Northern Alliance - BFI
Northern Alliance - BFI
Northern Alliance - BFI
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The future<br />
The short film schemes have exceeded BBC Films expectations. Although conceived as<br />
a vehicle for talent development, one short was nominated for an Oscar®. This<br />
success, and the involvement of TV friendly talent, has mean that a number of shorts<br />
will screen on BBC 3. As a result, BBC Films hopes to continue limited, targeted<br />
investment in the production of short films. More broadly, the proliferation and<br />
increased popularity of short form content, for instance on YouTube, bodes well for<br />
increased interest in short films.<br />
Film4<br />
(With thanks to Peter Carlton)<br />
Summary<br />
For Film 4, the rationale for involvement in shorts is to explore feature talent.<br />
Context<br />
Strategy<br />
Shorts with purely cultural ambitions –as art – are, for Film4, a bit of a sideshow;<br />
The hit rate for Film4‟s short film projects and for short film schemes in<br />
general, is small, but this is “as it should be”.<br />
Film4 has supported UK Film Council shorts schemes, in particular Cinema Extreme.<br />
Film4 also has a discretionary shorts fund and has supported filmmakers including<br />
Sam Taylor-Wood and Martin McDonagh, as a deliberate strategy to try out<br />
potentially promising feature directors. Even with this, the hit rate is comparatively<br />
low.<br />
Working with the UK Film Council<br />
Peter Carlton believes that the UK Film Council has – historically – got its short film<br />
strategy more or less right. Digital Shorts in particular, although sometimes<br />
problematic in the detail of execution, is a welcome initiative for access, diversity and<br />
cultural democracy. However, he also feels that Digital Shorts – and possibly the<br />
other strands – need to be reinvented.<br />
In his view, it is important for the public sector to continue to provide support for<br />
shorts. Access and diversity are essential values and valid criteria for the public sector.<br />
It is very unlikely that the market alone will deliver diversity. Even open platforms like<br />
the internet, Bebo and YouTube are not meritocracies – the best (and certainly the<br />
most deserving) will not necessarily thrive. If the UK Film Council does not look after<br />
entry level talent, then who will? The UK Film Council and its National and Regional<br />
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