PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Film: North of England (11 September 2023)

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many producers who have secured BFI Film Hub North short film funding in the last five years have been supported by the BFI with (a) development and (b) production funding for a feature film; where each of those producers was based in the North of England; and how many of the directors of those films were based in the North of England.

Asked by:
Mike Kane (Labour)

The Short Film Fund is delivered centrally by the BFI, rather than through its five regional hubs, including Film Hub North. The Short Film Fund supports projects with directors based in England and is run in partnership with BFI NETWORK Talent Executives, who work with filmmakers on the delivery of funded projects. Regional hubs make recommendations to the BFI on which projects should receive support.

Film Hub North supports regional producers in a variety of other ways. This includes the Creative Producer Lab in partnership with Film Hub Midlands, which has supported over 50 producers since 2019, including 34 based in the North of England.

Through a range of measures, Film Hub North has helped to support 73 short film production awards over the period FY 2018/19 - FY 2022/23. The BFI has identified at least nine producers who were supported by Film Hub North and received funding from the BFI NETWORK Short Film Fund, who then applied for and received further support via either the BFI National Lottery development and/or production funds for a feature film. This includes producers based across the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humberside. However, this does not capture the full range of benefits available to producers in the North through the BFI NETWORK. Additionally, Short Film Fund funding recommendations are made based on the location of the director, not the producer, so Northern producers may receive support through other regional hubs.

Moreover, with regards to the BFI supporting producers to transition from short films to feature films: where producers choose to take this step, it can often take longer than five years, for a variety of reasons, with many filmmakers needing more than one funded short film before they gain production funding for a feature film.

Answered by:
Sir John Whittingdale (Conservative)
22 September 2023