Ingenious Media chairman Patrick McKenna has warned that UK film lacks the business model to match a wealth of creative talent.
Delivering the Annual Television Lecture at BAFTA, the entrepreneur and financier, warned that film was stuck in the same rut identified five years ago in a highly-critical select committee report on the industry.
'The report cited a devastating critique of the industry that submitted by the UK Film Council. This evidence talked about the 'scattered and fragmentary nature of the (British) financing model ..' and 'a very strong disincentive to private investment into the production sector,' he said.
'I can only observe, with some sadness, that nothing has changed.'
He warned that the often quoted claims that the UK was in rude health were based on a few Hollywood shoots and belied an underlying failure.
'In film we have buckets of creative talent but scarcely any business capacity.'
McKenna suggested that embracing digital technology to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of distribution was critical.
'Combined with the effect of changing release windows, this may open up new possibilities for the future.'
The assessment of UK film contrasted with a generally more upbeat view of the UK creative industries and particularly television.
The digital age put huge pressure on business models but McKenna suggested the UK was well placed to cope.
'We were early adopters of the new technology and we have a rich cultural heritage. We are also fortunate to live in a country that is defined, now more than ever, by the depth of its creative talent.
'We are blessed with a rich inheritance of literary genius, and our civic institutions, headed by the BBC, are the envy of the world. And at last we have the confidence to celebrate our cultural heritage as a national asset.
'But it is the combination of our creative and our entrepreneurial skills that really makes this country such a potent force in the global creative economy. The UK has always been a centre of artistic excellence, and we do of course have a well developed general financial and business infrastructure,' he said.
To see the full speech click here
What do you think' email michael.gubbins@emap.com
Delivering the Annual Television Lecture at BAFTA, the entrepreneur and financier, warned that film was stuck in the same rut identified five years ago in a highly-critical select committee report on the industry.
'The report cited a devastating critique of the industry that submitted by the UK Film Council. This evidence talked about the 'scattered and fragmentary nature of the (British) financing model ..' and 'a very strong disincentive to private investment into the production sector,' he said.
'I can only observe, with some sadness, that nothing has changed.'
He warned that the often quoted claims that the UK was in rude health were based on a few Hollywood shoots and belied an underlying failure.
'In film we have buckets of creative talent but scarcely any business capacity.'
McKenna suggested that embracing digital technology to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of distribution was critical.
'Combined with the effect of changing release windows, this may open up new possibilities for the future.'
The assessment of UK film contrasted with a generally more upbeat view of the UK creative industries and particularly television.
The digital age put huge pressure on business models but McKenna suggested the UK was well placed to cope.
'We were early adopters of the new technology and we have a rich cultural heritage. We are also fortunate to live in a country that is defined, now more than ever, by the depth of its creative talent.
'We are blessed with a rich inheritance of literary genius, and our civic institutions, headed by the BBC, are the envy of the world. And at last we have the confidence to celebrate our cultural heritage as a national asset.
'But it is the combination of our creative and our entrepreneurial skills that really makes this country such a potent force in the global creative economy. The UK has always been a centre of artistic excellence, and we do of course have a well developed general financial and business infrastructure,' he said.
To see the full speech click here
What do you think' email michael.gubbins@emap.com
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