Save The British Film Industry.Com

David Cameron can not really want 250 000 jobs or £25 billion inward investment each year or he would grab the one big idea in town.

Jonathan Stuart-Brown for Save The British Film Industry.

There is one very big idea to get 250 000 jobs across the UK, £25 billion inward investment every year, great international prestige which blows away the temporary Olympic fizz, and alas this Government is totally deaf to it.

http://www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com/

http://www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com/the-vision/

http://www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com/the-proposal/

http://www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com/the-summary/

Jeremy Hunt is not up to a vital Government job and neither is his Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Indeed we could abolish the Department and use the money to create real jobs across every UK region.

http://www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com/

http://www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com/the-vision/

Meanwhile Pinewood Shepperton plc (but only for a few more weeks before it is delisted from the Stock Market) continues to miss every chance to expand across the UK and tap into revenue streams which would dwarf the pitiful sums it presently achieves. It is not run by the people who built these two great studios from the 1930s onwards. It has no film makers on its Board and few business ideas other than somehow despite repeated costly failure to get into the housing market in West London before the property bubble bursts.

Its failure to make serious profit in the last decade is staggering.

Its failure to translate its 75 year reputation (built by a very different Board and Management) into powerful profit is inexplicable during the era of movies at its factory facilities (financed by real film makers) to break the $1 billion mark regularly and the $400 million mark habitually.

http://www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com/2012/05/the-avengers-movie-set-to-break-1-5-billion-the-amazing-spiderman-will-also-break-1-billion-hs2-is-not-as-nice-as-it-looks-and-a-waste-of-35-billion-which-could-be-used-to-avoid-20-police/

Their loss making ventures – despite £5 billion annual revenue from products made by others on their film facory premises- and ineptness as a property company coupled with a limited vision (housing in the UK, selling the Pinewood brandname to several other competitors outside the UK) are sad to repeatedly report.

The latest wheeze which has emerged because of hapless failure is for the government of the Isle of Man is to acquire a stake of up to 19.9% in Pinewood Shepperton Studios for £24m.

Part of the deal would see Pinewood take on the the role of adviser for the Isle of Man’s £25m film and TV investment fund for an initial five year period. The Isle of Man has been active in film and television production since 1995, investing £170m in 97 productions. They do this to attract productions into the Isle of Man and offer tax credits (which is why rich people live there) including John Whittaker who owns among many other companies Peel which owns 71% of Pinewood Shepperton.

Pinewood clearly hopes that it can throw in the Isle of Man monies, and corner the annual ring-fenced Lottery Money for UK Film, to offer film financiers (such as Hollywood Studios) to rent its factory facilities for the non-Isle of Man film work. However, this does not mean more film work in South Bucks and Shepperton, because Pinewood now is sales agent for several foreign studios which it also lets use its Pinewood brandname. Hence most of the filmwork and jobs could still go outside the UK (to Malaysia, Egypt, Canada, Germany, Dominican Republic).

Pinewood has called for a national consultation on its 20 year future in the UK and could explore a robust UK wide expansion into each region. But it seeks to expand everywhere else in the world and dismisses UK regional expansion.

We wish the very best to The Isle of Man venture – we want British based film making to prosper. However experience teaches that like most things with Pinewood, this deal could unravel once anyone looks at the detail. The Isle of Man parliament has to consent to the deal to take a stake in Pinewood.

Specifically they must vote on the proposal to buy the stake to parliament asking that the IoM’s treasury “be authorised but not required to expend from the reserve fund an amount of up to £24 million to purchase up to 19.9% of the ordinary shares of Pinewood Shepperton plc from its shareholders, if satisfactory terms can be agreed in connection with this proposal”.

Let us hope they do not compare Pinewood Board’s claims, projections, from 2000 onwards compared to results. This during the fattest decade ever for global film industry revenues.

Given the company has £50 million or so longterm debt, lost money last year, it is not necessarily the first choice to hand over control of monies worth 50% of their average turnover.

Let us hope The Isle of Man decision-makers do not read too closely the full report from the Inspector of the 2011 Public Inquiry when Pinewood sought to build 1400 houses on greenbelt land. The parts about not doing research before launching such an expensive controversial bid just does not inspire confidence in their compotence.

But sincerely we do wish the venture well, pray Pinewood get some decent film and business brains on their management team and Board, and consider a 20 year UK regional expansion.

They might also tighten up security or use their very expensive Westminster political lobbying effort to support the police.

http://www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com/2012/05/expensive-film-equipment-stolen-from-007-james-bond-film-studio-so-once-again-please-oppose-police-cuts-of-20/