I was asked today whether I had seen Stef Aquarone’s piece in The Birmingham Post about public funding for the screen industries. “You might not like it”, I was told. The main thrust of the piece is that public funds should be used to support viable, sustainable businesses - not short term projects.
Well ... I read it today. And no, I don’t like it. I love it.
To be honest, I think there’s an awful lot in there that needed to be said. But while, historically, I’m sure there is a lot of truth in Stef’s perception of how public funding has been used in the screen industries, I honestly don’t think it’s true of how Screen WM - or our many partner support agencies - currently operate. The only part of the piece I really had any issue with, then, was towards the end:
I think the problem here is probably one of communication, though. Maybe it needs to be better on our side, for while we’re all pretty clear internally - and with our partners - that we’re working to precisely the kind of joined-up economic strategy that Stef has brilliantly outlined, perhaps we’ve taken it for granted that this should be perfectly obvious and clear to everyone else too. Of course, it’s never that obvious and - realistically - it may be some time before anyone really sees the fruits of what we’re trying to achieve.
So, in the interests of transparency, here’s how it all works and what we’re doing to move away from the ‘culture of dependency’ and towards a thriving industry and sustainable businesses, with specific reference to Stef’s main points. I make no apology for the fact that a lot of these examples are based around the 4iP/Digital Media Fund - that’s what I do and what I know best - but I can assure you that the same aims, principles and - in many cases - approaches we take with 4iP/DMF are replicated across the agency, even in the more culturally-driven Education, Archive and Audience Development Department (EAAD).
The Culture of Dependency and “focus on the next grant deadline” -vs- New Commercial Opportunities
Even before we launched 4iP - back in the pre-launch briefing in July last year - we made it very clear that we are looking to support sustainable businesses. This is about investment, not funding.
This has absolutely been borne out by our investment decisions and selection process. One of the most common complaints we get from those who have been rejected is “my project fit all your criteria, so why didn’t you fund it?”. To my mind, this is a symptom of the culture of dependency and the ‘old school’ approach to funding projects. This is not about ticking boxes or designing projects that fit around our criteria. It’s about projects that are plugged in to new market opportunities and have a realistic chance of exploiting them but just need a boost to get there. 4iP/DMF is a catalyst, not a framework.
Lack of fit with broader context of regional economic development
Specifically, ERDF focus on creating and sustaining jobs is “a misfit with the short-term nature of most project-based intervention”.
Job creation is a key requirement of our funded projects and we go to great lengths to ensure this happens. We are measured by Advantage WM on such targets and these are passed-down to the projects we support. As for business creation being “a red herring”, businesses created through 4iP/DMF must still be trading two years after the project start date in order to be counted, so - yes - we are absolutely focused on ensuring we are not just creating any business, but creating sustainable businesses. Inevitably, some will fail. Our job is to help ensure that the vast majority will not.
Economic support must only be used to support valid businesses
This is fair comment and - as outlined above - absolutely a core part of our objectives. But there are a few caveats here.
First of all, whilst the majority of our production funding - including the Advantage Media Production Fund for film financing - comes via Advantage WM and, therefore, economic outputs are to the fore, there are still many cultural outputs and requirements, particularly through UKFC funding. So there’s a certain amount of ‘spread betting’ that takes place here, which is not uncommon in the wider commercial film industry. For every commercial feature, like Confetti, there will be more culturally important features, such as Special People - although here there has arguably been a strong economic impact for Justin Edgar and 104 Films in terms of other doors and commercial opportunities that have opened up as a result of profile raised via Special People.
Secondly, in addition to supporting viable businesses there is a broader strategic aim to support the wider industry. This can be seen in the work Screen WM did behind the scenes to keep Doctors in the region and to bring in Survivors and Hustle - not to mention a whole raft of features produced in the region, including Faintheart, Tormented, Clubbed, the forthcoming One Day and many more. Irrespective of whether or not these individual productions recoups on investment, each one of them provides regional employment, helps support the supply chain and production infrastructure, helps the region to retain talent and develops the skills base and attracts more inward investment and production opportunities moving forwards. They are stepping stones towards developing a viable industry that can support and sustain many businesses in the region.
Finally, there is always a difficult balance to be maintained with public funding in that there must be a clear case for public intervention, ie. if the project or business is so obviously commercially viable then why does it require public funding? This often means a higher element of risk with publicly-funded businesses than the private market could bear.
Businesses Need Core Skills
Agreed. Wholeheartedly. In all this talk of developing new business models, it’s often easy to forget that there are large elements of traditional business models that are still an essential requirement - namely creating the model of a good business structure with the right balance of skills required to run it, not just creative skills.
Screen WM works very closely with Business Link WM on this for every project we fund - whether it is through 4iP/DMF, AMPF or even cultural projects funded through EAAD dept. In every case, we are looking to support the businesses around the projects to become more sustainable. Business Link WM’s head of creative industries, Lara Ratnaraja, feeds into funding decisions on all 4iP/DMF projects and every funded project is given a business review by dedicated senior level business advisors with specialism in the creative industries. This review flags up the needs of the business - whether it is in skills training, unlocking other funding opportunities, recommending consultants or business partners, company structure and skills base etc.
It’s All About Sales
“We need help getting products to market rather than with projects themselves”.
This is one of the major benefits of 4iP/DMF and why Screen WM and Advantage WM worked so hard to bring Channel 4 to the region. I have to say, the Channel 4 4iP team have been great at working with businesses to develop their projects and leverage whatever promotional or market opportunities they can both through Channel 4 itself and through their wider connections and the strength of their brand - look at the amount of exposure the first raft of 4iP projects received from The Guardian, for example. For our part, we are constantly looking for other major national and international partners who can present a clear route to market and brokering relationships between them and regional companies. Two such examples are the recently-announced trade missions to Seattle and SXSWi, where we will be introducing regional SME’s to such major international players as Real Networks, Big Fish, Valve, Microsoft and others. We’re working very closely with UKTI and Advantage WM on these and other initiatives to help regional businesses get their products to market.
“Space here for public sector support - to strengthen business propositions”
Again, we are extremely active in this area, both through our partners such as Channel 4 and Business Link and with our own sector-specific support. I’m sure there have been many eyebrows raised and hushed questions asked as to why - almost a year after launch - there have been so few 4iP projects announced. The reason is precisely because of the amount of time that is spent working closely with applicant companies to develop robust propositions before committing to funding. Successful business modelling does not happen overnight.
I hope this goes some way towards explaining just how much work goes in to every investment decision that we make, but I’d be happy to respond directly to any other comments or queries on here. And criticisms or suggestions too - really don’t want to shy away from those. I’d like to think things are pretty well set up to support businesses towards sustainability here in the West Midlands - far more so than I have seen in other regions, in fact. Is there room for improvement? Of course. There always is. Tell us what you need and we’ll see what we can do.
The proof of the pudding, of course, will be in how many supported businesses are still thriving in 2, 3 or more years time. But the truth is that this is outside of our power. We’re here to help get you off the ground and to provide opportunities. But it’s really down to you to make the most of them. We’re behind you all the way.
