Advanced Television

£75m boost for UK production

June 23, 2025

By Colin Mann

The UK Government has unveiled a major investment package in the UK’s film and TV industry that it says will open doors for young talent from all backgrounds and secure the nation’s position as a world-leading production hub.

The Screen Growth Package, worth £75 million (€87.9m), forms a central pillar of the forthcoming Creative Industries Sector Plan, designed to enhance the UK’s status as a global creative superpower by 2035.

The strategic funding will deliver real benefits across the UK screen industry by:

  • Expanding the UK Global Screen Fund to £18 million annually (2026-2029) to develop international business capabilities, enable co-productions and showcase independent UK screen content worldwide.
  • Investing £10 million to expand the National Film and Television School at its primary site in Beaconsfield, unlocking £11 million in investment from industry and private supporters, including from the Walt Disney Company, the Dana and Albert R. Broccoli Foundation and Sky. It will help to modernise its facilities, making them fully accessible for students with disabilities, and train 2,000 new trainees and apprentices over the next decade.
  • Opening pathways for young people from underrepresented backgrounds through a significantly expanded BFI Film Academy, providing hands-on filmmaking experience and specialist training for 16-25 year olds.
  • Investing £25 million in the businesses which are creating the next phase of augmented reality and motion capture technology, which has been used for productions including Wicked, A Picture of Dorian Gray and Those About To Die. This will fund five new CoSTAR research and development labs, which will help develop the next phase of augmented reality and motion capture technology. It will also fund two showcase spaces to demonstrate new createch, film, TV and games innovations to investors.
  • On top of the bespoke £75 million in the Screen Growth Package, a new £150 million Creative Places Growth Fund will also be devolved to six Mayoral Strategic Authorities. From Manchester to Bristol, Birmingham to Sunderland this funding will allow local leaders to support development of regional screen agencies and production funds to boost our film and TV clusters across the country.

This is the latest move in the Government’s Plan for Change, which is building the foundations of a stable economy, delivering investment and reform, creating more jobs and putting more money in people’s pockets.

“From Barbie and Killing Eve to Adolescence and Saltburn, the UK already has a stellar track record of producing award-winning films and cutting-edge TV which are enjoyed by millions at home and around the world,” commented Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.

“But I want us to go further and to cement the UK as the best place on earth to make film and television, as we deliver our Plan for Change. This landmark Sector Plan puts the creative industries at the heart of our economic growth strategy and is key to making that ambition a reality,” she declared.

“We’re pleased the Government recognises that our world-class screen industries drive regional growth and add billions to the UK economy—and that the BFI plays an important part in that success,” added Ben Roberts, BFI Chief Executive. “Through the BFI Film Academy we open doors for young people from under-represented backgrounds.”

“The UK Global Screen Fund helps UK screen businesses expand into overseas markets, while our work with creative clusters, partners providing industry support services and the CoSTAR research labs attracts fresh investment. And every autumn, the BFI London Film Festival brings global cinema and international filmmakers to audiences here and shines a light on UK creativity worldwide.”

The package will also strengthen the UK’s international appeal through continued support for the prestigious BFI London Film Festival and funding for the British Film Commission to attract further inward investment.

The plan provides foundations for the Government to take action to support public service media and the wider television ecosystem, building on the Media Act and Ofcom’s public service media review which is due this summer. The BBC Charter Review will also launch later this year, to set the BBC up for success long into the future.

The full Creative Industries Sector Plan will be published during week commencing June 23rd  as part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy, identifying the film and TV industry as a high-growth sub-sector along with music, video games, and advertising.

Responding to the announcement, Adrian Wootton OBE, Chief Executive of the British Film Commission, said: “This commitment to a further three years’ funding for the British  Film Commission is not only a show of support but of confidence in the strength and growth potential of the UK’s inward investment film and TV production sector.

“The British Film Commission works tirelessly to promote our incredible UK film and TV production industry internationally, and to support production in all four nations of the UK, so we’re delighted that today’s announcement of longer-term funding for the British Film Commission allows us to continue that work.

“While the global industry is still in a state of change and yet to reach a ‘new normal’, this strong support from Government, coupled with our compelling package of tax credits – including an increased VFX tax credit and new credit for limited-budget films – will ensure the UK remains well-placed to see a competitive share of the global production spend.”

On the broader investment announced as part of the Creative Industries Sector Plan:

“We also welcome the broader commitment to our screen sector in the Creative Industries Sector Plan. This includes the investment in the National Film & TV School, supporting future generations of film and TV talent, and the enlarged UK Global Screen Fund. All these measures send a message globally of confidence in our sector, without complacency.”

In 2024, the British Film Commission (BFC)’s bespoke support facilitated major film and HETV projects by assisting international companies in all areas of production. This included guidance on UK-wide stage space and crew availability, sourcing locations via our network of partners throughout the nations and regions, visa troubleshooting and UK tax relief.

The BFC additionally continued to support and promote infrastructure in all four nations of the UK. Since 2020, and in addition to its core remit, the BFC has assisted the delivery of over 3 million sq. ft. of new stage space throughout the UK, doubling the UK’s studio space footprint to 6 million sq. ft.

The BFC also continues to work closely with Government to ensure the development, continuation or enhancement of the UK’s ‘film-friendly’ policies.

Recovering from the global impact of 2023’s US SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, inward investment spend in the UK generated by film and HETV production during 2024 reached £4.7 billion, up 43 per cent from 2023’s figures. The British Film Commission provided production support to productions and companies responsible for 91 per cent of the total US inward investment HETV spend, and 94 per cent of total US inward investment feature film spend in 2024. This included bespoke support to companies responsible for major film and HETV titles such as The Conjuring: Last Rites (Warner Bros./New Line), How to Train Your Dragon (Universal), House of the Dragon season 3 (HBO), Black Bag (Focus Features), The Running Man (Paramount), Bugonia(Square Peg UK/Element Pictures),Peaky Blinders: War (Netflix), Citadel season 2 (Amazon), Slow Horses season 5 (Apple TV+).

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