UK Chancellor Urged To Intervene & Help “Struggling” Indie Film Sector By Inquiry Boss
deadline.comUK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been told to use his forthcoming Spring budget to make an “urgent intervention” to support the UK indie film sector in a letter published by Caroline Dinenage MP, chair of the influential Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
The letter follows the second evidence session of the Committee’s inquiry into British film and high-end TV, which featured Sixteen Films producer Rebecca O’Brien alongside Film4 and BBC Film heads Ollie Madden and Eva Yates.
The letter outlines the committee’s concerns that the British film industry is increasingly reliant on investment from overseas productions, resulting in what it describes as a “vulnerable domestic sector,” and asks the Chancellor to introduce enhanced tax relief for independent British films in the Spring budget. “To address this issue, we urge the Government to introduce enhanced tax relief for British films within a budget range of approximately £1 million to £15 million, building on modeling undertaken by industry bodies such as Pact and with the support of the BFI,” the letter reads. “Enhanced tax relief will help ensure that more British stories are told and seen by wider audiences and add resilience to our homegrown sector.
Most importantly, it will also give confidence to private investors, boosting investment that domestic producers can attract from other sources.” Accompanying the letter, Dinenage said last year’s Hollywood labor strikes “made it clear just how reliant the UK’s film and high-end television industry is on work from US studios and streamers, while domestic film production is facing a crisis.” She added: “It’s clear that Britain’s independent film industry is struggling, and Government intervention, including enhanced
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