The British Film Commission visit was very important for me because it opened my eyes as to the real differences between the British and American film industry. Chiefly, Britain invests a certain amount of taxpayer money into the arts, which America doesn’t do. Britain wants to bring film overseas to create jobs for British crews, so foreign filmmakers get a certain sum of their money back depending on how much of the film involved something or someone British. I didn’t realize how high the incentive was for Americans to make movies in Britain, and it was cool knowing I may well have the opportunity to run a show in London for a year. Somehow in my head I imagined the British film industry being as closed off and hard to break into for Americans as their acting sphere.
Next we went to Pinewood Studios and learned a bit more about the rush to grab studio space in Britain because of the money back deals. Disney just made a deal with Pinewood Studios to reserve their studio space for the foreseeable future, but there are politics involved surrounding the fact that Pinewood houses the space the James Bond franchise is filmed. I’m glad to hear that the two have entered negotiations and Disney isn’t monopolizing the space, but Pinewood, or at least our tour guide, didn’t seem bothered by it.
London and Paris 2020 Culzean 