Streamers urged the report of the British levy to pay

The British government has been encouraged to take a series of drastic measures to help support the besieged British TV industry and indie film sector in an important report from the Parliament Committee.

After months of evidence provided to the MPs provided by some of the biggest figures in the British creative industries, the broad report claimed that “tax benefits and a streamer levy should be on the table” as part of an “urgent package of support for the UK in the British dramas sector.”

In the midst of spiral costs, a collapsing advertising market, large financing reductions on the local networks and the recent global pullback of studios and streamers when it comes to local co-productions, the report asked for an improved tax stimulus for inland high-tv (Eiftc-EfTC).

A part of the evidence given to MPs, underlined a crisis when it came to obtaining prestige British stories (director Peter Kosminsky, “Wolf Hall”, said: “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” could only be made when Hoofdster Marktance grabbed a large wage reduction). To this end, the report insisted that streamers, who said, “benefit from the creativity of British producers”, to “place their money where their mouth is” by connecting to pay 5% of their British subscriber in a cultural fund to help finance “drama with a specific interest.”

It added: “If the industry does not voluntarily draw up the fund within a year, the government must introduce a legal levy.”

Also on the subject of TV argued that “dynamics between independent producers and streamers are not sustainable” and that British production companies were “stripped by deals that deny the possibility of fully earning their intellectual property”. It said that the government should consider ways in which the UK could retain a larger part of IP -rights when working with streaming platforms.

While the report the IFTC recognized-as called by the previous committee in the last parliament-and a “welcome first step” for the film industry, it was a “Game-Changer but no silver bullet for all the problems with which independent British film was confronted.” The British government ordered to continue with, under various measures, a targeted tax reduction of 25% compared to the P&A costs of films that had benefited from the IFTC.

In an industry dominated by freelance employees, the report also made a number of recommendations on ways to strengthen both skills and rights of employees. Among them it was support – as proposed by the last committee – for the government to appoint a dedicated freelancers commissioner.

Other recommendations, including the government financing of an AI Observatory and Tech demonstrator HUB with the British Film Institute, a reduction of taxes on cinema tickets and a twice annual analysis that compares British film and high-end TV tax stimuli with those of other countries to maintain competitive capacity.

The report has also tackled the efforts to tackle bullying and intimidation, in which he encouraged the industry to bind to “unconditional, long-term financing” of the previously not-acted creative industries Independent Standards Authority “within six months”. It added that the government should intervene to explore options to finance the body if the industry does not provide a voluntary solution.

“Big Box-Office Blockbusters made in Great Britain have shown the British film of world class and high-quality television industry as never before,” said committee chairman Dame Caroline Dinenage MP. “But the tree in the inner investment of recent years now risks our many talented independent British producers. While streamers such as Netflix and Amazon have proved to be a valuable addition to industry and economy, unless the government is urgently intervening to bring the playing field in our ‘adolescent’ again.

Kosminsky – who argued the case for the 5% levy on streamers – did not surprisingly welcome that aspect of the report. “This is a brave thing to do in the current political climate and definitely the right solution,” he said. “However, I think it is important to determine that the fund created by this levy must only be available for productions that are commissioned by or co-commissioned by a public broadcaster. As far as I can see, this is not made clear in the report and it is an essential aspect of the 5% Levy solution for the problems with our industry.”

In a statement provided to Variety, Netflix pushed back against the recommendation, with the argument that the extra costs of the tax would only be passed on to the consumer.

“The UK is the largest production hub of Netflix outside of North America – and we want it to stay that way,” said a spokeswoman. “But in an ever -competitive global market, it is the key to create a business environment that punishes investments, risk bars and success instead of punishing instead of criminalizing. Lares reduces competitiveness and punishing the public that ultimately bear the increased costs.”

Countless distributors, including Studiocanal, Lionsgate, Black Bear Pictures, Altitude, Picturehouse Entertainment and True Brit, cheer the urge to offer a P&A tax killing for British Indie functions.

“When releasing a British film in the UK, we spend and compete on advertising conditions with blockbuster films, games and other commercial retailers, who have many more millions of pounds in their budgets than independent film distributors,” said True Brit CEO Zygi Kamasa. “To ensure that those only films that are now supported in production are sufficiently released, then a tax credit for P&A would be a huge boost for distributors and those films to maximize their potential box office recordings.”