At Cannes this year, someone said to me: “Look at those boats – they’re all UK tax funds. They weren’t here two years ago and they won’t be here in two years’ time.” He was exaggerating of course: some of them are here to stay and provide the innovative finance structures that in turn provide much needed capital for the film business.
But what he saw is symptomatic of the latest change in the nature of film financing. We are in the tax and subsidy era. How did the industry get here? Will it last and, if it does not, what is the future?
