The screen sector after Brexit: the value of EU funding and the future of investment

A new report released by the BFI shows that the UK screen sector has received £298.4m in EU funding over the last decade.

Updated:

The report provides an audit of which funding streams have benefited the sector as well as their spread across the country. It demonstrates that 1,766 UK projects based across every nation and region accessed this money between 2007 and 2017.

Authored for BFI by consultancy firm SQW, the report shows that funding streams focused on culture and media have been of highest value to the sector. The Creative Europe programme and its predecessor MEDIA, designed to support cultural, creative and audiovisual projects, invested £120.3m for the UK screen sector. This investment supports European AV works throughout their life-cycle, from development to distribution. It has helped to bring UK films like Paddington 2 and A United Kingdom to EU audiences – a major export market for the UK screen sector. Audiovisual programmes have grown increasingly important over the years, accounting for more than three quarters of all funding flowing into the sector between 2014 and 2017 — up from a third in the period 2007-2013.

Other funding programmes have played a significant role in the UK screen sector too. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which aims to redress economic and social imbalances between regions of the EU, has invested £79.6m in screen-related projects. Research and innovation fund Horizon 2020 and its predecessor FP7 have invested £71.5m in the sector, with further funding coming from sources including education programme Erasmus+ and the European Social Fund (ESF), which supports employment.

The report uses case studies to demonstrate the role ‘structural’ funds like ERDF and ESF have played in developing local infrastructure for the screen industries. Though the amount of funding received through these programmes has declined in recent years, the case studies demonstrate the considerable benefits of this investment. Screen Yorkshire, for example, used £14.2m of ERDF money to deliver the Yorkshire Content Fund between 2012 and 2016. This fund supported 37 film and high-end TV productions across the region and leveraged £143m of funding into the region from other private and public sources. Analysis suggests that the number of screen jobs in the area grew by 88% to 4,900 between 2009 and 2015, in comparison to a national average of 32% growth. Turnover also increased by more than double the national average, growing 247% to £424m. The report notes that the existence of the Yorkshire Content Fund was the only thing differentiating the region from the rest of the UK at this time, suggesting that ERDF investment was at the centre of such strong performance.

Brexit will alter the UK’s ability to access European funds. The BFI welcomes the government’s intention to secure ‘continued participation in programmes that promote science, education and culture’ such as Creative Europe, Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020. This was announced by the Prime Minister during a speech in Florence in September 2017 and reiterated in her Mansion House speech in March 2018. It will be subject to the EU’s agreement during exit negotiations. Should the UK fail to secure continued participation in these schemes, the UK government should develop alternatives that preserve as many of their benefits as possible. This will help maintain a strong funding framework for the UK screen sector.

It is extremely unlikely that structural funds will be available to the UK post-Brexit, however. Government has pledged to develop a ‘UK Shared Prosperity Fund’ to replace this money and reduce inequalities across the UK post-Brexit. It is due to consult with industry on its design.

The creative industries are growing faster than any other part of the UK economy, already accounting for two million jobs and £92bn in gross value added (GVA). They have been identified as a priority sector in the government’s industrial strategy due to their ability to deliver jobs and growth across the country. Given this rate of success, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund offers the perfect opportunity to provide the screen industries with the investment required to support the government’s regional growth agenda to the greatest possible extent. The BFI will continue to gather evidence of the impact EU funding has had on the UK screen sector in order to demonstrate this case as clearly as possible.

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