British film production drops

The number of British films produced in the UK fell by 40 per cent last year, according to Screen Daily.

17:17 19 January 2005

The number of British films produced in the UK fell by 40 per cent last year, according to Screen Daily.

The trade weekly reports that 27 British films were made here last year compared to 45 in 2003, while joint US-UK productions in Britain fell from 102 in 2003 to 81 in 2004.

Screen Daily attributes the change to a drop in funding from traditional sources such as the National Lottery.

Many film investors had also taken advantage of tax breaks to fund films in Britain but pulled out when the government took action to close the loophole last year.

One such casualty was period drama Tulip Fever, which was due to star Jude Law and Keira Knightley. It has been postponed indefinitely.

Meanwhile shooting on The Libertine, starring Johnny Depp, has moved to the Isle of Man.

"There isn't anything coming in to replace [the funds]," said the film's executive producer, Mark Samuelson. "We are in a hiatus."

However, big budget films such as Harry Potter continued to be shot in Britain.

And the UK Film Council explained that the big drop in the number of films being made in Britain was partly caused by the fact that 2003 was such a bumper year for production.

"The drop was expected as there was no way 2003's record level of production could be bettered," a council spokesperson told the BBC, citing the Bridget Jones sequel, Wimbledon and Thunderbirds as three products of that year.

"The reduction in indigenous film production in 2004 was due to a variety of factors, including the continuing long term trend towards co-production of films in more than one country and changes to financing arrangements."

He warned that it was "too early" to say if the downward trend was here to stay.