Animation UK Monthly Column: November 2011
To put it bluntly; the animation industry, a prized piece of national heritage, is in trouble and we need help fast. We are a country that has produced children’s classics such as Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder and Noddy; characters which have become worldwide treasures and we are at risk of losing them overseas.
The simple reason for this is the lack of UK government support. Subsidies and government support in countries such as Canada, France, Australia and Singapore have changed the market dramatically meaning the UK is put at a huge disadvantage and unable to compete on a level playing field.
Already many production companies such as Chapman, HIT and E-One are moving abroad and sadly it isn’t out of choice. Miles Bullough at Aardman has recently acknowledged that despite their best efforts they have to consider the idea of producing a stop-frame series overseas to access soft money and to make the show affordable to produce. Even quintessential British animations such as Bob the Builder and Fireman Sam are currently being produced overseas.
Some people may not see this as a problem, moving productions overseas, but we are outsourcing our kid’s cultural heritage. Once more our overseas competitors are beginning to learn how to create shows for themselves and soon they won’t need us to give them the creative material and will be manufacturing animations alone.
The animation community has therefore come together, along with other children’s group (SKTV) and industry bodies (PACT) to fund the biggest body of research the industry has ever undertaken. Animation UK’s report ‘Securing The Future of UK Animation’ paints a clear but bleak picture of the industry yet highlights an interesting argument for Government support for the animation industry. The British Film Industry has already celebrated huge success with the Tax Credit model which to us is favoured over subsidies as it means unrealistic projects are never financed.
Since releasing the report a couple of weeks ago we have seen a significant increase of support from various bodies including Ragdoll productions, the BECTU and even MP Mark Field. Over the weekend we talked on BBC Radio 4’s programme “The World this Weekend,” and will hopefully be making some noise at Number 10 and the Parliamentary reception. It has also been implied by Jeremy Hunt, secretary for Culture that he will be discussing the future support for Animation in the UK at the film policy review taking placing before the end of the year so fingers crossed for that.
We have even received support from the other side of the world- a business minister from Trinidad and Tobago saw some of the press and contacted me asking that if he created tax breaks would we all go there!
So as you can see things are moving along nicely and I’ll be writing a regular column each month to keep everyone up to date with our progress. So until then; ‘that’s it folks.’