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The prime reason so many UK independent films get made is because of the tax incentives for investors to invest in EIS or SEIS approved projects combined with the BFI tax credit - which is worth 25% of 80% of the budget (which works out at around 20% of the total budget).

This is fantastic for getting films made. My own debut feature, Papadopoulos & Sons, benefited greatly from the BFI tax credit and I am forever grateful for it. Without it, we could not have brought this story of London Cypriot life to the screen - which was then bought by the BBC, Netflix, ARTE.

But I had to self distribute the film - in order to get it on the screen and get the ball rolling. Every single UK distributor saw Papadopoulos & Sons as a risk. And they were right to.

If I was in their shoes, I would have made the same decision. Yet, this was a film bought by the BBC, Netflix etc.

Therefore, the bottle neck is not in getting high quality movies made but in getting them onto a big screen and getting the distribution ball rolling - to open up other sales windows/ build momentum/ start the word of mouth/ reviews etc.

But look. If the tax payer is happy to subsidise the film makers to make the film of cultural importance and help British voices be heard - through the BFI tax credit, then surely, the same principle must be extended to the Exhibitors. Surely, the tax payer would also agree? Otherwise, it's a waste of the tax credit in the first place.

The tax credit principle needs to be extended from making the film to distributing the film in order to fulfil the mandate of the tax credit which is to preserve and nurture British stories and British voices.

Exhibitors need some kind of tax incentive to screen the films that are being made with tax incentives. Extend the principle.

Papadopoulos & Sons proved that there was an audience for it at the cinema - achieving the second highest screen average in its opening weekend.

The audiences for British films are there. If the tax payer is already contributing to making these films, then it is in all our interests that some kind of incentive exists so that these films are played. At the moment, so many British stories and voices are being squeezed out because they are too much of a commercial risk against American products.

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