United Kingdom: Film Funding, the “Corporate Welfare System” and Its Discontents

Newsinger, Jack; Presence, Steve

Abstract

The central argument of the chapter is that despite the now well-established and relatively substantial public funding systems for film production that exist in the UK, there is a lack of democratic scrutiny and accountability. Considerable public funds are directed through various mechanisms towards transnational corporate interests and their national partners: a corporate welfare system for the film industry. This system has had considerable success on its own terms, leveraging massive investment into UK film infrastructure and providing a blueprint for the economic development of other creative industries such as High End TV and Video Games. However, this particular situation means that, despite considerable public interest in a national film industry, key policy objectives about labour such as gender equality, class mobility, ethnic diversity, disability and precarity are unlikely to ever be addressed.

• Acceptance Date: Jan 18, 2016
• Publication Date: 2018
• Deposit Date: Jan 18, 2018
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 447-462
• Series Title: Media Business and Innovation
• Series ISSN: 2523-319X
• Edition: 1
• Book Title: Handbook of State Aid for Film: Finance, Industries and Regulation
• ISBN: 9783319717142
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71716-6
• Keywords: UK, film industry, funding, production, equality, diversity
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/915128
• Publisher URL: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319717142
• Contract Date: Jan 18, 2018