Keeping it real: Towards a documentary film policy for the UK

Presence, Steve; Spicer, Andrew; Quigley, Alice; Green, Elizabeth

Abstract

This report presents the findings of a survey of UK feature documentary producers and directors that was conducted in the summer of 2019 under the auspices of the ‘UK Feature Docs’ research project, an AHRC-funded study of the UK’s feature-length documentary film sector.

The report is comprised of 9 sections. This introduction presents the key findings, a summary of our recommendations (outlined in full in section 9), information about the research design and methodology, as well as a timeline of some key dates in the evolution of the feature docs sector in the UK. Section 2 focuses on our findings with regards to diversity and inclusion across age, class, ability, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and caring responsibilities. Section 3, ‘Geography and place’, presents data on the geographical location of survey respondents alongside qualitative data on their views about working in the feature docs sector in London and in the nations and regions. Section 4 explores respondents’ various roles in the industry – though the survey was targeted explicitly at producers and directors, many respondents perform multiple roles on their projects. We also explore correlations between those roles and respondents’ industry experience, education, income, gender and class.

Section 5 focuses on budgets and financing. It explores the different budget bands at which people in the feature docs sector are working, their sources of finance, the frequency of personal investment in the sector as well as respondents’ thoughts on accessing the UK Film Tax Relief for feature doc projects. Sections 6 and 7 explore respondents’ views on training needs and policy interventions respectively, while section 8 presents an overview of respondents’ qualitative responses organised into key themes addressing the sector overall. Finally, section 9, ‘Recommendations and next steps’, presents our suggested recommendations in full and outlines plans for the consultation period following the publication of this report.

Citation

Presence, S., Spicer, A., Quigley, A., & Green, E. (2020). Keeping it real: Towards a documentary film policy for the UK. Bristol: AHRC

• Report Type: Research Report
• Acceptance Date: Jun 1, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jun 1, 2022
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Mar 21, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 22, 2022
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.14182.91208
• Keywords: Documentary; Policy: Industry; Culture; Production; Survey; Director; Producer
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9098799
• Additional Information: ISBN: 9781860435706