BFI Heads Ben Roberts and Harriet Finney Talk 10-Year Strategy & $150 Million Funding Plan

deadline.com:

The British Film Institute today launched Screen Culture 2033, a 10-year vision for the UK’s screen industries alongside a three-year funding plan, the first strategic budget set by chief executive Ben Roberts.Roberts was named BFI CEO in February 2020, having led the BFI’s Film Fund for six years and served as deputy CEO for a further two.

Almost instantly, he was charged with leading the organization’s response to COVID-19, a gigantic task undoubtedly complicated by near-constant political instability in Westminster.

During his two-year stint, Roberts has seen four culture ministers, under two Prime Ministers, and even a change of Monarch, which delayed the release of Screen 2033.On the numbers side, the BFI has set an annual budget of £45 million ($49 million) or £136 million ($150 million) over the first three years of the strategic plan, which is a dip of around 10% from the previous three-year period under the last funding plan, BFI2022.Of these funds, £54 million ($59 million) will be available to filmmakers through the BFI National Lottery Filmmaking Fund, BFI Network, and the National Lottery Creative Challenge Fund, a new funding strand for what the BFI has described as “risk-taking creative storytelling.” £34.2 million will be spent across education and skills programs, £27.6 million for audience development, £10 million for screen heritage work, £7.3 million on innovation and industry services, and £3.2 million for international activity.These figures are accompanied by a series of longer-term pledges shaped less by filmmaking and filmmakers but instead focused on audience engagement, screen education, and emerging technologies.