With the announcement of a sudden culling of the UK Film Council last year, confusion over what would replace it, combined with the dark cloud of economic malevolence the news this morning that Pinewood Shepperton will be supporting smaller budget British films, with an investment of up to 20% per film as well as offering the studio facilities and production assistance of the studios is welcome indeed.
The announcement was made earlier today that the group intend to focus on productions with budgets of around £2m, chosen by industry partners on behalf of Pinewood Shepperton, with an expectation that they will invest in four productions each year. Ivan Dunleavy, Chief Executive of the group said,
I am delighted that Pinewood is returning, on a small scale, to its heritage in British film production. Although our financial commitment to each film will be relatively small, we can, in addition, offer British films access to the world class facilities and production expertise at Pinewood and Shepperton Studios which would normally be beyond their budget.
You can head on over to the Pinewood Group’s site for the full press release* and bask in this ray of much needed sunshine.
*Warning: May contain Jeremy Hunt.
