In this week’s episode of The Screen Podcast, the team breaks down the challenges facing UK producers, Trump’s latest tariff threat, and this year’s awards rule changes by the UK and US academies. 

Watch above on video, or listen to below.

First, Screen contributing editor Wendy Mitchell, editor-in-chief Matt Mueller and deputy editor Louise Tutt reflect on last week’s Screen Summit, which saw the UK industry converge at the BFI Southbank.

Among the key themes from the conference was that many UK producers, not just those at the start of their careers, were struggling with having to defer their fees to close their film’s budget.

“By the time you’re asked to defer fees,” says Mueller, “you’re so committed financially, you’ve probably already been funding pre-production, location searches… the shoot might have started. One producer [Sarah Brocklehurst talking about The Outrun] pointed out that she literally didn’t close financing until her film had actually wrapped.”

At the Summit, See-Saw Films co-founder Iain Canning expressed concern that the UK industry could go back to a time in British film where all the producers that he met “were rich men who had their grandfather’s biography they wanted to turn into a film”.

“He said he’s worried that it’s going to go back to that,” says Tutt. “You have to be earning money to be able to build a business. You have to be earning money to be able to pay people to work with you and do the development and help build your company. And that’s what we heard of more and more and more as the day went on.”

The trio also discussed another Screen Summit talking point – where have all the UK horror films gone? – and whether the industry should be concerned about Donald Trump’s latest threat to place a 100% tariff on films not filmed in the United States. 

Mitchell is later joined by Screen’s box office and awards editor Charles Gant to delve into the new voting changes at both Bafta and Ampas, and what they mean for the 2026 awards race.

“I think there are two really important changes [in the film Baftas],” says Gant. “One relates to the Britishness of films. They have increased the amount of available points that you need to qualify [a film] as British… And the other one is in the documentary chapter.”

The Screen Podcast is produced and hosted by Wendy Mitchell and edited by Ellie Calnan. New episodes every other Thursday.

For editorial enquiries about The Screen Podcast, please email matt.mueller@screendaily.com  and indiewendy@gmail.com; for sponsorship opportunities, please contact scott.benfold@screendaily.com.

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