Greater Birmingham Film Strategy Review
Monday 20th July, Mockingbird Theatre and Bar.
Through the winter, consultants from BOP were tasked by the BFI and Birmingham Creative City Partnership to investigate the current situation of the film industry in Birmingham and the wider region – the new West Midlands Combined Authorities – and to come up with a strategy and a plan to capitalise on the opportunities available.
As Eddie Berg, who chaired the Film Strategy Board, reported to an audience at the Mockingbird Theatre on Monday evening, 20 July, during our Greater Birmingham Film Strategy Review event,
“There are fantastic opportunities here in Birmingham.”
At the time of Eddie’s talk, the report itself had not been officially released; however Eddie was able to talk us through its findings and recommendations. The full detailed plan is scheduled for launch this autumn.
Updated News about the report...
We now have a copy of the report which we have embedded here for you to read.
The Executive Summary of the Report is now available and can be seen via this link
Before going into the report, Eddie thought it useful to give us the bigger picture – how the film industry impacts on the UK. The creative industries in total generate £7 billion in the UK economy and the film industry represents 10% of that figure. Exports are doing very well. Drilling down a bit, though, it is recognised that the release of UK independent films with budgets of £500,000 or less are down by two thirds since 2010 and cinema attendance has flatlined in the past 10 years. There are a huge amount of film releases in the UK – 712 films in 2014 – 16 a week – twice as many as 10 years ago. Only 6% of the screens in the UK show indie films and the explosion of VOD (video on demand) channels has fragmented audiences. Eddie also highlighted that research by Creative Skillset shows that diversity in the industry remains a problem.
And a major conclusion of the report is that
“Greater Birmingham is failing to achieve its potential.”
Why is the city and region failing to achieve its cultural and economic potential?
The reasons given were
- Very limited production investment
- No inward investment strategy
- Production support and location services are not nationally networked
- There are limited funds coming from BFI and Creative England – limited investment but also limited demand for them
- Film is at the margin of culture and arts in the city and region
- There is no strategic coordination
- And the key knock on effect from this is the lack of skills development in the region. Eddie went on to say that there is no one single thing that will transform Birmingham into a film metropolis – all the elements need to be looked at together
The Five Strategic Aims the report addresses:
- Audience Development
- Talent development
- Infrastructure, services and business
- Creative focus
- Strategic coordination
Audience development
Eddie spoke largely of inspiring and exciting young people to get involved with cinema. (Over 45s outnumber younger viewers.) Some of the actions suggested were to establish a BFI Audience Hub in the West Midlands – a model that has worked successfully in other regions; develop a pop up screening network; and align the development of young audiences with the Into Film project .
Talent development
The consultation concluded that the talent pipeline is not joined up – there is no alignment between opportunities and resources. The report needs to be able to answer how to coordinate a better, more imaginative talent development model. The BFI and UKFC report that since 2001, only 40 companies in the region have applied to their funding programmes. There has been a lack of both volume and quality in applications. The aim therefore is to raise the ambitions, scope and opportunities for the region’s filmmakers and to help filmmakers reach screens and platforms.
Infrastructure, services and business
Inward investment is very low compared to other UK regions. Studio facilities are inadequate. Crew base is small and has gaps. Film Birmingham has no marketing resources. The aim is to develop both the soft and hard infrastructures for film – establish a Development Fund to attract partners and to connect the region to national resources.
Creative Focus
Establish a point of focus for film in Digbeth. Align audience and industry; establish a training centre. There is currently no sense of connectivity.
Strategic Co-ordination
There is a need for a strong and focused leadership who are connected to national agencies (Creative England, Creative Skillset, BFI and Into Film) and can lead the region to cultural and economic success in film. The aim is to create a new model of strategic co-ordination – a strategy led by the BCCP but the plan to be delivered and co-ordinated by partners West Midlands wide. How do we achieve this? A plan that encompasses the local authorities coming together – the West Midlands Combined Authorities, with Birmingham at the heart of a West Midlands Film model.
Recent developments
Among things happening or highlighted by Eddie were
• Rural Media and Maverick with contract to deliver 80 short films for Random Acts network.
• Coventry’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2021 (and in with a good chance)
• Warwick University offered very first programme in film studies – 1973.
Next Steps
Eddie cautioned us that “It’s a long game and needs to be based on the strengths of the region.” The steps he outlined were
• Finalise agreements with national funders
• Consultations with regional partners
• Consultation with other potential key investors
• Establish leadership mechanisms
• Turn report and recommendations into a plan – to be launched in autumn 2015.
Q&A
The evening ended with questions from the audience and responses from Eddie:
What can we do to make all this happen?
Take the recommendations and explore in more structural way. Consult with national and regional partners. The Producers’ Forum will be part of that consultation.
Is there a chief executive for the plan?
It’s important that Anita Bhalla is clear about mechanisms in place. It does need ownership and drive and a coordinating figure.
What is the definition of the West Midlands?
All the areas that are coming together under the WMCA (West Midlands Combined Authorities). Birmingham is at the heart of the region; if Birmingham is successful, the region will be successful.
The universities are in a competitive market now; won’t it be difficult to get them to work together around the talent development agenda?
There are innovation, hatchery models.
We were the centre of excellence and lost it. We must have a central focal point – get a national broadcaster back in the city. Couldn’t be a better moment to negotiate a better deal with the BBC.
What is the budget for marketing?
The marketing of Birmingham and the region is critical. If we want to grow inward investment, we need better coordination and to be tapped into national organisations. About marketing individual films – that’s a huge challenge. Creative England’s iFeatures programme supports low budget films, tax credits are useful.
When you say, the plan will be launched in a few months’ time, what does that mean?
We’ll turn the sets of aims into specific actions with a timetable, budgets and responsibilities assigned.
Are all genres of film included in this report?
We’re using film in its broadest sense – moving images.
Read the executive summary of the report here.
[1] Chaired by Anita Bhalla OBE, the partnership spans the public, private and academic spheres and is led by an executive group comprising Birmingham City Council, The BBC, Birmingham City University, Maverick TV and The Birmingham Arts Partnership. [1] www.intofilm.org
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