The British Screen Forum has published a manifesto calling on the new Government to “develop Screen Sector policy based on a clear understanding of the high cost, high risk, hit-dependent nature of the industry, with carefully targeted interventions that ensure the Screen Sector can continue to make its significant contribution to the growth of the UK economy”.

The manifesto covers six broad areas. First, it argues that the Government should take measures to ensure that the UK remains an attractive market for international investment. This includes making sure that expenditure credits for production remain internationally competitive, delivering on full fibre coverage so as to “plan for a digital infrastructure that supports the next generation of screen services”, and ensuring “continued good access to high quality studio space and virtual production facilities through a supportive planning and investment policy framework”.

Second, the manifesto calls on the Government to improve access to finance, particularly for independent film, cinema, and early-stage projects. Among its recommendations in this area are: the continuation – and improvement – of grants for development, production and distribution; a review of EIS and SEIS “to recognise the very specific financial models of the screen sector”; the introduction of a new “targeted expenditure credit for distributing and marketing costs that would work in tandem with the new Independent Film Tax Credit”; considering a temporary 0% VAT rate on cinema tickets to support the recovery of cinema post-Covid; and the expansion of expenditure credit to include creative R&D as an eligible cost.

The third area concerns the protection of intellectual property. The manifesto notes that the screen sector “relies on its ability to extract value from the rights it owns in the content it creates. An incoming Government should take care to maintain the delicate balance of a healthy intellectual property regime which stimulates the market in content and protects the rights of content creators”. To achieve this, it urges the Government to address concerns about AI by ensuring that those who use content protected by copyright to develop AI models comply with relevant IP laws. It also calls for the preservation of “the current definition of European Works which includes UK works” and to “rule out any move to international exhaustion of IP rights for packaged home entertainment”.

Fourth, there are calls to recognise the specific needs of the industry when it comes to the recruitment, retention, and continued professional development of its workforce. It recommends that there is a review into how the Apprenticeship Levy applies to the screen sector, and that the Government aids industry efforts to support those who want to work in the industry as well as those already part of it.

Fifth, the manifesto states that the Government should “enhance international cooperation agreements”. This includes, for example, preserving the data adequacy position in the EU, seeking new co-production treaties with “key target countries, defined with respect to criteria such as growth potential, size of the audio-visual market and cultural, historic and linguistic affinity with the UK”, and considering “reciprocal ‘cultural passport’ schemes for companies engaged in the creation of audio-visual content within and outside the UK”.

Finally, the British Screen Forum states that the screen sector “has recognised its potential to impact the environment and is focused on creating a more sustainable approach to content production”. It asks that the Government supports its ambitions “to minimise the impact of the industry in a way which does not have a negative effect on content creation”.

To read the manifesto in full, click here.