INDUSTRY IN RECOVERY
BRIGHT LIGHTS Pinewood enjoyed a huge hit recently with Deadpool & Wolverine, while the future looks bright for Bray Film Studios whole UK screen sector,” she says, “both creatively and economically.” Amy Jackson, producer of Oscar- nominated Aftersun , The Outfit and The End We Start From , agrees that the IFTC is ‘a vital intervention for the UK industry’. She notes that ‘making British indie films is tough’ but stresses the tax relief will give her the financial support to ‘explicitly filmmakers still labouring on, assistance is finally on hand. Recognising the potential of UK film to be an area for economic growth, the government has announced the Independent Film Tax Credit (IFTC). Launched at this year’s London Film Festival (LFF), the IFTC will grant a relief of 53% on qualifying expenditure to first- time productions that have a budget of up to £15 million. Films with budgets of up to £23.5 million are also eligible, though the amount of relief will be tapered off. “The speed with which the UK government has turned this around shows how vital this intervention is for independent film,” notes British Film Institute chair Jay Hunt. “It will have a game-changing impact across the full acquisition ties in with the company’s plan to ‘produce more film and television in the UK’, and will create opportunities ‘with respect to jobs and skills training at all levels of the production process’. This is somewhat positive news, although it offers cold comfort for most; those travelling the road without major studio support have endured a bumpy ride this year as well as the last. The end of the pandemic’s streaming boom, dwindling TV advertising, disruption from the writers’ strike and rising inflation have proved troublesome obstacles. For those working on productions like TV dramas, for example, it’s been especially dire. At this autumn’s Royal Television Society conference in London, Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon conceded that 2023 was ‘horrendous for indies, and this year hasn’t been much better’. While major film production has sped on ahead, a large number of independent filmmakers and TV producers have been left stranded by the roadside. Thankfully, for those independent
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