Who do you believe is the most influential institution in the British Film Industry?

Throughout the British Film Industry there are three main influential bodies, The British Film Institution (BFI), The UK Film Council and The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). Of these three, I believe The UK Film Council is most influential.

The British Film Institution was created in 1933 as a private company although has received a lot of public funding throughout the years. Currently, the BFI have three sources of income; various grants and sponsorships are obtained from sources including the National Lottery and private donations, commercial activity from the BFI Southbank and the BFI London Imax and finally, public money allocated through the UK Film Council. This shows that the UK Film Council has an amount of control over the funding the BFI receive and so it can be said that due to their control over the funds of the BFI, they have a greater influence within the British Film Industry.

The British Board of Film Classification on the other hand has a lot of influence over the distribution of films. They can set the rating for a film – U, PG, 12, 12A, 15, 18 or R18 - and perceive whether the film will be a success. If a film is aimed at a younger audience but has had the rating of 18, the film is going to be less successful as it would not appeal to people at the age of 18 or over. Therefore, the distribution of films depends highly on the ratings awarded by the BBFC and whether or not they think it is suitable for the target audience.

The UK Film Council was set up by the Labour government in 2000, and is a department that promotes and develops the film industry in the UK. They have generated nearly £700 million in box offices across the world and offer advice during the editing stages of films to make sure the certification awarded reflects the target audience. In addition, they provide expert assistance for a majority of mainstream British films as well as those that promote upcoming actors or directors, helping to improve the image of the British Film Industry as a whole.

As well as establishing and promoting new films in the British Industry, the UK Film Council can also assist in promoting films in America and across the world to gain them recognition. In doing so, they create larger profits for the film and therefore the industry and can boost the economy of the country. The Boat That Rocked is an example of a Working Title Films production that was unpredictably unsuccessful in the UK. The UK Film Council however provided their expertise and influence for Working Title and helped promote the film in America. They renamed the production ‘Pirate Radio’ and created a brand new trailer that would appeal to the US audience. The film was a lot more successful in the USA than the UK due to the help and advice provided by the UKFC. Although they are under the threat of the government cutting their funding, the UK Film Council remains one of the main influential bodies in the British Film Industry. They lobby at the BBFC and so use their position to influence the decisions made, they can help very small British films companies distribute their films in the USA and develop new film makers, get a wider choice of films to audiences in the UK, promote Britain as an international film making location and raise the profits of British films abroad, therefore boosting the British economy and having a large influence on all profits made.