EU reveals €12m slate funding, four UK companies awarded

The latest results from Creative Europe’s Slate Funding scheme have been published with 69 production companies receiving more than €12m towards film and TV development in 2017.

Overall, 163 applications were submitted from 24 countries.

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Four UK companies secured funding: Aardman Animations, Number 9 Films, Lupus Films and Spring Films.

Carol and Colette producers Number 9 were among fifteen companies to receive a maximum grant of €210,000. Other companies to receive the same amount included Germany’s Senator, Denmark’s Zentropa and Italy’s Indigo Film.

As the UK heads towards Brexit, UK companies are seeking more money from the EU. UK submissions for funding increased from 15 last year to 22 this year.

The UK submitted the second-most number of applications behind France’s 33 and also asked for the second-highest amount of total funding (€3.6m) but its grant success rate was the lowest of all countries by both amount received (20% of amount applied for) and applications supported (4/22).

UK benefit

The results coincide with a Creative Europe report - launched today at a Creative Europe Desk UK Forum in east London - on the value of its funding to UK film and TV companies between 2014-16.

The EU funding programme has supported 283 UK cultural and creative organisations and audiovisual companies in that period as well as the distribution of 115 UK films in other European countries, with grants totalling €57m.

Grants totalling €11.7m were awarded to 55 UK film, TV and games companies, 50 UK cinemas in the Europa Cinemas network and distribution of 45 UK films elsewhere in Europe.

A total of 45 UK films including I, Daniel Blake, A United Kingdom and Suffragette, had their distribution supported in other European countries with €5.8m of investment.

Likewise, films from elsewhere in Europe received support for their release in the UK, including Mustang (Turkey), Elle (France) and A Bigger Splash (Italy).

In that period 12 UK production companies received €1.4m for development of film, TV, digital platforms and video games and 116 UK audiovisual professionals attended Creative Europe-funded training courses.

To date the UK Government has not set out how it will replace Creative Europe funding for the film, TV and games sectors should that funding no longer be available post-Brexit.

Creative Europe has a €1.46 bn budget over seven years from 2014.

With grants totalling €40m between 2014-2015, the UK received 13% of the entire €319m Creative Europe budget in that period. This compares favourably with the UK’s contribution to the programme over that period, which was estimated by Creative Europe to be €30m, which is 10.7%.

Full list of 2017 Creative Europe Slate Funding beneficiaries