Fears Brexit could end the British film industry boom

While it might not be obvious to everyone watching however, over the last decade a huge number of the world’s biggest films have been made right here in Britain.

From big budget box office behemoth’s like Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, to award-winning spectaculars like Gravity and 1917, the big screen is big business in the UK.

That could all be about to change however, with the lucrative tax breaks that have enticed Hollywood’s biggest names to these shores under threat from the UK’s departure from the EU.

And it’s no small change - films made in the UK accounted for 23 percent of the global box office in 2018, equivalent to £9.4bn. UK independent films accounted for 3 percent of the worldwide box office or £1.3bn.

While our actors often take the plaudits, it is behind the scenes that the UK film talent has an almost unrivalled global reputation. Production studios at Pinewood and Elstree have helped turn out some of the biggest blockbusters of all time, with global filmmakers frequently travelling to the UK for its talented crafts people and film technicians.

Since 2001, UK directors have led 25 of the 200 highest earning films worldwide. UK films and British talent won 25 major film awards in 2018/19 - and with Sir Sam Mendes expected to add to 1917’s incredible success at the Oscars that is a trend that is set to continue.

We’ve always had the talent however, and one of the biggest reasons for the recent growth and success of the industry has been tax reliefs imposed by the British government spanning more than a decade.

Since Gordon Brown’s introduction of film tax-relief incentives in 2006, Britain has been one of the world’s big movie centres, with production spend in the UK doubling since 2009, to a record £1.72bn on film alone in 2016. Add in other industries like television and betting and the figure is £7.9bn.

Producers, actors, and musicians have become increasingly productive. With this comes the positive outlook for careers in all aspects of media production, including video games firms and online gaming sites.

While the industry in the UK has arguably never been healthier, there is concern about the investment in British films.

The amount of money spent making films and high-end television in the UK rose 16% to a record £3.6bn in 2019, the annual figures showed - but most of that was due to Hollywood studios and US TV giants shooting more in Britain.

Spending on British films with no studio backing, by contrast, dropped by 45% to £175m, and the number of homegrown productions with budgets over £500,000 fell from 94 in 2018 to 49 last year.

And that could be a dip seen across the sector after our exit from the EU, which will almost certainly end the free movement of people and goods across the border. That is something which has made it straightforward to bring in both the equipment and the people required to make UK film boom work. In areas such as post-production and visual effects, up to 40% of workers are currently non-British, according to estimates.

As well as the organisation, getting past any restrictions will also mean expense, with costs for visas and permits likely to cancel out any tax incentive.

For now the industry remains on a high - 1917 is scooping up awards, Pinewood and Shepperton studios are still fully booked and Netflix and Amazon continue to see the UK as a place to shoot high-end TV drama.

With the end of the year bringing and end to the transition period however, it might also see the end credits roll on this golden age of UK film production.

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