British Film Institute Report & Financial Statements 2006
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British Film Institute Report & Financial Statements 2006 BECAUSE FILMS INSPIRE... WONDER There’s more to discover about film and television through the BFI. Our world-renowned archive, cinemas, festivals, films, publications and learning resources are here to inspire you. British Film Institute Report & Financial Statements 2006 Contents The mission about the BFI 3 Great expectations Governors’ report 5 Out of the past Archive strategy 7 Walkabout Cultural programme 9 Modern times Director’s report 17 The commitments key aims for 2005/06 19 Performance Financial report 23 Guys and dolls how the BFI is governed 29 Last orders Auditors’ report 37 The full monty appendices 57 The mission To champion mov ing image culture in all its richness and diversity, across the UK, for the benefit of as wide an audience as possible, to create and encourage debate. 2 The mission ABOUT THE BFI The BFI (British Film Institute) was established in 1933 to promote greater understanding, appreciation and access to fi lm and television culture in Britain. In 1983 The Institute was incorporated by Royal Charter, a copy of which is available on request. Our mission is ‘to champion moving image culture in all its richness and diversity, across the UK, for the benefi t of as wide an audience as possible, to create and encourage debate.’ SUMMARY OF ROYAL CHARTER OBJECTIVES: > To establish, care for and develop collections refl ecting the moving image history and heritage of the United Kingdom; > To encourage the development of the art of fi lm, television and the moving image throughout the United Kingdom; > To promote the use of fi lm and television culture as a record of contemporary life and manners; > To promote access to and appreciation of the widest possible range of British and world cinema; and > To promote education about fi lm, television and the moving image generally, and their impact on society. The BFI’s main funder is the UK Film Council (UKFC) using resources delegated by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). It is a registered charity, number 287780. PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS Much of what the BFI has achieved could not have happened without the support and generosity of a number of individuals, organisations, companies, charitable trusts and foundations, to whom we are extremely grateful. The BFI has also received a number of legacies for which we are also very thankful. Main picture: The Mission (1986); this page l-r: Trois Couleurs Bleu (1993), The Open Road (1925), Breakfast on Pluto (2005) BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2006 3 Great expectations The BFI recognised that it needed to modernise, become more efficient and adopt a more open, responsive and approachable spirit. 4 Great expectations GOVERNOR’S REPORT “the new BFI Southbank The BFI’s forward strategy sets out a plan to: meets the need of a new generation of film-goers > Signifi cantly improve the care of and access and film-makers.” to the BFI National Archive; > Reach more and different audiences across the UK; and > Ensure the future of an international focus for fi lm in London through the BFI Festivals and preparing the BFI to replace the NFT (National Film Theatre) with a fi t-for-purpose National Film Centre. When this strategy was set, the BFI recognised that it needed to modernise, become more effi cient and adopt a more open, responsive and approachable spirit. This year much progress has been made on most fronts. In some areas we have exceeded expectation, whilst in other of the more ambitious and untried new areas, we have not achieved all we aspired to. In the year the BFI also started to come to an understanding of how the new status within the Government Accounting Net would call for some re-consideration of the forward strategy. The Chairman and Board of Governors are also aware that in refurbishing its NFT building on the South Bank – soon to become known as BFI Southbank – they have made enormous Main picture: Great Expectations (1946); demands on the organisation both fi nancially and in staff this page l-r: Wallace & Gromit in time and capacity. There is no doubt that the commitment The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005), to this exciting project will cause us an extremely lean Ballet Méchanique (1925), Tim Burton’s and diffi cult year which will show up in the accounts for Corpse Bride (2005) 2006/7. We have done this because the refurbishment of BFI Southbank meets the need of a new generation of fi lm-goers and fi lm-makers in the making. Furthermore, it is a signal of our much more ambitious and long-term intent to build a new BFI. The BFI’s magazine Sight & Sound sold over 278,000 copies BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2006 5 Out of the past The BFI has taken the lead in developing a cohesive, national archive strategy. 6 Out of the past ARCHIVE STRATEGY Following the restructure concluded last year, the new “a rich array of archive Archive curatorial unit undertook several signifi cant research and development programmes, from early colour, public material has been information fi lms and advertising. We completed our fi rst selected, curated and critical milestone, ahead of schedule, in refurbishing the prepared for digitisation nitrate vaults at Gaydon and re-housing the vast majority of the precious nitrate material previously stored in sub-standard for the Mediatheque, concrete bunkers. Extensive programmes of inspection and which is to be opened as checking, carried out by newly trained staff, provided essential part of BFI Southbank.” data on the condition of the collection, to help plan the next phase of the collections stabilisation project. As part of the major new archive access project, a rich array of material has been selected, curated and prepared for digitisation for the Mediatheque, which is to be opened as part of BFI Southbank. Despite the international profi le of the BFI National Archive, the fi lm archive sector as a whole in the UK suffers from under investment and does not have the same level of recognition The BFI screened over afforded other cultural archives. The UK Film Council, as the lead strategy agency for fi lm in Britain, asked the BFI to take 3,000 fi lms across the the lead in developing a cohesive, national archive strategy, UK – from rare silent co-ordinating with the UK’s main fi lm archive organisations. comedies to cult The fi rst phase of that and involving the RFAs, National Council for Archives, ACE, BBC, MLA, Screen England, BL and movies and archive FAF*, has been completed and papers submitted to the DCMS television series. as part of its wider review of fi lm activities. There is wide recognition of the need to bring investment into the BFI and that partnership-working, particularly with the Archives, should be pursued. A BFI-commissioned feasibility study investigating and testing potential partners for the Archive reported in January 2006. As well as helping provide clarity of vision for the BFI, the report validated the proposal for partnering more formally with the higher education sector and recommended a consortium to avoid concerns about institutional exclusivity. In the meantime, several welcome and benefi cial partnerships are already being enjoyed - most notably with the University of Sheffi eld working on Mitchell and Kenyon, the University of Newcastle on the public value of the Archive, and the University of Westminster on Arts Council England’s Artists’ Documentary collection. Further partnerships are in active discussion. * Regional Film Archives; Arts Council England; Museums, Libraries and Archives Council; British Library and Film Archive Forum. Main picture: Out of the Past (1947); The BFI Archive is the this page l-r: The Open Road (1925), largest in the world, The General (1926) and one of the busiest. We deal with 12,000 print loans a year. BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2006 7 Walkabout Through its regional screenings, the BFI reached an audience of 590,000, of which 66% were outside London. 8 Walkabout CULTURAL PROGRAMME “BFI Black World 2005 has seen the BFI produce a powerful and diverse launched simultaneously cultural programme, with seasons and events in the NFT across fi ve cities and choreographed alongside event screenings nationally and incorporated 40 internationally. separate events and One such example is BFI Black World, which ran over the 30 external partners.” Summer and was designed to both broaden the BFI’s reach to black audiences and bring an appreciation of black cinema to non-black audiences. The project launched simultaneously across fi ve cities and incorporated 40 separate events and 30 external partners. Black World strands featured in the London Film Festival, NFT and touring programming, and encompassed Theatrical and DVD releases, Sight & Sound and Screenonline editorial coverage. A range of online and Main picture: Walkabout (1970); learning resources underpinned the whole project and this this page l-r: DVD cover for Godzilla played to a key audience in the 16-24 age group. (1954), Double Indemnity (1944), The Open Road (1925), Tsotsi (2005) During the year, the BFI remained passionately committed to support any venue, regardless of size or how geographically remote, and it distributed fi lms to some 800 screens in every corner of the UK. Nearly two thousand titles were made available for major cinemas, fi lm clubs, universities and arts venues and through its regional screenings, the BFI reached an audience of 590,000, of which 66% were outside London. The year also shows evidence of the BFI’s drive to reach more people through a diversifi cation of distribution channels.