07/12/2005

UK co-producers will soon have to submit to the point system already in place in many other European countries –including France- for their film to qualify as British and therefore be able to access the new attractive UK tax incentives (see today’s other news story).

The first ever ‘cultural test for British films’ was detailed on Monday by the UK Creative Industries Minister, James Purnell. Whereas the current British film definition is based only on spend -at least 70% of a film’s production budget has to be spent on film production activity carried out in the UK- the new system will take into account three elements: the cultural hub (ie where the production is based) the cultural practitioners (if the cast, crew and /or producers come from the European Economic Area) and the cultural content (ie the ‘Britishness’ of the film and/or characters).
"Films which score at least 50% of the total points available will be certified as British", explained James Purnell. "Filmmakers stand to benefit from this increased flexibility. And the whole production sector will benefit from increased incentives to use British content and facilities".
The UK Minister also pointed out that "one thing the cultural test is not, is an attempt to dictate the content or subject matter of British films. Mrs Henderson Presents or Pride And Prejudice could qualify, but so too could Batman Begins based in Gotham City but filmed in the UK, employing and using British facilities".

Commenting on the new cultural test, John Woodward CEO of the UK Film Council said: "this test will be simple, clear and effective for filmmakers to use. It will mean that taxpayers’ money will be spent on films delivering a cultural and economic benefit to the UK".

The final framework for the ‘cultural test’ was set after a 12 weeks consultation period with the UK film industry. Now that it is clear (see www.culture.gov.uk for details), guidelines will soon be drafted, and comments are expected from the European Commission.