BBC accused of failing British film industry

The BBC is failing the British film industry, it was claimed today.

The corporation is guilty of drastic under-investment in home-grown talent and British films are being left out of the schedules in favour of Hollywood blockbusters, according to representatives of the UK film industry.

The BBC invested less than £10m (€14.7m) in new British films last year – a tiny fraction of its £2bn (€3bn)annual turnover and less than 0.4 per cent of the licence fee.

“If the BBC does not increase the level of investment, we will never be a significant player in the film industry, “said John Woodward, chief executive of the UK Film Council, in a submission to the Commons media select committee on charter renewal.

“The BBC is offering a token amount of money to play with.

“The current level of BBC investment in new British films is inadequate for a public service broadcaster of the scale of the BBC.

“The BBC should increase both the number of films it supports and the level of its investment in those films.”

The corporation “could and should be doing much more given its power and centrality as the leading public service institution”, he said.

In recent years the BBC has backed such acclaimed films as Mrs Brown, Dirty Pretty Things and Sylvia.

But it remains more interested in acquiring Hollywood blockbusters than British films, according to research commissioned by Pact, the trade body for independent producers.

Of its acquisitions budget last year, 84% was spent on US films.

While 912 films were shown on BBC1 and BBC2, only 180 were British and 66% of those were made before 1980.

Pact chief executive John McVay said: “The BBC says it would love to get British films on BBC1 at nine o’clock on a Saturday night but there aren’t enough good British films. Billy Elliot belies that.

“But if you are not investing in British talent, how are you going to get talent through to make the films?.”

The UK Film Council agreed that UK films have a “marginal presence” in the schedules.

The Council is proposing a three-point plan for the BBC to help the UK film industry compete successfully.

It urges the BBC to invest in talent and ideas; showcase the full range of UK and international cinema; and to use its “unrivalled media presence” to encourage movie-going in the UK.

The Council also called on the BBC to become more transparent about the total amount of money committed to film-related activities.