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Film Industry: £30m Culture Recovery Fund

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The announcement of a £30m Culture Recovery Fund is another welcome boost for the film industry.  This follows on from last week’s news, the introduction of an insurance fund to help independent TV and film production companies in the UK protect themselves from possible losses due to Covid-19.

The Culture Recovery fund, which comes from the Government’s £1.57billion support package for arts and culture, will be administered by the BFI and is open to applications Monday 10th August.

The funding is aimed at independent and non-profit cinema venues and there are two types of grant available:

  1. Safety grants – (capped at £10,000 per cinema) aimed at helping venues deal with the upfront health and safety costs of making venues compliant with government guidelines before re-opening
  2. Business sustainability grants (capped at £200,000 per organisation) to ensure companies are able to operate in the restricted conditions required by social distancing measures once they have re-opened

To be eligible for the funding, an organisation must demonstrate that it meets the following conditions:

  • The venue must be involved in showcasing films all year round, which means festivals and other seasonal events are not eligible
  • Venues must be building-based
  • Applicants will be required to demonstrate a commitment to increasing their organisational diversity and the diversity of their audiences. As well as this, organisations must demonstrate that they are of cultural importance and actively engaged in their community. Special consideration is being given to venues which are involved in levelling up their region.

More details are available on the BFI website, which can be reached via the following link: www.bfi.org.uk/Culturerecoveryfund.

At a time when the easing of lockdown is difficult to navigate, this continued support is welcomed. We hope these initiatives will contribute to the long-term health and sustainability of the sector.

You may also be interested in our ‘in conversation with’  series

Insurance Guarantee Fund Helps Kickstart Film and TV production.

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On Tuesday, the UK’s film and TV industry received a very welcome windfall from the UK government. Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden have announced a fund worth £500 million earmarked specifically to help those domestic TV and film productions struggling to get adequate insurance cover for Covid-19.

This announcement has been followed by months of work, with the BFI’s Screen Sector Task Force working closely with the government to advise on the needs and specific issues facing the industry.

As lockdown has continued to tentatively ease and we have slowly crept back towards some semblance of normal life, there has until now been no movement forward on this significant barrier. Whilst a lot of industries more adversely affected, such as hospitality, have been able to start opening up to the public with clear guidance in place on exactly what they need to do and the acceptable levels of safety and risks they can incur – this is much more difficult to summarise for film production companies. The nature of the industry demands travel, working away from home and close proximity to colleagues and co-stars, with different and varied levels of risk depending on the nature of a production. This welcome announcement should help the industry begin to come back from the limbo of uncertainty it has been left in since lockdown easing began.

Industry bosses welcomed the news, with the Chair of the Production Guild Alex Bowden commenting, “The introduction of an insurance guarantee fund is the boost that the UK Film and TV industries have been hoping for and will enable a green light for the many productions that have been waiting to start up.”

John McVay, the chief executive of the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television said: “This very welcome news shows that the UK Government has listened to one of our key industries and has taken unprecedented steps to support our highly successful indigenous film and TV production and broadcasting industry to get back to what we love most – making TV programmes and films enjoyed by UK audiences and many more millions around the globe.”

The scheme officially launches today and the key features noted at this point regarding the nature of the fund and how it will be accessed are as follows:

  • Films or shows commencing before the end of the year through to June 2021 will be eligible for cover, as long as half the production budget has been spent in the UK.
  • Companies will be able to back-date claims to the scheme if they have now resumed production.
  • For delays caused by Covid-19 – companies could be compensated up to 20% of the production budget.
  • For abandonments caused by Covid-19 – companies could be compensated up to 70% of their production budget.
  • Claims are capped at £5million per production
  • Companies must pay an appropriate excess and fee to join the scheme
  • Companies will need to ensure they purchase normal insurance alongside to cover all other risk factors unrelated to Covid-19

We will continue to provide updated as more details emerge, hopefully this heralds the beginning of a much-needed resurgence in film and TV production.

If you have questions about this, or any media related matter our specialist media team are here to help. Please contact us if you need assistance.

The ‘Post-Covid’ Film Sector. What Next?

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While production has been stalled due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the film industry is starting to open up again, albeit tentatively. In this video, Sam Ampah from Alliotts Media discusses the post-covid environment for the film sector, with Richard Whelan who is an Assistant Director and Producer.

[video run time: 23:36]

It’s Cannes, but not as we know it

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At this time of year, our media team would usually be reminiscing about busy days networking and nights spent exploring the cinematic delights on offer at the Cannes Film Festival.

Not this year. Like many other events in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in the Cannes Film Festival being cancelled for only the second time in its 72-year history. As with many creative industries, the pandemic has dealt the film industry a disproportionately severe blow. Events like this are the lifeblood of the industry, letting film-makers finally showcase the results of months of hard work and letting people network and forge connections which may result in exciting new ventures. It was a bleak prospect to miss this altogether.

However, the spirit of Cannes would not be that easily beaten and an online alternative was set up. A full selection of films was selected for 2020, and attendees could sign up, view the selection, join a wide selection of seminars and network with other industry professionals, all through online channels.

This leads to the big question – did it work? The effort was commendable, and no doubt difficult to pull together when events of this kind have never had to deal with anything like this before. There were some technical difficulties and obviously sending messages out to organise potential meetings is never going to be the same as the organic spontaneity of meeting people face to face and engaging with each other at the festival.

Despite this, the Alliotts team had some interesting meetings with producers and film-makers who have not let the pandemic dampen their enthusiasm and their visions. Once the world can return to normal, there will certainly be some exciting projects in the pipeline for 2021. There was of course the added bonus of much more streamlined and productive meetings without the distractions of fine food, wine, beaches and sunshine!

Online versions will never be a preferable alternative to events like Cannes, which has become such an iconic event that many in the industry look forward to all year. The effort however, to keep the energy, the enthusiasm and the pace alive was greatly appreciated by many. Hopefully next year will see a return to the festival we all know so well.

A film without a script?

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Well who would have thought? We find ourselves in the middle of a film plot without a script!

So we’ve all quickly improvised, using technology for meeting with clients, colleagues, friends and family. Many of us are on a journey of self-enlightenment, learning new skills and ticking off books and films from our bucket list.  And who hasn’t enjoyed the creative medium of film during lockdown?

Along with tens of thousands of others, Alliotts’ media team should have been in Cannes last month, meeting friends old and new, enjoying a stroll along La Croisette, a coffee at The Grand, the buzz of a premiere……and of course the obligatory occasional downpour, as any visitor will testify.

But the spirit of Cannes is very much alive and it’s ever more important to keep the film industry buoyant. The film sector and the Cannes Film Festival has risen to the challenge by holding the festival online.  Also, as the qualifying criteria of ‘theatrical release’ has been impossible for many, productions that have gone straight to streaming are being considered in the awards – a first.  It will be interesting to see what will happen next year.

We’ve registered for the Cannes Festival Online (held on 22-26 June) and are looking forward to taking part.  I anticipate that other festivals will be equally creative this year.  On a positive note, the virtual nature of festivals opens them up for more people globally.

We also saw the launch of We Are One: Global Film Festival. This ten-day long (29 May – 7 June) collaboration of 21 festivals worldwide releasing films on YouTube in aid of COVID-19 relief, was truly inspiring. It would be great to see similar initiatives in the future.

Alliotts are continuing to work remotely, Zoom, WhatsApp and Skype meetings are the order of the day. Please do get in touch if you have any questions or need our help.

The Future of the Cinema

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It is now 8 weeks since the UK went into Lockdown. Conversations have changed incredibly during this time-from `Why are there no trains at Waterloo this evening?’ to ‘Where can I get hold of some flour?`

For many office-based workers conversations speculate whether the five day commute will become a distant memory. It is fair to say that technology came just in time!

Another game-changer is the future of cinemas. We are already seeing major strategic changes.

‘Trolls World Tour’ was released online in April by Universal Pictures. It has created a promising future from the cinema chains, AMC and Cineworld, but I can see that these and other chains are going to be forced to adapt and/or compromise. More frighteningly some may not survive. This is the fallout whenever an industry is disrupted. The revenue generated ‘Trolls World Tour’ was $95m in its first three weeks, down from the $125m earned from the previous Trolls movie.  But.. and it’s a big but……Universal do not have to share its earnings with the theatres.

Even as the USA comes out of lockdown cinema attendance will be low with social distancing rules. Meanwhile, streaming companies are hungry for content to keep subscriber numbers on an upward trend. This year the Oscars will admit films that have gone straight to streaming (without the prerequisite of a theatrical release). The Academy says this is a one-off, but I wonder!

All is not lost for the cinema. This is the natural habitat for the big tent pole movies, the likes of ‘Fast and Furious’ and ‘The Avengers’. Interestingly the top 10 Movies last year at the box office were remakes or part of a franchise. How different is that to when I started to go to the Cinema? Let’s not go there!

However, cinema needs new ideas and actors need dynamics which will not necessarily be catered by the Hollywood blockbusters, I see these projects particularly being made for streaming

Whatever happens over the next few months, I can’t see how there won’t be a seismic sea change in the industry.

We are all streaming now – the impact of the pandemic on the media sector

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Coronavirus is creating havoc worldwide. The health implications remain uncertain and challenging whilst it is causing havoc for the global economy.

However, consistent with all economic cycles, whilst many businesses fail, for others the cataclysmic conditions offer opportunity. One of the big winners at present in the Media sector are the Streamers. At a time when cinemas are closed and we see the awful plight of Cineworld, caught up with a debt mountain and no business coming through the foyers, the likes of Netflix, Disney and Hulu are booming.

Talk to almost anyone on Zoom, Teams or Houseparty and the conversation will turn to how they have discovered the of the joys of say Money Heist or they are catching up at long last with ‘The Sopranos.’ This TV drama centred on an American-Italian family is, in my opinion, the greatest TV box set, so don’t miss the opportunity to catch it.

Disney is now already up to 50m plus subscribers, well you have to keep the kids happy during the lock down; whilst Netflix is seeing a huge increase in subscriber numbers and let’s face, you do get great value for money.

And now here’s the question. The world no doubt will look different when we come out of this crisis in many many ways, will this apply to cinema and the way we access and view content?

Mickey Mouse is ready to roar

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Disney launches its new strategy service in the UK on 24th March. There is a pre-launch offer of £49.99 for the first year, the equivalent of £4.17 a month.  After then standard charge will be £5.99 a month. This is similar to the basic Netflix fee and compares to £7.99 per month to Amazon Prime. The channel will probably initially appeal to a younger audience.

The Marvel and Star Wars products will feature heavily, whilst there will be a Star Wars spin off- Rogue One. Further Marvel products will include The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, due to be released in August.

There seems little content for an older audience being made or shown initially. Although there is an interesting offbeat series, The World According to Jeff Goldblum where he pontificates on various random everyday objects such as trains, ice cream or coffee.

Knowing Disney’s past successes, the channel will be a winner, especially when shows that are currently licensed to other streamers are made available to Disney.

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