Chancellor celebrates success of growing creative industries in Britain
Chancellor George Osborne visits Ealing Studio and Imaginarium Studio on day BFI publishes film and high-end TV data.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has visited Ealing Studios on the day new British Film Institute (BFI) figures show that investment in UK-based film production in 2013 was over £1billion – an increase of 14% on the previous year.
At the same time, new HMRC data shows that £202million in film tax relief was claimed in 2012 to 2013, supporting culturally British films, including Maleficent, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and Monuments Men.
The BFI figures also show for the first time the success of the government’s new tax reliefs for the creative sectors, revealing that the high-end TV tax relief supported over £233 million of investment in high-end UK-produced TV between April and December 2013.
The new tax relief for animation supported over £42 million investment in television animation programmes over the same period.
Speaking at Ealing Studios George Osborne said:
Today’s figures highlight the valuable cultural and economic contribution that our creative industries make to the UK. These fast growing sectors are creating jobs across the country and each new job means security for another family.
I want to build on this success and showcase the world class talent this country has, encouraging more films and TV programmes to be made here.
While at Ealing Studios and Imaginarium Studios, the Chancellor toured the set of Downton Abbey and saw a demonstration of the motion capture technology being used at Imaginarium.
The creative industries are a growing sector, making a valuable cultural and economic contribution to the UK and employing 1.68 million people in 2012 – accounting for 5.6% of all UK jobs.
The government is committed to supporting further growth in the creative industries and, following the success of the existing film tax relief, introduced a high-end TV and animation TV tax relief in April 2013.
Ensuring the film industry continues to thrive, Autumn Statement 2013 announced a widening of the film tax relief and, most recently, the government also announced that it will consult on proposals to introduce a theatre tax relief.
Ealing Studios is one of the world’s oldest continuously running studios and is responsible for Downton Abbey, the Johnny English franchise and the BAFTA nominated Philomena.
Imaginarium is a special effects studio and has provided performance capture on Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.