Written evidence submitted by the British Film Institute The Future of Public Service Broadcasting DCMS Committee response, June 2020 About the BFI The BFI is the UK’s lead organisation for film, television and the moving image, an Arm’s Length Body of UK Government and a distributor of National Lottery funding. As an organisation it works to promote these media in a number of ways: - Curating and presenting the greatest international public programme of world cinema for audiences; in cinemas, at festivals and online - Caring for the BFI National Archive – the most significant film and television archive in the world - Actively seeking out and supports the next generation of filmmakers - Acting as industry’s representative to Government, helping to make the UK the most creatively exciting and prosperous place to make film internationally. Founded in 1933, the BFI is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter. The BFI Board of Governors is chaired by Josh Berger CBE. About this submission The following document responds to questions set about by the DCMS Committee as part of its inquiry into the future of Public Service Broadcasting. Given the many common objectives held by the BFI and Public Service Broadcasters, the response focuses predominantly on the Committee’s questions around cultural, economic and societal impacts of public service broadcasting. However, where sections relate explicitly to another of the Committee’s questions, this is underlined. The BFI is happy to provide further information on any of the issues raised as required by the Committee. INTRODUCTION The term ‘public service broadcasting’ is still as relevant as ever, even as services adapt to the digital age. The BFI shares a number of common objectives with Public Service Broadcasters, with both playing a critical role in fostering film, television and the moving image across the UK. The BFI’s Royal Charter sets out a mandate to do so in a number of ways: - by promoting their use as a record of contemporary life and manners - by promoting education about film, television and the moving image generally, and their impact on society - by promoting access to and appreciation of the widest possible range of British and world cinema - by establishing, caring for and developing collections reflecting the UK’s moving image history and heritage The BFI sets out how it will achieve this in its current five-year strategy, BFI2022, which makes clear that its priority in delivering each strand of this work is to make UK screen culture as inclusive as possible. Public Service Broadcasting supports each of these objectives through the range of content and services it provides for the UK public, including the BBC’s and Channel 4’s support of independent UK film through BBC Films and Film4 respectively. 1. ACCESSIBILITY OF SERVICES The sheer accessibility of PSB services is central to their public value, connecting with a wider range of people than any other UK broadcast service. The Lords’ Communications Committee report, Public Service Broadcasting: As Vital as Ever, concluded that “an essential feature of public service broadcasting is its universality, free at the point of use after paying the licence fee: both the availability and affordability of public service broadcasters are unmatched by other services.”1 Changes to the PSB model could affect the accessibility of services.The BFI previously submitted evidence to the DCMS Committee’s inquiry into decriminalisation of the licence fee setting out a range of evidence demonstrating that the current funding model delivers value for money for customers and that this may be damaged by any change - in particular decriminalisation of non-payment of the licence fee.2 It is essential that any change to the license fee model model does not impact accessibility or affordability. A switch to a wholly internet-based service could also impact accessibility. Research by Ofcom demonstrates that the number of people using the internet continues to increase, with 87% of adults using the internet in 2019, but this proportion is lower among older people (81% for 55-64s, 33% for 65- 74s and 48% for those aged 75+) as well as those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (working-age adults in DE socio-economic group1 households are more than three times as likely as those in non-DE households to be non-users of the internet).3 While viewing habits continue to evolve, a premature move to online-only services risks isolating some of society’s most vulnerable. Government should provide a range of conclusive evidence that such a move will not marginalise these groups before any such move is confirmed. THE CULTURAL IMPACT OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING 1 https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201919/ldselect/ldcomuni/16/1602.htm 2 This submission is available upon request 3 Ofcom, Online Nation: 2019 Report, https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/149253/online-nation-summary.pdf Both the BFI and public service broadcasters work to foster cultural diversity, providing UK audiences with access to a rich range of content that has not historically been provided by purely commercial services. Cultural diversity is supported both in terms of variety of genre and form, but also in terms of work that explores a wide range of identities and backgrounds, representing the breadth of experience of the UK public. Channel 3 and Channel 5 services are both required to present a “wide and balanced range of high quality programmes which meet the needs and satisfy the interests of as many different audiences as practicable” by their licence agreements.4 Channel 4 is statutorily required to “reflect cultural diversity in the UK” and “champion alternative points of view”, while the BBC’s Charter Agreement sets out public purposes including to “show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output” across genres, as well as to “reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions.”5 The BBC and Channel 4 play a particularly valuable role in supporting diversity in UK screen culture through their respective film departments too. Championing UK independent film BFI National Lottery funding, BBC Films and Film4 Productions provide the backbone of funding for UK independent film. Over the past decade, BBC Films and Film4 have invested in 11% of all UK independent films, with these titles accounting for nearly 20% of overall spend on independent film at £888m.6 This demonstrates the fact that PSB investment backs some of the most significant independent films being produced. Independent UK film plays a critical role in exploring and celebrating UK identities and influencing how we’re seen around the world. Independent films such as Blue Story, Pride and Rocks reflect UK ways of life on screen. This includes those from traditionally underrepresented communities - something of ever more importance in the era of Black Lives Matter and the ‘levelling up agenda’. At the same time, PSB- backed films such as The Favourite, Judy, and The King’s Speech have garnered critical acclaim (including a host of Academy Awards and BAFTAs) and furthered our reputation as a global creative powerhouse. These films tell distinctive UK stories in a way that major commercially-driven studios do not and this is essential to the continued health of the UK’s cultural tradition. Independent film plays a critical role in building the skills and reputation of the professionals needed for big-budget HETV or Inward Investment Films in the UK: 41% of career credits for those who ended up working on a UK-based Inward Investment production in 2016 were Independent British Films. These roles significantly enable career progression as the flexibility required by limited budget provides opportunity for staff to 'step up' and gain experience.7 This proves true across all 40,000 working in film and TV production, as well as for above-the-line talent such as directors: Christopher Nolan and Tom Hooper began work on independent films before blockbuster titles including The Dark Knight trilogy and Inception for example, returning billions in box office.8 Inward investment projects generated £3.6bn in production spend in 2019/20 - a 19% increase on the previous year.9 The role of PSBs in skills and training is explored further in the section below on economic impacts. 4 Ofcom, Licensing of Channel 3 and Channel 5, 2012 5 https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/governance/charter 6 BFI Research & Statistics Unit 7 British Screen Forum, Local Heroes and Inbetweeners: The Contribution of the Independent British Feature Film Sector to the UK Audiovisual Production Industry, 2019, https://britishscreenforum.co.uk/local-heroes-and-inbetweeners/ 8 BFI Statistical Yearbook 2019 The role of PSB investment in independent film is becoming ever more important as investment in UK domestic production continues to decline: production spend on domestic UK features fell 54% in 2019/20 to £132m, having declined consistently since its most recent peak at £319m in 2015/16. In this period of great transformation for the sector, PSB investment is increasingly vital in order to sustain distinctive UK storytelling and to secure a pipeline of talent into the wider film and television industry that can maintain its current rate of rapid growth: the latest ONS figures show that the film industry is the fastest growing part of the economy, having returned the highest CAGR (9.5%) of any industry in the UK – ahead of the historically fast-growing IT, air transport, and scientific research industries – over the most recent five year reported period from 2013 to 2018.10 Distinctive and inclusive UK broadcast content As with independent film, PSBs work to represent the diversity of the UK public through original programming that explores a wide variety of identities and backgrounds.