The independent producer and the state: Simon Relph, government policy and the British film industry, 1980-2005

Spicer, Andrew H.

Abstract

This chapter is the first comprehensive assessment of the career and importance of Simon Relph, who was an independent film producer, the Managing Director of British Screen (1985-90) which was one of the two main funders and commissioners (alongside Channel 4) of British cinema from 1985 onwards, and the author of the influential Relph Report about low budget filmmaking. It provides an overview of the changing relationship between the government and the film producer and of the importance of the state's role in helping to stimulate and sustain an indigenous film industry in a marketplace dominated by the American film industry.

Citation

Spicer, A. H. (2014). The independent producer and the state: Simon Relph, government policy and the British film industry, 1980-2005. In C. Meir, A. H. Spicer, & A. McKenna (Eds.), Beyond the Bottom Line: The Producer in Film and Television Studies, (65-93). New York and London: Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781501300202.ch-004

• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2014
• Journal: Beyond the Bottom Line: The Producer in Film and Television Studies
• Print ISSN: 9781441172365
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 65-93
• Book Title: Beyond the Bottom Line: The Producer in Film and Television Studies
• ISBN: 9781441162885
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781501300202.ch-004
• Keywords: Relph, producer, British film industry
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/815514
• Publisher URL: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beyond-the-bottom-line-9781441162885/