UK Film Council

UK Film Council

Logo of the UK Film Council
Abbreviation	UKFC
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Chief Executive	John Woodward
Website	www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk

The UK Film Council (UKFC) was a non-departmental public body set up in 2000 to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee, owned by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and governed by a board of 15 directors. It was funded from various sources including the National Lottery. John Woodward was the Chief Executive Officer of the UKFC. As at 30 June 2008, the company had 90 full-time members of staff. It distributed more than £160m of lottery money to over 900 films.Lord Puttnam described the Council as "a layer of strategic glue that's helped bind the many parts of our disparate industry together."

On 26 July 2010, the government announced that the council would be abolished; Although one of the parties elected into that government had, for some months, promised a bonfire of the Quangos, Woodward said that the decision had been taken with "no notice and no consultation". UKFC closed on 31 March 2011, with many of its functions passing to the British Film Institute. This had happened after 2009 when the UKFC had persuaded the government of the merits of creating a "single public body for film" - in which the UKFC proposed that the British Film Institute should be abolished while the UKFC would take over all its assets and funding. However the legal protections offered to English charities like the BFI, meant that its proposals were dismissed in a QC's report as being legally impossible.

In its own words, the aim of the UKFC was:

"To stimulate a competitive, successful and vibrant UK film industry and culture, and to promote the widest possible enjoyment and understanding of cinema throughout the nations and regions of the UK. The UKFC had a mandate that spans cultural, social and economic priorities."

This represented a significant change from the UKFC's objectives when it was first established, when it stated its purpose was to create a "sustainable UK film industry".

The UKFC administered and funded a range of different activities, including:

The Development Fund aimed to broaden the quality, range and ambition of film projects being developed in the UK. With £12 million of Lottery funding to invest over three years, the fund aimed to build a talent-driven home for writers, directors and producers. It helped filmmakers of all experience levels develop their ideas and screenplays into viable feature films, be they fiction, documentary or animation, up until the moment they were ready to get production finance. There were two funding programmes, one for first-time feature filmmakers and one for established filmmakers. The First Feature Film Development Programme aimed to identify and support emerging filmmakers (e.g. screenwriters, writer/directors and writer, director, producer teams) who had not made a feature film or who had not yet had a feature film released theatrically or broadcast on UK television. Awards were made up to £25,000. The fund also offered Signature Awards to help further encourage ambitious and original filmmakers and projects.