Skanky Vamp
Sniffin' the Slayer
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- Aug 12, 2008
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by Elise Jost
Britain has made historical news today by voting in a referendum to leave the European Union, after months of strenuous debate. While politics aren't usually Movie Pilot's bread and butter, there's an angle to Brexit — the short term for British Exit of the European Union — that could clearly have an impact on movies and TV shows as we know them: The cultural subsidies provided by the European Union to international productions such as Game of Thrones, which is currently getting ready for its seventh season, might disappear.
Similarly to the Lord of the Rings trilogy being well-known for its usage of gorgeous New Zealand landscapes, HBO's iconic show Game of Thrones has filmed most of its scenes across Northern Ireland, spending six months there every year. But now that Britain — which involves England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland — has decided to no longer be a part of the European Union, not only could it get more complicated to bring the international cast and crew to the country, but a major funding source might be jeopardized.
The real Westeros
If you've watched even 10 minutes of the show, you won't be surprised to learn that Game of Thrones is highly expensive to produce. In Season 6, Episode 9, the long-awaited scene of the "Battle of the Bastards" cost over $10 million alone, taking 25 days to shoot.
European initiatives such as the European Regional Development Fund and the Creative Europe program have invested money for cultural projects to set their development in the European Union. According to the Telegraph, British film and television projects received $32 million in funding from European organizations over the last seven years.
While there's no indication yet as to whether the British government will be able to supply the funding themselves, a reshuffle of the sponsors will certainly take time and could lead international productions to seek less financially complicated locations.
The Impact Of Brexit Could Be Devastating For The British Film Industry
Peter Chase, from the German Marshall Fund of the United States' Brussels office, told Foreign Policy ahead of the vote that the results could drive American creative projects away:
Michael Ryan, chairman of the Independent Film and Television Alliance, has gone even further than that in a statement shared by Variety:
SOURCE: moviepilot
Britain has made historical news today by voting in a referendum to leave the European Union, after months of strenuous debate. While politics aren't usually Movie Pilot's bread and butter, there's an angle to Brexit — the short term for British Exit of the European Union — that could clearly have an impact on movies and TV shows as we know them: The cultural subsidies provided by the European Union to international productions such as Game of Thrones, which is currently getting ready for its seventh season, might disappear.
Similarly to the Lord of the Rings trilogy being well-known for its usage of gorgeous New Zealand landscapes, HBO's iconic show Game of Thrones has filmed most of its scenes across Northern Ireland, spending six months there every year. But now that Britain — which involves England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland — has decided to no longer be a part of the European Union, not only could it get more complicated to bring the international cast and crew to the country, but a major funding source might be jeopardized.
The real Westeros
If you've watched even 10 minutes of the show, you won't be surprised to learn that Game of Thrones is highly expensive to produce. In Season 6, Episode 9, the long-awaited scene of the "Battle of the Bastards" cost over $10 million alone, taking 25 days to shoot.
European initiatives such as the European Regional Development Fund and the Creative Europe program have invested money for cultural projects to set their development in the European Union. According to the Telegraph, British film and television projects received $32 million in funding from European organizations over the last seven years.
While there's no indication yet as to whether the British government will be able to supply the funding themselves, a reshuffle of the sponsors will certainly take time and could lead international productions to seek less financially complicated locations.
The Impact Of Brexit Could Be Devastating For The British Film Industry
Peter Chase, from the German Marshall Fund of the United States' Brussels office, told Foreign Policy ahead of the vote that the results could drive American creative projects away:
"It might be up in the air for US studios who want to film in the UK. There are EU programs to help fund all of this. If the UK is no longer part of the EU, that has the potential to go away."
Michael Ryan, chairman of the Independent Film and Television Alliance, has gone even further than that in a statement shared by Variety:
"The decision to exit the European Union is a major blow to the UK film and TV industry. Producing films and television programs is a very expensive and very risky business and certainty about the rules affecting the business is a must. [...] This decision has just blown up our foundation — as of today, we no longer know how our relationships with co-producers, financiers and distributors will work, whether new taxes will be dropped on our activities in the rest of Europe or how production financing is going to be raised without any input from European funding agencies. [...] The UK creative sector has been a strong and vibrant contributor to the economy — this is likely to be devastating for us."
SOURCE: moviepilot
