‘Make money not art house films’: British PM

British PM David Cameron tells industry to shift focus.

LONDON:

After a period of critical and commercial success, Prime Minister David Cameron has urged the British film industry to focus on making more mainstream movies to allow them to compete with Hollywood.

Six months after the multi-billion-dollar grossing Harry Potter series came to an end, and almost a year after the low-budget film The King’s Speech swept the Oscars, the British film industry is mulling where its future lies. Cameron welcomed the “incredible success” of recent years as he visited the Pinewood Studios, where the James Bond films, Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady and the latest Sherlock Holmes were shot.

The prime minister said the industry currently contributes £4.2 billion a year to the economy and an “incalculable contribution to our culture” — but insisted it should “aim even higher”.

“Our role and that of the BFI (British Film Institute), should be to support the sector in becoming even more dynamic and entrepreneurial, helping UK producers to make commercially successful pictures that rival the quality and impact of the best international productions,” Cameron said.

His comments come ahead of the publication of a government-commissioned review next week, which is expected to recommend that public grants be directed at films and directors who are commercially and not just culturally successful. It will also recommend that the BFI develop an export strategy to look at selling British productions overseas.

Julian Fellowes, a film director and Oscar-winning writer of Gosford Park who sat on the review panel, said British-made films have in the past been too niche, and it was vital that those who fund them learn from recent successes. “Historically, one could argue, a disproportionate amount of public money was directed at a type of art house production,” he said, adding: “We need to make films that people want to see.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2012.