Caroline's Response to UK Film Council Under Threat

by Caroline_Norbury on 27-Jul-10 17:48

It’s been a turbulent week already here at South West Screen – and it’s only Tuesday.

The Government has demanded cuts from all departments to achieve its spending targets so we were fully expecting to see a reduction in funding from the UK Film Council. But the news that the Government may abolish the film Council altogether has come as a surprise.

At the moment, we only have the bare bones of the DCMS statment to go on, so we are awaiting further developments. But, we have taken some comfort from the news that the Government does recognise the important work the Regional Screen Agencies do in meeting the different needs of each region’s  creative media industries, and that it is committed to maintaining Lottery investment in film.

Since we were set up by the Film Council in 2002, South West Screen has invested funds from the UK Film Council to support creative talent and make the world of watching, making and working in film accessible to as many people as possible. Our new feature filmmaking initiative, iFeatures, underlines our commitment to the media community in our region. But we recognise that the creative media industries are constantly growing, evolving and converging and we are changing, too, to keep pace with that.

We know how important the creative industries are to the South West and the UK as a whole, both culturally and economically, and we are confident that we have the talent here in the South West to continue to drive the sector forward. We hope that by continuing to invest in the Creative Industries, with Government support, and by building relationships with new and existing partners, we will be able to continue our work in supporting this exciting and dynamic sector. We hope to get more clarity on the situation with the UK Film Council in the coming days and weeks so will make sure we keep you posted.

Read our official statement here.

Under the Mud Event, Knowle West Media Centre

by Dano on 14-Jul-10 15:26

Want to know how to make a feature film for 50 grand? Last week Sol Papadopoulos, producer of feature film Under the Mud (www.underthemud.co.uk) and the acclaimed Of Time and the City (www.oftimeandthecity.com) came to Knowle West Media Centre for a day of workshops to discuss how to make a community-based feature film, and how the assembled young talent and experienced filmmakers could make one too.

Image: Lenny Wood, Mick Colligan and Sol Papadopoulos

Presented by BAFTA* in partnership with iFeatures and Knowle West Media Centre, Sol and his writing/acting colleagues Lenny Wood and Mick Colligan spoke about how Under the Mud started life as a community project. The film was written by a team of teenage writers from the Interchill community centre in the Speke Garston area of Liverpool, who got together over several months to write the script - culminating in a full-on writer’s retreat. Although funds for filming were very tight (the initial film was shot on just £50K), the audience were clearly impressed by the community spirit that turned the words on the page into a real-life feature film, from the home grown acting and writing talent of Mick and Lenny and friends (who had plenty of eye-popping stories to tell) to the local shopkeepers who gave what they could, and the local housing coop who provided locations.

The film was described Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian as “Maybe the best British film you’ll never see” – and Sol spoke about how true these words threatened to become as his small production company, Hurricane Films, struggled with the difficulties of film distribution, and the complications of DVD production and overwhelmingly expensive marketing.  The film was accepted at scores of film festivals worldwide, where the cast and crew rubbed shoulders with the stars and worked hard to get their voice heard above the movie throng; it’s definitely worth watching the ‘Making Of’ film on the DVD (available on the website) to get a feel for the epic journey these filmmakers have been over the past few years.

In the afternoon the focus turned to the young filmmakers in the group, who told stories from the local Bristol area with an eye to finding inspiration for their own community films. Thanks to Sol, Mick and Lenny’s keen eye for a top tale, there were plenty of ideas flying round the room all afternoon.

*BAFTA holds public events all over the UK, throughout the year. If you'd like to get regular updates on BAFTA events, win free tickets to on-stage interviews and preview screenings, view free webcasts and more, sign up to their monthly e-bulletin http://www.bafta.org/newsletter/subscribe.html and see their Access All Areas info on their website (http://www.bafta.org/access-all-areas/)

Launch of B-Open Ideas Lab

by Verity on 01-Jul-10 13:39

I couldn’t move without bumping into a good idea yesterday at the launch on Media Sandbox’s B-Open ideas lab.

As part of SWS’s Creative Innovation Network for Innovation programme (iNet to its friends,) Media Sandbox threw the doors open to digital developers, creative producers and anyone with an interest in democratising content. The challenge was to engage with some of the newly released datasets from Bristol City Council covering council stats on areas like noise pollution, water quality, transport and education and make them informative, engaging and inspiring to the good people of Bristol.

Ideas ranged from creating a SimCity style interactive map of Bristol to show where council tax is being spent, to mulching down printed versions of the datasets and seeing which statistics grow the best potatoes!

B-Open and its partner strand ‘Pervasive Experiences’ are now open to submissions. See http://www.mediasandbox.co.uk/ for more info.