NATIONS AND REGIONS
PRODUCTION
Streamers are agnostic. They don’t give a damn that we’re from Scotland or Northern Ireland. HARRY BELL MD OF TERN TV
Hat Trick and Hindsight; Food Unwrapped in Scotland with Ricochet. This reflects industry consolidation, with broadcasters growing their in-house production and just under half of all producer revenues going to those with £70m turnover or more, (pact 2022). “My perception is that, in the majority of cases, what broadcasters are doing is moving existing successful shows out,” says Shaw at Zinc. “What I would quite like to see is some of our regional labels launching those successful shows.” Whether it’s local, national or international content commissions, if the local TV industry is going to build, those shows need to be returners. “When we move a title, we do it by design so that the show can fit within an ecology,” says Pembrey. “And we usually look at a multi- year deal to give the producer certainty to help plan for the future….We work very closely with the producer to make sure the move is meaningful and sustainable.” Not forgetting smaller, local producers. 80% of the BBC small indie fund recipients are based outside of London.
NAVIGATING THE FUNDING SHUFFLE Over the years, broadcaster funding has moved into different locations, sometimes coherently and at other times less so. “I’ve had so many random situations where it’s been suddenly ‘can you make that out of Scotland or can you make that out of Manchester’,” says Shaw. “It tends to be about where their pots of money are, in my experience, rather than a particularly coherent
MasterChef: The Professionalsf, Shine TV, BBC One
REGIONAL AND NATIONAL AGENCIES
The regional screen agencies have had a bumpy history, with nine originating in 2000 under the auspices of the UK Film Council which then officially closed the network in 2011, leaving few still operating. Twelve years later, buoyed by the tax credit system and a recent boom in scripted production, and with an injection of BFI lottery money for training this year, the existing agencies are full steam ahead. They offer support to productions of all genres, including funding, and play a critical part in developing the TV and film workforce. Alongside the regional agencies sit their national counterparts: Creative England, with bases in Salford and London; Screen Scotland; Northern Ireland Screen and in Wales, Ffilm Cymru Wales and Wales Screen. Traditionally they’re associated with providing a knowledge resource to productions and production companies working in the area and they have played a key role in encouraging inward investment, smoothing the path for productions wanting to film on their patch. But their function is much wider than that. The agencies act as a hub, catalysing growth in the area and opening doors. They often receive and distribute local funding.
Over the last few years, as broadcasters have looked to follow up out of London commissioning pledges in all genres, their importance has grown. Channel 4 is relying on its partnership with Northern Ireland Screen, to follow through on commitments to grow the local screen industry, and it’s joined with Screen Scotland to pilot entertainment ideas North of the Border. The BBC sees the agencies as critical partners. In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland it partners for a Factual Fast Track; with Screen Scotland it’s backed a Diversity training scheme on the drama Shetland; and there’s the BBC NI and BBC Factual Hot House scheme to develop the local indie sector. The screen agencies are also gatekeepers to regional funding pots. Screen Yorkshire has a content fund which can add up to £500k to a production budget. Ffilm Cymru Wales is currently administering £1m government funding for 2023. Screen Scotland has a £3m fund. In April this year, the BFI announced that it would fund skills development through six regional clusters, initially rolling out £8m of National Lottery funding.
Summer 2023
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