Film legends voice anger over plans to axe UK Film Council

Film legends voice anger over plans to axe UK Film Council

05 August, 2010
by: Spoonfed Theatre Team

"The UKFC doesn't waste money, it makes it. For every pound it invests, the country gets £5 back" say stars including Bill Nighy and James McAvoy

Stars of the UK film industry angered at the axing of the UK Film Council have hit out at the decision by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt in a letter to The Daily Telegraph. More than 50 signatories including Bill Nighy, Timothy Spall, Emily Blunt, Pete Postlethwaite, and James McAvoy support the letter which states:

“Everyone, including those in the film industry, knows that times are tough. But the UKFC doesn’t waste money, it makes it. Thanks to its efforts, our film industry – worth £4.5billion a year – has rarely been stronger.”

Amidst the onslaught of Hollywood blockbusters it's easy to forget that since the creation of the UKFC in 2000, British films have accounted for 23% of box office takings. The letter also mentions that with the commercial success of films like Gosford Park and Bend It Like Beckham, the UKFC is worth £4.5 billion to the UK.

Hunt announced the closure of the UK Film Council in July explaining he wanted to establish "a direct and less bureaucratic relationship with the British Film Institute". He insisted that Government and Lottery support for film would continue but gave no details.

The letter presents a compelling a case for retaining the council. It states: "We all owe any success we have had in our acting careers, to varying degrees, to films supported by the UK Film Council... the UKFC doesn't waste money, it makes it. For every pound it invests, the country gets £5 back."

A particularly precise bashing of the UK film industry was recently put to Spoonfed by the late, legendary Sebastian Horsley who said: "You go to those horrible Mike Leigh films where you can smell their genitals, and urrrgh.....you leave the cinema feeling worse than when you went in. I mean what's the point in that? You might as well just look in the mirror. They're always whining that there's no film industry here. There's no film industry because you're shit at doing it. If you were good at doing it there'd be an industry. Haven't you noticed that, you morons?”

Image: In the Loop - created with the support of the UK Film Council

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Spoonfed Theatre Team