Streaming giants told to stump up cash to support UK film and television

Britain's celebrated film and television industry is in danger and urgent action is needed so it survives a crisis which threatens its future, a cross-party group of MPs have warned. The Culture, Media and Sport committee is calling for streaming giants such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV+ and Disney+ which benefit from British creativity to pay 5% of UK subscriber revenue into a “cultural fund” for “distinctly British” drama.

The MPs say the levy and tax breaks should be “on the table” to help the country’s “crisis-hit high quality drama sector”.

Britain’s studios are famed for their role in making some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters and many of the world’s most prestigious television series. Barbie’s Barbieland set was built at Leavesden in Hertfordshire, and the latest series of spy thriller Slow Horses has been shot across London.

But the committee warns there “must be no complacency” and pushes for action to “halt the decline of domestic production of culturally distinct British film and programmes”. It warns these have “failed to keep pace with the headline-grabbing growth of big box office productions financed and controlled from outside the UK”.

The MPs want to see a tax credit to support the distribution of lower-budget films to ensure they reach an audience. Without urgent intervention, they warn, competition from “high-budget overseas production” will continue to drive up cots.

They warn the commissioning budgets of public service broadcasters are being “squeezed” by a fall in advertising revenue and pressure on the licence fee.

Uniquely British content, they say, is “vital” to the “UK’s identity, national conversations and talent pipeline” but this is “under threat”.

The committee was warned by Wolf Hall director Peter Kosminsky that the latest adaptation in the series – The Mirror and the Light – could not be made today because of funding challenges.

The MPs want streamers to “put their money where their mouth is” by supporting the cultural fund.

Dame Caroline Dinenage, who chairs the committee, said: “Big box-office blockbusters made in Britain have showcased the UK’s world-class film and high-end television industry like never before. But the boom in inward investment of recent years now risks crowding out our many talented independent British producers.

“While streamers like Netflix and Amazon have proved a valuable addition for the industry and economy, unless the Government urgently intervenes to rebalance the playing field, for every ‘Adolescence’ adding to the national conversation, there will be countless distinctly British stories that never make it to our screens.”

Dame Caroline said the sector is “so important to both our economy and our soft power overseas” but the people working in it are “going through a turbulent time”.

The committee warns that streamers are making deals with independent production companies which are “not sustainable”. The MPs say the companies are “gutted by deals” which prevent them making the most of intellectual property rights.

Wolf Hall director Mr Kosminsky said: “I hugely welcome the fact that the CMS select committee has endorsed the call for a 5% levy on streamers’ revenue to support public service broadcasting high-end television. This is a brave thing to do in the current political climate and absolutely the right solution. However, I do think it is important to stipulate that the fund created by this levy should only be available to productions which are either commissioned or co-commissioned by a public service broadcaster.”