At his speech outlining the UK Government’s plans for film, Culture Minister Ed Vaizey once again called on Sky to invest in British film production.
He praised Channel 4’s boosting of its film budget to £15m annually for the next five years, and the BBC’s £12m/year support. “Public service broadcasters are playing a great role in bringing high quality British content to wide audiences.”
But then he made a renewed plea that BSkyB should also regularly back UK film production. “I also strongly believe Sky should seriously consider investing in the production of British Film. As one of the country’s most innovative broadcasters, it would bring a new dynamic force to the table, which would lift everyone’s game.”
When further questioned on it, the minister noted that it was an issue he planned to bring up regularly. “Every time I make a speech about film, I’m going to mention Sky investing in films,” he said, drawing laughs from the room of industry experts and press. “I genuinely don’t understand why they’re not involved.”
In early October at the Screen International Film Summit, Vaizey had already called upon Sky to up its commitment to British movies (echoing the thoughts of many UK producers). “It would be fantastic if an organisation like Sky, one of our most successful British broadcasters, could start to consider if it could start its own film production fund,” he said then.
Sky was not immediately available for comment.
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