On 24 August, the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) announced the ‘Film and TV Production Restart Scheme’, which will provide a £500m boost to the UK film and TV industries following disruption caused by COVID-19.
The Scheme was welcomed by Professor Mattias Frey, Head of Film and Media at the School of Arts, who said:
‘The GAD Film and TV Production Restart Scheme will provide a welcome boost to the currently fragile state of audiovisual production. This lifeline will not only help the UK’s world-leading creative production sector to stay afloat, it will also support the many jobs in local economies, from catering to tourism, that depend on the industry.
‘Film and TV production are in an unprecedented crisis. The pandemic has shredded production schedules and financiers have pulled back funding in many instances. Although the sector is a notoriously risky business – as legendary screenwriter William Goldman once said, ‘nobody knows anything’ about what makes one film a flop and another a hit – COVID-19 has increased this risk exponentially. The virus threatens the very quality that audiences admire about their favourite programmes: the ability to see stars and the portrayal of human relationships in close proximity.
‘Enterprising filmmakers in Iceland, Australia and now the United Kingdom have developed serious protocols, including closed-set ‘bubbles’ of cast and crew living amongst themselves in blocked-off hotels, to reduce the risk of transmission during shoots; Jurassic World: Domination has currently resumed filming at Pinewood Studios. But cast and crew are only human, and no protocol is foolproof. In these conditions, the premiums required to insure productions against COVID-19-related stoppages have skyrocketed. The GAD Film and TV Production Restart Scheme aims to prime the pump of the film production supply chain by providing a backstop, should cast or crew illness result in production delays.
‘The length of the pandemic will determine whether these precautions will need to remain in place. A lengthy period could mean that starting production becomes a much dearer commodity and cast and crew live together for months, churning out more content in intense ‘bubble’ periods.’
The University’s Press Office provides the media with expert comments in response to topical news events. Colleagues who would like to learn more about how to contribute their expertise or how the service works should contact the Press Office at pressoffice@kent.ac.uk.