British Film Commission CEO Adrian Wootton on 100 Years of “Special Relationship” Between U.K., Hollywood (Exclusive)

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As MPA celebrates its centenary, one of the British industry's top execs reflects on Hollywood and the U.K.'s special bond.

Since the dawn of the “dream factory,” before and post-WWI, our production, distribution and exhibition sectors, and the talent, have been inextricably linked. Perhaps the first real global film superstar was Charlie Chaplin, a Brit who cut his teeth in British variety theater, but whose movie talent was bankrolled by burgeoning U.S. film companies and their Wall Street investors. Whilst British cinema had its own specific development, U.S.

As the sound era arrived, changes to U.K. legislation were made to give more market space for British-made films. This meant U.S. studios also had to invest in “local” production. And so emerged the often-derided “Quota Quickie.” These were cheaply made “B” features funded by U.S. studios that formed part of cinemas’ supporting programs. Nonetheless, they produced some surprisingly good efforts and a who’s who of great technicians and filmmakers made their start there.

Also during this period, U.S. film companies invested in British cinema by doing distribution deals outside the U.K. for domestic producers such as Alexander Korda. They invested in studio facilities, such as Denham, where the first European Technicolour film, funded by 20th Century Fox,During the war, talent became the major currency of exchange. From Hitchcock to Olivier, Grant, Flynn and Leigh, many of our greatest directors, writers and performers graced some of Hollywood’s finest films.

Back to Korda, the legendary producer accessed U.S. talent and finance courtesy of David O. Selznick for 1949’s, with its studio scenes shot in the U.K. In 1950, Fox funded Jules Dassin’s noir thrillerin London’s still bomb-damaged streets with the mesmerizing U.S. star Richard Widmark. The next year saw Britain’s Romulus Films co-produce John Huston’s classicwith studio scenes shot in the U.K.

 

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But shouldn't be one way relationship as its been for the last 50 years with US studios making films in the UK using talent and crew, as the first 50 years was more of a partnership with the likes of Rank should have been replaced by millions Lottery spent over the last 28 years?

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