Tim Richards announced as new chair of the British Film Institute
Following a fair and open recruitment process, Tim Richards has been appointed the next Chair of the British Film Institute
From:
11 February 2021 Tim Richards will take up the position as Chair from Tuesday 16th February and will serve a term of up to 3 years.
Richards will take over the role from interim Chair and BFI Governor Pat Butler
The public appointment was made by the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden
Tim Richards has been appointed as the next Chair of the BFI, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has announced today.
Oliver Dowden has confirmed that Richards will take up the position as Chair from Tuesday 16th February and will serve a term of up to 3 years.
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UK Government commits to 80,000 new SWAPs opportunities
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has today given a further boost to jobseekers by increasing the number of retraining places on the Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP) to 80,000 for the next financial year – building on the 40,000 already successfully delivered over the last eight months.
SWAPs offer jobseekers across England and Scotland a six-week training programme, where they learn new skills, gain hands-on work experience and build their contacts in a new line of work. Whether it’s from aviation to care, or finance to logistics, every SWAP participant is guaranteed an interview at the end of their course for a live job vacancy.
By Max Goldbart2021-02-05T06:27:00+00:00
Bectu warns indies against ’penalising’ workers for pandemic-induced suspensions
Freelancers working on some dramas are being paid as little as £350 per week after being forced to stop work due to Covid-induced suspensions, it has emerged.
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Furthermore, one ‘Covid rider’ attached to a contract seen by Broadcast, stipulated that contracts can be terminated “with immediate effect” if a production is affected by the pandemic.
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U.K. Film, High-End TV Production Spend Exceeds $3.9 Billion in Pandemic Year, Down 21% on 2019 Levels
Manori Ravindran, provided by
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In what is the first official glimpse of the pandemic’s impact on U.K. film and television production, British Film Institute (BFI) data reveals that film and high-end television production spend exceeded £2.84 billion ($3.9 billion) in 2020, only 21% down on 2019 levels.
BFI boss Ben Roberts tells
Variety that the speed with which the industry was able to band together and hammer out guidelines for production allowed the sector to weather the toll of the pandemic, particularly as it allowed the buoyant studio sector to quickly rev up operations. Film and television production has continued through the U.K.’s three national lockdowns, working to pan-industry guidelines that were drawn up in late spring. The BFI led the Screen Sector Taskforce, creating the guidance for COVID-safe productions alongs