UK Film Council Future Clear on Nov 29th | The Irish Film & Television Network

The UK department of Culture, Media and Sport has confirmed that Minister Vaizey will discuss the government’s decided course of action as to the role of the UK Film Council at 10 am in London after which he will take part in a Q&A session with assembled media industry members.

The UK Film Council is the Government backed lead agency for film in the UK that looks to ensure that the economic, cultural and educational aspects of film are effectively represented in Britain and abroad. The group has aided with the production of films such as ‘Nowhere Boy’; ‘Bright Star’; ‘Fish Tank’; ‘Man on Wire’; ‘St. Trinian’s’ and the Irish co-productions ‘Becoming Jane’ and ‘The Wind that Shakes the Barley’ amongst many others.

On July 27th former UK Film Council CEO, John Woodward CEO announced that the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has informed him of its intention to abolish the UK Film Council. The decision coming in the wake of Britain’s Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt proposing the closure of the group. John Woodward stepped down from the position of CEO of the group on September 13th and was replaced by Tim Cagney.

The UK Film Council today, November 24th updated their funding database which outlines plans to help finance dozens of projects including £150,000 to Dreams of a Life Ltd. for ‘Dreams of a Life’; £150,000 for iFeatures for ‘Eight Minutes Idle’; £60,000 for producer Nick Goldsmith’s project, ‘Dud, Hammer and Tongs’ and £227,273 completion funding for Pawel Pawlikowski’s ‘The Woman in the Fifth Haut et Long’.

The group has aided with the production of films such as ‘Nowhere Boy’; ‘Bright Star’; ‘Fish Tank’; ‘Man on Wire’; ‘St. Trinian’s’ and the Irish co-productions ‘Becoming Jane’ and ‘The Wind that Shakes the Barley’ amongst many others. The group’s recent funding decisions will help finance Irish co-production, ‘Grabbers’ from the UK ‘s Forward Films and Dublin’s Samson Films which received £450,000 production funding from the UK Film Council in September’s round of funding decisions.

The UK Film Council has declined to comment as to Minister Vaizey’s upcoming speech, preferring to wait until after the event. For a full list of the UK Film Council’s latest funding decisions visit http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/awards/main-sect.

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