Latest news with #UKfilm
The Independent
06-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Trump could wipe out UK's film industry, experts warn
UK's film industry, a significant contributor to the British economy, faces potential devastation from proposed US tariffs on foreign films. The tariffs, threatened by former President Trump, pose a risk to major film franchises and streaming successes filmed in the UK, impacting both American and British businesses. Ministers are urged to prioritise protecting the UK film industry during UK-US trade talks, balancing it against other trade-related pressures. Industry experts and unions express concerns about the tariffs' potential to cripple the UK film and TV sector, causing job losses and economic disruption. The British Film Industry (BFI) reports substantial growth in film and TV production spending in the UK, highlighting the industry's economic importance and vulnerability to trade disputes.
The Guardian
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
How would Donald Trump's tariffs on foreign films affect the UK industry?
The UK film industry is under threat from Donald Trump's latest musing on how to revive Hollywood. To the dismay of everyone connected with British film production, the US president said he would impose a 100% tariff on all movies 'produced in Foreign Lands'. Here we ask what it means for the industry and the UK economy if he makes good on the threat. By some measures, spending on film production in the UK is small in relation to an economy worth £2.5tn. In 2022, the figure reached £1.97bn, according to industry figures. But its importance at the heart of the creative industries goes much further, as successive governments have recognised. Approximately 16,000 companies were involved in video production, or film video and television and post-production in 2020, according to industry figures, supporting 86,000 jobs, of which 75% worked in movie production and distribution. More broadly, film, television and video sectors contributed £12.6bn to the UK economy in 2019, representing an increase of 35% since 2014. The film and TV industry lies at the heart of the UK's cultural sector, and its identity as a nation. Theatres feed off the work of TV and film, actors who make their money in TV and film work in other venues, and thousands of contractors, from electricians to makeup artists, move between jobs in all areas of the industry. Culture minister Lisa Nandy says the creative industries contributed an estimated £124bn in 2023, accounting for 5.2% of the UK's economic output. A report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) stripped out the IT and software sector and came up with an alternative measure of 4% of output, but while smaller, the sector ranked as the fastest growing in the UK between 2010 and 2022. A franchise such as Sonic the Hedgehog would appear to indicate rude health. The third episode in the saga was released last year after the SAG-AFTRA writers strike delayed the animation work in Surrey and filming with actors in London until 2023. It made $478m at the box office compared with the $403m revenue generated by the second version. And Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is being planned and scheduled for release in the UK on 19 March 2027. Greta Gerwig's Barbie , which was shot almost entirely in a studio in Hertfordshire, contributed an estimated £80m to the UK economy and created nearly 700 jobs. However, a report by the Economics Observatory showed there is a flipside to this story. It said 'disruptor' streaming platforms, the hangover from industrial action by US writers, the spiralling costs of production and a collapse in TV advertising revenues have combined to create a crisis in the sector. Total revenues earned by UK production companies fell by £392m in 2023 and the amount spent on commissioning shrank by more than 10%. Exports have contracted by 1.9% in the past year alone, it said. The creative industries, as defined by the government, decreased by 3.3% between 2022 and 2023 leaving it 1.4% higher than pre-pandemic (2019) and 35.4% higher than in 2010, in real terms. The initial reaction would be to freeze plans for new films. Few companies will be bold enough to press ahead with production on a TV series or feature film destined to be shown in the US, knowing the distributor could be charged double the cost of sourcing a US-made version. As with all Donald Trump's tariffs, it is the uncertainty and not knowing what tariff will eventually apply that kills investment. Domestically funded output will continue, but the prospect is that a large proportion of feature films will be frozen until the picture becomes clearer. Trump has said he will consult Hollywood studios before making a decision. No one knows how long that will take. This is at the heart of the US president's complaint. There are tax breaks available in the UK that allow film-makers to offset costs against tax, boosting profits. Films, high-end TV and video games are eligible for a taxable credit at a rate of 34% while low budget films can claim up to 53% of costs against tax. Many countries operate similar regimes to attract the bigger film companies to their shores. Bectu, the film industry union, says the main attraction is the skills on offer. For instance, ready-made cinematographers, editors and directors emerge from universities such as Falmouth and Leeds Beckett, and they are joined by trainees from the BBC and ITV film units. Then there are the state-of-the art facilities and the breadth of locations, from the historical to the beautiful. The ring of new sound stages around London, adding to the older Pinewood and Shepperton studios, are often fully booked, while England's regions are looking to expand capacity. At the moment, Hartlepool borough council is consulting residents about funding a production village near the existing Northern Studios, using £16.5m of levelling up fund cash. Like the pharmaceuticals industry in Ireland, the UK film industry is largely foreign owned, with the UK acting like an offshore hub. The BCG report found that the share of turnover in the UK creative and entertainment industries held by foreign-owned firms rose from 22% in 2014 to 42% in 2024. It's a huge jump and largely reflects the dominance of the big US streamers such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney and Apple. It could be argued that the trend means the UK has acted much like an emerging market economy, providing the skills and locations and gaining employment, while the revenues are sent back to the US or to low tax havens. Foreign ownership has also dramatically increased the cost of production, pricing out the BBC and ITV from producing high-end drama series. They simply cannot pay the price per episode afforded by Netflix. More than a dozen EU countries have put a tax on streamers to claw back some of the profits, but this is unlikely to be top of the agenda in the UK as it seeks to strike a trade deal with officials in the White House.
The Independent
06-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Overturning Trump film industry tariffs must be UK trade deal priority, Starmer warned
Keir Starmer has been warned that he needs to prioritise saving the UK's billion pound film industry from Donald Trump's latest plans for tariffs which could be 'a knock out blow' for one of the country's major success stories. Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Commons select committee for culture, has said MPs will be putting pressure on ministers over UK-US trade talks to rescue an industry that is worth billions to the British economy. The prime minister is already under pressure from the US to accept lowering food standards to allow chlorinated chicken as well as repeal hate laws in the name of free speech over getting a deal. But with blockbusters including the recent Disney Snow White live action movie, the Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter and James Bond franchises, as well as streaming success stories such as Game of Thrones filmed in the UK, the 100 per cent tariffs threatened by Trump could serious harm the industry. Dame Caroline, a former Tory minister for the film industry, said: 'Last month the Culture, Media and Sport Committee warned against complacency on our status as the Hollywood of Europe. President Trump's announcement has made that warning all too real. 'Making it more difficult to make films in the UK is not in the interest of American businesses. Their investment in facilities and talent in the UK, based on US-owned IP, is showing fantastic returns on both sides of the Atlantic. Ministers must urgently prioritise this as part of the trade negotiations currently underway. 'At the same time, the government's forthcoming Creative Industries Sector Plan needs to meet the challenge we set down of incentivising inward investment while also growing our domestic sector so British film and high-end TV can thrive.' She vowed to use her committee to 'keep up pressure' on ministers and is in touch with culture minister Sir Christopher Bryant on the issue. President Trump announced the tariffs on 'national security' grounds claiming that foreign films pose a danger to the US. But the disaster it poses for the UK economy was underlined with British Film Industry (BFI) figures published in February. BFI's research and statistics unit revealed that film and high-end TV production spend in the UK was £5.6 billion in 2024, a 31 per cent increase from 2023. Of this, £3.4 bn (62 per cent) was spent on high end television and streaming; with feature film production contributing £2.1 billion (38 per cent) of the total spend. A BFI spokesperson said: "The BFI is working closely with the UK government, and industry partners in the UK and US while we understand the detail of the proposal. We want to keep collaboration at the heart of our sectors, so we remain a constructive partner to our friends in the US and internationally.' But unions are warning the tariffs would be a 'knock out blow' to the industry. Head of Bectu union, Philippa Childs, said: 'The UK is a world leader in film and TV production, employing thousands of talented workers, and this is a key growth sector in the government's industrial strategy. 'These tariffs, coming after Covid and the recent slowdown, could deal a knock-out blow to an industry that is only just recovering and will be really worrying news for tens of thousands of skilled freelancers who make films in the UK. 'The government must move swiftly to defend this vital sector, and support the freelancers who power it, as a matter of essential national economic interest.' Meanwhile, Marcus Ryder, chief executive of the The Film and TV charity told The Independent: 'Trump's tariffs could wipe out the UK industry because we are so dependent on foreign direct investment for films being made here. 'It would cut off production houses and strangle the entire ecosystem, including the TV industry. But nobody has any idea what the tariffs could mean. There is a lot of uncertainty.' Mr Ryder said dozens of people had contacted him since Mr Trump's announcement with 'existential dread' about the future of the industry. 'People are worried and their anxiety levels are off the scale,' he said. 'The tariffs are already having an impact before they have even been introduced.'
