UK Film Council to be abolished

Oh goodness me. This just in. Still in a bit of shock

The UK Film Council is to be axed as part of a cost-cutting drive by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), it has been announced.

The organisation, founded in 2000, had an annual budget of £15m to invest in British films and employed 75 people.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he wants to establish a "direct and less bureaucratic relationship with the British Film Institute".

UK Film Council chairman Tim Bevan has called it "a bad decision".

Is it a bad decision? I imagine it is but don't know all the details. There will still be some lottery money available for British films. But how much, and who is to administer that, all remains to be seen. At the moment I am just a bit shocked and feel for the 75 or so people who will lose their jobs at this time of recession. One thing for sure is that the inquest has to start now, and the people at the heart of the industry need to be consulted about how things are taken forward to maintain as much support as possible for British film.