IS THERE A BRITISH FILM INDUSTRY?

  This response emphasises that skills, talent and business development support are key to ensuring that there is a British film industry, now and in the future, and outlines the role Skillset plays in supporting these critical areas of work. It also describes Skillset's relationship with the Film Council, the NDPB responsible for helping develop and shape a sustainable film industry in the UK.

  Sector Skills Councils are influential employer-led bodies with a strategic responsibility to identify and tackle skills, productivity and employability issues for the sectors they represent, across all areas of the economy and all parts of the UK. Advised by recommendations from the newly established Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) they work under a licence issued by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills and the Lifelong Learning Ministers in the devolved administrations with the support of the relevant sponsoring Government departments. In Skillset's case these are DCMS and its equivalents in the Nations and the DFES and DTI.

  Skillset is wholly owned and managed by the industry and was the first SSC to receive its licence. It has a board of 17 senior figures representing the various sectors within its remit, including the broadcasters, representatives of the Trade Associations and the key Trade Unions as well as Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish interests.

  The Chair is Clive Jones, Chief Executive of Carlton Channels and joint Managing Director of ITV, the Vice Chair is Stewart Till CBE, Chairman and CEO of UIP and also Vice Chair of Film Council. In addition to Stewart Till, the interests of the film sector are also represented by PACT, the Motion Picture Association, BECTU and the Film Council.

  As a result, and of particular relevance to this submission, Skillset provides an effective example of broadcasters, television producers and the film industry working together to the mutual benefit of employers, employees and freelancers. The focused and coherent activity that results from this ensures that the industry inputs effectively and works in partnership with the many different public bodies that are engaged in the supply of funding for post-14 vocational education and training. For example, Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), Learning and Skills Councils (LSCs) and Further and Higher Education (FE/HE).

  The creative industries, to which the audio visual sector belongs, make an important contribution to the economy. Collectively they have a turnover of close to £60 billion a year. The audio visual sector includes broadcast, film, video and interactive media. Traditional sectors of the industry have total estimated revenue of £16.7 billion and exports of £1.6 billion annually, while the estimated aggregate annual gross value of the whole industry is £17.5 billion—3% of UK GDP[1].

  In 2002 film production spending in the UK totalled £566.88 million[2], generated by both indigenous production like 28 Days Later and Bend it Like Beckham and inward investment production, such as the Bond film Die Another Day and Tomb Raider 2.

  The UK film industry plays a unique role in the global film industry not only through developing its indigenous industry and cultural voice throughout the world, but by also servicing foreign productions that provide significant inward investment to the UK, with the highest level of creative and technical talent, studios, locations and facilities.

  The film industry comprises a varied workforce and is made up of a range of different types of organisation. From small or medium production and distribution companies with small numbers of permanent staff to companies that are solely established to develop, finance and produce a single film that can contract large numbers of freelance crew, to the more stable facilities, distribution and exhibition sectors that predominantly employ permanent staff.

  The film production workforce is 90% freelance and is extremely mobile with no real respect for geographical or bureaucratic boundaries. This workforce, and many of the staff working at facilities houses, can also work across low and high budget feature film, high end TV drama and commercials.

  This demanding and often unpredictable working life makes it essential but often difficult to prioritise skills development, either with time or money. Despite this the UK has long been world renowned for high quality crew and creative talent attracting investment and productions from all over the world and establishing the UK as one of the global centres of film production.

  Due to all the factors above added to the cyclical nature of the film industry it has always been problematic to finalise figures of people who work solely in the film industry. Although only 1,500 people were recorded as working in films in production on Census day in 2002[3], a year with low production levels, a further 8,000 are believed to be potentially active when the industry is at its peak, based on extrapolation from official national sources[4]. However, many of these would be counted as working in other sectors such as commercials and TV drama when not active in film.

  The distribution sector consists of a small number of companies, fewer than 20, almost entirely based in London and predominantly made up of permanent staff. This sector wasn't included in the 2002 Skillset Employment Census but will be in 2003. Figures from official national sources indicate employment in the region of 4,500[5].

  The Exhibition sector is one area where there are solid figures, largely due to partnership between the Cinema Exhibitors Association (CEA) and Skillset. This is the largest sector within the film industry by a considerable measure, employing around 16,000 people dispersed throughout the UK.[6]

  In addition to Board representation Skillset seeks to deliver the following functions across the audio visual industries:

—  Producing informed research and gather intelligence about people, business development, skills availability and requirements to underpin planning.

—  Producing plans with the industry and relevant public agencies which provide action strategies for skills, talent and business development to support productivity gain.

—  Developing effective partnerships and communications with all stakeholders to stimulate innovation, promote advocacy for skills talent and business development and champion diversity.

—  Developing and implementing innovative and effective models of good practice in the delivery of careers Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) and skills, talent and business development to improve the competitiveness of the sector and increase diversity.

—  Informing, developing and promoting quality education, training and qualification frameworks which support skills talent and business development.

  Skillset also convenes a representative Film Forum of employers and practitioners and employs sector specific staff which support and advise its film specific activity.

  One of these activities is the management of the Skills Investment Fund (SIF) which was one of the key recommendations of the joint industry/Government Film Policy Review Group (FPRG) in 1997-98.

  The SIF is an industry initiative, managed by Skillset alongside the social partners and monitored by DCMS. The social partners are: PACT, Motion Picture Association, BECTU and Film Council. The SIF addresses skills areas identified by the FPRG, namely: new entrants training across all craft, technical and production grades; health and safety training; training for production accountants and qualifying the workforce. All of this support is targeted at freelancers and new entrants who have no employer to provide training for them.

  The SIF is managed alongside the Freelance Training Fund (FTF) by Skillset's Investment Committee. The Freelance Training Fund is made up of contributions from all the key broadcasters and the independent production sector. This committee comprises senior representatives from all the key broadcasters as well as the MPA, PACT, The Production Guild, BECTU and the Film Council.

  The Skillset Investment Committee is responsible for deciding and managing the allocation of funding and agreeing the specification of schemes or courses run by established training providers. Through this process freelancers and new entrants are supported by an increased number of subsidised places on courses that are specific to industry identified skills development needs.

  Current annual contributions to the FTF are around £1 million and the SIF has raised £1.6 million from over 100 productions since its inception at the end of 1999. Alongside the training providers it supports these Funds have levered match funding through additional public investment for every grant made.

  When addressing skills development priorities identified by individual sectors Skillset is in a unique position to maximise its support by jointly investing both funds into particular schemes or courses that will benefit more than one area of the audio visual industries.

  This coordinated investment is crucial for a workforce where individuals are unlikely to solely work in the film industry and where freelancers frequently move between broadcast and film production to secure regular employment.

  The steadily increasing support for the SIF and Skillset's work in the film industry since 1998 reflects a growing prioritisation by the industry at all levels that an adequate supply of skilled and talented professionals is essential for the industry to maintain its edge and to keep labour costs competitive in a global industry. However, industry support needs to be continually complemented by public investment to ensure its stability and long term benefit to the industry.

  Following the work of the Film Policy Review Group, the DCMS also established the Film Council in 2000 as the strategic agency for developing the film industry and film culture, with a remit for training through a Training Fund of £1 million per year from the National Lottery. The first stage policy of the Training Fund prioritised the following areas that were also identified by the Film Policy Review Group in 1997-98:

—  training for scriptwriters, script editors and development executives; and

—  training for producers, business executives and distributors.

  It has also made funds available to individuals through a training bursary scheme for professionals wishing to attend CPD courses outside the UK and scholarships to students attending post-graduate screenwriting courses.

  Skillset and Film Council work closely together to ensure that their respective funding is complementary and of continued relevance to the skills needs of the industry. Skillset works closely with the Film Council's Regional Screen Agencies throughout England and has established National Skills Panels of employers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which the relevant Screen Agencies actively participate in.

  Skillset welcomes the partnership it has built with the film industry throughout its existence, both through the Film Policy Review Group, managing the SIF and delivering other aspects of its work in the sector. It has also worked closely with the Film Council since its inception in 2000, and recognises that Film Council has already made a positive impact on the UK film industry through stage one of its work.

  Following almost three years of delivery against the original Film Policy Review training priorities, Film Council, Skillset and their partners in the UK nations have conducted a comprehensive Film Skills Research Project, between May-December 2002. "Developing UK Film Talent—a comprehensive skills survey of the UK Film Industry", surveyed and analysed the film industry extensively to ensure that current investment in training is responsive to industry's changing priorities.

  This work directly relates to the second stage policy of the Film Council to build a strong film industry in the UK. In a speech made to the film industry in November 2002, Alan Parker, chair of the Film Council, explained a move away from lottery support for production to strengthen the exhibition, distribution, training and education sectors. This second stage strategy by the Film Council is designed to provide long term structural and lasting change for the UK film industry and one of its key aims is to provide a workforce that can be employed throughout the global industry. Skillset endorses this approach.

  Sir Alan Parker, Chairman of the Film Council commented recently that; "Training is vital to every part of the UK film industry. Whilst the industry unarguably offers some of the best skills and talent in film today, we need to retain and develop these talents if we are to continue to compete successfully in this global industry."

  Whist Film Council Deputy Chair Stewart Till CBE has stated: "We are an industry whose primary asset is its people. Not only must we attract the brightest and the best of the new generation, but we must hold on to them. And the only long term way to do that and maintain our competitive edge is to develop the very highest level creative and technical skills which will allow individuals and the UK film industry as a whole, to prosper and grow."

  Skillset welcomes and endorses these comments, demonstrating, as they do, the vital importance which the industry and Government and its public agencies must place on skills, talent and company development if there is to be a UK film industry in the future.

  Intelligence derived from the Film Skills Group Research Project is now being taken forward by a joint Film Council/Skillset Action Group, chaired by Stewart Till CBE. The Group membership comprises: Eric Fellner, Working Title Films Ltd; Iain Smith, Applecross Productions; Brian Sinclair, Cine Guilds of Great Britain; Colin Brown, Cinesite (UK); Lord David Puttnam, Enigma; Richard Segal, Odeon Cinemas; Michael O'Sullivan, Paramount Pictures/Motion Picture Association and The Production Guild and John McVay, PACT alongside CEO and staff representatives from Film Council and Skillset.

  The Research Project highlighted the following cross cutting themes as key areas for consideration by the Action Group when developing their action plan:

—  communicating and informing—the need to ensure that both would-be and existing workers in the film industry are able to find out about the opportunities available to them to gain or develop specialist film skills;

—  collecting and analysing information—the establishment of a system to provide accurate and up to date intelligence on the film industry's workforce to help plan future skills, talent and company development support;

—  careers advice and guidance at all levels—the need to provide film-specific careers advice, both for new entrants to the industry and those already working within it;

—  pre-entry to the film industry—the need to resolve any mismatch between industry skills needs and education provision in further and higher education, including postgraduate film schools, to achieve the best balance between the commercial, creative, and technical content in film courses;

—  post entry to the film industry—the need to ensure that both new entrants training and continued professional development meets the needs of the industry;

—  business skills for all in the industry, from pre entry onwards—the need to ensure that those just starting out or already working in the industry, often in "micro-businesses" or self-employed, have the necessary business and management skills to make the most of their creative and technical expertise;

—  improving diversity in the workforce—the need to ensure that all sections of the population have access to becoming involved in the film industry, making the most of potential talents available;

—  digital and new technologies—the need to keep pace with new technologies is a major retraining issue affecting all sector of the film industry;

—  nations and regions—the need to retain and sustain creative and technical talent at a regional and national (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) level once it has been trained and developed, to build indigenous production and areas' reputations as prime locations for filming; and

—  investment—the need to improve the film industry's understanding of who does and should take responsibility for investing in skills, talent and company development and of the government's agenda. What Government is prepared to invest in and why and how much investment it is making in the film industry compared to other sectors of UK industry.

  This group intends to report a detailed implementation and delivery plan later in 2003 and Skillset looks forward to working together with Film Council to manage and deliver a coherent plan for addressing skills development issues for the UK film industry.

  When developing the second stage strategy outlined above and acting on the Film Skills Research Project Skillset and Film Council should build on their partnership to make sure that each draws on their areas of expertise and spheres of influence in order to ensure cost effective use of public resource and to maximise benefit for the film industry.

  This is of particular importance following the establishment of the Sector Skills Council network, the role SSCs will play in shaping FE/HE supply and the partnerships that SSCs are expected to build on behalf of their sectors with the other public agencies critical to training and education. In England, for example, these include the Regional Development Agencies, the Learning and Skills Councils, Business Links and Careers services.

  As two strategic bodies it is essential that Film Council and Skillset continue to complement each others work and build a robust and properly funded strategy, that will enable the film industry based in the UK to adapt and update itself as part of an international industry and further develop the UK's worldwide reputation of a highly skilled creative and technical workforce.

June 2003

2   Film Council. Back

3   Skillset's Annual Employment Census. Back

4   Labour Force Survey. Back

5   Annual Business Inquiry. Back

6   Skillset Annual Employment Census. Back