The British Film Institute (BFI) has received £1.7m from the UK’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to deliver the 2024 London Film Festival as part of a £77m package of government funding for the UK’s creative industries.
The BFI said the investment is “a huge vote of confidence in the festival and its impact across the UK and internationally. This funding allows our festival director Kristy Mathieson and her team to plan through the 2024 edition of the festival.”
According to the BFI, the government investment is part of a new funding mechanism for the festival and will allow it to plan the 2024 edition “in its current structure, but takes into account rising costs and inflation.”
The BFI added that planning for the 2023 festival is in “full swing” and confirmed American Express will again be the principal partner for the 2023 and 2024 editions.
Beyond the LFF, most of the money – £50m – will be invested in the government’s existing Creative Industries Clusters programme, helping creative businesses in six more locations in the UK. The government has already invested £80m in nine hubs, including Cardiff, Bristol and Bath, and Yorkshire and Humber.
Another £10.9m is being invested in the government’s Create Growth Programme, bringing its total budget to £28.4m until 2025. The initiative helps creative businesses to commercialise ideas and to access private investment.
There is also money to support music exports and grassroots venues, an additional £5m for the UK Games Fund, and £2m for London Fashion Week.
Virtual production research labs
The government also unveiled its preferred bidders for a national virtual production research lab in Buckinghamshire as well as three regional labs in Yorkshire, Dundee and Belfast. The labs are being set up as part of national funding agency UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s Convergent Screen Technologies and Performance in Realtime (CoSTAR) programme.
The national lab will be led by Royal Holloway, University of London alongside core partners including Pinewood Studios and the National Film and Television School (NFTS).
The Yorkshire regional lab will be led by York University and be based at Production Park Studios, West Yorkshire. Core partners include Screen Yorkshire and Vodafone.
The Dundee lab will be led by Abertay University and located at Waters Edge Studios, while the Belfast lab is led by Ulster University and based at Studio Ulster with partners including BBC Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen.
The CoSTAR programme will also include an Insight and Foresight Unit led by Goldsmiths with partners including the BFI and Olsberg SPI.
The government said it had already invested £75.6m in the CoSTAR programme which will be supported with an additional £63m investment from industry. Virtual production technology has been used in the ABBA Voyage live concert and the Batman and Minecraft immersive experiences in the UK, as well on Disney’s hit show The Mandalorian.
£50bn by 2030
The funding package was unveiled as part of the government’s Creative Industries Sector Vision which aims to grow the sector by £50bn by 2030 and create one million extra jobs. The strategy has been developed with the Creative Industries Council, which is co-chaired by former ITV chair Peter Bazalgette.
The government says the creative industries are a priority sector for economic growth, noting that they have grown at more than 1.5 times the rate of the wider economy over the past decade.
Earlier this year, chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced film and TV tax reliefs will be reformed to a single refundable expenditure credit – the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit – which has been broadly welcomed by the industry.
However, many within the industry believe government actions such as Brexit have had a negative impact on creative businesses by increasing red tape and reducing access to skilled labour from the EU.
Governments throughout Europe have also begun to invest heavily in a bid to grow their creative industries. France is investing through its €350m Great Image Factory initiative, while Spain has earmarked €1.6 bn for its Audiovisual Hub plan.
The UK’s Sector Vision strategy is also focused on skills and education, with the government pledging to publish a cultural education plan later this year. It has also promised to support ongoing learning in the creative industries and to ensure post-16 technical skills routes work effectively for the sector. This will include supporting the rollout of T-Levels in creative subjects.
Jeremy Hunt said: “Our creative industry isn’t just about the glitz and glam of the red carpet in Leicester Square. It brings in £108bn a year to help fund our public services, supports over two million jobs, and is world renowned.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “The creative industries are a true British success story, from global music stars like Adele and Ed Sheeran to world-class cultural institutions like the National Theatre. These industries have a special place in our national life and make a unique contribution to how we feel about ourselves as a country. We want to build on this incredible success to drive growth in our economy – one of my key priorities – and to ensure that UK creative industries continue to lead the world long into the future.”
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