public investment in film in the uk

BFI Research and Statistics PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2015

PUBLICINVESTMENT

IN FILM IN THE UK

Image: Suffragette © Pathé Productions Limited, Channel Four Television Corporation and the British Film Institute 2015. All rights reserved

IN RECOGNITION OF THE CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC VALUE OF FILM, THE UK GOVERNMENT AND THE EUROPEAN UNION PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO FILM IN THE UK THROUGH A VARIETY OF CHANNELS. THE SINGLE BIGGEST SOURCE OF PUBLIC FUNDING IN 2013/14 WAS THE FILM TAX RELIEF, FOLLOWED BY THE NATIONAL LOTTERY AND GOVERNMENT GRANT-IN-AID.

FACTS IN FOCUS■ Total measured public funding for film in the UK in 2013/14 was

£390 million, an increase of 7% on 2012/13.

■ The principal sources of public funding were the film tax relief (56%), the National Lottery (18%) and grant-in-aid (8%) from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

■ Combined grant-in-aid from the DCMS and the national governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales totalled 10% of all public sector investments.

■ Film production benefited from 69% of the total financial support in 2013/14 followed by education, young people and lifelong learning (9%), and distribution and exhibition (8%).

■ Support for education, young people and lifelong learning was £38.4 million, up from £32.3 million in 2012/13.

PUBLIC INVESTMENT IN FILM IN THE UK

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BFI Statistical Yearbook 2015 - 3

PUBLIC FUNDING FOR FILM IN THE UK BY SOURCE

Table 1.1 outlines the estimated levels of public funding invested in film in the UK in the financial years 2011/12 to 2013/14. (The figures do not include some types of local authority, research council, higher or further education funding.)

Public funding for film in 2013/14 is estimated to have been £390 million, up 7% from £363 million in 2012/13. The largest single source of public funding in the year was the UK film tax relief, which provided £220 million (56% of the total). This was followed by the National Lottery (£71.7 million, 18% of the total) and grant-in-aid of £30.6 million (8% of the total) from the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) to the BFI, Arts Council England (ACE) and the National Film and Television School (NFTS). Film4/Channel 4 invested £15.6 million in UK film and BBC Films/BBC £10.6 million. The European Union (EU) contributed £10 million, of which £4.3 million (£5.6 million in 2012/13) came from the MEDIA programme.

The year saw an increase of £2.7 million in DCMS grand-in-aid compared with 2012/13; part of this is accounted for by fuller recording of ACE investments in film and the moving image, although DCMS grant-in-aid to the BFI also increased slightly. Grant-in-aid in both 2012/13 and 2013/14 was lower than in 2011/12, reflecting the fall in overall DCMS investment during the period. However, this was offset by an increase in investment from the proceeds of the National Lottery. The data make it appear that ACE increased its investment in film and the moving image in 2013/14 but it is thought that this apparent increase is again largely due to changes in the way in which ACE analyses its expenditure. Each of the national governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales has increased investment in film since 2011/12: the Scottish Government more than doubled its investment during the period (£1.6 million in 2011/12 compared with £4.1 million in 2013/14), while the Welsh Assembly Government doubled its investment (£1.4 million in 2011/12 compared with £2.8 million in 2013/14). In each case, it is likely that this reflects a growing recognition of the importance of the economic and cultural value of film to the nations. Investment from the European Union (via the structural funds) saw a substantial increase over the period, rising from £1.6 million in 2011/12 to £5.7 million in 2013/14: the majority of this increase took the form of a new commitment to Screen Yorkshire.

4 - BFI Statistical Yearbook 2015

Table 1.1 Public funding for film in the UK by source, 2011/12 - 2013/14 (ranked by 2013/14 spend)

2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

£ million % £ million % £ million %

National Lottery Distribution Fund1 51.6 14.1 65.4 18.0 71.7 18.4

DCMS grant-in-aid to the BFI, ACE and NFTS 41.7 11.4 27.9 7.7 30.6 7.8

Film4/Channel 42 15.2 4.2 18.1 5.0 15.6 4.0

BBC Films/BBC3 12.5 3.4 12.7 3.5 10.6 2.7

National and Regional Development Agencies4 11.1 3.0 9.4 2.6 9.2 2.4

ACE5 1.3 0.4 4.4 1.2 7.2 1.8

Other European Union (EU)6 1.6 0.4 1.2 0.3 5.7 1.5

EU MEDIA programme7 5.0 1.4 5.6 1.5 4.3 1.1

Scottish Government8 1.6 0.4 2.2 0.6 4.1 1.1

Northern Ireland Executive9 1.9 0.5 2.2 0.6 3.2 0.8

Welsh Assembly Government10 1.4 0.4 2.3 0.6 2.8 0.7

Higher Education funding11 1.4 0.4 1.6 0.4 1.2 0.3

The Office of Communications (Ofcom)12 – – 1.1 0.3 1.1 0.3

Foreign and Commonwealth Office13 0.6 0.2 1.2 0.3 1.1 0.3

Skills Investment Fund training levy14 0.6 0.2 0.6 0.2 0.8 0.2

Local government15 0.1 <0.1 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.1

UK Trade & Investment16 – – 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.1

Department for Business, Innovation & Skills17 0.9 0.2 0.8 0.2 – –

Department for Education18 3.0 0.8 – – – –

Cabinet Office19 0.5 0.1 – – – –

Department for Work and Pensions20 0.1 <0.1 – – – –

Other public sector21 0.2 0.1 0.03 <0.1 0.01 <0.1

Total public sector selective investment22 152.2 41.6 157.3 43.3 169.9 43.6

UK film tax relief 214.0 58.5 206.0 56.7 220.0 56.4

Total public sector selective and automatic funding

366.2 100.0 363.3 100.0 389.9 100.0

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Notes1. Allocations to the BFI, Creative Scotland, Ffilm Cymru Wales and Northern Ireland Screen, plus Heritage Lottery Fund.2. Includes Film4’s production investment and Channel 4 investment in the NFTS.3. Includes BBC Films’ production investment, BBC investment in the NFTS and film archives.4. Contributions to Screen Agencies from Development Agencies throughout the UK.5. Includes ACE National Lottery investments (for example from Grants for the Arts) into moving image projects, plus the National Portfolio

Organisation investment in FLAMIN/Film London. 6. Investment via the European Social Fund and European Regional Development Fund.7. The MEDIA programme ended in 2013; MEDIA is now a sub-programme of Creative Europe, the new EU programme for the cultural,

creative and audiovisual sectors.8. Includes funding from all Scottish government agencies to strategic bodies/projects.9. Includes funding from all Northern Ireland government agencies to strategic bodies/projects.10. Includes funding from all Welsh government agencies to strategic bodies/projects.11. Includes investment from Higher Education Funding Councils for England, Wales and Scotland, plus Higher Education institutions to support

Creative Skillset film academies, film archives and other strategic agencies. It does not include payments from educational funding councils to other film courses (film studies etc.) in higher or further education.

12. Contribution to the costs of BFI archiving of off-air broadcasts.13. Funding for UK-originated British Council activity. Excludes partnership funding of ‘in-country’ events (outside the UK).14. Made up of contributions from all film productions either based in the UK or in receipt of UK public funding, collected and re-distributed by

Creative Skillset.15. Investment by local authorities in Regional Film Archives, Creative England and other English Regional Screen Agencies.16. Funding for export support.17. Includes direct investment in the NFTS.18. Includes funding for the BFI Film Academy.19. Funding for schools film clubs.20. Funding for training and business support.21. Very small awards (under £10,000) from a range of public sector agencies, mainly made to National/Regional Screen Agencies.22. Does not include transfers to and from reserves.


SPEND BY AGENCY

As Table 1.2 shows, the largest net spender on film in 2013/14 was HMRC (£220 million for film tax relief), followed by the BFI (£90.4 million), Film4/Channel 4 (£15.3 million), Northern Ireland Screen (£12 million) and the Scottish film agencies (£11.5 million).

Table 1.2 Net film spend by agency, 2013/141

£ million %

HMRC 220.0 53.1

BFI 90.4 21.8

Film 4/Channel 42 15.3 3.7

Northern Ireland Screen 12.0 2.9

Scottish agencies3 11.5 2.8

NFTS 10.1 2.4

BBC Films/BBC4 10.0 2.4

ACE5 6.7 1.6

Into Film 5.9 1.4

Other English agencies6 5.3 1.3

Creative Skillset 4.9 1.2

Creative England 4.8 1.2

Welsh agencies7 4.7 1.1

Film London 4.6 1.1

EU MEDIA programme8 4.1 1.0

English regional film archives9 2.1 0.5

British Council 1.0 0.2

Heritage Lottery Fund 0.9 0.2

Total public agencies10 414.4 100.0

Source: Creative Cultural Associates NotesFigures/percentages may not sum to totals due to rounding.1. Net spend means spend after deducting grants and awards to

other organisations in this table. Figures are presented net to avoid double counting.

2. Investment for the calendar year 2014.3. Includes film expenditure on the part of Creative Scotland and the

Scottish Screen Archive (part of the National Library of Scotland).4. Investment for the calendar year 2014.5. Includes ACE National Lottery investments (eg from Grants for the

Arts) into moving image projects, plus National Portfolio Organisa-tion investments attributable to film and the moving image, based upon ACE calculations.

6. Includes film expenditure on the part of Northern Film & Media, Screen South and Screen Yorkshire.

7. Includes film expenditure on the part of Ffilm Cymru Wales and the Film Archive of Wales (part of the National Library of Wales) and direct investments by the Welsh Assembly Government.

8. See note to Table 1.1.9. Includes film expenditure on the part of the East Anglian Film

Archive, Media Archive for Central England (MACE), North East Film Archive, North West Film Archive, Screen Archive South East, South West Film and Television Archive and the Yorkshire Film Archive.

10. The spending tabulated above includes net transfers to and from reserves and spending financed by commercial income (eg from film rights) earned by agencies as well as income derived from public sector sources. For these reasons the total spending by agencies (£414.4 million) is higher than total public funding for film in the 2013/14 year (£389.9 million, Table 1.1).

ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED BY PUBLIC SPENDING ON FILM

The areas of activity supported by public spend on film in the UK in the financial years 2011/12 to 2013/14 are outlined in Table 1.3.

Production has consistently benefited from the largest share of public spend, primarily due to the automatic funding available through the film tax relief, although the total spend has fluctuated in line with the changing volume of production. In 2013/14, film production accounted for £284.2 million (69% of the total). In the same financial year, education, young people and lifelong learning had the second largest share of public spend at 9% (£38.4 million, up from £32.3 million in 2012/13). This increase continues a trend from 2011/12 and is largely the result of the implementation of the BFI’s Film Forever strategic plan, one of whose goals is the expansion of opportunities for film education and learning. The public spend on distribution and exhibition activity has also shown a rising trend since 2011/12; in 2013/14 it received investment of £31.4 million, up from £28.1 million in 2012/13 and £19.8 million in 2011/12. Conversely, the spend on archives and heritage has reduced over the period, partially as a result of the ending of additional DCMS investment in film archives. In 2013/14 spend in this area was £17.7 million, compared with £19.5 million in 2012/13 and £22 million in 2011/12.

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Table 1.3 Activities supported by public spend on film, 2011/12 - 2013/14 (ranked by 2013/14 spend)

2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

£ million % £ million % £ million %

Production1 271.2 70.2 268.7 68.4 284.2 68.6

Education, young people and lifelong learning 19.8 5.1 32.3 8.2 38.4 9.3

Distribution and exhibition 25.5 6.6 28.1 7.1 31.4 7.6

Archives and heritage2 22.0 5.7 19.5 5.0 17.7 4.3

Training and skills3 13.4 3.5 13.5 3.4 17.7 4.3

Development 9.3 2.4 10.9 2.8 10.3 2.5

Administration and services to the public 19.3 5.0 14.2 3.6 7.3 1.8

Export and inward investment promotion4 3.3 0.9 3.8 1.0 4.3 1.0

Business support5 2.4 0.6 1.6 0.4 3.1 0.7

Total public film expenditure6 386.2 100.0 392.6 100.0 414.4 100.0

Notes:1. Non-tax relief production spend in 2013/14 was £64.2 million.2. National Film and Television Archive, National/Regional Screen Archives, Heritage Lottery Fund investments.3. Skills Investment Fund, National/Regional Screen Agency training investment, Creative Skillset film/craft and technical skills academies.4. British Film Commission; British Council, locations services in the nations and regions.5. National/Regional Screen Agency investment: primary beneficiaries are independent production companies.6. 2013/14 total expenditure (£414.4 million) was greater than total public funding (£389.9 million, Table 1.1) as expenditure was supplemented

by earned/self-generated income, commercial sponsorship, grants from trusts and foundations and transfers from reserves.

SPEND ACROSS THE FOUR NATIONS Many sources of public sector investment in film, such as the film tax relief, are intended for the benefit of film throughout the UK. However, some sources of funding are particular to the individual UK nations – eg investment from the National Screen Agencies, ACE, etc. Table 1.4 and Figure 1 show the level of investment dedicated to each of the UK nations in 2013/14. In cash terms, investment in England was the greatest (£16.9 million or 37% of the total nation-specific funding). In per capita terms, however, the level of investment in Northern Ireland was the highest at £6.61 per person, three times the level in Scotland, which had the next highest spend per person at £2.17. Table 1.4 Investment in film in the UK nations, 2013/14

Nation Total dedicated investment (£ million)

Population (million) £ per person

England1 16.9 53.0 0.32

Northern Ireland2 12.0 1.8 6.61

Scotland3 11.5 5.3 2.17

Wales4 4.7 3.1 1.54

Source: Creative Cultural AssociatesNotes1. Includes investment from Creative England, English Regional Screen Agencies, English Regional Screen Archives and ACE.2. Investment from Northern Ireland Screen.3. Includes investment from Creative Scotland, Scottish Screen Archive.4. Includes investment from Ffilm Cymru Wales, Wales Film Archive and Welsh Assembly Government direct expenditure.


Figure 1 Investment in film in the UK nations, 2013/14

Spend per person (£) 0.32 6.61 2.17 1.54

Source: Creative Cultural Associates

BFI LOTTERY AWARDS 2014

Table 1.5 shows the Lottery awards made by the BFI in 2014. There were 385 awards in total (399 in 2013) with a combined value of £25.5 million. Table 1.5 BFI Lottery awards, 2014

Source Number of awards Total value (£ million)

Film Fund – Development 113 3.1

Film Fund – Pre-production 14 0.4

Film Fund – Production 50 12.6

Film Fund – Completion 5 0.1

Film Fund – Vision Awards 12 0.8

Distribution – Exhibition Fund 26 2.7

Export development 27 0.2

International Fund 14 2.2

Partnerships – Audience Fund 120 3.2

Partnerships – Film Academy 4 0.1

Total awards 385 25.5

Source: BFINotes: BFI awards data are for calendar year 2014.Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding.

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The large production/distribution awards of £250,000+ made by the BFI in 2014 are shown in Table 1.6. In total, 21 awards were made, of which three were for £1 million or more.

Table 1.6 Large awards (£250,000+) made by the BFI, 2014

Source Project (total = 21) Amount of award (£)

Film Fund – Production High-Rise 1,335,000

Sunset Song 1,320,100

War on Everyone 1,000,000

The Ones Below 785,000

Trespass Against Us 700,000

Remainder 635,000

The Incident 580,000

Testament of Youth 550,000

45 Years 507,000

Iona 500,000

London Road 500,000

Light Years 481,000

Brooklyn 400,000

Departure 350,000

A Patch of Fog 309,000

Couple in a Hole 305,000

The Lobster 300,000

How to Change the World 300,000

The Lovers and the Despot 250,000

Distribution – Exhibition Fund ’71 300,000

Frank 300,000

Source: BFINote: BFI awards data are for calendar year 2014.


LEADING PUBLIC INVESTORS IN BRITISH FILM PRODUCTION, 2012-2014

Table 1.7 shows the leading public agency and public service broadcaster investment in British films for the calendar years 2012-2014. The most frequent public investors were the BFI with 113 projects and BBC Films/BBC with 73. These projects had combined budgets of £321 million and £218 million respectively. These budget figures are for the total budget of the films, including the share of budget provided by other public investors, private investors and pre-sales.

Table 1.7 Leading public investors in British film production, 2012-2014

Public funder Number Estimated budget

(£ million)

Examples

BFI 113 321 20,000 Days on Earth; 45 Years; The Goob; Suffragette; X+Y

BBC Films/BBC 73 218 A Little Chaos; Bill; Philomena; Testament of Youth; Woman in Gold

European agencies1 64 332 A Most Wanted Man; The Gunman; Only Lovers Left Alive; The Salvation; Theeb

Film4/Channel 4 50 189 The Duke of Burgundy; Dark Horse; The Inbetweeners 2; Jimmy’s Hall; Macbeth

Scottish agencies 33 44 God Help the Girl; Under the Skin; What We Did on Our Holiday

Creative England 20 18 Light Years; Norfolk; Spooks: The Greater Good

Welsh agencies/S4C 19 32 Bypass; The Canal; Dan y Wenallt (Under Milk Wood)

Irish Film Board 19 51 All Is by My Side; Calvary; The Lobster

Northern Ireland Screen 17 29 High Rise; Robot Overlords; Starred Up

Screen Yorkshire 15 65 ’71; A Royal Night Out; Get Santa

Source: BFI production trackingNotes:In some cases more than one public agency contributed funding to the same film, so there is double counting of budgets and hence no total budget row.1. Examples of European film funding agencies include Deutscher Filmförderfonds, Le Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée and

Norsk filminstitutt.

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public investment in film in the uk

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