Film

Keith Vaz
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding is available for foreign film production companies to make films in the United Kingdom.

Margaret Hodge
The UK Government provide film tax relief for qualifying films. Foreign filmmakers working in partnership with British film companies may be eligible for such relief. In order to qualify, their films need either to pass the UK’s cultural test or qualify as an official UK co-production. Films should be intended for theatrical release, meet a minimum UK spend requirement of 25 per cent. and be made by a film production company within the UK corporation tax net.

In addition, the UK Film Council provides national lottery funding for film development and production projects; approximately £19 million per year is available. Foreign filmmakers can access this funding by collaborating with companies that are registered and centrally managed in the UK or in another member state of the European Union or European economic area. The provision to allow companies registered in other states of the European Union or European economic area is to ensure compatibility with the general legality principles of the treaty on European Union (the Maastricht treaty).

Keith Vaz
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many British and foreign film company collaborations have taken place in the last 10 years.

Margaret Hodge
Between 1997 and 2007, 631 films made either with foreign finance or under the arrangements for official co-productions have been produced in the UK.

There may have been additional collaborations outside the framework for official co-productions. The Government do not maintain central records of such collaborations.

Keith Vaz
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many British and foreign film company collaborations have taken place in the last 12 months.

Margaret Hodge
Between January and December 2007, 54 films made either with foreign finance or under the arrangements for official co-productions have been produced in the UK.

There may have been additional collaborations outside the framework for official co-productions. The Government do not maintain central records of such collaborations.

Keith Vaz
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many collaborations there have been between British and Indian film companies in the last 10 years.

Margaret Hodge
We are finalising a treaty to allow for official co-productions between UK and Indian film companies. We are expecting to see up to 10 UK-Indian co-productions made within the first two years. We estimate that this will result in expenditure in the UK of approximately £88 million and in Indian spend of approximately £62 million.