PRODUCING IN THE UK ROUND TABLE


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Jeremy Thomas


Andrew Eaton


Andrew Eaton, Damian Jones, Stephen Woolley and Robin Gutch


Producers’ round table, Quintessentially Soho at The House of St Barnabas, November 17, 2010 State of independents


Seven leading producers gathered in London in mid-November to discuss the nature of producing independent fi lms in the UK, addressing hot button issues such as co-production, sustainability, synergy with television, targeting local audiences and the key role of Working Title Films


Q Why isn’t the UK a good co-producing country?


Alison Owen Ever since we stepped out of Eurimages and we raised the bar to 25% on the minimum spend for the tax credit, we haven’t been able to offer much to most European co-productions. Jeremy Thomas The tax credit has been designed to help the industrialised fi lm business, which is the studio system. On a budget of $100m, they can take $20m out of the UK. Stephen Woolley I have discovered the studios don’t include the tax credit in their budget fi gures, so they’re keeping the budget numbers down to balance their books. I think that’s outrageous… We all support Harry Potter and James Bond because they give the employment to


■ 24 Screen International December 15, 2010


people here in the UK. They also allow us to make our fi lms because someone who has just come off 20 weeks on Harry Potter can afford to shoot your fi lm for fi ve weeks or six weeks. We like the activity, the problem is how those fi lms are put together in terms of funding. That is kind of scary for us.


Q Are you also suffering as a result of the contraction in the US specialised


marketplace? Jeremy Thomas We are all suffering and anyone who says they’re not suffering has some very lucky situation going on with the US. Because even when you fi nd your deal with the US, they know they can make such a tough deal, because there are no buyers. In the past, you could easily get 50% of your budget out


‘The market [in the US] seems to be picking up but we will never get to the same place as we were


before’ Jeremy Thomas


of America on the right project. I do see some green shoots. The market seems to be picking up but we will never get to the same place as we were before. We will have to reinvent our fi lms and make them even better.


Stephen Woolley Miramax shook the world up. We did 12 movies for them and a lot of those fi lms probably wouldn’t now fi nd a home. Miramax were bullish and everything was terrifi c for a brief moment in the new wave that followed the Weinsteins. Now it’s almost back to ’70s and ’80s time, when the demand for European cinema is at an all-time low. And so when we go in there with our scripts in our hands saying, ‘Can you pre-buy this for X amount?’, they just laugh at you.


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