to race for Olympic gold in the double sculls. This is the uplifting story of their achievement and how London managed to pull off a brilliant, if make do and mend Olympic Games at a challenging time for the city and the nation
Noah, 1x90 single, written by Tony Jordan, made by Red Planet Pictures
The retelling of the classic Noah's Ark story, told from a very human perspective.
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01 Jun 2011
Piers Wenger Appointed Senior Commissioning Executive at Film4
Film4, Channel 4 Television's feature film division, has announced the appointment of Piers Wenger to the role of Senior Commissioning Executive. Wenger, currently Head of Drama, BBC Wales, will take up his new post at a date to be confirmed.
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His arrival marks an expansion of the existing commissioning team; he will report to Channel 4's Controller of Film and Drama, Tessa Ross.
Commenting on the appointment, Tessa Ross said:''I'm delighted to welcome Piers to the team. He is a hugely talented executive who will bring to Film4 real vision at a time when we are embarking on an exciting new phase in our development.'
Piers Wenger added: "It is with great sadness that I say goodbye to Doctor Who and BBC Wales, and all of the extraordinary people who work on its shows. But Film4's output, with its ethos of encouraging film-makers to produce their most authored and original work, could not be closer to my heart and so it's with huge excitement and a great sense of privilege that I take up this role."
Since 2008, Piers Wenger has overseen and executive produced the hugely successful creative regeneration of Doctor Who under lead writer Steven Moffat, launching a new Doctor, the first to be BAFTA-nominated for the role, and overseeing the rapid expansion of the show around the world.
During his three year tenure, he has broadened and expanded the slate of drama productions at BBC Wales, to include Eric & Ernie, co-executive produced with Victoria Wood, which won the writer and leading actor BAFTAs at the 2011 Awards, Christopher and His Kind, Kevin Elyot's account of Christopher Isherwood's Berlin years with Matt Smith in the lead role and Upstairs Downstairs written by Heidi Thomas. He is currently working on the much-anticipated adaptation of Ford Madox Ford's masterpiece, Parade's End, written by Sir Tom Stoppard as well as Punchdrunk's latest theatrical production The Crash of the Elysium which will premiere at the Manchester International Festival later this year.
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01 Jun 2011
Helen Bullough Appointed New Head of Production at CBBC
Helen Bullough has been appointed as Head of CBBC Production with responsibility for all in house production for CBBC in MediaCityUK. Helen will be tasked with leading a team of over 200 staff, creating shows such as Tracy Beaker Returns, Legend Of Dick And Dom and Serious Explorers.
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Helen is currently Head of Entertainment Production North in Manchester and Head of Vision North. She is responsible for a team of 130 staff in Manchester that produce key network shows including Mastermind, Question Of Sport, Dragon's Den and Antiques Master. For the last two years Helen has also been Head of Vision North, leading the Manchester-based Vision departments through the migration to MediaCityUK.
Director of BBC Children's, Joe Godwin, says: "Helen brings a wealth of experience across many genres and will be a brilliant leader for CBBC's in-house production team and a fabulous addition to Children's senior management team."
Helen joined the BBC in 1991 as a Broadcast Journalist Trainee in News, moving to Manchester in 1993 to work on the Daytime and Features slate. She has worked in the North ever since on a wide range of output ranging from religious documentaries to Rough Guides; Fred Dibnah to Dragon's Den. She ran the Manchester Entertainment development team for three years and has developed and executive produced shows for BBC One, Two, Three and Four plus multiplatform and Red Button output.
Helen commented: "I'm thrilled! I've always had a brilliant time in Manchester working with the teams here. Now this is a fantastic creative opportunity to join talented inhouse colleagues at CBBC in MediaCity UK, helping to deliver the next generation of content to the next generation of BBC audiences – inspired by the North and delighting young viewers everywhere."
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25 May 2011
PG Members Form Part of Government Film Policy Review
Identifying barriers to growth and building a more successful British film industry will be the top priorities of a review of Government film policy to be led by former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lord Chris Smith. Smith who was appointed to the review by Minister for the Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, will chair an eight-strong independent panel of film industry experts including PG Members Iain Smith and Matthew Justice, Oscar® winner Lord Julian Fellowes and representatives from the new Board of the British Film Institute (BFI), which recently became the lead body for the delivery of film policy in the UK.
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Lord Smith and the panel are expected to report by the end of the year. They will look across the UK film industry considering film development and production, distribution and exhibition, and inward investment.
The principal objectives for the Review are:
1. To identify market failures preventing the creation of a more successful and fully integrated British film industry and, where possible, to use policy to help address these obstacles and assist in building a model which is adaptable enough to work effectively in a rapidly changing global marketplace.
2. To determine how best to set Policy directions for Lottery funding, and to deploy Lottery and Grant-in Aid funding generally to support the growth of a more successful UK film sector to the benefit of the public and the industry.
3. To identify ways to develop and retain UK talent to support this model; by building on our inherently British creativity and on existing skills strategies to maximise development of new and diverse talent across entrepreneurial, technical and creative disciplines.
4. To help determine how best to increase audience demand for film, including independent British film, the BFI will lead work which will aim to maximise the impact of film education, in particular by looking at ways to consolidate existing initiatives. This work will also aim to increase access UK-wide to our rich screen heritage, as well as inspiring new generations from all backgrounds to learn about, and participate in, film and film culture.
Speaking to The Production Guild, Iain Smith said:
"I think the review is not only critically important for the future positioning of the film industry, but is also timely as even in these busy times there will be many challenges ahead for all of us."
Ed Vaizey said:
"This has been an excellent year for British film at the awards ceremonies and we can be really proud of this. But this success masks the underlying problems that the industry continues to face. British film making is still not as profitable as it should be for British film makers and there remain significant challenges in getting productions off the ground.
"Though many issues are rightly for the industry to resolve the Government can play a big part in helping to make things better. Through this review, Chris Smith will bring the different branches of the industry together to identify what the key problems are and then look at how these can be tackled. We need to work hand-in-hand with the recently strengthened BFI and the industry to find solutions and make sure that the Government has a framework of policies that support successful business models, nurture our celebrated film talent, contribute to economic growth and create a flourishing film culture across the whole of the UK."
The panel will help set the Government's strategic direction for how the UK film industry can best be supported to develop successful business models that allow them to contribute to economic growth whilst nurturing our celebrated film talent and engaging with UK audiences.
Chris Smith said:
"I'm delighted to be leading this review. As we've seen from recent awards, British film at its best can beat the world. But how can we ensure that it's always able to achieve its best: that's the crucial question. How can Government and the industry work together to do so?
"We want to hear from the industry, from film-makers, from experts, from audiences, and from all who have a contribution to make to the debate. Getting the right framework of policy in place for supporting British film is the challenge we are aiming to address."
The BFI will be responsible for setting and implementing detailed delivery plans within the new policy framework, which will be driven by the challenge to make best use of increased Lottery funding becoming available after the 2012 Olympic Games. Lottery money for British film will increase by about 60 per cent by 2014, to around £43m a year.
Chair of the BFI, Greg Dyke said:
"The BFI is very keen to work with Chris Smith on the policy review, which will principally look at how the film industry in Britain can grow further. We welcome being fully involved in the process and are glad that three of our governors will be on the panel and that we will be leading on part of the review itself in the areas of learning and audience engagement. During this time, we will be developing the BFI's own strategic forward plan, which will obviously be influenced by the Government policy review."
Lord Fellowes said:
"I am delighted to be part of the Government's film policy review. It has been a great year for British film but it is important that we keep up this momentum and so I welcome the Government's initiative on this."
The review panel will comprise:
Will Clarke, Independent Cinema Distributor, founder and former CEO of Optimum Releasing
Lord Julian Fellowes, Oscar® winning writer and actor
Matthew Justice, UK Film Producer and MD of Big Talk Productions
Michael Lynton, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment
Tim Richards, Chief Executive of Vue entertainment
Tessa Ross, Channel 4 Controller of Film and Drama
Libby Savill, Head of Film and Television at Olswang
Iain Smith, film producer and Chair of the British Film Commission Advisory Board
that "I think the review is not only critically important for the future positioning of the film industry, but is also timely as even in these busy times there will be many challenges ahead for all of us".
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25 May 2011
Film London Reveal First Titles for the 2011 London UK Film Focus
Horrid Henry: The Movie 3D with PG Members Sam Mill (Production Co-ordinator), Linda Gregory (Production Accountant), Matthew Lawson (Assistant Accountant), Isabel Chick (Post Production Accountant) and Philip Lobban (Location Scout) and A Thousand Kisses Deep with PG Members Christopher Granier-Deferre (Co-Producer), Helen Swanwick (Production Secretary), Daniel Palmer (Production Accountant) and Jane Soans (Location Scout) will be amongst the films premiering at this year's London UK Film Focus (LUFF).
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Starring Anjelica Huston and Richard E. Grant, produced by Vertigo Films and Novel Entertainment and represented by Protagonist Pictures, Horrid Henry: The Movie 3D will be looking to secure international sales at the only event dedicated to supporting the export of new UK films and UK film companies. The film was co-funded with the UK Film Council (whose funding activities have now been transferred to the BFI), Prescience and Aegis Film Fund Ltd.
Other premiere's at this year's LUFF include SKET the latest British gang movie directed by Nirpal Bhogal starring Ashley Walters and being sold by AV Pictures and A Thousand Kisses Deep directed by Dana Lustig, starring Dougray Scott, Emelia Fox and Jodie Whittaker presented by Goldcrest Films International.
LUFF will welcome over 120 international film buyers and festival directors to the UK capital for the four day event taking place Monday 27 June - Thursday 30 June. LUFF is a unique initiative, now in its eighth year. The 2011 edition sees a new strategic partnership with the BFI, who have invested in the event, recognising the importance of supporting new UK film and emerging talent through LUFF and meeting demand from UK Sales Companies.
An important annual event in the film industry's international calendar, LUFF attracts buyers representing all world territories who come to see around 50 titles. The event generates significant income and last year resulted in approximately $3m worth of sales.
Helena Mackenzie, Head of Inward Investment & Business Development at Film London, says: "Film London remains as committed as ever to supporting the film business in the UK capital and UK film-makers. Over the last eight years LUFF has proven its value to the industry in providing a unique platform for UK films to reach international audiences, which is why, despite recent cutbacks, LUFF is returning this year."
Amanda Nevill, Director of the British Film Institute said: "LUFF plays a significant part in the overall promotion of British film internationally. The BFI has been involved with LUFF since its start; we are building further on that partnership with Film London now we are the strategic lead for film in the UK. We will work with them and other key partners to capitalise on the strength of British talent in the international film arena."
LUFF's Breakthrough strand also returns, building on success in previous years which has seen bidding wars for titles such as Sons of Cuba and kick started critically acclaimed international film festival tours of films such as Treacle Jr. Breakthrough offers an important platform for emerging British film-makers seeking sales representation, plus providing a chance for international buyers to monitor upcoming UK talent. Breakthrough 2011 titles include Film London Microwave documentary The British Guide to Showing Off, Acts of Godfrey starring Simon Callow (Four Weddings and a Funeral), Ghosted starring John Lynch (Sliding Doors) and Martin Compston (The Disappearance of Alice Creed & Red Road), and Morris dancing documentary Way of the Morris from directors Tim Plester and Rob Curry.
LUFF 2011's primary funders are Film London and the BFI. It is produced in partnership with the Mayor of London, UK Trade & Investment and Film Export UK.
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25 May 2011
New British Film Sustainability Standard (BS 8909) Revealed at Cannes
The BFI and other leading film organisations have supported a new sustainability initiative developed by the British Standards Institution (BSI), aiming to improve the industry's environmental, social and economic impacts.
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The British film industry will take the lead on this new voluntary code of practice, launched at the Cannes Film Festival, which includes methods to ensure minimising environmental impact and maximising wider social and economic benefits include reducing wasteful travel arrangements and sourcing local products.
In 2009 screen production in London alone accounted for 125,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. As a result, a new standard - BS 8909 - was created to help companies focus on how their activities impact the environment, as well as the communities they work in and their wider economic influence.
BSI's Director of Standards Mike Low says:
"The film industry has pockets of excellence around sustainability issues, however, the new British Standard BS 8909 provides a comprehensive framework for all parties involved in the development and launching of films to adopt. It encourages companies to address the environmental, social and economic impacts of their work."
The introduction of BS 8909 is expected to be the start of a wider process of assimilating sustainability management into film production.
After seeing how the British Standard, BS 8901, has helped the events sector address sustainability issues and save money ahead of the 2012 London Olympic Games, the UK Film Council, whose funding responsibilities have now transferred to the BFI, asked The British Standards Institution (BSI) to work with it to develop a new industry standard for film.
The resulting standard, BS 8909, is a specification for 'sustainability management' in the film industry from production through to cinema exhibition and home entertainment that helps companies focus on how their activities impact the environment, the communities they work in and their wider economic influence.
BS 8909 can be applied across the film supply chain from planning to production, through to editing, distribution, screening and archiving. These extend beyond 'going green' and into areas such as the way filmmakers interact with communities where they film; for example, providing local employment opportunities or sourcing local products.
Complying with the new standard shows that processes and protocols are in place so that a film company's environmental impact is minimised and its social and wider economic benefits maximised. For example:
- Environmental: by reducing carbon emissions produced by wasteful travel arrangements; such as improved route planning, selecting vehicles with lower CO2 ratings, ensuring that more people travel together or adopting a more sustainable means of transport
- Social: by establishing clear guidelines for minimising the impact of the filming schedule on local communities; such as limiting hours of work, engaging early with communities about parking arrangements, noise, and catering, or by ensuring that child cast members are chaperoned are able to cope with the demands of a busy working environment. The entire supply chain can be considered too, which means, for example, that companies that produce a film's associated merchandising will be able to adopt the standard too
- Economic: by helping communities benefit from film activities: for example, by hiring local people and compensating them properly or sourcing local props, extras and catering.
For further information, case studies and to view the BS 8909 Guidance Notes from the BSI, please visit http://shop.bsigroup.com/Browse-By-Subject/Sustainability/Sustainable-film-with-BS-8909/
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25 May 2011
BAFTA Announce 2011 Television Award Winners
The winners of the 2011 Philips British Academy Television Awards were announced at the ceremony held at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on 22 May and hosted by Graham Norton. The winners included a Best Drama Series win for Sherlock produced by Hartswood Films (with PG Member Debbie Vertue) alongside PG Members Kathy Nettleship (Line Producer) and Elizabeth Walker (Production Accountant) and Best Drama Serial went to Any Human Heart with PG Members Claire Mitchell (Assistant Accountant), Anthony Flint (Accounts Assistant) and Phil Brown (Post Production Supervisor).
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A full list of winners can be found below this article and five first-time winners took home performance awards from this year's Philips British Academy Television Awards. Daniel Rigby and Vicky McClure, both nominated for the first time, won the Leading Actor and Leading Actress BAFTAs. Daniel was awarded for his performance as Eric Morecambe in biopic Eric and Ernie and Vicky for playing Lol in Shane Meadows' This Is England '86.
The Supporting Actor award went to Martin Freeman for his performance as Watson in Sherlock, also winning the Drama Series BAFTA.
Lauren Socha won the Supporting Actress award for Misfits, last year's Drama Series winner.
Jo Brand also won her first BAFTA this evening. She took home the Female Performance in a Comedy Programme award for Getting On. Jo had been nominated for her performance in the show at last year's ceremony.
The Male Performance in a Comedy Programme BAFTA was awarded to Steve Coogan for The Trip. Steve last won a BAFTA in 1998, when he won two awards for I'm Alan Partridge.
The ceremony was hosted by Graham Norton, who received the Entertainment Performance award for The Graham Norton Show. Graham won this category three times in a row, in 2000, 2001 and 2002 for So Graham Norton, but had not been nominated since.
The Entertainment Programme award was won for the first time by The Cube.
Channel 4 claimed the Drama Serial award for Any Human Heart, the four-part adaptation of William Boyd's novel.
BBC Four's drama about the creation of the UK's longest running soap opera The Road to Coronation Street won the Single Drama award. However Coronation Street was beaten to the Continuing Drama award by EastEnders for the second year running.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's campaigning series Hugh's Fish Fight won the Features BAFTA.
ITV News at Ten won the News Coverage BAFTA for the third year running, this year for its reporting of the Cumbria murders.
The BBC enjoyed a very strong showing in the factual categories – Factual Series went to Welcome to Lagos, which explored life in the Nigerian capital; Between Life and Death, which follows the doctors who can now interrupt, and even reverse, the process of death, won the
Single Documentary award and Current Affairs was won by undercover documentary Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children.
Sky's Flying Monsters 3D won the Specialist Factual category, the first 3D programme to win a Television BAFTA.
Harry and Paul triumphed in the Comedy Programme category, reprising its win of two years ago. The Situation Comedy award went to new BBC Two series Rev, starring Tom Hollander.
The BBC's coverage of Formula 1, for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix claimed the Sport BAFTA. Cult Danish crime thriller The Killing scooped the International BAFTA. The interactive website Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention, which accompanied the BBC series, won the New Media BAFTA.
A record number of public votes were registered for this year's YouTube Audience Award. The Only Way Is Essex took away the award, beating Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, Downton Abbey, The Killing, Miranda and Sherlock.
The Special Award, in the gift of the Academy, was presented to Peter Bennett-Jones in recognition of outstanding contribution to the entertainment industry and for his development of new talent.
The Fellowship, the highest accolade bestowed by the Academy, was presented to Sir Trevor MacDonald in recognition of his outstanding contribution to television and, in particular, news broadcasting.
FULL WINNERS LIST
LEADING ACTOR
Daniel Rigby
For Eric and Ernie (BBC Two)
LEADING ACTRESS
Vicky McClure
For This Is England '86 (Channel 4)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Martin Freeman
For Sherlock (BBC One)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lauren Socha
For Misfits (E4)
ENTERTAINMENT PERFORMANCE
Graham Norton
For The Graham Norton Show (BBC One)
FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME
Jo Brand
For Getting On (BBC Four)
MALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME
Steve Coogan
For The Trip (BBC Two)
SINGLE DRAMA
The Road to Coronation Street
Production Team
BBC Four / ITV Studios
DRAMA SERIES
Sherlock
Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Sue Vertue, Beryl Vertue
BBC One / Hartswood Films
DRAMA SERIAL
Any Human Heart
Lynn Horsford, Lee Morris, Sally Woodward Gentle, Michael Samuels
Channel 4 / Carnival Films
CONTINUING DRAMA
EastEnders
Production Team
BBC One / BBC Productions
INTERNATIONAL
The Killing
Søren Sveistrup, Piv Bernth, Birger Larsen, Sofie Gråbøl
BBC Four / DR / ZDF Enterprises
FACTUAL SERIES
Welcome to Lagos
Will Anderson, Gavin Searle, Chris King, Andrew Palmer
BBC Two/Keo North
SPECIALIST FACTUAL
Flying Monsters 3D
David Attenborough, Anthony Geffen, Sias Wilson
Sky 3D / Atlantic Productions
SINGLE DOCUMENTARY
Between Life and Death
Nick Holt, Meredith Chambers, Marina Parker, Ben Brown
BBC One/BBC Factual Wales
FEATURES
Hugh's Fish Fight
Andrew Palmer, Will Anderson, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Frankie Fathers
Channel 4/Keo Films
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children
Jezza Neumann, Xoliswa Sithole, Brian Woods, Deborah Shipley
BBC Four / True Vision Productions
NEWS COVERAGE
ITV News at Ten: The Cumbria Murders
Production Team
ITV1/ITN Productions
SPORT
Formula 1 – The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Production Team
BBC One/BBC Sport
NEW MEDIA
Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention
Production Team
www.bbc.co.uk/Aardman Digital/BBC
ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME
The Cube
Adam Adler, Nathan Eastwood, Andrew Newman, Andrew O'Connor
ITV1/Objective Productions
COMEDY PROGRAMME
Harry and Paul
Harry Enfield, Paul Whitehouse, Sandy Johnson, Izzy Mant
BBC Two/Tiger Aspect Productions
SITUATION COMEDY
Rev
Production Team
BBC Two/Big Talk Productions
YOUTUBE AUDIENCE AWARD (voted for by members of the public)
The Only Way Is Essex
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25 May 2011
Funding Future Media: The Ravensbourne Bootcamp 30 June-1 July 2011
Ravensbourne are offering this intensive, hands on workshop for independent TV and content producers determined to succeed in the digital age of production, distribution, collaboration and partnership funding. The Funding Future Media bootcamp experience has been designed to enable your company to adopt new skills and form effective new collaborations for business success.
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The new digital age requires the adoption of a whole host of new business skills and practices to enable traditional content production companies to adapt into 21st Century Media Asset Exploitation companies. This bootcamp enables you to explore and adopt a new 'six pack' of digital skills to empower you to be able to monetise existing and new content assets in new ways and across new platforms and territories.
The bootcamp experience is designed to help improve the profitability and performance of your company. Here's what other production companies have said about Ravensbourne programmes.
"This was wonderful. I hope there will be more. This session is going to change my business for the better, thank you."
"Excellent and extremely informative and brilliantly put together. Thank you."
"A brilliant seminar – probably the best I've been too {seriously}."
"A highly informative workshop condensed with lots of juicy facts and to-do's."
"Would love to attend more sessions organised by Ravensbourne. This is one of the best sessions I've attended."
"Brilliant – Would definitely attend another. Wish some colleagues had attended. Not at all patronising, very accessible, very informative."
You can obtain funding for this bootcamp, please contact Skillset directly on the link below and read their requirements for subsidy - where there is the possibility of up to 80% discount off the course: http://www.skillset.org/funding/individuals/management_leadership/article_7898_1.asp
For further information, queries, bookings and advice email chris.thompson@rave.ac.uk or call 07809665915.
To view the webpage for this event, please visit: http://www.rave.ac.uk/events/funding-future-media-the-ravensbourne-bootcamp/
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25 May 2011
The Pixel Market Opens for Applications from Cross-Media Producers
Power to the Pixel have announced that The 2011 Pixel Market is now open for entries. Dedicated to showcasing and financing cross-media projects from around the world, the event takes place on 12 & 13 October 2011 as part of Power to the Pixel's annual Cross-Media Forum from 11 – 14 October and held in association with the BFI London Film Festival.
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The Pixel Market will introduce 25 cross-media project producers to top international financiers, commissioners, tech companies, online portals and media companies during the two-day event.
Up to 8 of the 25 selected teams will compete for the £6,000 ARTE PIXEL PITCH PRIZE at the Market's public event, The Pixel Pitch on 12 October at NFT1, BFI Southbank. Teams in competition will present their cross-media project to a handpicked roundtable of international jurors made up of international decision-makers, commissioning executives and financiers working in film, broadcast, publishing, online, advertising, gaming, the arts and interactive media.
The second day of the market on 13 October will offer one-to-one business meetings to the 25 project teams with potential investors and partners from across the media industries, technology and finance.
Entries are invited from producer-led teams from around the world, with a strong track record in film, broadcast, interactive media or other relevant creative industries. Each project's story must span a combination of film, TV, online, mobile, interactive, publishing, live events and gaming.
Projects must also include the use of new tools, platforms, services and devices and be at an advanced stage of development.
Teams selected for The Pixel Market will benefit from significant international publicity and can expect to be introduced to new international business and partnership opportunities.
Companies in attendance at last year's Pixel Market include
Artangel | ARTE | Arts Alliance | BBC | | BBH | BFI | Campfire | Channel 4 | CNC | ContentFilm | Creative Scotland | DFI | Disney | Endemol | Faber Novel | Macmillan | MSN | NFB Canada | Nordisk Film & TV Fond |Ogilvy Group | Orange| Ridley Scott Associates | Salt | Shine | Sony Computer Entertainment | Submarine | Telefilm Canada | TF1 | United Talent Agency | YouTube
The Pixel Market is supported by the Media Programme of the European Union, ARTE and the TorinoFilmLab.
Deadline for Submissions: 29 July 18.00 BST
Further information can be found at Power to the Pixel's website http://www.powertothepixel.com
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25 May 2011
BFI Launch Performing Arts on Film and Television Catalogue
A new catalogue documenting the histories of theatre, acting, dance, music, performance art and oratory (from politics to poetry) on film and television has been launched by the BFI.
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The catalogue references over 3,500 film and video titles currently held by the archives and collections of BFI, Arts Council England, LUX, Central St Martins British Artists Film & Video Study Collection.
This ACE-funded resource for programmers, curators, researchers, students, performers, practitioners, artists and filmmakers, is now downloadable for free from the BFI website to encourage engagement between the arts and the moving image.
The catalogue has already been described by producer John Wyver of Illuminations as "unbelievably useful and interesting" and "a great resource to dip into for anyone simply interested in its subject matter."
To view the catalogue, please visit http://www.bfi.org.uk/go/performingartscataloguepg/
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18 May 2011
New International Partnership Revealed for Film London at Cannes
Film London is attending the 64th Cannes Film Festival to promote London and the UK as world-class production centres and to strengthen its relationships with the international film industry. Based at the UK Film Centre at Cannes' Village International, Film London is at the festival to showcase what the capital has to offer to productions from across the globe and has formed a new city-to-city partnership with the Filme Rio-Rio Film Commission.
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The British Film Commission (BFC), now a national division of Film London, is also in Cannes to promote the entire UK as a top destination for international film-makers. Coinciding with the festival, the BFC has just launched its new website - an informative and user-friendly resource for producers interested in shooting in the UK.
Transatlantic Bridges
The Cannes Film Festival, one of the key dates in the film industry calendar, was also the location for the signing of a new city-to-city agreement between London and Rio de Janeiro. Film London and Filme Rio-Rio Film Commission yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to encourage the exchange of trade, talent and expertise between the two cities' film sectors and boost opportunities for co-production.
The partnership was sealed at a gathering attended by representatives from the UK and Brazilian film industries and was welcomed by the likes of British director Julian Temple - who will be filming his latest feature, Children of the Revolution, in Rio later this year - and Brazilian helmer Fernando Meirelles, who is currently filming thriller 360 with Jude Law and Rachel Weisz which shot in the UK capital.
The partnership comes as London prepares to pass on to Rio de Janeiro the role of hosting the Olympic Games in 2016, following the London Games in 2012. The agreement will also help share ideas on how the film industries of the two Olympic host cities can best exploit this unique opportunity.
The new agreement joins a number of fruitful relationships that Film London has entered into with film commissions from across the world. Last year Film London formalized an agreement with the Ile de France Film Commission. The partnership, which has seen Paris and London strengthening their bonds and facilitating the exchange of talent from the production and VFX sectors over the past year, was celebrated and extended last Saturday at a special industry gathering at the Festival.
Strengthening Networks
Alongside its glamorous façade, the Cannes Film Festival also offers unique opportunities for those behind the scenes to meet and forge important industry relationships and discover opportunities worldwide. Producers had the chance to learn about Film London's Production Finance Market (PFM) during a special session held yesterday. The PFM, which just announced it will return for a fifth year on 19 and 20 October 2011, is a unique two-day market for producers and film financiers to form fruitful relationships.
Finally, topping off its presence at the French Riviera, Film London and the British Film Commission yesterday held a networking reception in partnership with the BFI, Technicolor and trade publication Screen International. The event, aimed at members of the international film industry in Cannes, was also attended by Ed Vaizey, the UK's Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries.
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18 May 2011
BBC Films Reveal New Production Slate at Cannes
Following on from what BBC Films calls a "fantastic reception" at Cannes for We Need to Talk About Kevin (PG Member Gisela Evert, Post Production Supervisor), the feature filmmaking arm of the BBC have revealed their new slate at Cannes, stating that it "confirms their commitment to developing new talent and cements their relationships with filmmakers they have worked with in the past". The slate also includes a new family remit bringing classic novels and inspiring new stories to the younger generations.
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BBC Films announced that theatre director Rufus Norris will direct his first feature, Broken, an adaptation by Mark O'Rowe of Daniel Clay's novel and a modern take on the themes of Harper Lee's classic To Kill A Mockingbird. The film is about a terrifying incident which divides a community, sowing distrust and hatred, but in this ultimately uplifting tale the power of innocence brings about an amazing reversal. Cillian Murphy has joined the cast and Dixie Linder, Nick Marston and Tally Garner will produce.
BBC Films is also working with Morgan Matthews, the BAFTA-winning young documentary director who will move into feature films with a dramatic adaptation of his 2005 BBC documentary Beautiful Young Minds. Written by James Graham and developed by the UK Film Council, The X And Y Factor is a rites of passage story about a group of gifted British teenagers competing at the International mathematical Olympiad. It follows the story of one maths prodigy trying to discover a formula for love.
In addition to nurturing new directors, BBC Films also stated that they are delighted to be returning to directors with whom they have previously enjoyed great success.
Following An Education, BBC Films said it is thrilled to be working with Lone Scherfig again on Martin Sherman's adaptation of Rose Tremain's Music And Silence. Tremain's award-winning book is set in the court of Danish King Christian IV and tells the story of a beleaguered king fighting to save his kingdom and his disintegrating marriage.
At the same time, a young servant couple, pledged to the King and his notorious wife, Kirsten, find themselves falling deeply and passionately in love with each other, only to be torn apart, like Romeo and Juliet, when Kirsten is banished from court. The producers are Dan Lupovitz and Alexandra Stone.
BBC Films will also be working with Oscar®-winning director James Marsh (Man On Wire) again following the recently completed Project Nim for the BBC, which won the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival. He will direct Shadow Dancer (working title), the moving tale of a young mother in the Irish Republican movement, based on a script by political journalist Tom Bradby from his own novel. Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Aidan Gillen and Gillian Anderson will star in the thriller which is due to shoot early summer. Wild Bunch are handling international sales on the film, Paramount Pictures will release in the UK. Chris Coen (Funny Games US), Andrew Lowe (This Must Be The Place) and Ed Guiney (The Guard) will produce.
Tom Bradby brings his inside knowledge as one of the UK's top political journalists to Defence Of The Realm for BBC Films, an updated remake of the BAFTA-honoured film. The film is a tense political thriller following a dogged reporter on the trail of an international scandal who discovers that there are dangerous limits to the government's tolerance for freedom of speech. It will be produced by Lynda Myles and Jason Newmark of Newscope Films.
BBC Films is teaming up with one of Britain's most respected directors Mike Newell on Great Expectations. Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen at Number 9 Films will be producing the adaptation by novelist and screenwriter David Nicholls. The cast includes Helena Bonham-Carter and Jeremy Irvine and will start shooting in the UK in September.
Family entertainment also features strongly in the upcoming slate. BBC Films and Harbour Pictures are developing a new big-screen adaptation for a modern family audience of Arthur Ransome's masterpiece Swallows And Amazons, which is the classic story of four young children who set out on a boat in the Lake District to live alone on an island. Tom and Charlie Guard (The Uninvited) will direct from Andrea Gibb's (Dear Frankie) screenplay, and Nick Barton (Calendar Girls) will produce.
Paul King (Bunny And The Bull) brings his unique imagination and screen-writing skills to bear on Geraldine McCaughrean's Peter Pan In Scarlet, the official sequel to the J M Barrie classic. With Neverland under threat from dark forces Pan has to call on some old friends to help restore order to the magical world. Infused with the mischievous spirit of Barrie's original, this restores a distinctly British flavour to the famous story and will be produced by Stewart Mackinnon at Headline Pictures.
Still staying with the young audience but on a more irreverent note, BBC Films is launching the hilarious comedy Sex Education with Ruby Films: Ferris Bueller's Day Off meets The Inbetweeners. Last year's Brit List winner is a disastrous journey through the perilous maze of schoolyard politics and schoolboy fantasies, throwing the charmingly naive Tom into the sexual complexities of the adult world where he discovers that sometimes getting what you wish for is the last thing that you need.
Following on from the success of 3D dance sensation StreetDance, BBC Films and Vertigo Films are reteaming on StreetDance 2. Directors Max and Dania return to direct. Our new hero falls in love with a beautiful Latin dancer as he discovers the magic, power and passion of dancing "a deux" for the ultimate global dance-off.
Due to start shooting in July, Now Is Good is the uplifting and inspiring story of a young girl's battle to taste life and love before she dies. Ol Parker will direct his own adaptation of Jenny Downham's Before I Die. Produced by Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin, the film will star Dakota Fanning, Jeremy Irvine, Paddy Considine and Olivia Williams.
Upcoming releases for 2011/2012: The First Grader, Perfect Sense, The Awakening, Project Nim, Jane Eyre, We Need To Talk About Kevin, You Instead, Coriolanus, My Week With Marilyn and Salmon Fishing In The Yemen.
"The bold ambition of Lynne Ramsay's We Need To Talk About Kevin, which has been passionately embraced by critics in Cannes, represents what we are trying to do across the entire slate at BBC Films – supporting brilliant talent and finding fresh, original, challenging and entertaining stories. The rich and diverse line-up of releases in the year to come represents BBC Films' determination to deliver a truly eclectic range of films that really excites British audiences," says Christine Langan, Head of BBC Films.
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13 Apr 2011
BFI Reveal £2m Audience Development Film Fund
A new transitional Lottery Film Fund has been announced by the BFI who took over as the lead body for Film within the UK earlier this month. The fund will aim to provide support delivering audience development for organisations across the UK.
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With a new film strategy and funding priorities planned to take effect in 2012, the £2million fund will provide transitional financial support for one year to enable organisations such as independent cinemas, film festivals, film clubs and societies, arts centres and regional archives to continue their vital work in delivering film to audiences.
At the same time, the fund is designed to give organisations stability and continuity during this year of transition to cope not only with challenging finances, but also with structural change in public funding across film.
The fund will go live in early May 2011 and give organisations one month in which to apply for funding. Applicants will need to demonstrate that their funding for core activities has been significantly reduced or withdrawn for the financial year 2011-12, and as a result are unable to deliver to audiences.
Peter Buckingham, Head of Distribution and Exhibition (Lottery), BFI said
"It's critical that we ensure that audiences don't suffer as a result of this transition period and that we enable film organisations to survive, and indeed continue to thrive, for the long term growth and development of film in the UK."
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18 May 2011
Tom Hooper Announced as BFI Governor
BFI Chair Greg Dyke has announced the appointment of filmmaker Tom Hooper to the organisation's Board of Governors, marking the final addition to the 15 BFI trustees.
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The King's Speech, directed by Hooper, won four Academy Awards in 2011. The film was supported by the UK Film Council, whose funding responsibilities have now transferred to the BFI.
Hooper said:
"I'm really pleased to be joining the BFI board at such an exciting moment, a moment when the BFI is reinventing itself to be one of the leaders on film in Britain."
BFI Chair Greg Dyke said:
"We are absolutely delighted to have Tom join the BFI board. With a reputation as an outstanding collaborator, his knowledge, expertise and influence will be invaluable in helping us steer the new lead body for film towards an exciting future for British film."
Hooper started his career as a television director working on a succession of UK hits, including Byker Grove, Cold Feet, Love in a Cold Climate and Prime Suspect. He went on to achieve huge success in the US at the Emmys and Golden Globes, with his TV film Longford, the mini-series Elizabeth I, and John Adams, a nine-hour HBO series about the American Revolution, which won a record 13 Emmys. The King's Speech was Hooper's third major feature.
The BFI is a registered charity governed by a Board of 15 Governors, whose experience and interests range across film, television, the moving image, public service and private business. BFI Governors are part-time non-executives, and meet monthly.
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18 May 2011
Applications Now Open for Film London Production Finance Market
The Film London Production Finance Market (PFM) will return for a fifth year, after a report showed that financiers offered successful producers an average of $5.8m per project at last year's event, with additional deals still in negotiation. Applications for the Market are now open, with a deadline of Friday 8 July.
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The event, which will take place on 19-20 October 2011 in association with the BFI 55th London Film Festival, is dedicated to connecting producers with financiers to encourage new film financing relationships. Previous Markets have been directly responsible for getting a number of new features into production including Sixteen Films' Oranges and Sunshine and Razor Films' The Future.
In addition to production funding, projects have also attached co-producers as well as securing sales and distribution deals as a direct result of the Market.
The PFM is the only film finance market of its kind and has grown in size, scope and reputation since it launched in 2007 to become a key event in the international film industry calendar. With over 800 focused face to face meetings over the two days, it is popular with producers and financiers alike.
In 2010 the PFM was attended by 150 delegates from 18 countries featuring companies such as Warner Bros., Focus Features, Summit Entertainment, Paramount and Lionsgate UK as well as France's Wild Brunch, Italy's RAI Cinema, Spain's Tornasol and Germany's Bavaria Film International.
Over the past five years the PFM has developed a number of international partnerships to strengthen the Market and extend its reach. As well as established and successful partnerships with the Ile de France Film Commission, Rome International Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival's 37ºSouth Market the PFM is also looking to secure new partners in Germany and is undertaking an outreach programme in the US.
"The figures we've seen from last year's Market are fantastic and they don't even begin to reflect the number of deals, which started at PFM, still being worked out and finalized behind the scenes," said Film London Chief Executive Adrian Wootton. "In light of recent cutbacks in public funding it is fantastic news for the industry that the value of this event has been recognized both by the delegates who attend and by the organizations - such as the Mayor of London, the BFI, MEDIA, and UKTI - who fund us to deliver it."
Roman Paul, who heads German production company Razor Film Production and secured the final piece of funding for Miranda July's The Future at PFM in 2009 said of the Market: "it feels more elite than other events. It's well organised, they team you up with the right people and all the key players are there."
For further information and details of how to apply, please visit: http://filmlondon.org.uk/pfm.
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18 May 2011
Creative Scotland Delivers £1m to Explore New Investment Models for Film
Creative Scotland yesterday unveiled a £1million investment into four pilot initiatives that will test new approaches to increasing the distribution and appreciation of Scottish cultural content, develop new audiences and return greater value to Scottish companies from film activities.
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Caroline Parkinson, Director of Creative Development, Creative Scotland said:
"Scotland's film sector is rich with talent, ambition and expertise and Creative Scotland will invest to drive an increase in the impact and reach of films produced in Scotland and in the investment environment for producers."
"Today's announcement reinforces Creative Scotland's commitment to invest in Scotland's creative future and to see the country recognised as one of the world's most creative nations."
The new initiatives are:
Sigma Releasing: One of Scotland's most prolific film production companies has created a new integrated business model which will allow them to co-release its films in the UK. Creative Scotland investment will allow them to contribute to the print and advertising costs of the UK release and allow it to reinvest the revenue generated from distribution across the range of its film activities.
Creative Scotland is investing £250,000 into Sigma Releasing.
Gillian Berrie, Director, Sigma Films said:
'It's great to have the resources to collaborate with Icon on You Instead and Arrow on Perfect Sense to support the UK releases and embrace and explore new distribution models and strategies.'
The MacKendrick Fund: a co-venture with the existing Aegis Fund and Prescience, this new commercial fund will offer debt and equity finance to domestic and international feature films with Scottish elements, or to be shot or post-produced in Scotland. The fund, which aims to be fully operational later in 2011, will further enhance the package Scottish producers can take to the market, using Creative Scotland investment to provide access to film finance on preferential terms. At the same time, the fund will also attract commercial international feature films of quality to Scotland.
Creative Scotland is investing £500,000 in the MacKendrick Fund.
Claire Mundell, Director, Mackendrick Capital Partners and co-founder of Synchronicity Films said:
'The strategic support of Creative Scotland is vital as we build this exciting new film funding venture, based in Scotland. We look forward to helping international and domestic producers realise their projects and putting Scotland on the map as an attractive global film destination.'
Tim Smith, Managing Director, Prescience said:
'Prescience is delighted to be a part of this vital initiative that will allow Scottish projects to gain a greater prominence on the world stage, where they belong.'
The Virtuous Circle (SDI Productions Ltd): a new model to test documentary financing through audience engagement, using a suite of digital tools that will allow producers and filmmakers to engage with potential audiences and investors at every stage of the development, production and distribution cycles of a film. Using crowd-sourcing models, the aim of The Virtuous Circle will be to explore a sustainable international documentary sector in Scotland.
Creative Scotland is investing £100,000 in The Virtuous Circle.
Noe Mendelle, Director, Scottish Documentary Institute said:
'We are very excited to be given the unique opportunity test these new progressive ideas linked to production and distribution over the next 18 months. We have been observing our colleagues in North America and realised that we have some catching up to do. We look forward to sharing our findings with the documentary community.'
La Belle Allée/Savalas Sound Post Equity Fund: A fund to allow sound post-production facility, Savalas to offer equity investment to attract international production to Scotland and discounts for locally produced feature films. Savalas is the only Dolby Premier studio outside of London and this fund would allow the company to attract large-scale projects and lead to the company becoming an equity stakeholder in the projects they invest in.
Creative Scotland is investing £125,000 in La Belle Allée/Savalas Sound Post Equity Fund.
Karen Smyth, Producer, La Belle Allée:
'La Belle Allée are delighted to be involved in the creation and running of a post-production equity investment fund, alongside Scotland's leading sound post production facility, Savalas. We look forward to attracting high quality projects to Scotland, as well offering domestic production world-class facilities at an affordable price.'
The new initiatives will help inform Creative Scotland's future film investment policy.
The organisation also recently announced an increase in its film investment funds, bringing the total available for development and production of film and television in Scotland this year to £3 million.
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18 May 2011
BBC Exec Appointed as New Head of Drama at Sky
The new Head of Drama at Sky has been revealed as BBC head of independent drama commissioning Anne Mensah, following Elaine Pyke's recent move to head up Sky Atlantic. Mensah will now be charged with overseeing drama commissioning for Sky1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Arts and Sky Movies.
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Within the new role she will report to Stuart Murphy, director of programmes for Sky1 and Sky Entertainment director of commissioning as well as other commissioning heads including Duncan Gray (entertainment), Lucy Lumsden (comedy), Mark Sammon (fact ent) and Celia Taylor (factual and features),
Moving from her base at BBC Scotland, Mensah will currently be on gardening leave from the BBC until she joins Sky on a date to be confirmed, which Broadcast have said is "understood to be late summer or early autumn."
Mensah has been responsible for ordering recent BBC Scotland drama productions including Hattie, Lip Service and Single Father, along with a range of Scottish projects including soap River City and the Made In England series as well as BBC Drama North productions, God On Trial, Waterloo Road and Wallander.
Stuart Murphy stated that "Mensah is not afraid to take creative risks and nurture ambitious projects." He continued, "We've increased our investment in original shows, especially across scripted, and cannot wait to welcome someone with as much flair, style and creative gusto as Anne".
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18 May 2011
First Light Seeks Five New Board Members
First Light is seeking to appoint five new trustees to its Board to help develop and grow the organisation. Applications are being invited from senior professionals in the film, TV, games and digital media industries and they are particularly keen to hear from applicants with significant experience in PR, finance, fundraising, distribution, talent development and education. The positions are unpaid.
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First Light works to help young people develop their skills, talent, creativity, confidence and entrepreneurial capabilities. It provides opportunities for them to work with industry professionals on high quality, youth led digital media projects. The new trustee roles have been created to help develop and grow the organisation.
Applications to join the First Light board close at noon, Friday 3 June 2011.
According to their job description, First Light are ideally looking got those who will show an enthusiasm for the work of First Light and a willingness to act as ambassadors for the scheme.
An expert knowledge of film and media, youth, education and/or funding at a senior level is also noted as being essential, combined with a willingness and capacity to offer personal and business skills and connections to support the work of First Light.
The board will meet formally five times a year and appointments are likely to be for an initial term of three years.
For further information and details of how to apply, please visit: http://www.firstlightonline.co.uk/about-us/recruitment/.
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18 May 2011
Full Line-up Revealed for Edinburgh International Film Festival 2011
The full programme for the 2011 Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has been announced and the EIFF has stated that it is "set to be a year of firsts". The 65th EIFF programme has a mix of special events, new discoveries and returning favourites, with 47 UK and International Premieres and 22 Documentary Premieres from luminaries such as James Marsh.
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There will be around 90 features and a host of shorts screening and over 50 events taking place at the Festival, which will open with the previously announced Opening Night Gala, The Guard, starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle, on Wednesday 15 June.
This year's programme is navigable by 10 key strands: Conflict | Reportage, Documentary - International and UK, Experimental, Features - International and UK, Nokia Shorts Weekender, Outside the Box, Perspectives, and Reel Science.
The International Features strand runs the gamut from Norwegian monster moc-doc Troll Hunter to Irish directorial debut and family drama My Brothers from Paul Fraser and indie teen sex-comedy Meet Monica Velour starring Kim Cattrall.
EIFF will also host the UK Premiere of Scottish filmmaker David Mackenzie's Perfect Sense starring our own Ewan MacGregor, Ewen Bremner, and Eva Green. David Hare returns to directing after 20 years with Page Eight, a political thriller as British as its cast, which includes Bill Nighy and Michael Gambon alongside Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz.
This year's retrospectives strand is dedicated to Perspectives. Programmed by our guest curators. They include British director Derek Jarman's The Angelic Conversation and The Last of England selected by Gus Van Sant, and a selection of films curated by Alan Warner, Béla Tarr, Jim Jarmusch and partner Sara Driver, and Sophie Fiennes, along with suggestions from Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The line-up includes the title of the festival's theme: Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows, and an array of great films from the curators themselves.
For even more perspectives, EIFF have launched a brand new event in partnership with MUBI titled Project: New Cinephilia promises to bring together critics, filmmakers, and audiences in order to spark debate and discussion about how we write about cinema. The day-long symposium invites writers, curators, and cinema fans to participate in interactive sessions that explore the current landscape of film criticism, appreciation, and evaluation.
EIFF first started out as a documentary festival, and the tradition lives on with a host of documentary premieres in partnership with Sheffield Doc/Fest, including Dominic Allan's Calvet and Mika Kaurismaki's Mama Africa.
Short films are brought to the fore this year with the Nokia Shorts Weekender, which includes masterclasses with award-winning filmmakers, cross-platform collaboration, and competitions. Lucy Cooke tells you how to become an internet sensation and Chris Shephard discusses the move from short film to features in our exclusive weekender events.
EIFF is also aiming to take visitors Outside the Box and into a new viewing experience at art venue InSpace with a schedule from New Media Scotland bursting with one-off screenings including Pixar's The Incredibles and the seminal Fellini classic 8 1/2.
Allied to a host of special events, exciting new venues, and a packed programme, this year marks a transition for the world's longest continually running film festival.
Tickets for all films and events go on sale at midday on Friday 20 May. Filmhouse Members can enjoy priority booking on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 May. Tickets can be purchased online, by telephone on 0131 623 8030 or in person at Filmhouse.
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11 May 2011
Application Period Opened for New BFI £2m Lottery Funding
Applications are now open for the BFI's new £2million Transition Lottery Fund, which will ensure that audience development for specialised and British film across the UK continues to grow.
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This one-off fund, that will not be repeated, is geared to organisations that have had their regular public (and in certain circumstances private) funding reduced because of overall funding or budgetary cuts. The fund is relevant only to the financial year 2011-2012 and is designed to give organisations stability and continuity during this period of transition.
Peter Buckingham, Head of Distribution and Exhibition (Lottery), BFI said,
"It's critical that we ensure that audiences don't suffer as a result of this transition period and that we enable film organisations to survive, and indeed continue to thrive, for the long term growth and development of film in the UK."
The fund will provide transitional financial support for one year, enabling independent cinemas, film festivals, film clubs and societies, arts centres and regional archives to continue their work in delivering film to audiences.
The closing date for applications is 6 June 2011. The application form and eligibility guidelines are available online here.
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11 May 2011
Northern Film & Media to Become Private Limited Company
Funding cuts and new strategic thinking will see Northern Film & Media (NFM) abandon screen agency status to develop a public-private business model.
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NFM will become a freestanding private limited company designed to build growth into the North East creative economy. The agency will seek to expand its portfolio of commercial investments in creative content and monetise its services by establishing new partnerships with a variety of public and private bodies. NFM will continue to support the North East creative industries through events, market access and services to incoming production.
The mixed-model is a response to reduced creative industry subsidy caused by the demise of funders regional development agency One North East and the UK Film Council.
Northern Film & Media has pioneered public-private investment partnerships and established the first public-VC creative industry fund outside of London, the Finance for Business – North East Creative Content Fund in 2009. The £2.4m co-investment fund with Northstar Ventures has invested in One Night in Turin indie New Black Films, digital content creation tool Masher and most recently United, the critically acclaimed BBC2 'Busby Babes' drama from World Productions. The agency also has a slate of 8 micro-budget feature film investments.
Since its launch in 2002, NFM has generated over £70m of investment into the North East creative industries and has helped create over 60 companies. The strategic shift provides Northern Film & Media with a more sustainable business model, fit for a new era of vastly reduced public funding. Faced by budget cuts in excess of 40%, the Newcastle-based agency recently cut staffing levels by 50%.
Tom Harvey, CEO, Northern Film & Media said: "We realised some time ago that the level of public subsidy for sectors like the creative industries was unlikely to continue.
"We have already diversified into a commercial investment fund model and are beginning to see successes with TV drama like Vera, United and Inspector George Gently. We also have four feature films coming out soon and we have high hopes for them all.
"We will run the commercial funds and continue to support local companies by providing events, market access and production support – the services that were prioritised when we consulted the industry earlier this year.
"With a more commercial structure we will be able to work with a wider range of finance and investment partners and we are already in discussion with potential partners interested in our new approach.
"I firmly believe that it is both necessary and desirable to break free of the traditional public sector business support model and become more self-sufficient. We are also very much looking forward to developing new partnerships with organisations such as Creative England, BFI and LEPs as the new structure becomes clearer.
"We will announce further details of the new structure, partnerships and focus over the coming months."
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11 May 2011
Sargent-Disc Celebrates Twenty Five Years in the Film Industry
Sargent-Disc is celebrating twenty five years of providing payroll, accounting and software services to the film and television industries. Founded in 1986 by John and Marija Sargent and based at Pinewood Studios, Sargent-Disc is a family run business affiliated to Entertainment Partners in Los Angeles, which provides tailor made services for productions.
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Commenting on their anniversary, John Sargent firstly thanked their clients and customers stating,
"We would like to thank all our clients for their support and loyalty to us over the last quarter of a century. The business has grown organically from being just Marija and myself when we founded the company to the fantastic team we have today. We have adapted and developed our services as the industry has changed and technology has developed. We will continue doing so in order to provide the industry with the quality of service it expects."
Marija also commented on the continued on the growth of the company into a larger family run business stating,
"It has been great to see our children Lara and Laurence become so involved in the company over the years. I am delighted they are now directors of the business with the ambition to continue driving it forward. I believe they will ensure that Sargent-Disc has an equally successful next twenty five years."
Having worked with many of the major Hollywood studios and independents and UK film and TV production and facilities companies, the range and type of productions that have been supported by Sargent-Disc is broad and varied.
SD Online, the on-line payroll system designed by Sargent-Disc is used throughout the entertainment industry on productions ranging from low budget documentaries and commercials, through to major Hollywood blockbusters.
Sargent-Disc is affiliated with Entertainment Partners in the US, Canada and Asia. Together they are the leading supplier of production payroll services in the world and Sargent Disc distributes software across Europe such as Movie Magic Budgeting, Movie Magic Scheduling, and EP Vista Accounting.
From feasibility studies through to post production accounting and residual payments, Sargent-Disc state that they are committed to offering service excellence at every stage of the production process.
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11 May 2011
BSC Launch Best Cinematography in a Television Drama Award
The British Society of Cinematographers have announced the introduction of a BSC Best Cinematography in a Television Drama Award, open to all Television Dramas that have had their first transmission on British Television, either terrestrial, cable or satellite during the qualifying period of 1st September 2010 to 31st August 2011.
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Other entry criteria includes:
- The production must be a single drama, or a longer drama production/mini-series such as one screened over several parts but retaining a single theme, storyline and principal characters. The applicant must carry a sole credit. The applicants need not be BSC members.
- Applicants to submit a ten minute selection from the submitted drama on DVD.
- Shortlisted applicants will be required to submit a complete programme on DVD or Blu-Ray.
- An entry fee of £75 plus VAT for each application will be levied to cover administration costs.
- The Award will be announced and presented at Operators Night in December.
If you would like to apply, Please download and complete the entry form (found here) and send it with payment of £90 (including VAT) payable to the BSC and your ten minute selection on DVD to Audra Woodburn, BSC, North Lodge, Pinewood Studios, Pinewood Road, Iver Heath, Bucks SLO ONH by 17th September 2011. The Award will be presented at the BSC Operators Night in early December at Pinewood Studios.
Please note: entry DVDs cannot be returned.
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11 May 2011
BAFTA Reveal Television Craft Award Winners
Downton Abbey was a big winner on the night with two awards as The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced the winners of their annual British Academy Television Craft Awards last weekend, held at The Brewery in the City of London, and hosted by Stephen Mangan.
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Other television drama winners included Merlin, Misfits, Sherlock, South Riding and This is England '86. (A full list of the winners can be found at the bottom of this article)
Honouring the very best behind the scenes talent from television and new media, it was a glittering night with a guest list including: Victoria Wood, Tamsin Grieg, Hugh Bonneville, Pamela Stephenson, Mark Gatiss, Olivia Colman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Katie Piper, Stephen Graham, Nina Sosanya, Ben Price, Paterson Joseph, Lesley Sharp, Paul Whitehouse and Chris Packham supporting their colleagues on the night.
Leading the way with two coveted BAFTA masks was ITV1's Downton Abbey with Brian Percival winning for Director: Fiction and Nigel Heath, Alex Sawyer, Adam Armitage and Mark Holding taking home the award for Sound: Fiction.
Also with two wins was BBC One's Human Planet series for their Arctic episode; Jason Savage winning for Editing: Factual and Will Edwards, Doug Allan and Matt Norman for Photography: Factual.
This year's Special Award was presented to BBC's Springwatch in recognition of its outstanding creative and technical teamwork both behind the camera and online, in a series that charts the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing seasons.
The new category for Director: Multi-Camera was won by Tony Prescott for ITV1's Coronation Street (live episode) – the hour-long special to celebrate their fifty years on air. Director: Factual was awarded to Dan Reed for Channel 4's Dispatches: The Battle for Haiti; capturing the daily battle for Haiti's future.
The Break-Through Talent category was won by writer Jon Brown for BBC Three's Mongrels – the adult puppet comedy series starring urban animals.
Costume Design was won by Annie Symons for her New Romantic costumes for BBC Two's Worried About the Boy. Another eighties nod was given for Make Up & Hair Design to Catherine Scoble for Channel 4's This Is England '86.
A delighted Victoria Wood and actor Daniel Rigby (who played Eric Morecambe) cheered on writer Peter Bowker, who won the Writer BAFTA for BBC Two's film Eric and Ernie.
Full Winners List:
SPECIAL AWARD
Springwatch
BREAK-THROUGH TALENT sponsored by The Farm
Jon Brown (writer) – Mongrels
BBC Three/BBC Productions
COSTUME DESIGN sponsored by Swarovski
Annie Symons – Worried About the Boy
BBC Two/Red Production Company
DIGITAL CREATIVITY
Nick Hall, Luc Houselander, Simon Brickle, Jody Smith – The Million Pound Drop Live
Channel 4/Endemol/Monterosa
DIRECTOR: FACTUAL sponsored by ProductionBase
Dan Reed – Dispatches: The Battle for Haiti
Channel 4/Quicksilver Media
DIRECTOR: FICTION sponsored by ProductionBase
Brian Percival – Downton Abbey
ITV1/Carnival Films
DIRECTOR: MULTI-CAMERA
Tony Prescott - Coronation Street (live episode)
ITV1/ITV Studios
EDITING: FACTUAL
Jason Savage – Human Planet (Arctic)
BBC One/BBC Wales/BBC Bristol
EDITING: FICTION
Charlie Phillips – Sherlock (A Study In Pink)
BBC One/Hartswood Films
ENTERTAINMENT CRAFT TEAM sponsored by HotCam
Barry Osment, Nick Foster, Peter Johnston, Julian Healy - The Cube
ITV1/Objective Productions
MAKE UP & HAIR DESIGN sponsored by MAC
Catherine Scoble – This Is England ‘86
Channel 4/Warp Films
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Dan Jones – Any Human Heart
Channel 4/Carnival Films
PHOTOGRAPHY: FACTUAL
Will Edwards, Doug Allan, Matt Norman – Human Planet (Arctic)
BBC One/BBC Wales/BBC Bristol
PHOTOGRAPHY & LIGHTING: FICTION
Alan Almond – South Riding
BBC One/BBC Productions/Masterpiece
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Tom Bowyer – Misfits
E4/Clerkenwell Films
SOUND: FACTUAL
Paul Paragon, Jez Spencer, Mike Hatch – Elgar: The Man Behind the Mask
BBC Four/Crux Productions/Prospect Pictures
SOUND: FICTION
Nigel Heath, Alex Sawyer, Adam Armitage, Mark Holding – Downton Abbey
ITV1/Carnival Films
VISUAL EFFECTS
The Mill – Merlin
BBC One/Shine Productions/BBC Wales
WRITER
Peter Bowker – Eric and Ernie
BBC Two/BBC Wales/Blue Door Adventures
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27 Apr 2011
Pinewood Receives Multi-Million-Pound Takeover Offer from Peel Group
The Board of Peel Acquisitions and the Pinewood Independent Directors have announced the terms of a unanimously recommended cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Pinewood. The offer from the Peel Group who currently own 29.78 per cent of the existing issued share capital of Pinewood values the company at approximately £96.1 million.
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The Acquisition is conditional and will need to meet certain approvals by Pinewood Shareholders and the sanction of the Scheme by a Court at the arrangement of Pinewood under Part 26 of the Companies Act.
In order to become Effective, the Acquisition must, amongst other things, be approved by the requisite majorities of Pinewood Shareholders present (in person or by proxy) and entitled to vote at the Court Meeting and the Pinewood General Meeting to be held on 31 May 2011. Subject to the satisfaction, or where relevant, waiver of all relevant Conditions, the Scheme is expected to become effective by the end of June 2011.
Commenting on the Acquisition, John Whittaker, Chairman of the Peel Group, said:
"Peel believes that the Acquisition represents an attractive proposition for the shareholders of Pinewood. Peel is a long-term investor in Pinewood and the wider media sector through its MediaCityUK investment and looks forward to supporting the Pinewood management in growing its operational business and developing its unique Project Pinewood proposal. Peel represents a long-term strategic partner for Pinewood in continuing to grow and develop the business."
Commenting on the Acquisition, Lord Grade of Yarmouth, Chairman of Pinewood, said:
"The Pinewood Independent Directors have recommended this offer to shareholders as it delivers certainty at an attractive premium. In the context of increasing illiquidity in the trading of Pinewood Shares, the Pinewood Independent Directors believe that this stable time in a volatile industry offers shareholders an opportune moment to realise value.
"Peel has been a most supportive shareholder, committed to our strategy and vision for the group. The Board is satisfied that the long-term future of these assets, which make such a contribution to the growth of the UK's creative industries, will pass into safe hands.
"For 75 years the names Pinewood and Shepperton have been iconic in the global screen industries. The current management has advanced the business, investing to re-establish it as a world-class centre for all creative industries and expanding internationally with Pinewood representation now in five key regions around the world. We have developed a digital infrastructure to support our UK studios and Pinewood is planning for the next 75 years with innovative schemes such as Project Pinewood.
"The Pinewood Independent Directors believe that today's proposal will give the business the long-term stability it needs to build on the success of the past few years."
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27 Apr 2011
George Entwistle Appointed as New Director of BBC Vision
The BBC has today appointed George Entwistle as Director of BBC Vision who commission the in-house production of BBC television programmes for BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC One HD, BBC HD and BBC Films. The appointment concludes an extensive recruitment search that followed Jana Bennett's departure from the post in January 2011. Entwistle will also join the BBC's Executive Board with immediate effect.
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George Entwistle will take up the post with immediate effect and will also be charged with overseeing Vision Productions and the editorial oversight for UKTV.
Entwistle commented, "I am genuinely honoured to have been chosen for the role of Director, BBC Vision. The BBC's television portfolio is of enormous importance to the creative and cultural life of the UK and is performing strongly in terms of quality and audience reach and share. At the heart of its success, BBC Vision Productions is responsible for some of the best television programmes we broadcast."
He continued, "I feel enormously proud to be leading these teams and I will do my utmost to build on the legacy of talent and excellence left by my predecessor, Jana Bennett."
BBC Director General Mark Thompson said: "I am delighted to be able to confirm George as the BBC's new Director, Vision. The breadth of his experience across journalism, the arts and factual programmes, combined with his rock-solid editorial judgement and deep understanding of the BBC's values, equip him brilliantly for this formidable task."
Thompson concluded, "I am looking forward to working closely with him to ensure the BBC's television portfolio remains the envy of the broadcasting world."
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26 Apr 2011
BAFTA and Sargent-Disc Launch Transatlantic Tax Incentives Film Event
BAFTA and PG Affiliate Sargent-Disc will be presenting Thinking Big: Transatlantic Tax Incentives on Friday 20th May, Princess Anne Theatre, 195 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LN. The event will cover incentives in Canada, the USA and the UK with speakers including PG Member John Graydon (RSM Tenon).
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In recent years, British filmmakers have been more likely to use Eastern Europe for location shooting than head to the US or Canada. While this is of course about logistics, financial incentives have also played their part in this shift. In this event, experts on tax incentives will help to explore the ways in which North America is courting international film production. Speakers will go into detail on what types of incentives exist in Canada, the US and also compare them with the UK, examining eligibility and key issues to consider for each of the three major territories.
The international panel of experts will include Specialist on Canadian Tax Incentives, David Carter (President of Canada Film Capital), Specialist on US Tax Incentives Joseph Chianese (Senior Vice President, Entertainment Partners) and Specialist on UK Tax Incentives John Graydon (Director of Business Services Film Unit, RSM Tenon Media) with a case study producer to be confirmed shortly.
The event is free for BAFTA Members and £7 for the public and includes a drink and chance to speak informally with the speakers and other professionals after the event at 6pm.
SPEAKERS
Joseph Chianese, SVP of Tax & Production Planning, Entertainment Partners
Joe is the Senior Vice President of Tax and Production Planning at Entertainment Partners. Entertainment Partners is the leading provider of production management services in the entertainment industry. Joe provides consulting, financial, tax and administrative services for both domestic and international production and tax incentives for film & television, and has over 26 years of accounting, tax and production experience including positions at Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, Paramount Pictures and Ernst & Young.
David Carter, President of Canada Film Capital
David Carter has been with Canada Film Capital since its formation in 1997. Previously, he was SVP of Finance with EP Canada; he began his career in the Toronto office of the accounting firm, BDO Dunwoody. A bachelor of science graduate from the University of Waterloo, David is licensed as a Chartered Accountant and a Certified Management Accountant in Canada, and as a Certified Public Accountant in the US.
John Graydon, Director of Business Services Film Unit, RSM Tenon Media
John heads up the Film Unit for RSM Tenon Media, providing specialist advice on accessing film financing opportunities in the UK and overseas. He has substantial experience in UK film tax breaks for both co-productions and Schedule 1 British qualifying films and also provides advice on all taxation matters and access to soft money in the UK. He was heavily involved in the evolution of the new UK Tax Credit System, working closely in the last few years with the UK Film Council, Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs and DCMS. John acts for a number of UK, US and European production companies. In Nov 2006, John was awarded the UK Production Guild External Merit Award for outstanding contribution the British film industry.
Pricing Information: BAFTA Members | Free (BAFTA members should log into http://www.bafta.org/members to book tickets for this event. )
Public | £7.50 Book tickets here
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27 Apr 2011
BFFS Receives 100% Funding Cut
The British Federation of Film Societies who are the national organisation for the development and support of the film society and community cinema movement in the UK, has revealed that its grant-in-aid funding has been summarily cut.
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Established in 1946, the BFFS announced that ten days notice was given that the grant-in-aid (revenue) funding would be cut by 100%.
The BFFS signed their current funding agreement with the UK Film Council (UKFC) in April 2010 which was due to run until March 2012 and the agreement had been fully delivered upon by BFFS.
In a public statement, the organisation commented that since August 2010 requests were made to the Department of Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) for confirmation regarding the second year of the funding agreement, which led to referrals to UKFC and the BFI, which were followed up.
According to BFFS, the UKFC stated that closure on 31 March 2011 meant they were unable to fund BFFS in 2011/12 and that at meeting on 21 March, the BFI stated they were also unable to fund BFFS because no funds or obligation to fund BFFS were passed to them by DCMS.
BFFS has been informed that from 2012 Lottery funds will be available for it to apply to, but this funding is for projects only. The body stated that as a volunteer-led organisation BFFS does not have the infrastructure to apply for critical funding that is impermanent, variable and competitive
Commenting to the Guardian today, Film-maker Ken Loach, patron of the BFFS, said: "It would be disastrous if they were not able to continue – they should be enabled to grow, not be diminished. We know the market will not provide diversity nor cherish film making. Let's hope the culture secretary will confound expectations and provide substantial support."
A spokesperson for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport told the Guardian: "Individual funding decisions are taken by the BFI, which is now the lead agency for film. The government is continuing to support the British film industry."
They continued, "In particular, the two key mechanisms which support UK film are being maintained; firstly the tax relief, which is worth about £100m per year; and secondly the share of lottery funding to support film, which will grow by around 60%, from its current value of approximately £27m to about £43m in 2014."
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27 Apr 2011
Feature Film Revenues Continue Growth According to New Pinewood Statement
Pinewood Shepperton plc has this weekend released its Interim Management Statement for the period 1 January 2011 to 26 April 2011 noting increased revenues in both Feature Film and Television productions over the period and that Media Park revenues have remained consistent.
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Commenting on their overall revenue performance, the Company stated that they are in line with the statement made on 8 March 2011 at the announcement of the Company's Results for the year to 31 December 2010. Overall revenues for the period 1 January 2011 to 26 April 2011 have continued to perform well.
Pinewood also announced that Film revenues were up, compared to the same period in 2010, as a result of the Company's ongoing success in winning business in a buoyant but highly competitive international market. Productions which used the Company's facilities and services during the period included Clash of the Titans 2 (Warner Bros.), 47 Ronin (Universal) and Iron Lady (Pathé).
With regards to television Pinewood Shepperton plc noted that they have hosted live broadcasts of prime time light entertainment television shows, Dancing on Ice (ITV) from Shepperton Studios and, at the same time, Got To Dance (Princess Productions) from Pinewood Studios in front of combined live studio audiences of 1,600. Television revenues are currently ahead of the same period last year.
As an outlook for the rest of the year and moving into 2012, Pinewood Shepperton plc confirmed that film stage revenues for the remainder of 2011 are now largely contracted, with some visibility extending into early 2012.
Overall revenues for 2011 are in line with market expectations which rose following the announcement of the Company's Results on 8 March 2011.
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27 Apr 2011
Robert De Niro to Preside over Cannes Jury with Uma Thurman and Jude Law
The Jury for the 64th Cannes Film Festival has been revealed by festival organisers, this year headed up by actor, director and producer, Robert De Niro and including representation from five continents.
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Accepting the invitation to be this year's Jury President, Robert De Niro said "The Cannes Film Festival is a rare opportunity for me as it is one of the oldest and one of the best in the world. "
Inviting Robert De Niro as President of the Jury of Cannes, the organisers commented that they wanted to pay tribute to the co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2011. Robert De Niro, well known for his love of New York, co-founded Manhattan's Tribeca Film Center in 1989, the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002, which has a sister festival in Doha.
De Niro said, "As co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival and the Doha Tribeca Film Festival I have an increased appreciation for the jury, who serve, undertaking an important role in choosing films that are represented in the world of film at its highest level, and these types of festivals help connect the international film community and have a lasting cultural impact. Having served as President of the Jury in the eighties twice, I know this isn't an easy task for me or my fellow jury members, but I'm very honoured and happy to head the jury for this year's Cannes Film Festival."
The jury of the Festival de Cannes will adjudicate between the 19 films in competition before naming the winners of the seven awards, to be presented during the Closing Ceremony, and which will culminate in the announcement of the Palme d'Or. The panel will also include:
Martina Gusman studied Applied Arts at the University of Buenos Aires and took acting courses with Carlos Gandolfo. In 2002, with Pablo Trapero, she created Matanza Cine, a production company where she has been the executive producer for some twelve films. Martina Gusman acted in three films by Pablo Trapero: Born and Bred (Nacido y Criado), in 2006, Lion's Den (Leonera), in Competition at the Festival de Cannes in 2008, and Carancho, presented at Certain Regard in 2010.
Nansun Shi was born in Hong Kong and studied in Great Britain before going to work for the legendary studio Cinema City. In 1984, she and her husband Tsui Hark founded their own production company, Film Workshop Co. Ltd., which produced many successful films. Notably, she was the producer of Infernal Affairs for which Martin Scorsese shot a remake, The Departed.
Uma Thurman grew up in the United States. Noticed by two New York impresarios, she studied acting at the Professional Children's School. After her debut role in 1988 in Johnny, be Good, she made her name with two international successes the same year: Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and Stephen Frears' Dangerous Liaisons. Since then, she has worked with Philip Kaufman, Phil Joanou, Gus Van Sant, John Boorman, Andrew Nichol, and Woody Allen. In Mad Dog and Glory, presented in Cannes in 1993, she played opposite Robert De Niro. It was with director Quentin Tarantino that she took on her most famous roles, in Pulp Fiction, which won the Palme d'Or in 1994, and then, ten years later, as the heroine in Kill Bill 1 & 2.
Linn Ullmann is a writer. After her studies in literature in the United States, she became a literary critic for a major Norwegian daily newspaper. She has won numerous literary prizes for her books: her first, Before You Sleep came out in 1999, followed in 2001 by Stella Descending and then by Grace in 2002. Her latest novel, A Blessed Child (2005) has met with unprecedented critical acclaim.
Linn Ullmann is the daughter of Liv Ullmann and Ingmar Bergman. She came to the Festival de Cannes in 1997 to receive the "Palme des Palmes" on behalf of her father, Ingmar Bergman, at the du 50th Anniversary Ceremony.
Olivier Assayas studied at the ENSBA School of fine arts in Paris, pursuing his passion for literature, painting and film. During the 1980s, he wrote for the Cahiers du Cinéma and co-authored scripts with André Téchiné for Scene of the Crime (Le lieu du crime) and Rendez-vous before making his first film in 1986, Disorder (Désordre). Since then, he has made more than fifteen films, including Cold Water (L'eau froide), Irma Vep, Sentimental Destinies (Les destinées sentimentales), Demonlover, Clean and Boarding Gate, which were presented at the Festival de Cannes. In 2010, he presented Carlos Out of Competition in Cannes.
Mahamat Saleh Haroun was born in Abéché in Chad. In 1980, the war forced him to flee to France as a refugee, where he studied film and worked as a journalist. In 1994, he made his first film and went on to receive a prize at the Venice festival for Bye Bye Africa, his second feature film. His reputation as an auteur was sealed with Daratt, which won a jury prize in Venice. In competition at the Festival de Cannes in 2010, he received the Jury Prize for A Screaming Man.
Jude Law started his career in theatre before turning to film. He was noticed in Gattaca in 1997, and a series of hits ensued, in which he demonstrated his elegant acting in every film genre. He has worked with the great names in film: Steven Spielberg, David Cronenberg, Clint Eastwood, Sam Mendes, Wong Kar Wai and three times with Anthony Minghella, for whom he played The Talented Mr. Ripley. In 2009, he returned to the stage in London to play Hamlet.
Johnnie To was born in Hong Kong. He began working in television, before shooting his first feature film, The Enigmatic Case. He continued with martial arts films, comedies, and historical films. It was Breaking News, selected at the Festival de Cannes in 2004, that made his name with international audiences. He returned to the Croisette with Election and Election 2 (2005-2006), followed by Triangle (2007) and Vengeance (2009).
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19 Apr 2011
Ealing Studios and Prescience Launch New Joint Company
PG Affiliate Ealing Studios, the oldest film studio in the world (ST TRINIAN'S franchise, EASY VIRTUE, BURKE & HARE), and leading film financier, Prescience (THE KINGS SPEECH, 360, HARRYBROWN) have merged their respective sales divisions to create new international sales and distribution company Ealing Metro.
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The new joint venture will focus on the international sales and distribution of quality, commercial films for the global marketplace, ranging from star-driven US independent productions to intelligent British and European movies and genre product targeted at core theatrical audiences. The company will be unveiling its new slate in the run up to Cannes.
Ealing Metro combines the unique production (Ealing Studios), financing (Prescience) and sales expertise (Metropolis International Sales, Ealing Studios International,) of its parent companies to offer a fully integrated service for filmmakers.
With access to Prescience's film funds including the Aegis Film Fund and the Metropolis Media EIS Fund, Ealing Metro will work with independent producers to help develop and finance projects so that, along with Ealing Studios' own feature film productions, Ealing Metro can sell a greatly enhanced slate of commercial films.
Will Machin (Ealing Studios International, Thinkfilm, Lolafilms, Capitol Films), has been appointed Head of Ealing Metro, reporting to Tim Smith and James Spring, joint CEO's of Ealing Metro. Machin's sales team will be spear-headed by top execs, Natalie Brenner (Ealing Studios International, Element X, Film 4, J&M) and James Scott (Metropolis, Odyssey).
Barnaby Thompson, Head of Ealing Studios and Paul Brett, Director and Head of Production of Prescience will serve on the board of Ealing Metro alongside Spring and Smith.
Ealing Metro's current slate includes upcoming productions TRAP FOR CINDERELLA, a dramatic thriller directed by Iain Softley; NINA, a biopic of the legendary Nina Simone starring Mary J Blige and comedy BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY starring Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Garner. Completed titles include THE GUARD, CHALET GIRL and BURKE & HAREand theatrical documentaries LENNONNYC, PAGE1 and BOBBY FISCHER.
Will Machin, Head of Ealing Metro said, "To be launching such an exciting new venture with the wealth of talent and experience that we have at Ealing Metro is a great honour. The combined resources of our parent companies allows us to produce, finance and sell films of the highest quality giving us a unique advantage in the international film community. "
Tim Smith, Managing Director of Prescience & Joint CEO of Ealing Metro commented, "The formation of Ealing Metro makes today a truly special day in the relatively short history of Prescience. We have enjoyed an increasingly close working relationship with Ealing Studios over the production and worldwide distribution of five films in five years. Today we intend to build on those rock solid foundations with a series of exciting, prestigious and, most importantly, commercial films."
James Spring, Managing Director of Ealing Studios & Joint CEO of Ealing Metro said, "This partnership brings together a great sales team combined with a lot of resources and the ability to fully finance pictures. This is very exciting as it means that a truly British film company is now able to compete on a global scale."
Barnaby Thompson, Head of Ealing Studios, added, "We have known and worked with Tim and Paul for some time. They have a unique combination of business experience, creative taste and respect for filmmakers, which makes them great partners. They are also fun at parties."
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19 Apr 2011
Chief Executive of Screen West Midlands Resigns
Suzie Norton, Chief Executive of Screen WM, has left the company after three and a half years. She had been CEO of Screen WM since 2007 with a remit to develop the economic, social and cultural wealth of the region. During her time at Screen WM she was instrumental in restructuring the company, securing £14 million of funding for the region's media industries and launching a partnership with leading UK broadcaster Channel 4, to deliver the first regional hub for the channel's 4iP fund.
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Suzie was named Vitalise Businesswoman of the Year in 2010, in recognition of her considerable personal contribution in raising the profile of Birmingham and the region as a dynamic and growing centre for the digital and creative industries. The judges highlighted Suzie's tenacity and success at continuing to attract investment into the region through unprecedented economic times, and representing its creative industries at a national and local Government level.
In March 2011, Suzie was listed by leading consumer magazine, Glamour, as one of the UK's top 35 women under 35.
John Newbigin, Chair of Screen England and Creative England, said: "Suzie has been a highly effective and focused Chief Executive who raised both the ambition and the profile of Screen WM. She not only developed a strategy for the organisation that re-engineered it for a digital future but made a significant contribution to policy development at a national level, with consequent benefit for other regional screen agencies across England."
Samir Shah, Chair of Screen WM said: "Suzie has made Screen WM a major force in the development of the creative industries in the West Midlands and pulled off a number of very significant coups – very much due to her personal enthusiasm and charm. I have enjoyed working with her over the last three years and on behalf of the Board at Screen WM, wish her all the very best for the future."
"As Screen WM enters a transitional phase before Creative England takes over the reins in October 2011, the Board has decided that the best way to handle this stage is for the Senior Management Team to lead the company with the support of the Board."
Suzie Norton said: "I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Screen WM and I'm extremely proud of the team for firmly positioning the Midlands as a leading location for the creative industries.
"With a new support structure for the screen industries about to be launched, I feel it is the right time for me to leave and move on the next challenge. In the meantime I'm very proud to be involved in a voluntary capacity in UpRising, a scheme delivered by the Young Foundation to support and develop leaders of the future."
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19 Apr 2011
VFX and Post House The Mill Sold to Barclays
Barclays Private Equity (BPE), one of Europe's leading mid-market private equity investors have announced that it has acquired a majority stake in The Mill, the award-winning VFX and post house business from global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group (Carlyle) in a transaction that values the Company at £119m.
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The Mill's Television and Film studio works with both broadcasters and feature films. Recently the company have collaborated on television projects including: 'Doctor Who', 'Merlin' and 'Sherlock' for the BBC; 'Elizabeth', 'Longford' and 'Cast Off's' for Channel 4; 'Alice' for SyFy and 'Skellig' for Sky1.
The team's recent film work includes the third instalment of 'The Chronicles of Narnia - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader', 'Cracks' and 'The Damned United'.
The Mill's work on 'Doctor Who' has been recognised by BAFTA, the Visual Effects Society and the Royal Television Society.
The Mill is also known for producing sophisticated digital visual effects for major brands including Nike, Ford, T-Mobile, Sony, Adidas, Lynx and Barclaycard. For Nike, The Mill helped create an epic 3-minute advert called 'Write the Future' that had its worldwide debut on Facebook during the 2010 football World Cup and, within two weeks, received a world-record 14 million hits on YouTube.
The Company has offices in London, New York and Los Angeles, employs 625 staff and has a client list that includes all the leading advertising holding companies (Omnicom, WPP, Publicis Groupe and Interpublic) and agencies such as AMV BBDO, Ogilvy, BBH and McCann.
Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (CETP) acquired The Mill with its Senior Management team in February 2007. Its backing supported The Mill in embarking on a series of new strategic growth initiatives including developing its core strengths in the advertising VFX segment, developing its offering for interactive channels and video gaming, opening a new office in Los Angeles and expanding its geographical reach with a focus on Asia.
The development of The Mill into an industry-leading digital content business mirrors the strong growth trend in television advertising expenditure and the emergence of video-rich content as the largest contributor to online advertising growth.*
In the year to 31 December 2010, The Mill generated revenues of £74.2m. The Company is a leading player in the VFX segment of the video and brand communications market in the UK and USA and a growing presence in emerging markets. This was recently enhanced with the opening of a joint venture in Singapore with the UK-headquartered creative agency BBH. The senior management team of The Mill is led by its co-founders; Chief Executive Robin Shenfield and Chief Creative Officer Pat Joseph, who will remain with the Company following the transaction.
BPE's funding will be used to support the Company's:
continued organic growth, especially meeting increasing client demand for VFX services in Los Angeles where it is moving to a new and bigger location in Julyopportunities in adjacent markets such as digital advertising and creating cinematic sequences for video gamesfurther expansion into emerging economies, such as those in Asia and South America
Steven Silvester, Director at BPE, commented: "The Mill is a very exciting company in a dynamic and growing sector. Its management team is first class and has successfully grown the business over a long time period through a continued commitment to creative excellence and a strong focus on the advertising market.
"BPE believes that the changes in the advertising market and the proliferation of the opportunities for brands to interact with their customers via the moving image play to The Mill's core strengths and provide a very attractive opportunity for the Company. The Mill is a leading player in its field and well positioned to capitalise on the emerging market trends. We look forward to assisting The Mill in building on its core strengths in the advertising VFX segment and developing its offering for interactive channels, video gaming and further strengthening its geographical reach with a focus initially on Asia."
Robin Shenfield, Chief Executive of The Mill, said: "The rapidly growing demand for creative moving image content across all platforms has been a huge driver for us over the last few years, allowing us to generate good revenue growth even through the economic downturn. We are delighted that Barclays Private Equity shares our vision for future growth. Their support will enable us to realise our potential across high growth areas in digital video content for the web, mobile and video games and to expand geographically into key emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil."
Robert Easton, Managing Director and co-head of Carlyle Europe Technology Partners, said: "The Mill has proved to be an excellent investment for Carlyle, having delivered strong growth and robust performance even through challenging economic times. We congratulate Robin and his team for their extraordinary achievements over the past four years, in which time revenues have almost doubled and headcount has increased by 150%, and we are particularly proud of the role we have played in the company's growth and development. We wish The Mill and Barclays Private Equity every success with the business going forward."
Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Acquisition Finance, Bank of Ireland and GE Capital.
Advisors on the transaction included: advising Barclays Private Equity – KPMG (financial advice), Value Partners (commercial due diligence), Marlborough Partners (debt), Clifford Chance (legals), Deloitte (tax) and Heath Lambert (insurance); advising the vendor (Carlyle) - Harris Williams & Co (financial advice), PricewaterhouseCoopers (vendor financial due diligence), Travers Smith (legals); advising management – Jamieson Corporate Finance (financial advice), Dickson Minto (legals) and Deloitte (tax); advising the banks – Hogan Lovells (legals).
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20 Apr 2011
Cannes 2011 Selection and Line-Ups Announced with UK Film Represented
The Official Selection List for the 64th Cannes Film Festival was announced by organisers last week with representation from the UK industry for Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin (PG Members: Gisela Evert - Post Production Supervisor) selected in competition.
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We Need to Talk About Kevin, starring Tilda Swinton, has been supported with UK Lottery money through the former UK Film Council, whose film funding activities have now transferred to the BFI.
Tanya Seghatchian, Head of the Film Fund at the BFI who recently took over as the lead body for the UK Film Industry commented, "We are so proud that Lynne Ramsay's UK Film Council funded film We Need To Talk About Kevin has been invited to Cannes Competition. Lynne has made a stunning, audacious and compelling film about modern motherhood and it is a testimony to her extraordinary vision and reach as a world class filmmaker that the film will be premiering at the festival."
Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI, also stated, "It's great to see such an exciting new British film at Cannes this year. Congratulations to Lynne Ramsay for making one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year."
Full List of Cannes 2011 Selection:
Opening Film
Woody ALLEN MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (Out of Competition)
1h40
Competition
Pedro ALMODÓVAR LA PIEL QUE HABITO 2h00
Bertrand BONELLO L'APOLLONIDE - SOUVENIRS DE LA MAISON CLOSE 2h02
Alain CAVALIER PATER 1h45
Joseph CEDAR HEARAT SHULAYIM
(Footnote) 1h45
Nuri Bilge CEYLAN BIR ZAMANLAR ANADOLU'DA
(Once upon a time in Anatolia) 2h30
Jean-Pierre et Luc DARDENNE LE GAMIN AU VÉLO 1h27
Aki KAURISMÄKI LE HAVRE 1h43
Naomi KAWASE HANEZU NO TSUKI 1h31
Julia LEIGH SLEEPING BEAUTY - 1st film - 1h44
MAÏWENN POLISSE 2h01
Terrence MALICK THE TREE OF LIFE 2h18
Radu MIHAILEANU LA SOURCE DES FEMMES 2h15
Takashi MIIKE ICHIMEI
(Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samuraï) 2h06
Nanni MORETTI HABEMUS PAPAM 1h42
Lynne RAMSAY WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN 1h50
Markus SCHLEINZER MICHAEL - 1st film - 1h34
Paolo SORRENTINO THIS MUST BE THE PLACE 1h58
Lars VON TRIER MELANCHOLIA 2h10
Nicolas WINDING REFN DRIVE 1h35
Un Certain Regard
Gus VAN SANT RESTLESS - Opening Film - 1h31
Bakur BAKURADZE THE HUNTER 1h50
Andreas DRESEN
HALT AUF FREIER STRECKE 1h35
Bruno DUMONT HORS SATAN 1h50
Sean DURKIN MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE - 1st film - 1h41
Robert GUÉDIGUIAN LES NEIGES DU KILIMANDJARO 1h47
Oliver HERMANUS SKOONHEID 1h38
HONG Sangsoo THE DAY HE ARRIVES 1h19
Cristián JIMÉNEZ BONSÁI
(Bonsaï) 1h42
Eric KHOO TATSUMI 1h34
KIM Ki-duk ARIRANG 1h40
Nadine LABAKI ET MAINTENANT ON VA OÚ ? 1h50
Catalin MITULESCU LOVERBOY 1h35
NA Hong-jin THE YELLOW SEA 2h20
Gerardo NARANJO MISS BALA 1h53
Juliana ROJAS,
Marco DUTRA
TRABALHAR CANSA - 1st film -
1h40
Pierre SCHOELLER L'EXERCICE DE L'ETAT 1h55
Ivan SEN TOOMELAH 1h46
Joachim TRIER OSLO, AUGUST 31ST 1h35
Out of Competition
Xavier DURRINGER LA CONQUÊTE 1h45
Jodie FOSTER THE BEAVER 1h40
Michel
HAZANAVICIUS
THE ARTIST 1h40
Rob MARSHALL PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN:
ON STRANGER TIDES 2h17
Midnight Screenings
CHAN Peter Ho-Sun WU XIA 2h00
Everardo GOUT DIAS DE GRACIA - 1st film - 2h13
Special Screnings
Frederikke ASPÖCK LABRADOR - 1st film - 1h30
Rithy PANH LE MAÎTRE DES FORGES DE L'ENFER 1h45
Michael RADFORD MICHEL PETRUCCIANI 1h30
Christian ROUAUD TOUS AU LARZAC 2h00
Short Films in Competition
Dahci Ma GHOST South Korea 10'
Wannes Destoop BADPAKJE 46 Belgium 15'
Vladimir Durán SOY TAN FELIZ Argentina/Colombia 14'
Nash Edgerton BEAR Australia 8'
Lisa Marie Gamlem KJØTTSÅR Norway 11'
Sam Holst MEATHEAD New Zealand 10'
Nicolas Roy CE N'EST RIEN Canada 14'
Megumi Tazaki PATERNAL WOMB Japan 15'
Maryna Vroda CROSS France/Ukrain 14'
Cinéfondation
ARAMISOVA
FAMU, Czech Republic
CAGEY TIGERS 23'
Nathanael CARTON
NYU Asia, Singapore
SUU ET UCHIKAWA
(Suu and Uchikawa) 11'
Simão CAYATTE
Columbia University, USA A VIAGEM
(The Trip) 19'
Anat COSTI
Bezalel Academy, Israel BEFETACH BEITY
(On My Doorstep) 6'
D. Jesse DAMAZO,
Joe BOOKMAN
University of Iowa, USA
THE AGONY AND SWEAT OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT 15'
Pieter DIRKX
Sint-Lukas University, Belgium BENTO MONOGATARI
(Lunchbox Story) 27'
Doroteya DROUMEVA
dffb, Germany DER BRIEF
(The Letter) 30'
Alice FURTADO
Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil DUELO ANTES DA NOITE
(Duel Before Nightfall) 20'
Kamal LAZRAQ
La fémis, France DRARI 39'
Mariano LUQUE
Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina SALSIPUEDES 44'
Gastón MARGOLIN, Martín MORGENFELD
Universidad del Cine, Argentina LA FIESTA DE CASAMIENTO
(The Wedding Party) 19'
Pasquale MARINO
Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Italy L'ESTATE CHE NON VIENE
(Till Summer Comes) 17'
Jefferson MONEO
Columbia University, USA BIG MUDDY 15'
Ma'ayan RYPP
Tel Aviv University, Israel AL MARTHA LAUF
(Martha Must Fly) 26'
SON Tae-gyum
Chung-Ang University,
South Korea YA-GAN-BI-HANG
(Fly by Night) 21'
Maria STEINMETZ
HFF ''Konrad Wolf'', Germany DER WECHSELBALG
(Changeling) 8'
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20 Apr 2011
Call for Entries - Encounters Bristol International Film Festival
Submissions are now open for the 17th Encounters Bristol International Film Festival (16 – 20 November). Encounters is now the leading UK gateway to the world's most prestigious short film and animation awards, including the BAFTAs, Cartoon D'Or, European Film Awards, and Oscars®.
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The deadline for submissions is Thursday 30th June. In an attempt to enhance the festival experience, Encounters has teamed up with Vast Blue to provide a streamline submission process, and a unique video on-demand short film service via the onsite and Online Digital Viewing Library, available for Delegates during and after the festival.
Short films and animations are eligible from all over the world, completed from 1 Jan 2010, under 30 minutes in length from every genre (animation, live action drama, documentary, experimental and music video). The festival is offering a £5 discount for digital submissions, and a reduced fee for multiple submissions.
Visit http://www.encounters-festival.org.uk for more information.
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19 Apr 2011
BFI Forms New MOU with the British Library
The BFI and the British Library have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, with the objective of increasing public, professional and research access to audio-visual and broadcast content and integrating it with other knowledge collections.
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Signed by BFI Director, Amanda Nevill and British Library CEO, Dame Lynne Brindley, the MOU outlines key areas for joint strategic thinking, including public access, rights management and digitisation.
Managed by a joint steering committee, this new partnership will look at ways the UK's leading custodians of the UK's audio-visual and broadcast heritage can meet the challenges of collecting, preserving and providing contemporary and long-term access to our unique collections in the digital age, for the benefit of researchers and the wider public.
The BFI stated that is will aim to explore areas including: collecting policies; contributing to intellectual property and copyright discussions; metadata and resource discovery; how new digital technologies and enhanced physical spaces can improve access to film and television content; digital and paper conservation; exhibitions and public programmes; and how we can offer services for the creative industries. More specific details will be developed at a strategic summit in early spring.
Amanda Nevill, Director of the BFI, said, "We are delighted to be developing this key partnership with one of the world-leading custodians of our UK heritage. Partnerships such as this are crucial as we explore new ways to increase access to our collections across a range of different media and platforms in the digital economy and ensure we maximise our combined knowledge, expertise and resources."
Dame Lynne Brindley, CEO of the British Library, said, "As stated in the Library's 2020 Vision, providing increased access to broadcast and audio-visual collections is one of our primary goals. This innovative partnership follows on from our MOU with the BBC and demonstrates our commitment to working with other major national institutions for the benefit of researchers."
The BFI are already collaborating with the British Library as members of the UK Sound & Vision Collections group convened by the BFI and looking at national audio-visual collection policy. A letter from the group announcing its formation was recently sent to Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries. Other group members comprise the BBC, the National Archives, the Imperial War Museum, the National Media Museum, the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales and National Museums Northern Ireland.
The MOU signed by both parties is non-exclusive and both intend that this partnership will evolve as a model of best practice and in time we will seek the opportunity to work with other public archives throughout the UK to expand the project. It complements the MOUs signed between the BBC and BFI in 2009 and between the BBC and the British Library in 2009.
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13 Apr 2011
Creative England Chair Addresses Concerns as Consultation Closes
The consultation period has now closed for Creative England, the new industry body that brings together a number of the current regional screen agencies and Chair John Newbigin has initially addressed some of the recurring issues and concerns that were brought to the organisation's attention.
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Within an open letter to the industry, Newbigin thanked everyone who took part in both the online and roundtable discussions during the consultation period and highlighted five areas of concern that were aparant from an initial review of the feedback.
Newbegin was also keen to however state, "the majority of submissions broadly agree with our proposals and welcome the Government's continued recognition of the value of film in the regions, and in particular the need to provide dedicated support and expertise to the wealth of creative talent outside of London."
He continued, "However, there were a number of concerns expressed that recurred through the online consultation and during the regional roundtables we have held across the country. We want to make sure these concerns are addressed as we go forward, but I thought it would be useful to make an immediate response to some of them."
Below we have included the full copy of each of the five areas highlighted within the open letter by John Newbigin:
1. Access
People want to know how and to whom Creative England support will be made available. Creative England will build on the work of the Regional Screen Agencies, supporting the content industries of Film, Television, Games, and Digital and Creative Services, supporting talent and business development, connecting creative and digital SMEs with national and international markets, and leveraging public and private funding. We also have a remit to promote film culture and education, to develop audiences and to work with others to develop a sustainable and accessible archive. If we are to do all this effectively, with reduced public funding and in a way that reaches right across the country, we recognise that developing networks of partner organisations will be crucial, and it is very encouraging that many submissions argue for this approach or come from organisations that want to play an active role as partners with us.
2. Remit
Although we made clear that this first stage consultation was restricted to film priorities, there has been some concern from the wider creative industries that Creative England will have too narrow a focus on film. This is emphatically not the case. Creative England's remit is to support independent creative businesses, concentrating on the digital content industries, including film, and the talent that drives them.
We have focused on film in the first instance because Creative England will receive circa £2.5m GIA and circa £2m Lottery funding for film from the BFI, and this core support will be used to leverage additional funds from public and private sources.
With the government's declared ambition to see creative industries as a central element of its wider growth agenda, we are already in discussion about funding for this larger remit and, when we have confirmation on this, we will, as with film, consult with the industry to identify priorities and concerns.
3. Regional diversity
Some submissions have expressed concern about the three limited companies that we propose as Creative England's operating subsidiaries (Creative North, Central and South) and the location of their hub offices in Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol. These decisions were taken last year by the Regional Screen Agency Chairs and CEOs together. While it obviously makes sense to locate the hubs in cities that are already major creative centres, we have an England-wide remit and must fulfil it. That is why we intend to work by forming alliances and partnerships that can give us the necessary reach across the full geographic and talent spread of England, with staff answerable to Boards of non-executive directors who also represent the full geographic spread of the country. Some submissions regret the passing of the Regional Screen Agencies as they are presently constituted. Creative England's purpose is to serve the needs of industry and communities, not to perpetuate the life of particular agencies. We will shortly be advertising for the key posts in the new Creative England operating companies. These will be openly advertised jobs, independent of the existing RSAs.
With the closure of Screen East, concern has been expressed by people living and working in the former Screen East area that they are not formally represented in on-going discussions about the shape and priorities of Creative England. Temporary arrangements have been made for EM Media and Screen South to make Grant in Aid and Lottery finance and film support services available throughout the former Screen East area. In addition, Roger Morris of Elstree Studios has generously agreed to convene a group of representative industry and cultural voices who can speak for the region as plans for Creative England and its operating subsidiaries are brought together.
4. Diversity
People are of course keen to hear that Creative England will be dedicated to diversity and equality. I can assure you that Creative England will have a clear and strong commitment to diversity, and will ensure equality of reach across all its programmes. Diversity will be a core element embedded in all Creative England activities and strategic priorities.
5. Moving forward
Creative England will be fully operational from October 2011. Between now and then we will be advertising for staff and for experienced industry professionals who would be willing to serve as non-executive Board members. We are establishing framework agreements with key industry partners at national, regional and local level. And, as and when we are able to access other sources of public and private funds, we will be consulting, through our website and by meetings, to ensure that we are addressing industry priorities and concerns.
We will also be developing working relationships with the other two main agencies in the re-organised structure of public support for film, the BFI and Film London. With the government's film policy review shortly to be announced, the process of transition is not over. Our job is to make sure that in all this change the talent and ambition that exists beyond London is fully recognised in public policy and in the flow of public funds; supported where it needs to be supported and celebrated where it deserves to be celebrated.
As the operational delivery plan for Creative England develops, and as we are able to evaluate the mass of submissions we have received for the consultation, we will keep the industry up to date through the website and mailings to our database.
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20 Apr 2011
HMRC Updates for PG Members
The Production Guild have received two important updates from HMRC for PG Members with regards to a clarification on the recent issue of actors' NIC on a loan out and a revised 2011/2012 Meals and Mileage Allowances Document.
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Updating Members on actors' NIC on a loan out HMRC stated that if the Production Company has a contract with another company to provide the services of a named artist then payments to the artist's company for fees for the services of the artist can be made without deduction of NIC. This will be an inter-company contract and will not fall within the NIC Entertainers Regulations. There has been no change to this guidance by HMRC. If you receive information from a Production Company to the contrary you should ask for the basis of this change and where the guidance has been changed by HMRC.
HMRC also issued the Guild with a revised 2011/2012 Meals and Mileage Document and Members should note car mileage has increased to 45p per mile from 6th April 2011. Members can download the newly revised document from the Hot Topics Page.
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13 Apr 2011
Eight New Members Join The Production Guild from April Applications
The Production Guild is delighted to welcome eight new members from the latest round of membership applications. Five current members have also successfully upgraded or transferred their membership to new grades.
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The applications which have all now been approved by the Membership Sub-Committee and ratified by the PG Board of Management see a range of new members joining the Guild from Production, Post Production and Accounting including representation within the Full, Supplementary and Permanently Employed membership categories.
New Full Members:
Marianne Jenkins – Unit Production Manager
Currently UPM on Jack at The Giant Killer for Warner Bros., Marianne has over 20 years experience of working on Major Studio Features, other recent credits include Clash of the Titans (Warner Bros.) and Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.) as Senior Post Production Supervisor. Marianne has also taken an active role alongside The Production Guild and other PG Members during the recent negotiations for the new Major Studio Feature Film Agreement for Electricians.
Phil Brown - Post Production Supervisor
Phil has been a Post Production Supervisor in the industry for over 15 years, working alongside a wide range of broadcasters and production companies on many high end TV Dramas. Based in Somerset and with French language skills his credits include the recent adaptation of Women in Love (Company Pictures), Emmy and Golden Globe nominated The Special Relationship (HBO) and Any Human Heart (Carnival Film & Television)
Kathy Nettleship - Line Producer
With experience of working in the USA and the UK, Kathy has experience of Line Producing a number of high end TV productions. Most recently she Line Produced both the Pilot and Miniseries of Hartswood Films’ Sherlock, broadcasted by the BBC and winner of the Satellite Award for Best Miniseries. Other credits include Hunky Dory (Mulligan & Nesbitt) and The Things I Haven't Told You (Tiger Aspect Productions)
Richard Moat - Line Producer
Having completed several industry training courses with leading providers including the BBC, NFTS and Sargent-Disc, Richard also has over 20 years experience within the industry. Stepping up to Line Producing in 2006, he has worked on the long running BBC series Hustle (Kudos Film and Television), as well as more recent credits including Candy Cabs (Splash Media) and The Children (Tightrope Productions)
Lesley Cherry - Permanently Employed
As Head of Production at Quicksilver Media over the last four and a half years, Lesley has experience of managing and delivering productions in line with commercial and editorial expectations as well as providing senior production management expertise in all areas of production. Her responsibilities include contracts, schedules, budgets, funding, distribution, copyright, compliance, insurance, health and safety and human resources. Under her management, Quicksilver also recently won the BAFTA award for Best Current Affairs Programme for ‘Terror in Mumbai’.
New Supplementary Members:
Elizabeth Small - Supplementary Production
Having worked on the Emmy Award Winning America: The Story of Us (Nutopia), Elizabeth is a Production Co-ordinator with experience in Television productions. Her other credits as a Co-ordinator include Whatever It Takes (Twenty Twenty TV) and Bear Behaving Badly (Darrall Macqueen Ltd)
Dan Hands - Supplementary Accounting
As Business Manager of BBC Films Dan has been involved in the Co-Production a number of feature films including Made in Dagenham (Number 9 Films), Tamara Drewe (Ruby Films) and Brighton Rock (Kudos). He has also worked as a Production Accountant for BBC Sport covering a number of events including the Beijing Olympic Games.
Lesley Robinson - Supplementary Accounting
Moving on from her career in production as a Production Manager, Lesley went into accounting in 2009. She has since worked as an Assistant Production Accountant at 20/20 Television being involved with a number of factual and drama projects, including productions for the BBC and Channel 4.
Membership Upgrades:
Donald Sabourin - Production Manager
Upgraded from Production Co-ordinator to Production Manager
Recent PM credits include: TT3D (CinemanNX and Isle of Man Films) Killing Bono (The Salt Company International) and The Borgias (2011) (Showtime / Mid Atlantic Films)
Dan Hillsdon - Production Accountant
Upgraded from Assistant Accountant to Production Accountant
Recent Production Accountant credits include: Richard II (Shakespeare Productions Ltd) This is England '86 (Film Four) and 4,3,2,1 (Universal Pictures)
Kerry Smith - Production Accountant
Upgraded from Assistant Accountant to Production Accountant
Recent Production Accountant credits include: Game of Thrones (HBO / Fire & Blood Productions), Metamorphosis (2010) (Attractive Features Ltd) and Mission London (Fidelity Films)
Membership Transfers:
Roopesh Parekh - Line Producer
Transferred from Supplementary Membership to Full Membership
Recent Line Producer credits include: Truth or Dare (2011) (Corona Pictures), Love Tomorrow (Love Tomorrow Ltd) and Babes of Baghdad (Cyclops Vision)
Joining The Production Guild
If you are interested in applying for Membership with The Production Guild, please visit our How to Join Page, which includes links to our application forms alongside further instructions and criteria for members. Supplementary Applications will require at least one credit and one referee to be passed through the Membership Sub-Committee. Full membership applications require three credits from different financiers and three referees.
Membership Upgrades and Transfers for Current Members
Members will need to have at least three credits from different financiers at the membership grade you wish to upgrade or transfer to. Please then visit the How to Join Page and fill out the required membership application form, sending the completed document alongside your three references and an up to date CV to Emily Stillman.
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06 Apr 2011
Industry Welcomes in New Skillset Skills Academy
Leading figures and organisations of the UK film industry including The Production Guild last week joined educators and VIP guests at the British Film Institute, London, to launch a new training academy that will help develop vital craft and technical skills needed on Britain's film sets. The Skillset Craft and Technical Skills Academy is the first of its kind and is a collaboration between Skillset - the Sector Skills Council for the Creative Media - and Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College. The Production Guild will also be represented on Board of the Skillset Craft & Technical Skills Academy by CEO Emily Stillman.
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Working closely with studios and other film-based companies, the Academy will become a centre of excellence in film, providing apprenticeships and qualifications for people working behind the scenes within the UK film industry, in key departments such as camera, grips, lighting, sound, animation, editing, runners, hair & makeup and costume & wardrobe.
British Film Institute Director, Amanda Nevill and PG Member, Producer (Wanted, Children of Men) and Chair of the Skillset Craft and Technical Skills Academy and The British Film Commission, Iain Smith, last night declared the Academy open before a supportive crowd of industry heavyweights.
Iain Smith said change was vital if Britain is to keep its filmmaking competitive with the rest of the world commenting, "the Academy has an ambitious objective: to harness, support and develop British craft and technical talent at a time when the industry is undergoing enormous change."
He continued, "It will be at the cutting edge of technical excellence, supporting the continuation of what we most excel at in this country."
Amanda Nevill said it was important for the sector to look at ways they could build a more sustainable British film industry stating, "for us to make films that people want to see, on both a domestic and international level, we have to ensure that the quality of our filmmaking remains world class - that we are keeping up with technology, harnessing new skills whilst building on the successes of recent years."
"The Academy will have an enormous impact on the success of the film industry, both now and in years to come, building the foundations of craft and technical skills for our current and next generation of filmmakers."
CEO of The Production Guild, Emily Stillman commented, "I am greatly looking forward to joining the board of The Skillset Craft & Technical Skills Academy which is to be chaired by Iain Smith. The Academy has been established to address a crucial need within the film and TV industries ie. training the next generation of craft & technical talent. Ensuring a strong relationship with between The Production Guild and the Academy will be advantageous to both the PG membership and the future generation of industry workers which will ultimately benefit the industry as a whole."
Production Guild Training and Development Manager Fran Triefus stated, "The Production Guild is committed to supporting this new initiative in the skills strategy “A bigger Future II”. We will be working closely with the academy to support their training programmes and hope that many PG members will be eager to participate as tutors and mentors."
Dennis Fraser, MBE, and member of the Board for the Skillset Craft and Technical Skills Academy was also awarded The Skillset Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his commitment to training in the UK Film and Television Industry.
Iain Smith said: "Over the last 20 years, Dennis has worked tirelessly on training: he has been an unflagging ambassador for the National Vocational Qualifications, seeing them, quite rightly, as a fully professional qualification."
The Skillset Craft and Technical Skills Academy will provide qualifications for both industry professionals and new entrants to provide them with an advantage when competing for film work.
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07 Apr 2011
Film London to Work with New London & Partners Agency
Film London are set to be involved in the Mayor of London's newly launched flagship agency - London & Partners - that will showcase London to the world as the best city to visit, invest and study in.
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London & Partners will bring together the current work of the capital's promotional agencies Visit London, Think London and Study London, which were responsible for attracting tourism, inward investment and international students. The new agency will pool the extensive knowledge and expertise from the agencies to deliver a single strategy for the promotion of London with one voice.
London & Partners will continue to work closely with other London organisations including Film London to exploit the potential inward investment and tourism opportunities presented by the capital's strong production industries.
"London is an extraordinary place of opportunity and without doubt the best big city to visit, study and invest in" said Mayor Boris Johnson. "We have some of the world's greatest cultural attractions from our theatres to museums, some of the finest universities and colleges, and we offer unrivalled choice for those seeking to invest. London is also a city which is undergoing transformation as we deliver new transport links and vastly improved public spaces. Together these initiatives are improving the city's quality of life and making it a better place to live, work and visit."
Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London commented: "I am confident the Mayor's newly formed promotional agency houses the necessary structure and skills to ensure London remains the cultural and business capital of the world and I very much look forward to working with them."
London & Partners used its launch to turn a spotlight on some of the top talent in the city: 'London: The Human Capital'. One of London's greatest assets is its 7 million people who are from all over the world, helping to create, build, and sustain London's unique character.
'The Human Capital' kicked off with a photo celebrating twelve great talents that make London the best big city on earth. From fashion and finance, to restaurateurs and playwrights, the photo captures the diversity of London's talent and represents the huge range of contributions these individuals make to the city's global appeal.
The twelve individuals represent a range of sectors important to London's economy and its place on the world stage. All of the individuals in the 'Human Capital' group are either from London, do business in London, or moved to London to achieve their goals.
The London talents chosen to participate include Film London board member Stephen Woolley, the award-winning producer of The Crying Game and Made in Dagenham also from the world of film was celebrated film director Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham, Pride and Prejudice).
Playwright Bola Agbaje, writer of Gone Too Far represented Theatre, Professor Jane Rapley OBE, Head of Central Saint Martins and Emile Greenhalgh of Imperial College, London (Composite Materials) were from the academic sector, whilst Lulu Kennedy (founder of Fashion East) and Liberty London Girl blogger Sasha Wilkins were drawn from fashion.
The restaurant business was represented by three Michelin Star-winning chef Pierre Koffman (Koffman's, The Berkeley) and Erica Laler, Head Sommelier at Michelin-starred restaurant Texture whilst business found its champions in Chris Dow, Managing Director of Closed Loop Recycling, Gilles Albaredes, Managing Director of Crystal CG and Craig Donaldson, CEO of Metro Bank.
"London's greatest assets have always been the people that live and work here", said London & Partners Interim Chair, Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas. "It is a city that is home to and inspires that world's greatest creative minds."
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11 Apr 2011
Pinewood Shepperton plc Receive Multi-Million Takeover Approach
As share prices in the studio group soared by a 14% increase to 181 pence late last week, Pinewood Shepperton plc revealed that it has received an approach for the entire issued and to be issued share capital from Peel Holdings, whom already own 29.78% of the company.
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Pinewood confirmed that the approach from Peel Holdings was made at 190 pence per share plus the dividend of 2.5 pence per share in respect for the financial year ended 31 December 2010, which would total a £87.8 million takeover bid if a formal offer is received by the studio.
Within a short statement sent out on Friday evening, Pinewood noted, "This approach may or may not lead to an offer being made for the Company" and commented that a further announcement will be made in due course.
If a deal is put in place, Peel Holdings will look to expand their media industry portfolio having also invested £650 million in to MediaCityUK currently home to several BBC projects as well as attracting ITV to move its Manchester based operation including Coronation Street, to the Salford Quays media hub.
The Pinewood Group have also seen recent significant international expansion with the launches of the Pinewood Indomina Studios Facility in the Dominican Republic, Pinewood Studio Berlin Film Services and a new Pinewood office based in LA.
UK Pinewood facilities also attracted number of major studio features including recently completed shoots on Warner Bros' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the fourth instalment of the Walt Disney Pictures franchise Pirates of the Caribbean and Twentieth Century Fox distributed X-Men: First Class.
The group also announced in March that that it will be providing facilities and co-investment to support smaller budget British films. The Company will target films with production budgets of circa £2m each and will invest equity up to 20 per cent per film.
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13 Apr 2011
New Industry Documents added to PG Website
As a reminder a number of important documents were added to the PG Website last week, including the PACT BECTU Major Studio Feature Electricians Terms (effective from 4th April 2011), the Revised HMRC Film, Television, Production Industry Guidance Notes (revised this month) and the 2011/2012 Meal and Mileage Allowances.
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PG Members can download these documents from the Hot Topics Page (new window within the Members Area.
For ease of use, we have also added a new section at the top of the Hot Topics page which will list all of the most recently added documents on the PG Website.
Recently added documents include:
- PACT BECTU Major Studio Feature Electricians Terms - 1st April 2011 *Effective 4th April 2011*
- Film, Television, Production Industry Guidance Notes - Revised April 2011
- Meal and Mileage Allowances 2011/2012
- Health and Safety in Film Production: Your Obligations and Responsibilities
- Health and Safety in Audio Visual Production: Your Legal Duties
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13 Apr 2011
Independent Film Distributors' Association Launched by UK Distributors
Twelve of the UK's major independent distributors have launched the new Independent Film Distributors' Association (IFDA) to represent their collective interests within the industry.
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Artificial Eye, Dogwoof, eOne, Icon, Lionsgate UK, Metrodome, Momentum Pictures, Optimum Releasing, Revolver, Soda Pictures, Vertigo and Verve Pictures have all been involved in the foundation of the new body, which aims to provide a more coherent and louder voice in the industry on issues surrounding UK distribution.
The companies will converge for the first time under the new organisation on 1st May this year and are set to formally meet six times each year, chaired by Alex Hamilton, director of film, eOne, and vice chaired by Colin Burch, director, Verve.
Alex Hamilton stated, "At a time of considerable change and challenge in the UK marketplace, companies of all shapes and sizes have come together in a spirit of enthusiasm and collaboration to see if we can on occasion speak with one voice. The companies who've signed up to the association cover almost the entirety of the independent sector, and we hope that we can make a contribution across a wide range of industry issues."
Whilst speaking to Screen, Hamilton was keen to stress that the IFDA was not a union or collective bargaining group: "We're not trying to strike a collective bargaining group. That's not what we are doing. We don't want to address our broadcast partnerships or exhibitor relations during these meetings. It's more about industry issues that are not business to business negotiations. We will be discussing issues like the P&A fund (now inherited by the BFI), support for distribution, piracy, etc. It makes sense for us to meet and develop a unified voice."
Hamilton, and the group at large, also stressed to Screen that IFDA would not cause conflict with the existing Film Distributors' Association (FDA) — which counts independents and studio members among its number – with all existing independents signed up to IFDA continuing as members of the FDA. In saying that, the group is formed with the notable exclusion of the studios: "While we are very committed members of FDA, and will continue to be, there is a difference between the independent and studio worlds. What we are keen to stress is the distinction between independent distribution and distribution. We would like other sectors of the industry to hear an independent distribution perspective. And we would like to meet other parties. We are meeting with the BFI. We have already met with the DCMS," continued Hamilton.
With the DCMS/BFI film consultation period coming up, Hamilton stressed the importance of the group getting its voice heard: "It's important distribution isn't considered a homogenous mass when the DCMS is formulating public policy in relation to film. Be it connecting production to distribution, the P&A fund, audience development, etc."
While in recent times some UK distributors have been frustrated over the virtual print fee (VPF) rates charged by exhibitors to distributors, Hamilton denied that the new association was a platform for commercial lobbying: "This is not about the VPF. This is not about increasing our leverage with exhibition. People will ask what our agenda is but we don't have a fully formed agenda. This is exploratory. IFDA is not going to represent independent distribution in commercial negotiations. That's not the intention right now. Maybe members of the group will say it should going forward but it's not my intention."
Colin Burch added: "We all know each other and it should offer the chance to identify common issues and possibilities, however differently we may operate individually. To some extent we're friendly rivals, but a healthy and diverse independent environment, fully engaged with industry colleagues in all other sectors, benefits us all."
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12 Apr 2011
Bernardo Bertolucci to Receive Honorary Palme d'or
Oscar and BAFTA winning Bernardo Bertolucci is to be awarded an Honorary Palme d'or at this year's Cannes Film Festival taking place between 11th and 22nd May 2011.
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Bertolucci who has received honours for both writing and directing in a career spanning six decades will join filmmakers Woody Allen and Clint Eastwood as recipients of the honorary distinction at Cannes, who were both recognised by the festival in 2002 and 2009 respectively.
The presentation to The Last Tango in Paris writer and director will be part of this year’s Opening Ceremony at the prestigious festival on Wednesday 11th May and Cannes organisers also revealed that the awarding of the honorary distinction will now become an annual event to open each festival.
A statement from the festival read, “This recognition is attributed to an important filmmaker, whose work is authoritative but never got a Palme d'or. The filmmaker (poet Attilio Bertolucci's son) has marked Italian cinema with intimate masterpieces as well as monumental frescoes: from Prima della Revoluzione (1964) to Novecento (1976), from The Conformist (1970) to The Last Emperor (1987), his political and social involvement, driven by a profound lyricism and an elegant and accurate direction, gives his films a unique place in the history of world cinema.”
Festival President Gilles Jacob and General Delegate Thierry Frémaux also commented, "The quality of his work, which appears today in all its uniqueness and the extent of this work we perceive every day more vividly, the strength of his commitment to cinema and the ties that bind him to Cannes, make Bernaldo Bertolucci the first legitimate recipient."
The Jury of this year’s 64th Cannes Film Festival is to be chaired by Robert De Niro, who also acted under the direction of Bertolucci in the feature Novecento.
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06 Apr 2011
Lottery Film Funding Increased by £3m as BFI Takes Charge
On 1st April 2011 the BFI became the lead body for film within the UK, and immediately announced further support for UK filmmakers by channelling an increased £3m towards funding for UK production (from £15m – £18m), delivering on their commitment to put overhead savings back into film.
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The BFI will now be taking over as the Lottery distributor; overseeing a 60% increased share of Lottery proceeds for British films as well as administering British film certification. The BFI website now states that the organisation will aim to create a flourishing film environment in which innovation, opportunity and creativity can thrive by:
- Connecting audiences to the widest choice of British and world cinema
- Preserving and restoring the most significant film collection in the world for today and future generations
- Championing emerging and world class filmmakers in the UK
- Investing in creative, distinctive and entertaining work
- Promoting British film and talent to the world
- Growing the next generation of filmmakers and audiences
As part of the move from The UK Film Council, The BFI have also set up new webpages for the Film Funding and The British Film Tax Relief, which can now be found at http://www.bfi.org.uk/about/funding and http://www.bfi.org.uk/about/qualifying respectively.
BFI Chair Greg Dyke has also confirmed that five new Governors - with a sixth to be announced next week - will join the BFI Board, following over 100 applicants from some of the biggest names across all sectors of the industry. Representing a dynamic, hugely talented and diverse range of expertise, they include:
Josh Berger, President and Managing Director of Warner Bros. Entertainment UK, Ireland and Spain; Rt. Hon James Purnell, former MP and Cabinet Minister, who has been attending BFI screenings since the age of 15 and is a dedicated supporter of the arts; and Beeban Kidron, BAFTA-winning film and TV director and founder of the very successful education charity, FILMCLUB.
Also joining the Board of Governors are Lisbeth Savill, Head of Film and Television Practice at Olswang and winner of the Women in Film and Television Business Award, and Matthew Justice, Film and TV producer and MD of Big Talk, the production company behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
The new Governors also took up their posts on 1 April 2011, replacing three retiring Governors, Eric Fellner, Caroline Michel and Peter Watson, plus two vacant posts as the BFI moves into a new era.
Greg Dyke said:
"We are about to see the biggest change to the film landscape in the past ten years and these new board members have each been chosen for the individual skills, wisdom and strengths they will bring to the BFI so that it can lead on delivering a dynamic new plan for film in the UK. The Board members stepping down provided a rock-steady hand to help guide the BFI through some of the most challenging times in its history and they can be proud of their achievements. I want to thank them for everything they have done for the BFI."
Amanda Nevill, Director of the BFI, said:
"Today heralds a new chapter for the BFI and a new era for film, which I believe will be one of the most fertile, exciting and successful times for British film."
"Building on the experience and expertise of both the BFI and the UKFC, we now have an historic opportunity to create a single voice and cohesive vision for film. The new era isn't about an organisation, it's about film, film makers and audiences, and that will be our focus."
Minister for the Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, said:
"The BFI is now the lead agency for film. The transfer of UKFC activities has been concluded with no disruption to film makers. I would like to pay tribute to the hard work and dedication of the staff at UKFC and the BFI who helped make this happen and who put the interests of film first. The BFI will be administering British film certification; taking over as the Lottery distributor; and overseeing a 60% increased share of Lottery proceeds for British films. In retaining key industry expertise and building on the wealth of knowledge already in the BFI I am confident that the future of British film is in safe hands."
As the new Lottery distributor for film the BFI's mandate includes funding for film development and production, distribution (the P&A Fund), training and education through Skillset and First Light. They also take on the strategic partnerships for film across the devolved nations and funding in the English regions; responsibility for UK film certification, which is the gateway to the UK film tax credit; and the MEDIA Desk UK. In supporting Film London and the British Film Commission, the BFI also take on promoting British film and talent internationally. The Film Institute stated that it recognises the importance of the Research and Statistics Unit (RSU) to the film industry, and will seek new commercial partnership funding models to support it.
The BFI will add this new remit to its portfolio, which reaches millions of people across the country. This includes BFI Southbank (currently reporting record figures) and BFI IMAX (always one of the top three most commercially successful cinema screens in the world); publishing; Sight & Sound magazine; cinema distribution; the BFI DVD label; Festivals; including the BFI London Film Festival; BFI Education; BFI Library and the BFI National Archive.
Last week the BFI welcomed 38 new colleagues from the UK Film Council and will look to ensure a seamless transition and continuity across all activities.
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07 Apr 2011
News Corp. Seals Deal for Acquisition of Shine Group
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation have revealed the completed acquisition of 100 percent of Shine Group, headed up by his daughter Elisabeth Murdoch. Shine Group companies include Kudos Film and Television, Metronome and Shine TV, being the UK's largest independent production company and stakeholders have approximately received £290 million in aggregate proceeds.
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News Corp stated that the transaction was approved by the Audit Committee of the News Corporation Board of Directors. The Audit Committee, which is composed entirely of independent directors, received advice and a fairness opinion from Centerview Partners, an independent investment bank, and legal advice from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
Bloomsberg Business Weekly also reported that the all-cash deal was valued at £415 million (about $670 million) including debt, when it was announced in February.
The deal will see Elisabeth Murdoch back to News Corp 11 years after she left, founding Shine in 2001. It is expected that she will join her brothers, James and Lachlan, on the company's board.
The morning after the deal News Corp. shares added 5 cents to $18.99. The stock has traded between $13.27 and $19.05 in the past 52 weeks.
News Corporation was advised by Hogan Lovells. J.P. Morgan acted as exclusive financial advisor to Shine Group, with legal advice from Olswang LLP in the U.K. and O'Melveny & Myers LLP in the U.S.
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01 Apr 2011
The Pixel Lab 2011 – Deadline for European Producers Extended
Scholarship places are still available - please visit Power to the Pixel's website for details of how to apply. Applicants from France & Germany will automatically be considered for a 50% ARTE subsidy.
The deadline for applications has been extended to 18.00 BST Friday 8 April. Please contact Power to the Pixel on +44 (0)20 7453 4017 or lab@powertothepixel.com with any enquiries.
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Held in Potsdam, Germany from 26 June to 2 July 2011, The Pixel Lab is Power to the Pixel's leading cross-media course, which enables European film producers and media professionals to tap into the business knowledge-base of the film, online, gaming, broadcast and mobile industries.
Power to the Pixel will select up to 40 European producers, decision-makers and executives to attend a residential six-day workshop with a focus on developing stories that can extend across film, television, online, gaming and mobile platforms.
Producers who attend The Pixel Lab with a cross-media project will benefit from distance learning between July and September to devise a selling document, followed by final project presentations to invited industry guests during Power to the Pixel's Cross-Media Forum held each October in London. One producer will be awarded with The Pixel Lab prize.
Teaching is led by some of the sharpest creative and business innovators in the world.
Confirmed tutors for 2011 so far are:
- Nuno Bernardo, CEO & Producer, beActive (PORT)
- Christoph Fey, Entertainment Lawyer Unverzagt – Von Have (GERM)
- Ian Ginn, Story Architect & Founder, Transmedia Story Network (NETH)
- Ben Grass, MD Pure Grass Films (UK)
- Michel Reilhac, Executive Director ARTE France Cinéma (FR)
- Adam Sigel, Content Strategist & Writer (USA)
- Inga Von Staden, Media Architect & Educator (GERM)
Last year's participants included Ilann Girard, Oscar-winning producer of March of the Penguins; producer/director Krishna Stott, winner of 2 Webby Awards; award-winning artist/filmmaker Nichola Bruce (I Could Read the Sky); award-winning filmmaker Anna Reeves (Oyster Farmer); RTE Executive Producer David McKenna.
Application deadline is now 8th April 2011.
For details of how to apply, please visit the Pixel Lab 2011 application page here.
With support from the Media Programme of the European Union, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, TorinoFilmLab, Skillset via its Film Skills Fund and ARTE.
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09 Mar 2011
Applications Now Open for The Production Guild's Board of Management
The Production Guild are now welcoming applications from all full members of The Production Guild. The results of the elections will be announced at the AGM in May / Early June 2011 and the deadline for Board Member applications is Friday 8th April 2011.
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Given that it has been some time since board elections the entire PG board have agreed to stand down. We're pleased to say all current board members will be standing for re-election. However this does give the opportunity for new additions to the board so we are now accepting applications.
Please find full details about becoming a Board Member in the application pack found here.
Application Deadline: Friday 8th April 2011.
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16 Mar 2011
UK Broadcasters Reveal Digital Production Partnership Standards
The Digital Production Partnership (DPP) has unveiled common technical standards for tape delivery of HD and SD TV programmes to all major UK broadcasters. Producers will now have just one set of guidelines that cover Technical Specifications, Picture and Sound Quality for Delivery to the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, ITV, S4C and BSkyB.
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Forming the contractual basis between broadcasters and producers for all new commissions, the standards also aim to provide clarity around HD deliveries for the production community. These standards do not prescribe the suitability of particular cameras, or post-production technologies, as these can vary from production to production and will remain subject to discussion between producer and broadcaster.
Kevin Burrows, CTO – Broadcast and Distribution, Channel 4, and Chair of the DPP Technical Standards Working Group said, "Having one set of standards for HD delivery across the industry is of huge benefit in formalising current industry practice, rationalising delivery processes, and saving costs for independent producers – a very welcome development."
These guidelines are the first in a series that aim to help the TV industry maximise the potential of digital production and mark the first time UK broadcasters have agreed a set of common achievable technical standards.
The partnership will make announcements on other guidelines over the coming months, including metadata standards for delivered programmes, HD File based delivery specification and, later this year, plans to publish a 'Producers Guide' covering best practice acquisition and post-production techniques.
For detailed information on the guidelines, please visit the DPP's new website at http://www.digitalproductionpartnership.co.uk or to find out more information please link to the individual broadcasters websites links below:
BBC
Channel 4
ITV - see ITV Delivery of Programmes PDF
S4/C
Channel 5 and Sky links are to follow.
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31 Mar 2011
PG Member Iain Smith Announced as British Film Commission Chair
Film London today announced details of the British Film Commission (BFC), which will be responsible for promoting the UK as the best place to produce feature films as of 1 April 2011. As the team transfers to Film London from the UK Film Council, producer and PG Member Iain Smith has been named as the Chair of the BFC's Advisory Board.
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Minister for the Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey said: "With the appointment of Iain Smith Film London have set out a strong future for the British Film Commission" and that it would "remain one of the key pillars of a successful British film industry, bringing in vital inward investment."
David Parfitt, Chair of Film London and Producer of films such as My Week with Marilyn, Shakespeare in Love, also spoke highly of Smith saying, "Iain has over 40 years of experience working both here and in the US...I am confident that with his skills, contacts, and expertise we can continue to ensure the UK remains one of the most popular filming destinations in the world."
Under the management of Film London and its Advisory Board, the BFC will set the strategy, policy, and delivery objectives to bring vital investment to the UK through feature film production. The BFC will be delivered through a public/private partnership with key film industry bodies including Pinewood Studios Group, UK Screen Association, and the Production Guild.
The existing team, including Colin Brown as Commissioner, are transferring to Film London, retaining bases and valuable expertise both in the UK and US. There will be a seamless transition and continuity of service. The BFC will form strong links with the national agencies in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to successfully promote the whole UK package.
Initially joining Iain Smith on the Advisory Board are representatives from Warner Bros., the National Screen Agencies for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, BFI Director, Amanda Nevill, PACT CEO John McVay and Creative England Chair John Newbigin, alongside the Film London Chair David Parfitt.
2010 was a record year for inward investment features shooting in the UK, generating almost £1bn, up 15% on the previous year. Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London said: "We aim to build on the current record levels of inward investment and with the existing team, a brilliantly qualified Chair and Advisory Board, we are in a fantastic position to maximise the potential within the UK."
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31 Mar 2011
Screen Yorkshire Restructure to Begin for Film, TV and Games Industries
Screen Yorkshire have revealed a new staffing structure will be in place for April 1st as the agency faces cut backs from public funding and the closure of the UK Film Council and Yorkshire Forward. As part of the restructuring alluded to in January a number of staff will be let go by 30th March however the body did also confirm that a number of its functions will still be in place including support for locations, crew, independent features and festivals as well as the continuation of a number of on-going industry projects.
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The agency did however confirm that the new restructuring would now allow for business support at the same level as previously delivered and that their video gaming arm Game Republic will now be run independent of Screen Yorkshire.
The restructure will also see the body move to a new office at 46 The Calls and they also confirmed that new funding opportunities would be explored.
For the full message regarding Screen Yorkshire restructuring sent to us from Chief Executive Sally Joynson, please see below:
Many of you will be aware that Screen Yorkshire has been facing challenging times due to public funding cuts and the abolition of our two key funders - Yorkshire Forward and the UK Film Council. We have had to restructure in order to put the organisation on a strong and stable footing for the next 12 months. Regrettably this has meant a number of staff have been made redundant as of 31st March, for our new staffing structure please visit: www.screenyorkshire.co.uk/about-us/departments
With existing funding we will continue to offer locations and crew support; cultural sector support (festivals and independent cinema); as well as managing a number of other contracts including the national Revitalising the Regions film archive project, the Rural Cinema Pilot Project and the pan-northern Triangle film development scheme. However we will be unable to offer the same level of business support as in recent years. For specific information on individual services please visit: http://www.screenyorkshire.co.uk
Game Republic, Yorkshire's industry network for games developers, will now be run independently. For further information contact Jamie Sefton at Jamie@gamerepublic.net
The decisions around what services we continue to offer has been determined by the funding available but we will continue to examine new sources of funding.
Screen Yorkshire is also moving to a new office within 46 The Calls. Between 31st March and 4th April email and telephones may be disrupted so if your enquiry is urgent please call 0113 294 4410 and follow instructions. Staff who are leaving will be emailing their individual contacts over the next couple of days with their new contact details.
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31 Mar 2011
UKFC Release New Diversity Film Report
The UK Film Council has released a major new study into film suggesting that the majority of the UK population believes more needs to be done to create an authentic portrayal of the country's diverse audiences, including older women and minority ethnic groups.
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The independent study undertaken by global research agency, Harris Interactive, on behalf of the UK Film Council surveyed 4,315 people to uncover their views and opinions about the portrayal of diverse groups in film. The research incorporated specific groups including older women, minority ethnic groups, lesbian/gay/bisexual audiences (LGB), and C2D social classes, and focuses on those who are into film.
The research highlights a number of stereotypes that are still being perpetuated in film, one of which is sexual behaviour. Older women in particular feel marginalised and rather than being seen as background, sexless figures they're keen to see roles in film that more accurately communicate the characteristics of the modern, sexually liberated older woman. Three in five (61%) claim they are not portrayed as having sexual needs or desires in film and half (50%) are more than comfortable seeing themselves as being attractive to younger men – the recently identified 'Cougar' phenomenon. Seven in ten (69%) also feel that film tends to glamorise young women and older characters - especially older women - tend to be significantly under-represented.
While a large proportion of older women would like to see their characters 'sexed up' in film, by contrast, other groups were keen to see their sexuality downplayed. Four-fifths (80%) of LGB individuals felt the focus on gay characters in film concentrated too much on their sexuality, while almost two-thirds of Black African/Caribbean people (63%) felt that their characters were portrayed as overly sexual in film.
The research also delves further into some of the other negative stereotypes communicated in film. A majority (80%) of Black African/Caribbean individuals believe they are too often characterised as drug dealers in film and around three-quarters (74%) would like to see a superhero in film that isn't a white guy. Almost three-quarters (71%) of LGB audiences believe that film focuses on them as having problems rather than being everyday people.
In addition, almost three-quarters of Eastern European respondents (72%) believe they are regularly portrayed as being at the bottom of the economic ladder, while a similar proportion of Asian audiences (74%) believe that Asian religious culture is not reflected authentically. One in two C2D social grade individuals also believe that films telling stories of their lives are too often depressing.
These figures become even more important when contrasted with how powerful the general population feels the role of film has in changing behaviour. Almost 7 in 10 people (69%) believe that film has the power to tell stories that educate people about real life events, demonstrating that film doesn't merely entertain and pass the time, but is an important medium to help change ingrained beliefs and stereotypes in society.
What is also clear from the findings is that film remains one of the most popular pastimes for people in the UK and – interestingly - diverse audiences represent some of the most regular film viewers. As many as three-quarters (76%) of the general public consider watching films as a pleasurable way to fill their spare time, yet only 31% attend the cinema at least once a month. Contrast this to minority ethnic groups who visit the cinema much more regularly with 67% of Asian and Eastern European groups, and 56% of Black African/Caribbean individuals and 55% of LGB respondents attending on a monthly basis.
While things have improved over the past decade with 71% of the general public claiming that film has become more authentic in its portrayal of diverse groups over the last 10 years, diverse audiences feel strongly that more work needs to be done - a massive 95% of Asian and Eastern European groups, 97% of Black African/Caribbean, and 90% of LGB groups believe this is the case.
An interesting finding from the study also highlights that there is considerable commercial opportunity to be reaped if diverse groups are represented more authentically on film. 59% of Asian, 66% of Black African/Caribbean, 54% of East European and 51% of LGB audiences say they would watch more films if they felt this was the case.
Mary FitzPatrick, Head of Diversity at the UK Film Council and key sponsor of the research, said, "Film remains one of the most popular pastimes for people in the UK and this research highlights the often overlooked views, opinions and needs of the diverse groups that make up an important part of the film industry's audience. Film has the ability to change behaviour and shift opinion, so we in the Industry all have a responsibility to ensure that these findings are not ignored.
The figures speak for themselves in demonstrating there is a real opportunity for the industry to more accurately portray these groups in film. This research will form an important part of the UK Film Council's legacy and will help make a powerful and dynamic change to the way in which diverse groups are portrayed in film going forward".
British comedienne and actress, Jenny Eclair, supports the findings of the research and hopes the study will open the way for a more authentic portrayal of audiences on screen.
Eclair commented, "Sadly this research demonstrates that, even in our culture of supposed diversity, film - one of the key cultural mediums - is still misrepresenting large proportions of UK film goers. The industry needs to think carefully about how it portrays diverse groups - including older women - who are frustrated at still being portrayed in de-sexualised, stereotypical roles. The industry is in danger of continuing this misrepresentation where there is clearly the opportunity at hand to change opinion for good".
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31 Mar 2011
Mayor of London and Arts Council to Continue Support for Film London
Following last week's announcement that the Mayor of London will continue to invest in Film London, the Arts Council have also this week confirmed their support of the Film London Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN). Film London stated that the commitment of funding from the Mayor of London will ensure that the UK capital has a dedicated film and media agency supporting and driving growth in London's production sector.
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With funding in place from the Mayor of London, Film London will be able to continue to deliver its core activities. This will include providing on the ground support - across feature films, TV, commercials, as well as online and games content - attracting productions to the capital generating vital investment and employment. Film London will also continue to cultivate new and emerging film-making talent and work towards maximising access to the capital's film culture by helping audiences to discover film in all its diversity.
The £1.3m will ensure Film London will continue to deliver important and successful initiatives such as, Film London Microwave, the award-winning training through production scheme, the London UK Film Focus (LUFF), which supports the export of UK film and the Production Finance Market (PFM) which connects financiers and producers. The funding will also allow Film London to ensure that film culture and film business can best exploit the unique opportunities offered by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "London is one of the most cinematic cities in the world and is at the epicentre of the UK film industry. Featuring in movies as diverse as the Oscar-winning independent The King's Speech to the blockbusting Harry Potter franchise, London is shrugging off the perception that it is a difficult place to shoot. Since Film London was established, filming across the city has increased by around 30 percent and this is in no small part to the success of Film London. I am delighted that we are able to continue to support this industry which contributes almost £4bn to the London economy."
Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London said: "First and foremost this is fantastic news for London. The production industries in the capital make a vital contribution to the economy through direct and indirect spend, plus they sustain and create in the region of 70,000 jobs in London and we will work to ensure this continues. This funding settlement also allows us to deliver new opportunities for the capital's aspiring film-makers and enrich the city's film culture.
The Mayor has been a long supporter of film and its economic and cultural benefits and I am very grateful for his continued backing and support. Since we launched in 2004 I am very proud that Film London has had such a positive impact on the capital's production industries and I am keen to build on our previous successes and continue to deliver for the city, for our film-makers of tomorrow and for domestic and international producers."
Film London has proved itself to be good value for money with an independent evaluation concluding that for every £1 invested in the agency, £4 comes back to the city.
In addition to the agency's regional remit for the capital, as of 1 April 2011 Film London will also be managing the national responsibility for inward investment through film, through a public/private partnership with key film industry bodies. The unit, which will be nationally branded with a new Advisory Board, will retain all the core functions of the existing Office of the British Film Commission, to be chaired by PG Member Iain Smith.
Film London also stated that The Arts Council's support of Film London Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) as part of the new National Portfolio of supported organisations will enable FLAMIN to continue offering unique production opportunities, support and online resources to London-based moving image artists until 2015.
Established and successful initiatives such as FLAMIN Productions and the Jarman Award will be maintained and FLAMIN also aims to develop new partnership projects.
Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London commented "The Film London Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) has established itself as a leader in discovering, nurturing and developing fantastic talent in the capital and having our funding confirmed for another three years is credit to our achievements."
Wootton continued "ahead of us taking on additional national responsibilities for inward investment as of 1st April, this is a really positive time for the agency and in these strained financial times is something we should indeed be very proud of and is testament of our successes to date."
Full details on the Arts Council funding can be viewed here and for a complete list of organisations receiving funding, please visit the National portfolio funding page.
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23 Mar 2011
BECTU Submit Competition Concerns to Ofcom Over BSKYB Takeover
Media and Entertainment Union BECTU have argued that News Corp's attempts to head off criticism of its planned takeover of BSkyB fail to answer the serious questions about competition. The statement is included in the union's submission to Ofcom whose latest consultation into the planned takeover closes at midday on 21 March.
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The submission prepared by research officer Andy Egan stated, "The sheer size and reach of the proposed merged company gives rise to clear concerns that it would be anti-competitive."
The document also cites the following facts:
- The merged company would be the largest private media company ever seen in the UK;
- An enlarged News Corp, with an expected turnover of £9bn within a few years, would have almost double the revenue of the BBC. Its size and scale would predominate over every other media organisation in the UK.
- The new combine would reach across all significant media platforms: television, radio, newspapers, online and ISP - including a customer base of 10m television subscribers and 40 per cent share of the newspaper market.
The union has previously highlighted its concerns about the dominant position which the takeover would grant to News Corp and the destabilising effect this would have on the UK media market and its operators.
This latest statement from BECTU states that a bigger News Corp would have "opportunities on a scale unavailable to any competitor". For example:
- to cross-promote News Corp news titles and channels
- to bundle news products with other media services
- to develop integrated news products for convergent devices and media
- to win wholesale news contracts
- to distort the advertising market with cross-platform deals
- to take a dominant position in competing for rights.
Procedural irregularities
BECTU also places on record its "severe reservations" about the procedure followed by the secretary of state, Jeremy Hunt, who despite a previous commitment to take the advice of the regulator in referring the planned takeover to the Competition Commission, opted instead to grant News Corp the privilege of "a series of private discussions with regulators, without any public scrutiny leading to the reluctant and unconvincing undertakings" announced in early March.
BECTU believes that News Corp's promise to guarantee the independence of Sky News in a spun off company is not meaningful given the news provider's commercial dependence on News Corp/BSkyB for 85 per cent of its revenue and 25 per cent of its costs.
BECTU also urges Ofcom to scrutinise News Corp's promise of editorial independence for Sky News. News Corp made similar undertakings in response to opposition to the takeover of The Times and Sunday Times in 1981 and to the takeover of the Wall Street Journal in 2007.
"Post-takeover none of these publications are considered in any way editorially-independent of the interests of News Corp," says BECTU.
Conclusions
BECTU calls upon the secretary of state to refer the proposed merger to the Competition Commission rather than "abjectly accepting this inadequate settlement."
The union also calls upon the government "to institute a broader review of the statutory framework governing the public interest in media pluralism."
To read BECTU's submission in full, please click here (Opens in New Window).
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16 Mar 2011
BFI Announce UK Film Council Staff Transfers
The BFI and UK Film Council have announced which staff will be transferring from the UK Film Council to join the BFI from 1 April 2011. As the BFI prepares to become the lead body for film in the UK the new roles will ensure a seamless transition and continuity for the new activities, including applications for film funding, tax credit certification and general industry engagement.
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A total of 44 UK Film Council posts (including vacancies) will transfer on 1 April to the BFI through a formal TUPE* process. These positions include Tanya Seghatchian, the Head of the UK Film Council's Film Fund, Peter Buckingham, Head of Distribution and Exhibition, and Will Evans, Head of Business Affairs.
The new staff will be based at the BFI's central London location, moving from 1 April and over the following months.
Both organisations have been working closely together to integrate as seamlessly as possible since it was announced last November that the BFI would take over a number of the UK Film Council's current activities. Along with practical transition work the BFI is implementing a programme for both new and existing staff to develop an understanding of the scope of the BFI and the new roles and responsibilities that the BFI will have as a Non-Departmental Public Body and Lottery distributor for film.
Amanda Nevill, Director, BFI said 'From April we will be bringing together the BFI and UKFC to start a new chapter for film in the UK. We welcome our new colleagues who are among the most talented people in the film industry, and look forward to building on the UK Film Council's incredible legacy. I'm confident that our shared passion for – and dedication to – film will ensure that it flourishes in the UK for the benefit of the public, the film industry and our economy.'
The BFI is in the process of recruiting five new Trustees (including a deputy chair) to its Governing Board and will start to announce appointees at the end of March. The BFI is a registered charity and all Board positions are unremunerated. The current Chair is Greg Dyke.
The first UK Film Council staff to be moving to their new BFI London office locations on 1 April will be coming from the Strategic Development Unit, MEDIA Desk UK, UK Partnerships, Monitoring Unit, Certification Unit, and the Chief Accountant. The remainder of the transferring staff are from the Film Fund, Distribution and Exhibition Department, Business Affairs, Production Finance and the Research and Statistics Unit and are expected to follow in the summer.
The new BFI will continue to lead in the arena of film preservation and conservation, as well as the distribution and exhibition of the widest diversity of world cinema in the UK. With its new responsibilities the BFI will become a Lottery distributor: investing in film production, distribution and exhibition; developing career skills and education; and providing a clear focus internationally to promote British film and talent to the world.
For more information on the transition of responsibilities from the UK Film
Council to the BFI please visit http://www.bfi.org.uk/about/policy/bfi-ukfc-transfer.html.
*(Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006)
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23 Mar 2011
BBC Trust Publishes NAO Report on the BBC's Management of the Costs of Producing Continuing Drama
The BBC Trust has published an independent report commissioned from the National Audit Office on the BBC's management of the costs of producing continuing drama.
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In 2009-10 the BBC spent £102.5 million (down from £108.6 million in 2002-03) making six continuing dramas or soap operas, Casualty, Doctors, EastEnders, and Holby City, River City and Pobol y Cwm.
The NAO has concluded that, although the absence of formal audience-related performance objectives for individual dramas meant the NAO was unable to say whether the BBC is delivering value for money, the BBC has taken important steps towards achieving this.
The six continuing dramas reviewed were Casualty, Doctors, Eastenders and Holby City (broadcast throughout the UK), River City (broadcast in Scotland) and Pobol y Cwm (produced by the BBC for broadcast in Wales on S4C).
The review found that production costs on these long running shows are tightly controlled, and that the average cost of producing an hour of continuing drama has fallen by 20 per cent in real terms over the last eight years, with the programmes being delivered on time and largely within budget.
The report recommends the BBC strengthens its approach to achieving value for money in continuing drama by being more systematic in comparing and challenging production costs and processes.
Key points from the report and the Trust's response include:
The average cost per viewer hour across the six programmes has increased in real terms by 8.9 per cent over the last eight years as a result of falling viewer numbers. However, this decline in viewer numbers has masked reductions in total production costs, which have declined by 20 per cent over the same period. Audience approval has increased by an average of 6.5 per cent over the last four years.
The Trust is pleased with the NAO's finding that the BBC has reduced the cost of producing these dramas by 20 per cent in real terms while at the same time increasing audience approval.All six programmes were found to have strong mechanisms for establishing a detailed budget and then monitoring and reporting expenditure against it, although the teams responsible for producing the continuing dramas do not use a consistent approach. Of the completed series examined by the NAO, 33 of the 46 were on, or under budget.
The Trust welcomes the NAO's statement that the BBC has a strong culture of monitoring performance and strong mechanisms in place to establish and manage performance budgets.The BBC regularly reviews the performance of programmes by looking at the number of viewers and the level of audience approval but does not set formal objectives for what programmes are expected to deliver. By setting such objectives, the BBC would demonstrably link the resources committed and what it is trying to achieve.
While some objectives – for example budgets – can be set at individual programme level, the Trust believes that it is not always appropriate for the BBC to set audience-focused objectives for individual programmes. The BBC currently sets these objectives at a channel or genre level; to set objectives at an individual programme level runs the risk of creating not only perverse or unintended consequences but also of unnecessary bureaucracy. The Trust remains committed to ensuring value for money from programmes and considers that a varied range of metrics by channel and genre is an essential tool to achieve this. However, the Trust will undertake some further work to understand how other creative organisations address the issues raised by this recommendation.
Anthony Fry, BBC Trustee with lead responsibility for value for money, said:
"The report shows the BBC has made real progress in delivering value for licence fee payers: an excellent achievement of which the BBC can feel proud. Popular, long-running dramas like Eastenders sit at the heart of the BBC schedule, generating loyalty from audiences as well as an environment for new writing, acting and production talent to flourish. They cost viewers less than they did ten years ago, while audience approval is on the up.
"We accept the majority of the NAO's recommendations, with the exception of the suggestion that the BBC should set targets at drama level. We believe there is a risk that this could harm the BBC's ability to produce distinctive programming by acting as a disincentive to take creative risks and creating unnecessary bureaucracy."
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said:
"The BBC is doing a good job of applying basic financial controls and achieving steady cost reduction across its portfolio of continuing dramas. However, it should take a more holistic approach and compare the cost of these programmes with audience levels and opinions, both targeted and achieved, as these are critical measures of broadcast performance, and a key guide to whether the continuing dramas are delivering value for money."
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23 Mar 2011
HMRC Ruling on Actors National Insurance Contributions
HMRC have issued a ruling for actors National Insurance Contributions following a recent case with ITV. At the hearing the panel did not accept that any artist was exempt and they did not accept the 'marquee talent' argument as being outside NI.
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PACT have advised that any contract that a production considers should be exempt from NI should be approved by HMRC before being issued to the agent. PACT noted that HMRC can take up to six months to approve it and even having approved it can reverse it at a later date. Given the outcome of this recent tribunal HMRC are less likely to approve marquee talent in the future except in exceptional cases and PACT recommend that all artists have NI as a cost in the budget.
'Marquee Talent ' is denoted in Clause 3 of the Inland Revenues Guidelines on the special NIC Rules for Entertainers (Opens new Window), which states Prior to 1998, the main category of performers in the entertainment industry not paying Class 1 contributions were certain 'Key Talent' stars who were generally regarded as having been engaged on productions because of their celebrity status. To try and ensure this practice continued The Social Security (Categorisation of Earners) (Amendment) Regulations 1998 were introduced from 17 July 1998 which created a liability for Class 1 NICs for entertainers whose earnings consisted 'wholly or mainly of salary'. Those for whom a fee was negotiated or received rights and additional use payments, higher than the salary element were not liable to pay Class 1 NICs but were regarded as self-employed as such payments did not come within the definition of 'salary', derived from case law. (1)
(1) There is no statutory definition of the word 'salary'. Remuneration does, however, have to have all of the following characteristics to be regarded as 'salary':
• It is paid for services rendered or to be rendered
• It is paid under some contract or appointment
• It is computed by reference to time worked
• It is payable at a specified time or at specified intervals
• It is paid for regular work
The above statements are based on the cases of Re Shine, ex parte Shine [1892, 1QB522] and Greater
London Council v Minister of Social Security [1971, 2 All ER285]
Full HMRC Brief:
National Insurance: ITV Services Ltd ('ITV') and The Commissioners for HM Revenue & Customs ('HMRC') First Tier Tribunal -Tax Chamber decision of 23 November 2010. (TC/2009/10166)
This Brief outlines the salient facts and the National Insurance implications of the above decision for the entertainment industry. You can read the full text of the decision on the Tax Tribunals Service website (Opens new window).
This case concerned the employment status for National Insurance contributions purposes of actors engaged by ITV under a variety of contract types. The legislation in point is the Social Security (Categorisation of Earners) Regulations 1978 (SI 1978/1689) [the 'Entertainers Regulations' as amended in 2003.]
The Tribunal judges found that except for the ITV 'All Rights Agreement', in all other contracts, including contracts for walk-ons, the actor's remuneration included 'any payment by way of salary' as defined in the Entertainers Regulations. As such their contracts provide for remuneration which does include salary and there was a liability for Class 1 National Insurance contributions on all the remuneration payable under the contract.
The tribunal's decision confirms the HMRC technical view and Policy intention stated by Ministers at the time the regulations were first laid in 1998 that the majority of entertainers in the TV, film and theatre industries, engaged on Equity contracts, are to be treated as employed earners for National Insurance contributions purposes. The implications of the decision are that only actors who have entered into 'All Rights Agreements' or are engaged for a specific production, programme or episode that does not involve payment to provide their services as and when required for a specified period of engagement will be excepted from the Entertainers Regulations.
Consequently, the Entertainers Regulations will also now apply to the minority of actors who had previously entered into Equity contracts on the common understanding that, as the production was dependent on them for box office success; they would remain outside of the ambit of the legislation. The tribunal has decided that there is an element of salary in the payments made under such contracts and confirmed that the essential quality of salary was to 'purchase the individual's time for some definite or indefinite period, short or long, rather than to pay for specific services'. The wider implication of this decision is that this test should be applied to contracts for all actors whatever their status within the profession and parties cannot contract out of the liability for Class 1 National Insurance Contributions if the nature of the contract is that it includes payment 'by way of salary.'
In the light of the First Tier Tax Tribunal decision there is a liability for Class 1 National Insurance contributions for all actors on existing Equity contracts. HMRC is also obliged to apply the law immediately to all Equity contracts that are either newly entered into, revised, renewed or extended from the date of this briefing and from 6 April 2011 in respect of all current Equity contracts that continue beyond the end of the 2010/11 tax year, which are of a type that has been previously accepted by HMRC as falling outside of the regulations. This means that engagers have until 5 April 2011to make the necessary administrative arrangements to ensure that they start to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions in respect of these existing contracts that now fall within the regulations as well as such contracts that might be agreed in the future.
HMRC's current published guidance on the National Insurance contributions liability for entertainers in the Employment Status Manual (ESM 4145 to 4147) and the document 'Guidelines on the Special National Insurance contributions Rules for Entertainers' published in April 2005 on the HMRC website will be amended in due course to reflect this judgment.
(Issued: March 2011 by HMRC)
Many thanks to Lara Sargent, Barry Kim and Trevor Stanley for kindly contributing to this feature.
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15 Mar 2011
New Sundance London Festival Announced for Olympic Year
Robert Redford, the non-profit Sundance Institute and AEG Europe have announced Sundance London, a four-day multi-disciplinary arts festival that will include film screenings, live music performances, discussions, panels and other public cultural programming to be held 26th – 29th April, 2012 at the world’s most popular music and entertainment venue, The O2.
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AEG Europe, owner and operator of The O2, Robert Redford, and his non-profit Sundance Institute will join together to present films from American filmmakers as well as current American music. Sundance Institute, which annually presents the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A, will act as curator of the film component , while AEG Europe will use its industry-leading venue and marketing teams to stage and promote music and other related events at The O2.
Speaking to press at The 02, Robert Redford said, "We are excited to partner with AEG Europe to bring a particular slice of American culture to life in the inspired setting of The O2, and in this city of such rich cultural history." Redford continued, "It is our mutual goal to bring to the UK, the very best in current American independent cinema, to introduce the artists responsible for it, and in essence help build a picture of our country that is broadly reflective of the diversity of voices not always seen in our cultural exports."
Alex Hill, Senior Executive Director at AEG Europe said: "The O2 is famous for its exciting and diverse events schedule, but we're particularly proud to be hosting Sundance London next year. Mr. Redford's passion for the arts, the depth of his many businesses and the curatorial reputation of Sundance Institute are world renowned and we see this as a natural extension of the music and sporting events presented at The O2 since we opened in 2007. We look forward to extending a warm welcome to the best of the film industry in 2012."
From Los Angeles, Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute added: "We look forward to bringing to UK audiences some of the most exciting independent American films from the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The environment provided by AEG and The O2, coupled with London's reputation as a global cultural destination, should make for a rich and rewarding festival experience and provide the artists with a unique and memorable opportunity."
Information regarding ticketing and programming may be found at http://www.sundance-london.com.
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09 Mar 2011
Pinewood Shepperton plc to Invest in British Films
Pinewood Shepperton plc has this week announced that it will be providing facilities and co-investment to support smaller budget British films. The Company will target films with production budgets of circa £2m each and will invest equity up to 20 per cent per film.
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In addition to any expected return from this investment Pinewood will also benefit from these films using latent studio capacity at its sites and the expected take-up of ancillary services at the studios. This arrangement will also bring fiscal benefits to the Company in its role as a supporter of British film productions. It is anticipated that Pinewood will invest in four productions annually, which will be selected by industry partners on behalf of the Company.
This move by Pinewood is consistent with the Government's stated aim to create a sustainable long term British film industry.
Commenting on this announcement, Ivan Dunleavy, Chief Executive said:
"British film has enjoyed extraordinary success recently, and in its seventy-fifth anniversary year, I am delighted that Pinewood is returning, on a small scale, to its heritage in British film production. Although our financial commitment to each film will be relatively small, we can, in addition, offer British films access to the world class facilities and production expertise at Pinewood and Shepperton Studios which would normally be beyond their budget."
Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt, MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport added:
"We are delighted that Pinewood is showing its support for smaller British film productions. As the recent success of The King's Speech demonstrates, smaller British films have the potential to become smash hits globally and any support that the industry can offer producers, we welcome. This new private sector investment is a sign of confidence in the Government's film policy. Pinewood has a long heritage as a centre for film making excellence and with this announcement, demonstrates that it continues to sit at the heart of the British film industry."
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09 Mar 2011
BFI, Film London and UK Film Council Transition Dates Announced
In a speech delivered last week, Ed Vaizey (Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries) announced that the British Film Institute (BFI) will be appointed Lottery distributor for film from 1 April 2011.
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Speaking at the British Screen Advisory Council (BSAC) Annual Film Conference, Mr Vaizey praised the work of the BFI, the UK Film Council and Film London for their work to ensure the transfer can take place the first day of the new financial year. Based on current expectations, following the transfer the UK Film Council will close on 1 July.
Certification will also transfer to the BFI on 1 April, whilst the office of the British Commissioner will transfer to Film London.
Mr Vaizey said Government is "absolutely committed" to continue supporting the British film industry, including through increasing the share of Lottery proceeds in film to 60% from £27 million a year currently, to around £43m by 2014.
Mr Vaizey also spoke about the forthcoming film policy review which will look at improving the sustainability of the industry.
"We need to continue to engage with the industry on how the lottery distribution and recoupment policy can better contribute to support the indigenous industry. I want to work closely with the industry on this, which is why I've established a Ministerial forum to stimulate dialogue and consider key concerns."
During the speech Mr Vaizey also praised the many nominations for British films at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes and Oscars this year and highlighted innovative collaborations between film and other sectors, including cinemas opening their screens to live content such as opera.
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09 Mar 2011
UK Government Intends to Approve NewsCorp Merger with BSkyB
Jeremy Hunt (Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport) has stated that, following advice from Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), he intends to accept undertakings from News Corporation on their proposed merger with BSkyB in lieu of a referral to the Competition Commission. A notice of consultation on the undertakings has been launched today and expires on 21 March.
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The Secretary of State is required to look at the specific issue of media plurality related to the merger (competition issues having already been dealt with at European level) and issues of plurality focus on the provision of news.
The undertakings that News Corporation has offered would involve Sky News being 'spun-off' as an independent public limited company. The shares in that company would be distributed amongst the existing shareholders of BSkyB in line with their shareholdings - News Corporation would therefore retain a 39.1 per cent stake in the new company. To ensure editorial independence and integrity in news reporting, the company would have a board made up of a majority of independent directors, including an independent chair, and a corporate governance and editorial committee made up of independent directors (who would have no other News Corporation interests). News Corporation would not be allowed to increase its shareholding in the new company without permission from the Secretary of State for 10 years.
The company would have a ten year carriage agreement and a seven year renewable brand licensing agreement to ensure its financial viability – measures considered by the regulators to be long term in the rapidly-changing media sector.
Jeremy Hunt said:
"I am consulting on proposed undertakings from News Corporation. Informed by advice from the regulators, I believe that these will address concerns about media plurality should the proposed News Corporation/BSkyB merger go ahead. The undertakings offered would ensure that shareholdings in Sky News would remain unchanged, and indeed offer it more independence from News Corporation than it currently has.
"Throughout this process I have been very aware of the potential controversy surrounding this merger. Nothing is more precious to me than the free and independent press for which this country is famous the world over. In order to reassure the public about the way this decision has been taken I have sought and published independent advice at every step of the way, even when not required to do so by law. And I have followed that independent advice."
Once the Secretary of State has considered responses to the consultation, he will reach a decision on whether he still believes that the undertakings in lieu should still be accepted. If, after consultation, he is still of the view that the undertakings in lieu which News Corporation has offered address the concerns about media plurality, he will accept them and not refer this merger to the Competition Commission.
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09 Mar 2011
BBC Wales Announce New Head of Drama
BBC Cymru Wales has appointed Faith Penhale as Head of Drama. Penhale joins from Kudos Film and Television where she is currently creative manager and executive producer. When she takes up the role later this year, Penhale will take overall responsibility for the strategic direction of a very successful department, including in-house development strategy and relationships with key independent producers.
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In her current role, Penhale is involved with supporting the creative foundations at Kudos as well as working as an executive producer on key drama projects. Through her track record of development and productions, Bridgend-born Penhale works closely with major writing and directing talent as well as nurturing emerging writers. Her production credits include award-winning dramas Spooks for BBC One and The Fixer for ITV1.
Piers Wenger, who joined BBC Wales in 2007 and, with Stephen Moffat and Beth Willis masterminded the latest regeneration of Doctor Who with Matt Smith, will continue in his role as creative leader of a range of key shows including the Doctor.
Wenger was responsible for the highly successful relaunch of Upstairs Downstairs as well as the extraordinary Eric And Ernie, which was the most successful drama on BBC Two for more than a decade. Having previously held the post as Head of Drama, he now wishes to focus more exclusively on the running of his existing slate of in-house shows as well as the creative development of individual projects, including Sir Tom Stoppard's forthcoming five-part adaptation of the Ford Madox Ford novel Parade's End for BBC Two.
Penhale joins at a time of huge growth for BBC Wales, with Casualty moving to Wales this autumn, joining Doctor Who, Pobol y Cwm and Upstairs Downstairs in the new Roath Lock drama production centre in Cardiff Bay, following BBC Wales' impressive increase in network production over recent years. She joins an accomplished and highly talented team which also includes Bethan Jones (Merlin/Shine, Sherlock/Hartswood).
Clare Hudson, Head of English Language Programmes at BBC Cymru Wales, says: "We have been incredibly fortunate in BBC Wales to have such an impressive array of talent doing their best work with us over the past few years. I am really thrilled that Faith has agreed to lead BBC Wales drama into the next exciting era of its development; the Welsh creative sector as a whole will also benefit enormously from her skills and her vision."
Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning says: "Faith has fantastic creative energy and vision as well as great talent relationships so I am delighted she has agreed to go back to her roots in Wales. We have big plans for Wales drama – not only do we want to sustain its relationships with Welsh indies but we also want to build on the success of the in-house department to make it even more vibrant and exciting. I am confident that Faith will be a major player in delivering the ambition of BBC Drama by working with a range of writers on a variety of authentic and original authored drama."
Faith Penhale says: "I am thrilled to be joining such an exciting department with a track record for producing some of the most stand-out dramas on British television. I hope my experience at Kudos will help take the department even further and build on its success."
Piers Wenger says: "I am absolutely thrilled for Wales that it has someone as brilliant and experienced as Faith to bring in the next generation of shows. The department has blazed a trail across a wide portfolio of in-house and indie shows in the last few years and it's exciting for us all to have someone with Faith's huge talent to build on their success."
Jane Featherstone at Kudos says: "We have loved working with Faith at Kudos and want to thank her for being such a brilliant member of the creative team for several years now. We know that she will make a huge success of her new role in Wales, and very much hope to be able to continue to work with her in that capacity."
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23 Feb 2011
Ofcom Releases Mandatory Product Placement Logo for UK TV as New Regulations Come into Effect
Ofcom has launched the logo that TV channels must use to signal to viewers when a UK-produced programme contains product placement. The new ofcom regulations that will allow product placement on UK TV comes into effect on 28th February 2011. The new logo must appear for three seconds at the start and end of programmes, and after any advertising breaks.
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Broadcasters will be allowed to slightly adapt the logo, according to Ofcom's guidelines, to enable use on either dark or light backgrounds.
Product placement will be allowed in UK television programmes for the first time. This follows the Government's decision to allow product placement in UK TV programmes, as a result of changes to European broadcasting legislation.
The requirement to signal it in UK-produced programmes is set out in law, and will be reflected in Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
Information Campaign
Around the time that the new rules come in to effect, TV channels will run on-screen information campaigns to let viewers know that some UK-made programmes will soon be able to include product placement, and to explain the meaning of the product placement logo.
This campaign will be screened across a number of major TV channels.
The campaign will also direct viewers to Ofcom's specially-created product placement webpage: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/productplacement which gives more information about product placement and Ofcom's new rules.
Other broadcasters who want to use product placement in their programmes when the rules first come into force are also obliged to give similar information to their viewers.
Product Placement on TV
Product placement is the paid-for placement of products, services and trade marks in TV programmes.
Where Products Can Be Shown
Product placement will be allowed in films (including dramas and documentaries), TV series (including soaps), entertainment shows and sports programmes. But it will be prohibited in all children's and news programmes and in current affairs, consumer advice and religious programmes made for UK audiences.
Restrictions on Product Placement
European legislation bans the product placement of tobacco (and related products) and prescription only medicines in all programmes.
In addition, UK legislation bans the product placement of alcohol, gambling, foods or drinks that are high in fat, salt or sugar, all other medicines and baby milk in programmes made for UK audiences. These prohibitions are reflected in Ofcom's new rules. Ofcom has also prohibited the product placement of products and services that cannot be advertised on television, such as weapons and escort agencies.
In line with EU and UK legislation, the rules state that product placement must not impair broadcasters' editorial independence and must always be editorially justified. This means that programmes cannot be created or distorted so that they become vehicles for the purposes of featuring product placement.
Placed products and services cannot be promoted or endorsed, or be featured in an unduly prominent way within programmes.
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09 Mar 2011
ITV Reveal Positive Year End Results
ITV plc have announced their year end results for 2010, revealing a 10% increase in external revenues, doubled EBITA before exceptional items to £408 million and an increase in earnings per share. However profits for ITV Studios have fallen by £10 million and the company have emphasised the need for creative renewal.
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Highlights from the year end results include:
- Transformation Plan gathers momentum
- Good progress in rebuilding the ITV senior team and delivery on the first phase of the Transformation Plan.
- Total external revenues up 10% to £2,064m (2009: £1,879m).
- ITV has outperformed the television advertising market by 1% up 16%.
- EBITA before exceptional items has doubled to £408m (2009: £202m) driven by the strong recovery in the advertising market and the continued focus on reducing costs.
- Adjusted earnings per share increased to 6.4p (2009: 1.8p).
- Net debt has reduced significantly to £188m (2009: £612m) providing a sound financial platform for the future.
- ITV Studios profits have declined to £81m (2009: £91m) - emphasising the need for creative renewal already identified.
- ITV Family advertising revenues are expected to be up by 12% in Q1 but comparatives become increasingly tough from Q2 onwards.
- The Board intends to restore the payment of a dividend at the interim results in July 2011.
Adam Crozier, ITV plc Chief Executive, said:
"Last year we set out a comprehensive five year plan for the transformation of ITV. In this first phase, our outperformance of the television advertising market - together with the actions taken to reduce the Group's cost base and the focus on cash generation – have delivered substantial debt reduction and a sound financial platform for the challenges ahead. "But whilst the recovery in television advertising is clearly very helpful, it also serves to remind us just how volatile this market can be. That is why we remain fully focussed on delivering our five year Transformation Plan to ensure that we have a more balanced and robust business going forward. "Our objective is to continue to outperform the TV advertising market, to invest in technology and our online capability, as well as our content business through the creative renewal of ITV Studios. We remain committed to our strategy of creating great content, delivering and exploiting it across multiple platforms and selling it internationally.
We're still in the first phase of our transformation and making good progress, with a real momentum for change being built up within ITV. We have a new, talented top team in place and around a third of the wider leadership team has changed over the last few months. The organisation is becoming leaner and a further £15m of overhead and cost reduction is expected to be delivered this year.
We remain cautious, and will continue to plan prudently, in terms of the economic outlook and its impact on the TV advertising market. Although ITV Family advertising revenue is expected to be up 12% in Q1 and 8% to 12% in April, the comparatives become increasingly tough as the year proceeds, and without the benefit of the Football World Cup this year.
Given the improvement in our cash performance and balance sheet, the Board intends to renew the payment of a dividend at our interim results in 2011."
To view or download the ITV end of year results, please click here.
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23 Feb 2011
Pinewood and Indomina Announce New "Pinewood Indomina Studios" Facility in the Dominican Republic
Indomina Group, a U.S. and Dominican Republic based producer and distributor of film, TV and trans-media content, announced today it has entered into a partnership agreement with Pinewood Studios Group, which will operate, manage and market a new state-of-the-art film and television facility in the Dominican Republic. A groundbreaking ceremony, inaugurated by the President of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Leonel Fernández Reyna, is taking place today.
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Located in the beach town of Juan Dolio on the Dominican Republic's southern coast, about 40 miles east of Santo Domingo, "Pinewood Indomina Studios" is described as being a full-service, world-class production facility for film, TV, and other related media content, servicing the growing Caribbean, Southern and Central American markets as well as Hollywood and the rest of the world.
The film and television production facilities will initially comprise 5,000 sq m of sound stage space along with 15,000 sq m of associated production support facilities. The 35 acre site will include an acre water effects facility including a 75m x 75m exterior water tank with natural ocean horizons, blue screen capabilities and a fully equipped diving and marine department. When completed it will be the only tank of its type and size in the region. Commencement of initial operations is expected by early 2012.
Growth in spending on filmed entertainment in Latin America is expected to rise at a 4.5 percent compound annual rate to $3.1 billion in 2013 from $2.5 billion in 2008. Box office spending is expected to increase from $1.3 billion in 2008 to $1.7 billion in 2013, a 5 percent compound annual growth[1]. Pinewood Indomina Studios will target production companies wanting access to the Caribbean, Central and South American markets and its population of 580 million[2] as well as the 47 million strong Hispanic and Latino market in North America[3].
In a significant show of support for not only the new studio but the film industry as a whole, the National Congress of the Dominican Republic has passed into law a new bill that will provide a tax credit of up to 25% for feature films and TV series shot in the Dominican Republic (meeting traditional predetermined criteria). The new tax incentive, a first for the Dominican Republic, is now in effect.
Indomina Group Co-Chairman and CEO Jasbinder Singh Mann said: "The ground breaking ceremony for Pinewood Indomina Studios marks a major step forward in Indomina's evolution. Building and operating a world-class production facility in the Dominican Republic has always been an integral part of our vision for the company, and we're delighted to be doing so with a partner as distinguished and experienced as Pinewood."
Commenting on the announcement Ivan Dunleavy, Chief Executive, Pinewood Shepperton plc said: "This represents further progress in Pinewood's strategy to leverage the strength of our brand internationally and specifically to the growing Latino film and television market. The Pinewood brand stands for excellence in the global film industry and we have strategically targeted regions of the world where significant incremental growth has been forecast."
The formal groundbreaking ceremony takes place today, Wednesday the 23rd of February 2011 at 10:00am local time in Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic.
[1] Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Global entertainment and media outlook:2009-2013
[2] Source: US Aid, Population Reference Bureau, World Population Data Sheet, 2009
[3] Source: American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, US Census Bureau, 2008
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23 Feb 2011
Film Link Launch Locations Service for East of England
Film Link have detailed their new locations service for the East of England, which has now launched. This service replaces that which had been offered by Screen East who went into liquidation in October 2010. Film Link is part of the screen agency network and has the full support of both Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden and Elstree Studios with the team currently based at Elstree.
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The full spectrum of services can be found at the Film Link Location Service website found at http://www.film-link.co.uk/locations-services-fees.aspx.
Within the launch statement, Film Link noted, "Perhaps unsurprisingly there is a shortfall in government funding. Whilst the bulk of our services are still completely free to the industry, we have had to introduce a fee structure to aid ongoing sustainability of the service. For example, the first 20 enquiries on any one production (once it is confirmed at shooting in the UK) are free. After that additional location enquiries will be charged at an hourly rate of £50, unless the project is based in the East of England in which case there is no charge."
Following a short registration process locations, crew and facilities records are fully searchable 24/7 via the website http://www.film-link.co.uk at no cost. For crew or facilities companies residing in, or based in the East of England, records can be updated on-line for no cost as well.
Where more specialist film-facilitation is required from Film Link, such as road closures or troubleshooting which can be time-consuming, they will need to charge a film-facilitation fee which will be at an hourly rate of £50.
There are also less 'searchable' locations on Film Link's website versus that of Screen East. Film Link noted this was because they have taken the time to clean up the database and are striving to only promote those locations via the website which actively welcome film crews. However, if you can't find what you are looking for, Film Link would also ask you to contact them and they will aim to utilise their local network to try to source the perfect location for your needs.
For further inforamtion Film Link can be contacted by e-mail at locations@film-link.co.uk or by telephone on 0845 641 9892.
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23 Feb 2011
Creative England Opens Consultation Into Proposed Strategic Priorities For Film For 2011-2012
Creative England, the new body that will support the growth of the creative industries in England, has embarked upon its first stage of formation by outlining proposed strategic priorities for film for the first year of operation.
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The new proposed Creative England: A Consultation on Strategic Priorities for Film for 2011/12 sets out the draft film strategy for the coming year, and is now open for responses from the UK film industry. It will be followed by later consultation on proposals for creative industries support.
To download a copy of the proposal, please click here:
Responses are now invited from the film industry, and can be made online until 31 March 2011 by clicking here.
It specifically proposes three core film priorities:
- Developing creative talent - a strategy across England to develop new creative talent and distinctive voices, in conjunction with the BFI, Skillset, Film London and industry partners.
- Nurturing film culture - a network of cultural programmes delivered at a local level across England, in partnership with the BFI, Arts Council England and other partners, which supports innovative approaches to the exhibition and distribution of film, increases choice and grows audiences. This will include a focus on film heritage, film festivals and increased access to and exploitation of, film archive material.
- Helping to maximise inward investment - a joined up approach to attracting film production and the provision of a nationwide service to support production in partnership with Film London and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).
In addition, the strategy outlines the importance of:
- Partnership – working with a wide range of organisations and companies from across the public and private sectors, including the BFI, Film London, Skillset, Arts Council England, parallel agencies in the Nations and Local Enterprise Partnerships and central Government, will be integral to Creative England's work;
- Stimulating innovation – responding to the opportunities presented by the digital age will be a key theme that will apply across all priorities;
- Effective and efficient delivery - Creative England will ensure that overheads are minimised and the value of activities are maximised to the benefit of audiences and the film sector across all the English Regions.
Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, announced Creative England last year as a new network designed to "build on the success of the Regional Screen Agencies" (RSAs) following the abolition of the UK Film Council, and "offer the possibility of more focused support for a wider range of businesses;- helping small companies grow, helping new talent establish itself and mobilising public and private investment to grow England's creative industries".
DCMS have confirmed that for the year 2011/12, Creative England will have an initial budget for film-related activities of circa £2.5m Grant in Aid and circa £2m Lottery funding from the BFI. Funding for other activities is being sought from public and commercial sources.
The first stage consultation focuses specifically on film, and Creative England is also developing proposals for supporting the growth of the wider creative industries throughout the English regions.
Creative England Chairman John Newbigin, said: "Creative England presents a great opportunity to help creative industries flourish in the English regions. It builds on the work of the Screen Agencies and will continue to support a full range of film activity, cultural as well as commercial. But it will also support talented individuals and independent businesses across the creative sector, not just in film and television.
"Creative England will have hubs in Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol. However, in moving to this new structure, Creative England is emphatic that the network must serve business and talent right across the English regions. The hubs will work with locally-based companies and sector organisations across the country to ensure that support reaches the industry wherever it is needed.
"As part of the move from Screen Agency network to Creative England, we have prepared a plan for support of film-related activity in the year from April 2011 to 2012 and are now inviting views from the industry, both online and in a series of roundtables across the country."
Creative England is consulting on its priorities for film for 2011/12 only. It will contribute to the review of film policy which is to be led by the Government and the BFI, and will play an active role in implementing the outcomes of that review from April 2012 onwards.
As above:
To download a copy of the proposal, please click here:
Responses are now invited from the film industry, and can be made online until 31 March 2011 by clicking here.
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23 Feb 2011
Vision+Media Announce Anticipated Cuts
Creative and digital industry support body Vision+Media has announced a compulsory redundancy plan for 40% of its employees. The body stated that down-sizing will allow Vision+Media to continue beyond April 1st and despite changes they are looking forward to role within Creative England.
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The announcement comes after a 2 month consultation period with staff, and paves the way for the company's transition to its new role as part of Creative England, the new pan-England creative industries support agency announced by the DCMS, and which launches in October this year.
One of the three ‘hubs’ of Creative England, will be in Manchester. Newly appointed Chief Executive, Paul Taylor commented: “Over the past 4 years, Vision+Media has built a talented and dedicated team, and having to lose any of them is difficult but that is the reality of where we are. Much of our current funding will disappear at the end of this financial year....
This down-sizing of the company, will allow us to continue beyond 1st April and gives us the flexibility to then re-shape later in the year in to the new role within Creative England. It is a difficult process but we are encouraged that the government recognises the importance of continuing focussed support for the wealth of creative talent, culture and enterprise that exists outside of London.
Despite the changes, Vision+Media will continue to deliver on our existing programmes and services across the digital and creative sector over the coming months.”
These changes will be effective from 31st March 2011.
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16 Feb 2011
London Film Focus Set to Return This Summer
Film London has announced that the London UK Film Focus will return for an eighth year, to be held June 27-30 at the BFI Southbank. Film London aims to strengthen its collaboration with the BFI on LUFF and other initiatives, following both organisations' changing roles as the UK Film Council is abolished. Applications for entries are also now open.
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Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London said: "There has been much discussion about the UK's production funds continuing and the tax credit remaining in place to support inward investment, so this is a great opportunity for us to tell the international industry that export is still very much a priority for the UK. Initiatives to ensure British film talent reaches an international audience are extremely important and vital in supporting a huge number of careers and businesses - from the film-makers to the sales agents. LUFF returning this year is a strong message to the industry at large that the UK is firmly open for business and I am delighted to be sending that message with our new partners, the BFI, as well as our existing partners, the Mayor of London, UK Trade & Investment & Film Export UK."
Amanda Nevill, Director of the British Film Institute added: "LUFF plays a significant part in the overall promotion of British film internationally. The BFI has been involved with LUFF since its start; now we are building on that partnership with Film London as we become the strategic lead for film in the UK. We will work with them and other key partners to capitalise on the strength of British talent in the international film arena."
LUFF was launched in 2004 as an initiative for the export and promotion of new British films and talent to the international marketplace. It was formed in partnership with the UK film industry and national and local government agencies.
The London UK Film Focus attracts approximately 250 top international buyers from around the world to see new British films in a relaxed environment, meet UK sales agents and negotiate international distribution deals.In addition to the screenings of new British films represented by UK sales agents. It will also have the Breakthrough strand to showcases feature projects from emerging British film-makers seeking sales representation and provides sales agents and international buyers from across the globe the chance to monitor upcoming talent.
Further information can be found at the London Film Focus webpage.
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16 Feb 2011
Lionsgate and Studiocanal Sign New Worldwide Distribution Deal with Miramax
Miramax, Lionsgate and Studiocanal have announced that they have entered into a new worldwide home entertainment distribution deal. Under the long-term deal, Lionsgate and Studiocanal will distribute more than 550 titles from the Miramax film library via DVD, Blu-ray, EST and Internet Video On Demand (VOD), in addition to cable VOD internationally. Lionsgate will partner with leading international distributor Studiocanal to distribute Miramax titles in the UK and Europe. The announcement was made by Steve Beeks, President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Lionsgate, Olivier Courson, Chief Executive Officer of Studiocanal and Mike Lang, Chief Executive Officer of Miramax.
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"The Miramax library will be one of the most treasured jewels in our home entertainment crown," said Beeks. "With our longstanding commitment and expertise in aggressively managing library titles, we are thrilled to bring together under one roof such Miramax film icons as Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting with our existing classics such as Dirty Dancing and Monster's Ball to create what is unquestionably one of the most powerful and prestigious filmed entertainment libraries in the world. We are looking forward to working with Mike and his incredible team on this exciting venture."
"We are pleased to expand our existing partnership with Lionsgate to encompass this exciting new venture with Miramax," said Courson. "The Miramax library features some of the best of American independent cinema, representing a wonderful mix of creative excellence, award winning films and commercial successes. The Miramax slate is a perfect fit for Studiocanal's core values and vision and we believe it will resonate with European audiences."
"With their expertise and success in the home entertainment marketplace, we consider both Lionsgate and Studiocanal to be the perfect partners to distribute these films," says Lang. "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with them as we work to expand the availability of our library across all platforms to reach new audiences around the world."
The first home entertainment release under the deal will be The Switch in the US, the romantic comedy about friendship, fertility and family, starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman, which will be released on Blu-ray, DVD, VOD and available for digital download on March 15th.
The deal with Miramax continues to build on Lionsgate's distribution of third party products from a range of film libraries aroujd the world, including Studiocanal. Consisting of approximately 13,000 motion picture titles and television episodes, Lionsgate has one of the largest libraries in the entertainment industry with titles including Dirty Dancing, Memento, Monster's Ball, Crash and Rambo. Lionsgate noted that the Company has achieved record library revenue for five consecutive years through a combination of organic replenishment and strategic acquisitions and distribution deals, despite a challenging marketplace.
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09 Feb 2011
PG Members to Gain VIP Entry and Access to The Production Show and Line-Up Announced
The Production Show and the Broadcast Video Expo are inviting PG Members as VIP guests this year. The VIP pass will enable Members to have free access to all three days of the show, plus entry into all of the VIP areas. Members who wish to attend the show should visit the PG Member Offers Page (click for link in new window) in the Members Area for details of how to register as a PG Member VIP.
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This year's BVE / Production Show has over 300 suppliers attending, including The Production Guild and as usual will also host a number of film and television industry seminars throughout the three days.
For a floor plan of where The Production Guild will be located, please click here.
Two venues that may be of particular interest to Guild Members during the show are The Producer's Theatre and The Production Theatre, which have a range events and talks scheduled, with no tickets required.
Highlighted seminars at The Producers Theatre include:
15 Feb 2011
10:00 - 3D for Producers
Speaker
Vicki Betihavas, Nineteen Fifteen
15:00 - How to Survive as a Freelancer
Speaker
Christina Fox, Urban Fox
16:00 - Preparation for Filming
Speaker
Jane Soans, Guild of Location Managers
Aurelia Thomas, Guild of Location Managers
16 Feb 2011
10:00 - What UK Producers Need to Know - But Don't Want to Know
Speaker
Neil Peplow, Skillset
13:00 - Ad-funded Productions: 5 Top Tips for Success
Speaker
Claire Heys, Tiger Aspect
Cate Murden, Mind Share World
Presented by Indie Training Fund
16:00 - SFX Budgeting - What Every Producer Should Know when Considering their Budget
Speaker
Artem FX
17:00 - Case Study: Newcastle United – Funding, Supporting and Delivering Major Drama Production in North East England
Speaker
Michael Rosser, Web Editor, Broadcast Magazine
Agnes Wilkie, Creative Industry Director, Northern Film & Media
Dr Michelle Cooper, Investment Manager, Northstar Ventures
Gayle Woodruffe, Production Service Manager, Northern Film & Media
Julia Stannard, Producer, United
17 Feb 2011
11:00 - The Process of Applications
Speaker
Andy Pavord , Guild of Location Managers
Harriet Lawrence, Guild of Location Managers
15:00 - Women in TV: 35 up? Huge numbers of women exit the industry at age 35. What can we do to stop the talent drain?
Panel
Kate Elliott, BECTU
Kate Kinnimont, WFTV
Kate O'Connor, Skillset
Lisa Campbell, Broadcast
Highlighted seminars at The Production Theatre include:
15 Feb 2011
10:00 - Production on a Budget
Speaker
Christina Fox, Urban Fox
David Fox, Urban Fox
11:00 Multi-camera 3D from Studio to Post
Speaker
Nial Brown, BBC Studios & Post Production
12:00 - Using the Internet to Drive Efficiencies in Production Workflows
Speaker
Jon Marsh, Shine Group
Emma Hardcastle, Production Wizard
13:00 - Definitive Guide to Production Management
Speaker
Linda Stradling, Bull Rodger
14:00 - Filming in London and the South East: Tips from Locations Experts
Speaker
Paul Cavanagh, Filming Officer, The Squares Management Team
Alan Cousins, PC, Met Police Film Unit
Harvey Edgington, Broadcast & Media Liaison Officer, National Trust and Film London Consultant for Filming Services 2012 & London Filming Partnership
Mark Hislop, Commercial Director, Somerset House
Paul Howard, Location Manager
15:00 - Producing 3D Commercials - A Case Study and Examples
Speaker
Luke Beauchamp, 3D Producer, Vision3 Compendium
Melissa Byers, Vision3
Richard Skepper, Vision3 Compendium
16 Feb 2011
10:00 - Production on a Budget
Speaker
Christina Fox, Urban Fox
David Fox, Urban Fox
11:00 - Production Design on Micro-Budget Features: How to Cut Corners Without Cutting Quality
Speaker
Martina Amati, Film-maker
Erik Rehl, Production Designer
Gary Williams, Production Designer
Jes Benstock, Film-maker
14:00 - Definitive Guide to Production Management
Speaker
Linda Stradling, Bull Rodger
15:00 - Stay Ahead of the Curve - What Should be in Every Producer's Armoury
Speaker
Paul Goodliffe, Chief Commercial Officer, Aframe
17 Feb 2011
10:00 - Production on a Budget
Speaker
Christina Fox, Urban Fox
David Fox, Urban Fox
11:00 - Multi-Camera 3D from Studio to Post
Speaker
Nial Brown, BBC Studios & Post Production
14:00 - Stereoscopic 3D Post Production
Speaker
Stroo Olofsson, MyTherapy
For further information on the show, please visit http://www.theproductionshow.co.uk
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26 Jan 2011
Regional Screen Agencies Begin Reform as 'Creative England'
New Industry Body 'Creative England' has now begun its formation and they are starting to organise their database, which you can now be part of. Screen South have detailed the initial plans for the new organistation and have revealed how you can sign up to be notified of all new updates from Creative England as it is established.
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Following the announcement of the abolition of the UK Film Council in July 2010, the RSA's have been working with DCMS to decide on the best structure of continued support for the film and media industry outside of London, and to secure a strong future for the UK's creative industries.
On 29 November 2010, the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries Ed Vaizey announced that the BFI will become the lead strategic body on film and the distributor of Lottery funds to UK filmmakers from April 2011, and that Film London will manage the UK's national inward investment function for film. The Minister also announced that the English RSA's outside London will transform their network into Creative England, "a simpler, more efficient structure with an expanded remit to support the creative industries across England."
Creative England will be a new nationwide network to support the content industries of Film, Television, Games, and Digital and Creative Services. It will be based on three key hubs; Creative North, Creative Central and Creative South. To read FAQ's about Creative England, please visit the website here (new window).
Screen South and the seven other RSA's outside of London are now working together to reform into the new Creative England network, working with the BFI to develop a Film Strategy and developing the wider Creative England business plan with Government and industry.
As a Screen South friend, we want to ensure you come with us as we reform into the new Creative England network later this year. We need you to opt in to our new Creative England database now so that we can keep you informed of Creative England developments and news. To register your details, please click here (new window).
In the meantime, it will be 'business as usual' for Screen South and the RSA's, which will remain your first point of contact for questions regarding regional funding, production, locations, filming, skills, training, audience development or exhibition.
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09 Feb 2011
Neds Takes Home Top Honour at the Evening Standard Film Awards
Co-Produced by PG Member Lucinda Van Rie, Line Produced by Rob Howe, Production Managed by PG Member Victoria Dabbs with Production Accountant Jenifer Booth, Peter Mullan's low budget feature beat off stiff competition to win the Best Film Award at the Evening Standard Film Awards in Association with the London Film Museum held earlier this week. Many congratulations to both Lucinda and Victoria.
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Neds, short for non-educated delinquents, draws on Mullan's own experience of Glasgow's gang culture with a gritty realism which has sparked genuine clashes among rival gangs in Scottish cinema audiences.
Kate Muir of the Evening Standard stated, "The judges were impressed by the extraordinary performance by untrained Conor McCarron in the lead role - 15 years old when he made the film - but also with the way that Mullan went to the raw heart of what ails Britain, then and now: a state school system that lobotomises more than it inspires."
She continued, "This is Mullan's third film, after Orphans and The Magdalene Sisters, but NEDS is his most autobiographical work. The Glasgow is that of his youth, and he plays the simultaneously craven and violent father - using his own father's words for the script. The actors are boys recruited off the streets, and Mullan not merely directed but developed the skills of a circus wrangler to pull off wholly believable performances. Surreal, unforgettable and oddly optimistic.
Full list of 2011 Evening Standard Film Award Winners:
BEST FILM
Neds (director Peter Mullan)
BEST ACTOR
Andrew Garfield (The Social Network & Never Let Me Go)
BEST ACTRESS
Kristin Scott Thomas (Leaving)
BEST SCREENPLAY
Clio Barnard (The Arbor)
LONDON FILM MUSEUM TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Gareth Edwards, for his cinematography, production design and visual effects of
Monsters
PETER SELLERS AWARD FOR COMEDY
Roger Allam, for his performance in Tamara Drewe
MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
Ben Wheatley, co-writer/director of Down Terrace
BEST DOCUMENTARY
A Day in the Life: Four Portraits of Post-War Britain (director John Krish)
ALEXANDER WALKER SPECIAL AWARD
Christopher Nolan for his contribution to film
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16 Feb 2011
Irish Film Board Announced New Chief Executive
The Irish Film Board (IFB) has announced the appointment of James Hickey to the role of Chief Executive of the agency. James Hickey is a Partner of and Head of the Media and Entertainment law group of Ireland's largest law firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice.
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The IFB stated that James is recognised internationally as a leading expert in the field of film and television production. He is well known for representing many leading Irish film and television production companies as well as actors, writers, directors, composers and for working in the field of media and entertainment law. He was formerly Chairman of the Projects Arts Centre and the Abbey Theatre and has had a lifetime commitment to the Irish film industry.
Welcoming the announcement Chairman James Morris said:
'On behalf of the Board I am delighted that someone of the calibre and experience of James Hickey has agreed to serve as the Chief Executive of Bord Scannán na hÉireann/The Irish Film Board for the next five year period. James will be joining and leading a team of staff at the agency of the highest dedication and professionalism. His challenge will be to continue to build on the achievements of a growing group of Irish directors, writers, actors and producers while at the same time ensuring, with the support of the industry and Government, that the growth and employment potential of the whole audio visual sector is achieved.
We are working in a very different environment to the one we faced five years ago and we see this appointment as an important step in the ongoing review of the Board's functions in order to ensure that the organisation meets the needs of Irish film makers and the industry as a whole for the next 5 years.'
James Hickey said 'I am deeply honoured to have been given the opportunity to take up the post of Chief Executive of Bord Scannán na hÉireann/The Irish Film Board. All my working life I have been involved in various roles in the world of the arts and film and television production and I look forward very much to working with all the staff of the Board in my new role. I would like to thank my partners in Matheson Ormsby Prentice for their friendship and support over the years. I hope, in taking up this position, that I will be able to make a contribution to the promotion of the culture of film making and the development of the industry of film production in Ireland in my new position.'
James Hickey will formally assume the full time position on the 1st of June 2011. He will be working in a consultative basis with the Board prior to taking up the full time position.
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16 Feb 2011
The King’s Speech Wins Seven BAFTAs Including Best Film
The King's Speech was named Best Film at tonight's Orange British Academy Film Awards, held at London's Royal Opera House. The film also won six other awards: Outstanding British Film, Original Screenplay and Original Music, as well as a trio of performance awards for Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter and Colin Firth, who wins the Leading Actor BAFTA for the second year running. Congratulations to PG Member Gareth Unwin who collected two awards as Producer of The King's Speech and to all those who worked on it and the other winning productions.
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Natalie Portman was awarded the BAFTA for Leading Actress for her performance as Nina Sayers in Black Swan.
David Fincher won the Director award for The Social Network and Aaron Sorkin took home the BAFTA for Adapted Screenplay. The film also won the Editing award.
Inception won the Production Design, Sound and Special Visual Effects BAFTAs.
Director Chris Morris received the award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for his first feature film Four Lions.
Alice in Wonderland won the BAFTAs for Costume Design and Make Up & Hair. Toy Story 3 took home the award for Animated Film. True Grit won for Cinematography. The Film Not in the English Language BAFTA went to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
The Eagleman Stag won the Short Animation award and the Short Film award was presented to Until the River Runs Red.
The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award was presented to Tom Hardy, star of Inception and Bronson. This award, the only one voted for by the public, recognises an international actor or actress who has demonstrated exceptional talent and has begun to be recognised as a film star in the making. The award is now in its sixth year and was created in honour of Mary Selway, the highly respected casting director who passed away in 2004.
The highest accolade which the Academy can bestow, the Fellowship, was presented to Christopher Lee. The award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema was received by JK Rowling and David Heyman on behalf of The Harry Potter Films.
ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP
CHRISTOPHER LEE
OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA
THE HARRY POTTER FILMS
BEST FILM
BLACK SWAN Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin
INCEPTION Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan
THE KING’S SPEECH Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin
THE SOCIAL NETWORK Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Céan Chaffin
TRUE GRIT Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
127 HOURS Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, Christian Colson, John Smithson
ANOTHER YEAR Mike Leigh, Georgina Lowe
FOUR LIONS Chris Morris, Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Mark Herbert, Derrin Schlesinger
THE KING’S SPEECH Tom Hooper, David Seidler, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin
MADE IN DAGENHAM Nigel Cole, William Ivory, Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
THE ARBOR Clio Barnard (Director), Tracy O’Riordan (Producer)
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP Banksy (Director), Jaimie D’Cruz (Producer)
FOUR LIONS Chris Morris (Director/Writer)
MONSTERS Gareth Edwards (Director/Writer)
SKELETONS Nick Whitfield (Director/Writer)
DIRECTOR
127 HOURS Danny Boyle
BLACK SWAN Darren Aronofsky
INCEPTION Christopher Nolan
THE KING’S SPEECH Tom Hooper
THE SOCIAL NETWORK David Fincher
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BLACK SWAN Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz, John McLaughlin
THE FIGHTER Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
INCEPTION Christopher Nolan
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg
THE KING’S SPEECH David Seidler
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 HOURS Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel
THE SOCIAL NETWORK Aaron Sorkin
TOY STORY 3 Michael Arndt
TRUE GRIT Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
BIUTIFUL Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik, Fernando Bovaira
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Søren Stærmose, Niels Arden Oplev
I AM LOVE Luca Guadagnino, Francesco Melzi D’Eril, Marco Morabito, Massimiliano Violante
OF GODS AND MEN Xavier Beauvois, Pascal Caucheteux, Etienne Comar
THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES Mariela Besuievsky, Juan José Campanella
ANIMATED FILM
DESPICABLE ME Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
TOY STORY 3 Lee Unkrich
LEADING ACTOR
JAVIER BARDEM Biutiful
JEFF BRIDGES True Grit
JESSE EISENBERG The Social Network
COLIN FIRTH The King’s Speech
JAMES FRANCO 127 Hours
LEADING ACTRESS
ANNETTE BENING The Kids Are All Right
JULIANNE MOORE The Kids Are All Right
NATALIE PORTMAN Black Swan
NOOMI RAPACE The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
HAILEE STEINFELD True Grit
SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHRISTIAN BALE The Fighter
ANDREW GARFIELD The Social Network
PETE POSTLETHWAITE The Town
MARK RUFFALO The Kids Are All Right
GEOFFREY RUSH The King’s Speech
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS The Fighter
HELENA BONHAM CARTER The King’s Speech
BARBARA HERSHEY Black Swan
LESLEY MANVILLE Another Year
MIRANDA RICHARDSON Made in Dagenham
ORIGINAL MUSIC
127 HOURS AR Rahman
ALICE IN WONDERLAND Danny Elfman
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON John Powell
INCEPTION Hans Zimmer
THE KING’S SPEECH Alexandre Desplat
CINEMATOGRAPHY
127 HOURS Anthony Dod Mantle, Enrique Chediak
BLACK SWAN Matthew Libatique
INCEPTION Wally Pfister
THE KING’S SPEECH Danny Cohen
TRUE GRIT Roger Deakins
EDITING
127 HOURS Jon Harris
BLACK SWAN Andrew Weisblum
INCEPTION Lee Smith
THE KING’S SPEECH Tariq Anwar
THE SOCIAL NETWORK Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
PRODUCTION DESIGN
ALICE IN WONDERLAND Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara
BLACK SWAN Thérèse DePrez, Tora Peterson
INCEPTION Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat
THE KING’S SPEECH Eve Stewart, Judy Farr
TRUE GRIT Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
COSTUME DESIGN
ALICE IN WONDERLAND Colleen Atwood
BLACK SWAN Amy Westcott
THE KING’S SPEECH Jenny Beavan
MADE IN DAGENHAM Louise Stjernsward
TRUE GRIT Mary Zophres
SOUND
127 HOURS Glenn Freemantle, Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Steven C Laneri, Douglas Cameron
BLACK SWAN Ken Ishii, Craig Henighan, Dominick Tavella
INCEPTION Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A Rizzo, Ed Novick
THE KING’S SPEECH John Midgley, Lee Walpole, Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen
TRUE GRIT Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, Peter F Kurland, Douglas Axtell
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
ALICE IN WONDERLAND Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Sean Phillips, Carey Villegas
BLACK SWAN Dan Schrecker, Henrik Fett, Michael Capton, William ‘Brad’ Kalinoski
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 Tim Burke, John Richardson, Nicolas Aithadi, Christian Manz
INCEPTION Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Peter Bebb
TOY STORY 3 Guido Quaroni, Michael Fong, David Ryu
MAKE UP & HAIR
ALICE IN WONDERLAND Valli O’Reilly, Paul Gooch
BLACK SWAN Judy Chin, Geordie Sheffer
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin, Nick Dudman
THE KING’S SPEECH Frances Hannon
MADE IN DAGENHAM Lizzie Yianni Georgiou
SHORT ANIMATION
THE EAGLEMAN STAG Michael Please
MATTER FISHER David Prosser
THURSDAY Matthias Hoegg
SHORT FILM
CONNECT Samuel Abrahams, Beau Gordon
LIN Piers Thompson, Simon Hessel
RITE Michael Pearce, Ross McKenzie, Paul Welsh
TURNING Karni Arieli, Saul Freed, Alison Sterling, Kat Armour-Brown
UNTIL THE RIVER RUNS RED Paul Wright, Poss Kondeatis
THE ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
GEMMA ARTERTON
ANDREW GARFIELD
TOM HARDY
AARON JOHNSON
EMMA STON
13 February 2011
Nominations are correct at the time of going to print
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19 Jan 2011
Pinewood Reveal Launch of New LA Office
The Pinewood Studios Group has announced new developments in the Company's international strategy with the launch of a new sales office based in Los Angeles.
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Within a statement Pinewood said, The Company has recently been identifying and taking opportunities to extend its brand to other global locations through joint venture and operating agreements.
It now has a presence in Berlin, Toronto, Malaysia and from today, Los Angeles, the home of the worldwide film industry.
Paul Baker, Pinewood Studios Group Sales Director has recently relocated to Los Angeles to establish the new office which will coordinate international sales for the Company's other international ventures.
Nick Smith, Pinewood Studios Group Commercial Director commented: "These new offices mean we can better manage and co-ordinate our global offering. In particular, our new office in LA will build on the international recognition of the Pinewood brand. I am confident that this strategic development will lead to more business for the Group."
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19 Jan 2011
BAFTA Nominations: Over 30 PG Members Represented as The King's Speech Leads the Way
Over 30 PG Members have worked on films receiving nominations at this year's BAFTA awards and congratulations to all! Particular congratulations also go to PG Member Gareth Unwin who has been nominated for Best Film and Outstanding British Film for The King's Speech, which leads BAFTA awards nominations with a total of 14. Aronofsky's Black Swan released in the UK this Friday scored a total of 12 nominations whilst Nolan's Inception received nine and the Coen Brothers' True Grit, which is not released in the UK until 11th February received eight. Also nominated was Mike Leigh's Another Year, Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, Nigel Cole's Made in Dagenham, Chris Morris' Four Lions and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Biutiful, all which had PG Member involvement.
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The nominations announcement was held at BAFTA's headquarters in Piccadilly this week. The introduction was made by Academy Chairman Tim Corrie and the nominees were announced by actor Dominic Cooper and actress Talulah Riley.
The Orange British Academy Film Awards rewards the best work of any nationality seen on British cinema screens during the preceding year. The awards in 2011 will take place on Sunday 13 February at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden.
Full List of Nominations:
Best Film
- BLACK SWAN - Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin
- INCEPTION - Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan
- THE KING'S SPEECH - Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin
- THE SOCIAL NETWORK - Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Céan Chaffin
- TRUE GRIT - Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Outstanding British Film
- 127 HOURS - Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, Christian Colson, John Smithson
- ANOTHER YEAR - Mike Leigh, Georgina Lowe
- FOUR LIONS - Chris Morris, Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Mark Herbert, Derrin Schlesinger
- THE KING'S SPEECH - Tom Hooper, David Seidler, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin
- MADE IN DAGENHAM - Nigel Cole, William Ivory, Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley
Outstanding Debut by British Writer, Director or Producer
- THE ARBOR - Director, Producer - Clio Barnard, Tracy O'Riordan
- EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP - Director, Producer – Banksy, Jaimie D'Cruz
- FOUR LIONS - Director/Writer - Chris Morris
- MONSTERS - Director/Writer – Gareth Edwards
- SKELETONS - Director/Writer – Nick Whitfield
Best Director
- 127 HOURS - Danny Boyle
- BLACK SWAN - Darren Aronofsky
- INCEPTION - Christopher Nolan
- THE KING'S SPEECH - Tom Hooper
- THE SOCIAL NETWORK - David Fincher
Original Screenplay
- BLACK SWAN - Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz, John McLaughlin
- THE FIGHTER - Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
- INCEPTION - Christopher Nolan
- THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT - Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg
- THE KING'S SPEECH - David Seidler
Adapted Screenplay
- 127 HOURS - Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy
- THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO - Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel
- THE SOCIAL NETWORK - Aaron Sorkin
- TOY STORY 3 - Michael Arndt
- TRUE GRIT - Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Film not in the English Language
- BIUTIFUL - Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik, Fernando Bovaira
- THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO - Søren Stærmose, Niels Arden Oplev
- I AM LOVE - Luca Guadagnino, Francesco Melzi D'Eril, Marco Morabito, Massimiliano Violante
- OF GODS AND MEN - Xavier Beauvois
- THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES - Mariela Besuievsky, Juan José Campanella
Animated Film
- DESPICABLE ME - Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin
- HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON - Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
- TOY STORY 3 - Lee Unkrich
Leading Actor
- JAVIER BARDEM - Biutiful
- JEFF BRIDGES - True Grit
- JESSE EISENBERG - The Social Network
- COLIN FIRTH - The King's Speech
- JAMES FRANCO - 127 Hours
Leading Actress
- ANNETTE BENING - The Kids Are All Right
- JULIANNE MOORE - The Kids Are All Right
- NATALIE PORTMAN - Black Swan
- NOOMI RAPACE - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- HAILEE STEINFELD - True Grit
Supporting Actor
- CHRISTIAN BALE - The Fighter
- ANDREW GARFIELD - The Social Network
- PETE POSTLETHWAITE - The Town
- MARK RUFFALO - The Kids Are All Right
- GEOFFREY RUSH - The King's Speech
Supporting Actress
- AMY ADAMS - The Fighter
- HELENA BONHAM CARTER - The King's Speech
- BARBARA HERSHEY - Black Swan
- LESLEY MANVILLE - Another Year
- MIRANDA RICHARDSON - Made in Dagenham
Original Music
- 127 HOURS - AR Rahman
- ALICE IN WONDERLAND - Danny Elfman
- HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON - John Powell
- INCEPTION - Hans Zimmer
- THE KING'S SPEECH - Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography
- 127 HOURS - Anthony Dod Mantle, Enrique Chediak
- BLACK SWAN - Matthew Libatique
- INCEPTION - Wally Pfister
- THE KING'S SPEECH - Danny Cohen
- TRUE GRIT - Roger Deakins
Editing
- 127 HOURS - Jon Harris
- BLACK SWAN - Andrew Weisblum
- INCEPTION - Lee Smith
- THE KING'S SPEECH - Tariq Anwar
- THE SOCIAL NETWORK - Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
Production Design
- ALICE IN WONDERLAND - Robert Stromberg, Karen O'Hara
- BLACK SWAN - Thérèse DePrez, Tora Peterson
- INCEPTION - Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat
- THE KING'S SPEECH - Eve Stewart, Judy Farr
- TRUE GRIT - Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
Costume Design
- ALICE IN WONDERLAND - Colleen Atwood
- BLACK SWAN - Amy Westcott
- THE KING'S SPEECH - Jenny Beavan
- MADE IN DAGENHAM - Louise Stjernsward
- TRUE GRIT - Mary Zophres
Sound
- 127 HOURS - Glenn Freemantle, Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Steven C Laneri, Douglas Cameron
- BLACK SWAN - Ken Ishii, Craig Henighan, Dominick Tavella
- INCEPTION - Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A Rizzo, Ed Novick
- THE KING'S SPEECH - John Midgley, Lee Walpole, Paul Hamblin
- TRUE GRIT - Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, Peter F Kurland, Douglas Axtell
Special Visual Effects
- ALICE IN WONDERLAND - Nominees TBC
- BLACK SWAN - Dan Schrecker
- HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 - Tim Burke, John Richardson, Nicolas Ait'Hadi, Christian Manz
- INCEPTION - Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Peter Bebb
- TOY STORY 3 - Nominees TBC
Make-up & Hair
- ALICE IN WONDERLAND - Nominees TBC
- BLACK SWAN - Judy Chin, Geordie Sheffer
- HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 - Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
- THE KING'S SPEECH - Frances Hannon
- MADE IN DAGENHAM - Lizzie Yianni Georgiou
Short Animation
- THE EAGLEMAN STAG - Michael Please
- MATTER FISHER - David Prosser
- THURSDAY - Matthias Hoegg
Short Film
- CONNECT - Samuel Abrahams, Beau Gordon
- LIN - Piers Thompson, Simon Hessel
- RITE - Michael Pearce, Ross McKenzie
- TURNING - Karni Arieli, Saul Freed, Alison Sterling, Kat Armour-Brown
- UNTIL THE RIVER RUNS RED - Paul Wright, Poss Kondeatis
Orange Wednesday Rising Star Award (voted for by the public)
- GEMMA ARTERTON
- ANDREW GARFIELD
- TOM HARDY
- AARON JOHNSON
- EMMA STONE
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02 Feb 2011
UK Broadcasters Announce New Digital Production Partnership
The UK's major public service broadcasters have signed up to the Digital Production Partnership (DPP), an initiative that aims to help producers and broadcasters maximise the potential benefits of digital production.
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Developed following a Delivering Digital Workshop hosted by the BBC and ITV in November 2009, the DPP is an industry collaboration funded and led by ITV, BBC and Channel 4 with active participation from Channel Five, Sky, S4C and the Independent Production sector. The DPP also draws on industry experts from the worlds of technology and production to fulfil its remit.
Helen Stevens, ITV's Director of Broadcast Services, and Chair DPP said: "We are working with colleagues from across the industry to identify and agree technical standards that will help ease everyone's transition to full end-to-end digital production. Everyone involved has the goals of simplicity and maximising the potential benefits for the whole industry at the forefront of their minds – it is really is very collaborative and a great example of what can be achieved when broadcasters work together with minimal bureaucracy and process."
Mark Harrison, Controller of Production BBC North and BBC Lead DPP, added: "Digital production will one day make life much easier for producers. But getting there is actually very, very complicated. So this partnership reflects the broadcasters' genuine desire to help producers and facility houses to overcome the complexities, and get to the benefits of digital working more quickly."
Kevin Burrows, Chief Technology Office – Broadcast and Distribution, Channel 4 and Channel 4 Lead DPP, said: "Agreeing one set of technical standards across the industry will be of huge benefit. The new standards will not only rationalise the delivery process, but will help save costs for independent producers – a development which I am sure will be welcomed across the industry."
Bal Samra, Director of BBC Vision Operations, who initiated the Delivering Digital Workshop in 2009, added: "Facilitating the development of digital production across the industry is a major priority for the BBC, and we are delighted to be working with fellow broadcasters and producers to support the change. This initiative reinforces the BBC's wider partnership agenda."
A set of common HD and SD technical standards for the delivery of TV will be the first announcement made by the DPP. These guidelines will aim to provide clarity to the production community around HD equipment and techniques and, will provide common achievable technical standards for all major UK broadcasters. A formal announcement on this is due towards the end of February.
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26 Jan 2011
Screen South Launch Innovation Shorts 2011
Screen South & Visual Effects Research Lab Dundee Collaboration (VERL) have announced their new Innovation Shorts Programme with up to £20,000 awarded per project. As the name implies the new Innovation Shorts Programme aims to support the production of short films with innovation at their heart, e.g. strong story telling and a key focus on using new technology – for example, 3-D, Visual Effects or Motion Capture.
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The programme is open to directors based in the Screen South region, but producers can be based anywhere in the North Sea Screens region. Three projects will be offered awards of up to £20,000 each as a cash budget for production and Post Production.
The Shorts will be Produced from Screen South's Kent office and Post Production will be delivered by VERL in Dundee. The Visual effects research lab will offer pre production supervision, visual effects on set supervision, 3D CGI elements (Maya) Compositing (Nuke) with Sterescopic 3D capability (Ocula)
The short script must be developed on submission as there will be a fast turnaround into production in May with delivery of films by 1st September 2011.
For further details and to apply, please download the guidelines and application form from the programme's Funding Page (new window).
Application Deadline: 14th February 2011, 5PM
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09 Feb 2011
55th BFI London Film Festival Dates Announced and Submission Period Opened
BFI London Film Festival Artistic Director Sandra Hebron announced that the 55th BFI London Film Festival will take place from Wednesday 12 October until Thursday 27 October 2011 and that submissions are now opened.
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Last year's festival hosted 201 feature films and 112 short films from 68 countries, including 67 world, international and European premieres. There were 530 screenings and 529 participating film-makers, drawing the highest ever audience attendance of 132,000.
Submission Details for the 55th BFI London Film Festival
Deadline for Submissions (NB. All dates subject to final confirmation)
Short films (less than 30 mins): 24 June 2011
Full length features: 8 July 2011
Packages by post (or courier) marked on or before the deadline will be accepted.
If you wish to have your film considered for the 55th BFI London Film Festival, please complete the online form to register your submission and send a DVD copy of the film, plus a synopsis and/or press kit as soon as possible to the address below.
The DVD screener and synopsis should note the submission reference number provided upon completion of this form.
Before completing the form, please ensure you have read the submission regulations.
For viewing purposes the festival will accept any region DVD. There are no entry fees for the BFI London Film Festival, but viewing material should be insured by the sender and sent via airmail or courier (at the sender's expense) to:
55th BFI London Film Festival - Submissions
Festivals Office
BFI Southbank
Belvedere Road
South Bank
London SE1 8XT
UK
Attention: Andrea Bigger, Programme Manager
Tel +44 (0)20 7815 1322/1305
Email andrea.bigger@bfi.org.uk
If you do not have a DVD and would like to submit your film in another format please contact the festival. Under certain circumstances and by prior arrangement they can also view Beta SP and DigiBeta (Pal or NTSC) and work on print.
The programme is finalised between July and September. You will hear from the festival by mid-September at the latest, normally by email. If your contact details change during this period please let the festival know so that they may update their records.
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09 Feb 2011
Arts Council and BBC to Launch Media Production Skills Programme
The building digital capacity for the arts programme, announced in September 2010, will support the development of the arts sector's media production skills by bringing together the BBC Academy's media and digital experience with the Arts Council's extensive knowledge of the arts sector.
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Mark Thompson, Director-General, BBC, Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, and Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, will be among the key speakers at the launch of Arts Council England and BBC Academy's building Digital capacity for the arts programme.
Details of the programme will be discussed at a launch event in March, at which Alan Davey, Mark Thompson and Ed Vaizey will address an invited audience of influential cultural figures. It is hoped the event will inspire arts leaders to encourage others in their sector to get involved and harness their digital potential.
The programme represents a key element of the Arts Council and BBC's commitment to increasing public value, and their shared ambition to build digital innovation in the arts, making our world class arts available to new and bigger audiences.
The initial programme will run from March 2011 through to August 2012. It will help arts organisations create compelling and high quality arts content and make sure arts leaders of the future can use web and broadcast technologies, such as internet protocol TV, to the fullest extent possible.
Details of the programme, which will offer training and guidance for the arts sector, have been revealed today and include a series of practical seminars and workshops, a BBC online guide to commissioning audio visual content, 12 facilitated masterclasses and an online resource of filmed and streamed content.
Six seminars will take place throughout England, covering a variety of themes including commissioning and producing film and web content, mobile platforms and apps, rights issues, digital approaches to raising revenue and archive material.
A series of 12 more practically-focused masterclasses will run from autumn 2011 until August 2012 across the country and will focus on building skills around digital content and platforms. These masterclasses will be filmed and made available as an online resource.
The Building digital capacity for the arts programme will also develop an online guide to commissioning audio-visual content and an online resource of filmed and streamed material captured from the seminars.
The Arts Council's commitment to digital innovation was also boosted by Culture Minister Ed Vaizey's recent announcement at the Culture Change conference at the National Theatre. In his keynote speech, Vaizey announced that NESTA will be working with Arts Council England on a new £1million lottery fund for seed funding small digital projects. The Arts Council is also finalising plans for its digital innovation fund which will be launched in the spring.
Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said: "Together, the Arts Council and the BBC can equip more arts organisations with the skills necessary to harness the potential of digital technology and bring about a new era of public engagement in the arts.
"We believe this partnership will be a launch pad for digital innovation in our world class arts, generating ideas that our new lottery funded initiatives can turn into a reality."
Mark Thompson, Director-General, BBC, said: "Britain produces some of the best art in the world and we want it to reach new and bigger audiences. The BBC is delighted to be involved – through the Academy – in helping to build the necessary digital skills within arts organisations."
Ed Vaizey, Culture Minister, said: "Britain's arts organisations thrive on creativity and the scope for innovation using digital technology is enormous. The pace of technological change today offers great opportunity to the arts world, to create and share work in previously unimagined ways, as well as to draw in new audiences. It is exciting to see the BBC and The Arts Council working together to inspire our future arts leaders to focus their imagination and talent on harnessing this digital potential."
The Building digital capacity for the arts programme is part of the wider BBC and Arts Council England partnership which aims to increase the value, reach and impact of public investment between the Arts Council-funded arts and the BBC's investment in arts and broadcasting across a range of live and digital platforms.
Further details of the programme and how to get involved will be announced at the launch event in March and through regular updates via the Arts Council website.
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02 Feb 2011
Call for Entries: La Laguna International Gastronomic Film Festival, CineEsCena
Submission to the competitive sections of the 1st La Laguna International Gastronomic Film Festival, CineEsCena, is already open. All feature films, short films, documentaries and advertising spots, national or foreign, with a gastronomic theme and which have been produced after 1st January, 2009, will be accepted. They will be screened in original version and in digital format with prizes worth up to € 6,000 for winning entries.
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After the screenings at the festival, CineEsCena's Jury will decide the following awards: Best Feature Film (worth € 6,000), Best Performance in a Feature Film, Best Feature Film Director, Best Gastronomic Treatment in a Feature Film, Best Short Film (worth € 2,000), Best Documentary (worth € 4,000) and Best Advertising Spot (worth € 1,500). There will also be an Audience Award for the Best Feature Film, which will be selected by the audience attending the festival.
To download the competition rules, please click here.
To download the competition entry form, please click here.
Competition Contact Details:
Centrífuga Producciones Festival Internacional de Cine Gastronómico Ciudad de La Laguna (CineEsCena) Apartado de Correos 426 38200 - San Cristóbal de La Laguna
T: +34 922 104 645
M: +34 678 380 030
info@cineescena.com
http://www.cineescena.com
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19 Jan 2011
Five New Dramas Revealed in First Round of Commissions by BBC One Controller Danny Cohen
Danny Cohen has announced three new series and two big event pieces in his first round of commissions as BBC One Controller. The five new drama commissions include One Night (4 X 60min), Call The Midwife (6 X 60 min), Bound (working title) (6 X 60 min), Morton (8 X 60 min) and Great Expectations (3 X 60 min).
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Danny Cohen, Controller BBC One, says: "I hope that these commissions begin to express the range and creative ambition we want BBC One drama to capture in the coming years. There are great opportunities here for new writers, as well as a new commitment to blue-collar drama, and classic period pieces."
All five dramas were commissioned by Danny Cohen and Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning.
Ben Stephenson adds: "This raft of original drama shows the ambition of BBC One in the future. Alongside new works by world-class established talent, it is thrilling to have Paul Smith and Julie Geary writing their first original dramas."
The BBC released the following information on each series below:
One Night, 4 x 60 event drama, written by Paul Smith, made by BBC Drama Production
Paul Smith's first commission for BBC One primetime is a gripping event drama set over one blistering hot summer night when nerves are frayed and tensions ride high. An original authored drama about four very ordinary but different people whose fates are linked by a seemingly inconsequential event. Each episode is one character's stand-alone story which tells the events of that night from four different points of view.
Call The Midwife, 6 x 60 series, written by Heidi Thomas (Upstairs Downstairs, Cranford), made by Neal Street Productions
Adapted by Heidi Thomas from Jennifer Worth's best selling memoir, Call The Midwife is a moving, funny, colourful look at midwifery and family in 1950's East End London. It follows a new young midwife, Jenny, who joins an eccentric, loveable community of nursing nuns. We follow their friendships and the extraordinary true stories they encounter, as they are drawn into the lives and homes of the women and families they treat.
Bound (working title), 6 x 60 series, written by Julie Geary (Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, Lip Service), made by Tiger Aspect Productions
The series is about of a group of women who have lost the men in their lives to Her Majesty's Pleasure. From the innocent mother-to-be who was unaware that her husband was a murderer, to the sophisticated and complicit career-criminal's wife; these women couldn't be more different, yet the situation they share brings them together. Expect crime and jeopardy, family and sacrifice, and love and romance. But above all else, expect humanity and humour as the unlikeliest of women find in each other the friendship and family they are missing.
Morton, 8 x 60 series, written by Frank Spotnitz made by Kudos Film and Television
Meet Sam. A spy. A hunter. And herself hunted by an enemy more ruthless and determined than any she's ever known. Sam has been running from her past her entire life but when she returns to Mobius, the organisation that employs her, and begins to pursue her pursuer, she will discover the only way to escape that past... is to confront it. This is the story of a spy with a bull's eye on her back, a human target unable to trust anyone at any time, even the man she loves. She is, quite literally, running for her life. Morton is a smart, complex and contemporary spy series.
Great Expectations, 3 x 60, written by Sarah Phelps (Oliver Twist, EastEnders), made by BBC Drama Production
Sarah Phelps' bold new adaptation will give us the heart and guts of Dickens at his very best. Suspenseful and thrilling, this visceral retelling will capture the romance and warmth of the classic to mark his bicentenary, especially for next Christmas on BBC One.
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19 Jan 2011
Screen Yorkshire to Undertake Major Structural Review
Screen Yorkshire has announced today that it is entering a consultation process with a number of staff regarding the future of their posts as part of an ongoing review of the future of the organisation.
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The regional screen agency released the following statement regarding the review:
Like many publicly funded organisations, Screen Yorkshire is facing difficult times as the government's public funding cuts take hold. The regional screen agency, which works to support and promote the film, television, games and interactive media sectors in Yorkshire and Humber, has a number of ongoing contracts that it will continue to deliver over the next twelve months and it is also pursuing a number of other opportunities for the future.
Sally Joynson, Chief Executive of Screen Yorkshire says:
'' We are facing challenging times and reviewing the staffing of the organisation to ensure future stability and support for the region's industry is a prudent move. Screen Yorkshire is looking at a number of options for the future, including a restructure of the organisation to reflect changing market conditions.
It has been an incredibly busy period for Screen Yorkshire, with the team continuing to work tirelessly behind the scenes to build a global reputation for the region's film, television, games and interactive media industries. The team handles over 500 filming enquiries every year from across the world, supporting an incredibly diverse range of production in Yorkshire, from the award winning King's Speech to the critically acclaimed This is England '86.''
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13 Jan 2011
Fujifilm Launches 2011 Short Film Competition
Fujifilm Motion Picture has unveiled details of its 2011 Fujifilm Shorts competition. As in the previous two years, short filmmakers have the chance to win a host of great prizes including two prizes of £2,000 worth of Fujifilm Motion Picture film stock.
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'Fujifilm Shorts' is open to all UK and Ireland based short filmmakers, entry is free and entrants can submit as many short films as they like. There is one category with an open brief with two prizes being awarded - 'Best Film' and 'Best Cinematography'.
In addition to the £4,000 worth of Fujifilm film stock up for grabs there is a whole range of other prizes on offer - Technicolor is providing a 'Rushes Package' including film processing, a one light transfer, sync sound and Digi-Beta deliverable. Technicolor Creative Services will also present both winners with a 35mm print of their films for this year's awards screening.
Other prizes include: a lighting hire package courtesy of Panalux; Panavision is supplying a 35mm or 16mm Camera and Dolly hire package; a studio hire package from Island Studios; and a year's free subscription to British Cinematographer Magazine.
The cinematographer from the winner of both prizes will also win a free ticket, courtesy of Fujifilm, to the Camerimage International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography, in Poland, December 2011. The prize includes flights, accommodation and industry festival passes. The British Society of Cinematographers will welcome the two winning cinematographers to all BSC social and technical events for a period of one year.
Rushes Soho Shorts and Born Shorts will screen both of the winning films as part of each of their respective festival programmes and Future Shorts will consider both winners for a worldwide distribution deal.
All submissions must be shot, in their entirety, on Fujifilm Motion Picture film stock and must have been completed after 1 January 2009. All submissions must be less than 30 minutes long. The closing date for entries is 25 February 2011.
Submission must be made on DVD and sent with a completed entry form to Jerry Deeney at Fujifilm Motion Picture. Entry forms can be downloaded from www.fujifilmshorts.com
The winners of the 2010 Fujifilm Shorts competition were The Business Trip and Native Son. The Business Trip, lit by Angus Hudson, scooped the Best Film award, while DP Yoliswa Gärtig's work on Native Son won the Best Cinematography prize.
Full details on Fujifilm Shorts 2011 are available from: www.fujifilmshorts.com
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19 Jan 2011
Call for Film Companies to Apply for New Film Agency for Wales / Olsberg SPI Business Programme
The Film Agency for Wales has announced a dedicated programme for companies that will provide them with bespoke, one-to-one business planning and strategy development support, in an initiative funded by Welsh Assembly Government's Department of Economy and Transport.
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Companies that include feature film within their portfolio are invited to apply for the 'Planning for Success' programme that will be delivered by industry expert Jonathan Olsberg of Olsberg SPI Limited during February and March 2011. Up to 10 companies, which may have a focus on production, distribution, sales and/or services, will be selected. Companies must be based in Wales or managed by a Welsh born or resident director(s).
The 'Planning for Success' programme will enable Welsh companies to articulate their future business strategy within a detailed business plan appropriate for the circumstance. Olsberg will advise on the use of appropriate business planning tools, with objectives potentially ranging from tailoring an external facing plan for raising additional funds, repositioning the company in the market, planning company restructure to an internal document to better focus the management, output, cashflow and forward planning of the organization.
Chief Executive of the Film Agency for Wales, Pauline Burt comments: "We are particularly conscious of the value of bespoke business support for the creative industries. Whilst we have consistently supported the core talent – Welsh writers, directors and producers – that are necessarily at the heart of successful film production companies, we want to broaden that focus for a wider range of companies – from production to sales, distribution and services – that provide the vital infrastructure for a film business and ensure that companies are supported to achieve sustainability and improve capacity for growth."
Jonathan Olsberg said: "Having done a number of assignments in Wales over the years we fully recognize the capabilities and potential of the many companies that we've met during that time. We have been involved, for nearly 20 years, in helping businesses grow in the UK and in many countries, from Finland to Chile and from Canada to Australia. I am excited about the prospect of supporting and advising the successful Planning for Success applicants in Wales."
Further information is available from Adam Partridge at the Film Agency for Wales and on www.filmagencywales.com. Please email adam@filmagencywales.com. The deadline for applications is 12 noon on Friday 28 January 2011.
To access the Planning for Success Application and Guidelines, please click here.
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02 Feb 2011
Irish Film Tax Relief (IT57) Renewed for Three Year Extension
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Mary Hanafin, has announced a three year extension to the current film and television tax investment scheme, which will now end in 2015.
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Announcing the decision Minister Hanafin said: "The current scheme was due to expire at the end of 2012 and because of its significant and positive impact on this sector a decision was taken by the Government today to extend it in the Finance Bill."
The scheme was amended in 2008 and increased the qualifying expenditure from €35m to €50m, as well as increasing the cap for those wishing to invest finance in film in Ireland from €31,750 to €50,000 per annum.In addition, the relief on investment also increased from 80% to 100%.
The changes result in Ireland being able to offer between 26%-28% net benefit to film producers, an increase from the previous 20%.
"In 2010, a total of 57 projects were approved for funding with an Irish spend of some €165m.
"These 57 projects supported employment for crew, cast and extras of over 10,000 individuals and had the effect of maintaining and creating jobs in a very difficult economic climate," the Minister added.
The Minister said Irish films are currently receiving rave reviews at the Sundance Fim Festival and noted that short film, The Crush, has been nominated for an Oscar.
"Irish movie makers are top class – both behind and in front of the cameras, and the honours they have received over the years are a testament to this," the Minister added.
Significant projects in 2010 were Camelot, This Must Be The Place, starring Oscar winning actors Sean Penn and Frances McDormand, and Steven Soderberg's Haywire.
There are currently three Irish films in competition at the Sundance Film Festival – The Guard, Knuckle and Small Change.
(Source Inside Ireland)
For full details on the Irish Film Relief (IT57), please click here to visit the webpage on the Irish Revenue website (Irish Tax and Customs).
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02 Feb 2011
New £425,00 Film Fund Investment Announced by Film Agency for Wales
The Film Agency for Wales has announced a £425,000 investment in Welsh filmmakers following the award of production funding for four feature films.
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An award of £125,000 has been made to Port Talbot Passion, a film of National Theatre Wales' production Passion, based on the biblical Passion Play, which sees Michael Sheen return to his home town Port Talbot to lead an epic reimagining of the town's community play. Port Talbot Passion will be directed by Dave McKean (Mirrormask) and produced by Keith Griffiths, whose film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives was last year's recipient of the Palme D'Or – the top prize of the Cannes Film Festival. Principal photography will coincide with the staging of Passion in April 2011 when poet Owen Sheers will give voice to the town's tales of redemption, return and faith in a three-day Easter event.
Chief Executive of the Film Agency for Wales, Pauline Burt comments: "Port Talbot Passion promises to provide an international showcase for a truly innovative piece of work that will celebrate the town and people of Port Talbot, whilst brimming with Welsh talent both in front of and behind the camera. We are hugely excited to be working with a team that includes Michael Sheen and National Theatre Wales, who have consistently delivered quality and innovation. It's also particularly valuable to develop a strategic relationship that develops intellectual property across two creative industry platforms from the onset."
Welsh based writer Philip Ralph and Swansea born director, Krishnendu Majumdar, both benefit from an award of £100,000 for the production of their feature film, Deepcut, in addition to the Film Agency's prior development funding and support. Both writer and director benefit from the support of production company, Revolution Films, with Andrew Eaton and Josh Hyams as producers and Michael Winterbottom as Executive Producer. Feature credits from Revolution include The Killer Inside Me, Genova, 24 Hour Party People and Wonderland. The cast is yet to be confirmed with principal photography expected to begin in Summer 2011.
A further £150,000 has been awarded to Welsh born writer/director Jon Jones for his first theatrical, currently untitled feature film which will be produced by Kudos Pictures and producers Adrian Sturges (The Disappearance of Alice Creed) and Paul Webster (Brighton Rock). Jones' television credits include The Diary of Anne Frank, Going Postal and Zen.
An additional award of £50,000 has been granted to Hot Property Films for their screenplay Kelly and Victor. Starring, subject to contract, Natalie Press (My Summer of Love) and Harry Treadaway (Fish Tank) and written by Welsh born writer/director Kieran Evans and writer Niall Griffiths, adapting his novel of the same name. Janine Marmot (No Greater Love) will produce with co producer Andrew Freedman (His and Hers) with principal photography due to begin in June 2011. Heavenly Records will provide music.
Pauline Burt adds: "Our support for these filmmakers and projects is testament to our commitment to developing the indigenous talent base in and of Wales and providing opportunities to profile that talent internationally."
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14 Jan 2011
Bond 23 Will Commence Production in Late 2011
Eon Productions and MGM have announced that the 23rd installment of the James Bond franchise will begin production again in 2011, after the feature film was indefinitely halted last year due to the uncertainty of MGM's finances and future.
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An official press release published this week stated, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions, together with Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, Co-Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., today announced that the 23rd James Bond film will commence production in late 2011 for a worldwide release on November 9, 2012.
Daniel Craig will be returning as the legendary British secret agent, with Sam Mendes directing a screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan.
Last month, after a very long and public process, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer confirmed that federal bankruptcy court had approved a prepackaged bankruptcy plan, allowing it to exchange its debt for control and working capital, putting films such as the 23rd James Bond movie and "The Hobbit" back on the table for MGM.
"MGM is emerging from one of the most challenging periods of its storied history. We are honored and inspired at the opportunity of leading one of Hollywood's most iconic studios into its next generation of unforgettable filmmaking, global television production and distribution, and aggressively pursuing, developing and exploiting new digital entertainment platforms," said Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, Co-Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers of MGM.
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02 Feb 2011
BFI to Appoint New Board of Trustees in March
The British Film Institute has revealed that it has had a strong response to its search for new trustees to sit on its board and that it will announce the selected individuals in March 2011.
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The BFI, which is to take over UK film policy and the distribution of Lottery funding, received around a hundred applications for its recruitment advertisement to fill five unpaid posts on its Board of Trustees, including that of Deputy Chair.
A spokesperson for the BFI said that it had received applications from a range of candidates, including studio heads, directors and producers, television documentary film-makers, lawyers, financiers and politicians.
A shortlist of candidates will now be drawn up and invited to meetings over the coming weeks, with appointments being made by the end of March.
A BFI spokesperson told Screen, "We are really pleased with the volume and calibre of applicants and I think this is an indication of just how willing key people in the industry are to get involved in helping us shape film in the UK."
(Source Screen)
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26 Jan 2011
UKFC Release UK Film Production Figures for 2010
Within the new UKFC review of UK film production in 2010 it confirmed that the UK had record inward investment level - up 15% to £928.9 million from £810.7 million in 2009, investment in independent British film production and co-productions dropped 13%, the UK/ Ireland box office was strong with £1.08 billion in ticket sales, up 2% on 2009 and Market share for British films hit 22.6% from 16.7% in 2009.
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Investment in new UK film production reached £1.155 billion across 119 films in 2010, a new record for the British film industry, according to new independent figures published today by the UK Film Council.
Films of different genres and budget levels including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, War Horse, Horrid Henry, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Sherlock Holmes 2 increased spend in the British film production sector by 8% on 2009's £1.071 billion.
Within the overall production spend, international investment also set a new record, with £928.9 million spent in the UK on making 28 films, a 15% increase on 2009. The number of domestic UK films made last year was 72, an 11% drop on 2009. The expenditure on making those films – £174 million – registers as a 22% fall. Globally, there has been a drop in feature film production investment with 2009 down by 4% (the latest figures available). At the same time, the number of UK co-productions with other countries dropped to 19 from 26 in 2009, but, at £52 million, spend on these films is a 45% increase on 2009.
Box office figures increased by 2% on 2009, breaking through the £1 billion barrier for the second year running. Toy Story 3, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One, Alice in Wonderland and Inception topped the charts. British films proved popular with audiences, accounting for 22.6% of all ticket sales, including 5.5% from independent British films. Streetdance 3D, backed by the UK Film Council with £1 million of Lottery funding, was the most successful independent British film at the UK box office, earning in excess of £11.6 million.
Tim Cagney, Managing Director of the UK Film Council, said: "These figures – over £1 billion of investment in UK film production and more than £1 billion spent at the UK box office – underline the vital contribution that film makes to Britain's cultural and economic fabric. After ten years of UK Film Council support, they highlight the importance of a strong film sector and reinforce the UK's reputation as one of the most competitive and highly-skilled places in the world to make films.
"The figures also show how difficult it is to raise finance for making independent British films and, with four of the top ten grossing UK independent films funded by the UK Film Council, the ongoing value of public investment in new British films and talent."
Film production spending in the UK
Today's statistics cover films with productions budgets of £500,000 and above and are based information tracked by the UK Film Council's Research and Statistics Unit. They cover UK spend (for three categories of film) for the calendar year 2010:
indigenous / domestic UK film production; inward investment productions (films with finance from overseas but made mainly or significantly in the UK); and UK co-productions filmed both in the UK and abroad using UK crew and expertise.
They show that:
The UK was involved in the production of a total of 119 feature films in 2010 (144 in 2009), with a total UK production spend of £1.155 billion going into the British economy. This is higher than 2009's total of £1,017 million and a new record overall for the UK film industry. Inward investment from international filmmakers, such as the major Hollywood studios locating productions in the UK, hit a record high at £928.9 million from 28 films, 15% higher than 2009's £810.7 million from 35 films. These films included War Horse, Captain America: The First Avenger, Hugo Cabret, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two and John Carter of Mars. £174.1 million was spent on making 72 UK domestic feature films in 2010 (compared with 83 in 2009, spending £224.4 million). These included Horrid Henry, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Johnny English Reborn, Wuthering Heights and The Deep Blue Sea. The UK was involved in 19 co-productions, with a total UK spend of £52 million (compared to 2009's 26 co-productions at a value of £35.9 million). These included Will, Africa United and Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie.
UK box office
Box office takings were strong in 2010, up 2% to £1.076 billion for the UK and Republic of Ireland, proving that cinema remains hugely popular despite difficult economic times. The box office share for British films (including UK/US co-productions) was 22.6% (including 5.5% contributed by independent British films), an increase of 2009's market share of 16.7%.
The highest grossing film of 2010 was Toy Story 3, taking a hefty £73.8 million, followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One (£50.6 million), Alice in Wonderland (£42.5 million) and Inception (£35.8 million).
A total of 28 3D films were released, grossing £237.4 million, a 24% market share, up from 16% in 2009. The top 3D release, Toy Story 3, earned 72% of its takings from 3D. Streetdance 3D, the first UK-produced 3D film (and part-funded by the UK Film Council) grossed £11 million from 3D screens, 95% of its total revenue.
To view the UKFC figures in full, please click here (new window).
(Source UKFC)
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02 Feb 2011
Reminder of Updated Pact Equity Agreement Changes Coming into Effect April 2011
All members should remind themselves of the upcoming Pact Equity Agreement changes, which can be downloaded from the Members Area. All of the changes will come into effect on 4th April 2011.
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Key changes include increases to both Holiday Pay and NI in both the Cinema and Television Agreements as well as the 5% yearly increase on rates within the Cinema Agreement.
The note from PACT on this can be found within the Members Area on either the Hot Topics page or the Industry Documents page.
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26 Jan 2011
Oscar Nominations: PG Member Gareth Unwin Nominated for Best Film with Over 40 PG Members Represented on Nomiated Features
The King's Speech has followed up its frontrunner status at the BAFTA awards, as it was revealed that it will also lead the way at the Oscars with a total of 12 nominations, including another Best Picture nomination for PG Member Gareth Unwin. This year's academy awards also sees well over 40 PG Members being represented on the nominated films and yet again we offer a congratulations to all who have been involved in these pictures.
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Best Motion Picture of the Year
- 127 Hours (2010): Christian Colson, Danny Boyle, John Smithson
- Black Swan (2010): Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin
- The Fighter (2010): David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Mark Wahlberg
- Inception (2010): Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas
- The Kids Are All Right (2010): Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray
- The King's Speech (2010): Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin
- The Social Network (2010): Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Ceán Chaffin
- Toy Story 3 (2010): Darla K. Anderson
- True Grit (2010): Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin
- Winter's Bone (2010): Anne Rosellini, Alix Madigan
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
- Javier Bardem for Biutiful (2010)
- Jeff Bridges for True Grit (2010)
- Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network (2010)
- Colin Firth for The King's Speech (2010)
- James Franco for 127 Hours (2010)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
- Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right (2010)
- Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole (2010)
- Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone (2010)
- Natalie Portman for Black Swan (2010)
- Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine (2010)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
- Christian Bale for The Fighter (2010)
- John Hawkes for Winter's Bone (2010)
- Jeremy Renner for The Town (2010)
- Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right (2010)
- Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech (2010)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
- Amy Adams for The Fighter (2010)
- Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech (2010)
- Melissa Leo for The Fighter (2010)
- Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit (2010)
- Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom (2010)
Best Achievement in Directing
- Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan (2010)#
- Ethan Coen, Joel Coen for True Grit (2010)
- David Fincher for The Social Network (2010)
- Tom Hooper for The King's Speech (2010)
- David O. Russell for The Fighter (2010)
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
- Another Year (2010): Mike Leigh
- The Fighter (2010): Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Keith Dorrington
- Inception (2010): Christopher Nolan
- The Kids Are All Right (2010): Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg
- The King's Speech (2010): David Seidler
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
- 127 Hours (2010): Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy
- The Social Network (2010): Aaron Sorkin
- Toy Story 3 (2010): Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
- True Grit (2010): Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
- Winter's Bone (2010): Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
- How to Train Your Dragon (2010): Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
- The Illusionist (2010): Sylvain Chomet
- Toy Story 3 (2010): Lee Unkrich
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
- Biutiful (2010): Alejandro González Iñárritu(Mexico)
- Dogtooth (2009): Giorgos Lanthimos(Greece)
- Civilization (2010): Susanne Bier(Denmark)
- Incendies (2010): Denis Villeneuve(Canada)
- Outside the Law (2010): Rachid Bouchareb(Algeria)
Best Achievement in Cinematography
- Black Swan (2010): Matthew Libatique
- Inception (2010): Wally Pfister
- The King's Speech (2010): Danny Cohen
- The Social Network (2010): Jeff Cronenweth
- True Grit (2010): Roger Deakins
Best Achievement in Editing
- 127 Hours (2010): Jon Harris
- Black Swan (2010): Andrew Weisblum
- The Fighter (2010): Pamela Martin
- The King's Speech (2010): Tariq Anwar
- The Social Network (2010): Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
Best Achievement in Art Direction
- Alice in Wonderland (2010): Robert Stromberg, Karen O'Hara
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010): Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
- Inception (2010): Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Douglas A. Mowat
- The King's Speech (2010): Eve Stewart, Judy Farr
- True Grit (2010): Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
Best Achievement in Costume Design
- Alice in Wonderland (2010): Colleen Atwood
- I Am Love (2009): Antonella Cannarozzi
- The King's Speech (2010): Jenny Beavan
- The Tempest (2010/II): Sandy Powell
- True Grit (2010): Mary Zophres
Best Achievement in Makeup
- Barney's Version (2010): Adrien Morot
- The Way Back (2010): Edouard F. Henriques, Greg Funk, Yolanda Toussieng
- The Wolfman (2010): Rick Baker, Dave Elsey
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
- 127 Hours (2010): A.R. Rahman
- How to Train Your Dragon (2010): John Powell
- Inception (2010): Hans Zimmer
- The King's Speech (2010): Alexandre Desplat
- The Social Network (2010): Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
- 127 Hours (2010): A.R. Rahman, Rollo Armstrong, Dido("If I Rise")
- Country Strong (2010): Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey, Troy Verges("Coming Home")
- Tangled (2010): Alan Menken, Glenn Slater("I See the Light")
- Toy Story 3 (2010): Randy Newman("We Belong Together")
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
- Inception (2010): Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick
- The King's Speech (2010): Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen, John Midgley
- Salt (2010): Jeffrey J. Haboush, William Sarokin, Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell
- The Social Network (2010): Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Mark Weingarten
- True Grit (2010): Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, Peter F. Kurland
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
- Inception (2010): Richard King
- Toy Story 3 (2010): Tom Myers, Michael Silvers
- TRON: Legacy (2010): Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Addison Teague
- True Grit (2010): Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey
- Unstoppable (2010): Mark P. Stoeckinger
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
- Alice in Wonderland (2010): Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas, Sean Phillips
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010): Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz, Nicolas Aithadi
- Hereafter (2010): Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojansky, Joe Farrell
- Inception (2010): Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, Pete Bebb, Paul J. Franklin
- Iron Man 2 (2010): Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright, Daniel Sudick
Best Documentary, Features
- Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010): Banksy, Jaimie D'Cruz
- GasLand (2010): Josh Fox, Trish Adlesic
- Inside Job (2010): Charles Ferguson, Audrey Marrs
- Restrepo (2010): Tim Hetherington, Sebastian Junger
- Waste Land (2010): Lucy Walker, Angus Aynsley
Best Documentary, Short Subjects
- Killing in the Name (2010): Nominees TBD
- Poster Girl (2010): Nominees TBD
- Strangers No More (2010): Karen Goodman, Kirk Simon
- Sun Come Up (2010): Jennifer Redfearn, Tim Metzger
- The Warriors of Qiugang (2010): Ruby Yang, Thomas Lennon
Best Short Film, Animated
- Day & Night (2010): Teddy Newton
- The Gruffalo (2009) (TV): Jakob Schuh, Max Lang
- Let's Pollute (2009): Geefwee Boedoe
- The Lost Thing (2010): Shaun Tan, Andrew Ruhemann
- Madagascar, a Journey Diary (2010): Bastien Dubois
Best Short Film, Live Action
- The Confession (2010/IV): Tanel Toom
- The Crush (2009): Michael Creagh
- God of Love (2010): Luke Matheny
- Na Wewe (2010): Ivan Goldschmidt
- Wish 143 (2009): Ian Barnes, Samantha Waite
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13 Jan 2011
Deluxe Confirms Acquisition of Creative Services and Media Services Business Units from Ascent Media
Following our announcement last month that PG Affiliate Company Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc. had agreed to acquire Ascent Media Corporation's (NASDAQ: ASCMA) Creative Services and Media Services businesses, Deluxe have released the following statement detailing its completion, including the acquisition of the well-known brands Company 3, Beast, Method, Rushes, Encore Hollywood and Level 3 Post.
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Deluxe commented: Many of the acquired business units provide creative and media services in television and commercial post production that go beyond Deluxe's portfolio of services for the theatrical market.
"In the coming weeks and months, Deluxe will be advising customers on the new service offerings," said Cyril Drabinsky, President and CEO of Deluxe. "We look forward to providing our customers with the best that the combined companies and teams of talented employees have to offer," Drabinsky added.
For more information about Deluxe London please visit their Production Guild Affiliates Page here.
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13 Jan 2011
BFI Seeking Applications for Five New Board Members
The BFI is seeking to appoint five new Governors to its Board to help take it into a new era of film in Britain. This follows the Government's announcement late last year that the BFI is to become the lead strategic body for film and take on most of the responsibilities of the UK Film Council.
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This is an important first step for the BFI as it transforms to integrate its
new responsibilities for film in the UK, working with Government, the
industry and national and regional partners to collaboratively develop a new
strategy for film.
The BFI's Board consists of up to 15 trustees including the Chair and there
are currently five vacancies. Applications are being invited from senior
professionals in the film industry and this will include filmmakers and
distribution executives as well as those with legal, finance, education and
fundraising expertise.
The BFI will be seeking to appoint new trustees from as wide a geographic spread as possible. The positions are unpaid. Amongst the vacancies is that of Deputy Chair who will also chair a Film Strategy Development Task Force.
Applications to join the Board close at noon, Monday 24 January 2011.
Further information including how to apply is available at www.bfi.org.uk/go/trustees. .
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02 Feb 2011
Pathe and Fox Announce Exclusive UK Distribution Deal
Twentieth Century Fox has taken over exclusive control of Pathe U.K.'s theatrical, home entertainment and TV distribution business, which was previously split between Fox and Warner Bros. The broader partnership, which came in to effect on Tuesday 1st February, continues a commitment between Fox and Pathe that includes a 15-year alliance in France, where the companies are partners in a home-entertainment joint venture.
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Under the terms of the distribution agreement with Fox, Pathe U.K. will continue to devise marketing campaigns for each of its films and to fund the P&A for each release.
The arrangement will have no impact on the existing structure of Pathe U.K., which will focus on the development, production, marketing and international sales of its own titles and occasional acquisitions.
In a joint statement, Pathe exec VP Francois Ivernel and U.K. managing director Cameron McCracken said, "We've enjoyed a very happy relationship with Warner Bros. over the past couple of years, but given the ever-increasing complexity of distribution windows and media platforms, we felt it made sense for one studio to manage the licensing process across all rights."
Pathe and Fox have worked on a slew of titles including Danny Boyle's "127 Hours," which was co-financed by the pair but theatrically distributed by Warner Bros. within the UK.
Pathe U.K.'s first production of 2011 is "The Iron Lady," based on the life of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and starring Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent.
(Source Variety)
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19 Jan 2011
Power to the Pixel Announce First Cross Media Form in New York with IFP
UK based cross media organisation Power to the Pixel and IFP announced the launch of their new partnership. The alliance will kick-off with the launch of the first joint annual IFP/Power to the Pixel Cross-Media Forum in New York City on April 19th, 2011, with the cross-media projects presented at the Forum also being included this fall in IFP's Independent Film Week
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Joana Vicente, Executive Director IFP commented, "Power to the Pixel has created an amazing reputation for itself in Europe as the most cutting-edge organisation of its kind in the world, one that truly understands both the challenges and opportunities of the digital age."
She continued, "As IFP continues its mission to discover and champion independent filmmakers and storytellers the world over, we are thrilled to align ourselves with Power to the Pixel to ensure that talented artists here in the U.S. are able to take full advantage of the new tools, platforms, services and devices out there that enable them to tell stories and reach audience."
Power to the Pixel is a four-year old London-based organisation headed by CEO & Founder Liz Rosenthal and COO & Producer Tishna Molla that equips film makers and media companies with the creative and business skills that are essential to succeed in an ever-evolving digital world. In addition to its centrepiece event, the Cross-Media Forum held every October in association with the BFI London Film Festival, the company runs The Pixel Lab, an intensive four month course for European producers and media professionals designed to help build sustainable businesses through the development of cross-media properties.
"We're honoured to be collaborating with IFP on this exciting new venture and thrilled about the prospect of building stronger relationships between Power to the Pixel's network of cross-media experts and U.S. talent. IFP is the perfect partner for us in the U.S," says PttP founder Liz Rosenthal. "Cross-media projects will not only be presented at this first ever forum in April, but will also be invited to attend IFP's signature event, Independent Film Week, the oldest and largest forum in the U.S. for the discovery of projects in development and new voices on the independent scene. For our projects, it is qualitatively and quantitatively the biggest and best opportunity in the nation for filmmakers to find funders, partners and producers."
The IFP/Power to the Pixel Cross-Media Forum will consist of a conference, cross-media project presentations, as well as numerous networking opportunities allowing content creators and funders to directly connect.
• The Conference will focus on introducing U.S. audiences to leading thinkers, practitioners and innovators who develop new business and creative opportunities for film, media and new technologies. A mixture of keynotes and case studies will give in-depth insight to the myriad of opportunities available to them to develop, create and fund cross-media projects.
• Project presentations will give producers and storytellers with cross-media projects – those that span a combination of film, TV, online, mobile, gaming and live events - the opportunity to pitch to esteemed industry leaders who can potentially help develop, finance or support their work– and take their projects to the next level.
• With a variety of networking events open exclusively to audience members, speakers, and project producers, the Forum offers the perfect opportunity for everyone attending to meet the innovators and icons working in the cross-media landscape.
"Power to the Pixel's cross-media projects are a natural fit for IFP and its future-forward programmatic mission. We look forward to redoubling our efforts to educate artists in new ways of storytelling and ensure that we support content-creators in all formats," says Amy Dotson, Deputy Director & Head of Programming for IFP. "Working hand-in-hand with Power to the Pixel, this is truly a future full of possibilities for us all."
The full schedule of the IFP/Power to the Pixel Cross-Media Forum will be announced in March 2011, with tickets made available March 19th.
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13 Jan 2011
Technicolor to Launch New 3D Conversion Units Based in London, LA and India
As reported at Screen Daily, PG Affiliate Company Technicolor is to launch a high-end post production 2D to 3D conversion unit for feature film and television productions sited in London, LA and India.
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"We have multiple locations where we will produce conversion," explains Pierre Routhier, Technicolor's Vice President for 3D product strategy and business development. "MPC will handle new releases because they have the depth of management and infrastructure to manage the creative and iterative changes when a director wishes to change a shot or character.
"We are also building conversion units in Los Angles and Bangalore for catalogue projects. With these titles, since the movie is made and the shots are not going to change, it enables us to have a more cost-effective process."
All final converted material will be passed through Technicolor's 3D certification programme, Certifi3D. As part of the service, Technicolor evaluates each shot against a set of objective criteria for stereographic reproduction, including a 15-point quality checklist to identify common errors in production that result in suboptimal 3D content.
"Clients want to know what the conversion facility has done to the content and we're going to use our software to perform in-depth analysis on it," explains Routhier. "We can inform clients to what degree the conversion has been done. For example; whether the facility has done detailed modeling of the whole scene or whether they just modelled the foreground object and put everything else as a 2D layer in depth."
The quality of conversion is incredibly variable based on time, budget and the understanding of those making the 3D decisions," adds Routhier. "We also have to look at the immersive potential of the project since converting some movies can be bottomless money pits for a studio. Even if you spend millions of dollars on conversion some projects are not going to make a great experience – it's best for the filmmaker to analyse if the content is fit for conversion first and we actively work with them in that process."
For more information about Technicolor, please visit their PG Affiliate Company Page here (new window).
(Source Screen Daily)
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13 Jan 2011
UKFC to Produce Film Industry Report on the UK Population and the Effects of New Technology
Yesterday the UK Film Council announced that a new in-depth study will take place over the next three months to probe the film tastes of the UK's changing population, how best to reach them and how audiences are using new technology to view films.
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New technology is changing the way people watch films with home and mobile film experiences improving all the time. The total size of the film audience in the UK in 2009 was an estimated 4.5 billion viewings with only 4% taking place in a cinema. Yet little is currently known about the patterns of film viewing outside of cinemas.
The UK population is also changing and the film industry needs to ensure that it continues to serve the broadest possible audience.
Older consumers have grown into a market force to be reckoned with. The amount of money spent annually by people over the age of 65 in the UK is thought to be £100 billion. The number of over 45s going to the cinema has increased as a proportion from 15% in 1997 to 30% in 2008 (one third of the record-breaking theatrical audience for Mamma Mia! was over 55). The proportion of older viewers is even greater on the free-to-air TV platform, with 40% of the film-viewing audience on the terrestrial networks aged over 55.
In addition:
More than 87% of the population lives outside the M25; Currently nearly five million people, 1 in 12 of the population, are classed as 'non-white', and it is a growing group – with 1 in five children now born to parents who themselves were not born in the UK; Eleven million adults, 20% of the population, are disabled in the UK; Recent research has estimated that the gay community contributes £70 billion to the economy; There are an estimated 13 million non-white cinemagoers, 7.5% of the total cinema audience (Kantar Worldpanel survey of 2009).
This new study will focus on a number of groups including older female audiences (aged 50-75); skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers; lesbian, gay and bisexual audiences; minority ethnic audiences; from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. Particular attention will also be paid to the differences between audiences in the nations and regions of the UK and those in London.
The research will probe:
what films people like and want to see more of in the future; films that have been associated with key moments or turning points in their lives; whether there is an appetite for diverse-specific films and more diverse characters in mainstream films, or a combination of both; to what extent contemporary film portrayals are accurate and authentic; what turns people off films; what attracts or deters audiences as consumers of film; the impact of the digital environment (both legal and illegal); how feature films compare with other audio-visual media such as television, gaming and online content; and how often films are consumed in a community context e.g. through film festivals, local cinema or other events.
The new study being carried out by custom market research firm Harris Interactive, on behalf of the UK Film Council, will be completed by April 2011. It is intended to be a useful tool for filmmakers who want to think more about the audience's perspective when developing and making their film and will be disseminated to all sectors of the film industry.
Mary FitzPatrick, Head of Diversity at the UK Film Council, said: "Watching films is one of the UK's favourite pastimes. We know that the UK's population is changing and that film choices are influenced by age, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status. Yet despite this, there is very little research into diverse audience tastes and how best to reach them. This new study will give us the answers. I hope it will be a valuable tool for filmmakers so they can make more films that are relevant, connected and authentic to the broadest and most diverse audiences. Ultimately that could lead to greater economic returns across the entire sector."
Data for the qualitative and quantitative study will be gathered by Harris Interactive. The quantitative sample will be among a total of 2,200 adults (aged 16-75) within the UK and twelve qualitative group sessions with diverse audiences will be conducted across a spread of locations in the UK. Fieldwork is due to run between January and March 2011.
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