UK open for business at TIFF

This year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) spotlighted just under 40 UK films heralding another strong year for the UK industry. The BFC was represented at a wide number of industry events, promoting the UK as a world-leading destination for production, post-production and VFX. Executive Vice President, US Production, Kattie Kotok, was also a panellist on TIFF’s Industry Conference panel Brexit & UK Film Industry: What Happens Now, endorsing the strength of the UK’s creative sector and the continued success of its generous film and high-end television tax reliefs.

Celebrating UK Success

The BFC was once again a co-host of the annual UK FILM reception, in partnership with the British Film Institute (BFI), British Council, the Department for International Trade Toronto and media partner Screen International.
The reception was attended by UK and North American industry representatives, senior film executives, distributors and buyers, as well as international filmmakers and on-screen talent. UK films in selection represented on the night included A United Kingdom, Lady Macbeth, Brotherhood, Denial, India in a Day and The Journey.

Changing the game for high-end television in Edinburgh

The BFC and Creative Scotland joined forces once again to partner on the Gamechangers strand at this year’s Edinburgh International Television Festival, featuring leading US television showrunners and senior executives from Amazon, ABC, Fox and YouTube. Influential speakers included Showrunners Bruno Heller, Julie Plec, and Howard Gordon, Executive Producer and Showrunner of Fox’s 24: Live Another Day, which shot in the UK in 2014. Other Gamechanger sessions featured Roy Price, Director at Amazon Studios; Keli Lee, MD of International Content and Talent at ABC International Group and Patrick Moran, President of ABC Studios; Alex Carloss, Director at YouTube Originals; and a conversation between Peter Rice, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fox Networks Group and X-Men Writer, Director and Producer Bryan Singer, who covered such diverse topics as X-Men, The Usual Suspects, House, Legion… and Bryan’s X-Men tattoo.

UK Government leads the way

The UK Government’s recently appointed Minister of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Matt Hancock MP, attended the festival as a guest of the BFC. The Minister took the opportunity to emphasise the importance of the UK’s international relationships and the need for greater social mobility and diversity across the creative sector. The Minister’s trip north included a keynote speech at the Edinburgh International Culture Summit where he further reinforced the importance of the Creative Industries, saying “DCMS sectors, including the creative industries, here in the UK are responsible for over four million jobs, over £200 billion of value added and one of the most rapidly growing parts of our economy” adding “This economic value is not all and perhaps it is not as important as the social and the human [values]. Britain is an outward, optimistic country, engaged and open to the world.” Whether promoting UK talent at the Toronto International Film Festival, celebrating UK content creation at the Edinburgh International Television Festival or providing business development and networking opportunities for the UK and international industry, the BFC’s underlying message to international film and television clients remains clear and compelling: the UK is first for world-class film and television production.

For more stories on UK talent and production, check out the BFC’s UK in Focus magazine.

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