and industry body U.K. Producers’ Roundtable have revealed the stark challenges facing the country’s independent filmmakers.After a BFI study published in late January revealed that spending on U.K. independent film production fell by 45% to £175 million in 2019, a recent U.K. Producers’ Roundtable report shows that many independent producers earn less than £6,000 a year for their film production work. Most had given up their producing fee multiple times to get their films made.
However, the new figures underline that the independent film financing landscape is only getting tougher.Digital disruption, increased competition for audiences and the collapse of the physical video and TV market for features have all contributed to the decline in international value for U.K. independent films — making it harder than ever to presell projects and sell completed features around the world.
The Producers’ Roundtable research into pay levels, in particular, reveals what many have known but few have talked about in public. “We were really overwhelmed by the response and how much people have been sitting on this problem,” says’s Loran Dunn, a co-founder of the collective with Sophie Reynolds and Helen Simmons.
Ben Roberts, chief executive of the BFI, echoes Reynolds’ point: “As the Producers’ Roundtable survey makes clear, we know how difficult it is for producers to earn a living making independent films, and TV is proving to be more lucrative for many filmmakers, which goes some way to explain the recent [BFI] production statistics.” Those figures show high-end drama production hitting a record £1.66 billion in 2019.