Jeremy Hunt to axe The UK Film Council - Moolies

Among all the Twittering, blogging outrage over this, I’m wondering how this axing of the UKFC is related to, or compares to, the previous government’s plans to merge the UKFC and the BFI, saving money and losing some jobs in the process. The press, and those involved, seemed reasonably positive about this at the time, from what I can tell, and I don’t recall any huge outcry at the time…?

A couple of articles from last year:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article6804614.ece
http://www.film-council.co.uk/news?show=15851&page=4&step=10

I don’t know enough about either body, or their relationship, or their history, but it would be good to have more context and reflection about the run-up to the current decision. (I’m not saying you need to provide it, just that I’d like to read some somewhere :) .) Would this have happened under Labour too? How does “axing” the UKFC compare to merging it with the BFI? Given the merger thoughts, was this axing actually seen as inevitable by those in the know (rather than clueless outraged Twitterers)?

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27 Jul 2010 at Twitter

  • 7:56pm: Things are really good recently.
  • 9:34am: All this UK Film Council outrage: Weren't they going to be merged with the BFI anyway? I don't know enough background. http://bit.ly/bpklVJ

27 Jul 2010 in Links