BBC To Consider Increase of Funding For British Film

Screendaily.com: ‘BBC director general Mark Thompson has said the broadcaster needs to look at raising its investment in the UK film industry. Thompson told an all-party select committee on Tuesday that the BBC would be willing to screen more UK films and less US fare. He added that the broadcaster should also look at boosting the $18m (�10m) a year it invests through production arm BBC Films.’

This sounds like a reasonable move to me. After all, support for domestic film production in other European Countries is explicitly part of the remit of Public Service Broadcasters. In Germany, each film support body is partly funded by the license fee, limiting the competitiveness of UK Film in Europe.