Production is humming in the United Kigdom, where filmmakers are benefitting from state-of-the-art equipment houses, studios and post facilities.
It is fortunate for the U.K. film industry that Britain is located in a pivotal geographic position. In addition to its indigenous film production, the country is seen as an offshore base for American productions and co-productions, for European co-productions and for servicing international productions and shoots. This year, several major features and a steady stream of relatively low-budget movies as well as visual effects, postproduction and animation work have kept the British film industry busy. There has also been some consolidation within the industry, and the government has launched a number of new initiatives to facilitate film production.
As an indication of current American activity in the country, 102 Dalmatians has been filming at Shepperton, Tomb Raider and Proof of Life are in production at Pinewood, and the film version of Harry Potter is in preparation at Leavesden. Many of the animators assembled by Bristol-based Aardman Animations for Chicken Run are now engaged on a second DreamWorks co-production at Aardman. BBC Films and Film Four (the film-production arm of Channel Four Television) have produced or co-produced a steady number of films for theatrical release as well as TV, including Maybe Baby, Pandaemonium and Five Seconds to Spare. Greenpoint has co-produced a number of features with the French company Canal Plus, among them Intimacy.
But while there is optimism about the present level of production, the British film industry has always been susceptible to the vagaries of demand. The realm offers an excellent pool of technical and artistic talent, as well as first-class production facilities, but the industry must maintain a consistent level of production to ensure stability and resilience. In recognition of that need, the British government this year established a new strategic organization, the Film Council, to promote a more sustainable film industry in the U.K. The Film Council, with an annual budget of £55 million (or $82 million), has now taken responsibility for the British Film Commission (promoting inward investment), the British Film Institute’s Production Department (film-production investment) and British Screen Finance (a publicly supported film-investment company that will be absorbed by the Film Council).
The Film Council is chaired by producer/director Alan Parker, whose credits include Angela’s Ashes, Evita and The Commitments. Introducing the new organization last spring, he noted, "Our intention is to use public money to make better, more popular and more profitable films in real partnership with the private sector, which drives our industry and largely creates our film culture. [The] longer-term undertaking [is] aimed at generating change within the industry at a structural level to create a truly durable business sector."
Parker added that the British industry’s strong links to both Europe and America create an extraordinary opportunity for substantial growth. The Film Council will support screenplay development, production, industry training, new cinema, the exploitation of the Internet, a statistical service and an expansion of the British Film Office in Los Angeles.
In another strategic move, the well-established Guild of Production Executives and the Guild of Production Accountants and Financial Administrators joined forces recently and formed a single organization, the Production Guild, which is based at Pinewood. The new organization should be able to present production executives and accounting personnel under one professional umbrella, and it will be able to negotiate on behalf of its members and the industry as a whole.
Home-based production, including films for TV and a healthy commercials market, ensure a sound base for equipment-rental houses, which have continued to grow by acquisition or demand. Panavision, which acquired Samuelson Film Service three years ago, has completed the integration of the company and grouped every operation under one roof in Greenford. Its building, a large, carefully planned conversion on an industrial site, incorporates camera rental facilities, maintenance and engineering services, grip equipment, large test rooms, a 50-seat screening room and a negative-processing facility for on-the-spot development of test rushes. The ethos of service to cinematographers, built up so assiduously by Panavision and Samuelson Film Service over the years, should be well served by their consolidation. Early last summer, the company’s equipment was rented to a string of productions, including Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Enigma, Mummy 2 and Proof of Life.
Munich-based Arriflex has been a major camera competitor in the U.K. since it first set up Arri GB close to Heathrow at Heston. It offers camera rental through Arri Media and camera, Leitz lenses and lighting sales through Arri Lighting. The new 16mm Arriflex 16 SR-3 Advanced Camera has proven quite popular, particularly for TV dramas, a great many of which are still shot on film.
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