Loss of UK Film Council a good thing?

So, the new government have scrapped the UK Film Council, along with several other departmental closures and mergers relating to the arts. Overall the consensus is that this is bad news, but could this be the jab in the arm that the British film industry needs?

At first glance the news gives the impression that what was a profitable organisation is now dead and buried leaving no hope for anyone looking to seek funding in the future for their independent film. This doesn’t seem to be the case though. There is talk that the lottery funding of £26 million a year in British film will actually rise to £32 million next year so the logical question is where will this money be going to?

And it’s that which seems to be what all the uproar is about. Not at the the loss of the UKFC (It seems that very few film makers had a good word to say about them) but the lack of announcement relating to what happens now.

So although there is still confusion over exactly what will be happening and when, (It is thought that the BFI will take over many of the duties of the UKFC) it seems that all is not lost for the future of independent films and aspiring film makers.

The UKFC will still be operating until April 2011 so at least all the films in the pipeline should go ahead as planned and not leave a host of film makers high and dry.

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