The Report of the Film Policy Review Group offers very little for black filmmakers to digest

The Report sets out to restructure the film industry, based on the distributor-led US studio system. This process is already in motion with the four mini-studio franchises awarded through lottery funds by the Arts Council of England. Whether the UK can sustain such a system remains to be seen.

The only reference in the report regarding multi-cultural concerns inevitably comes under training issues. The Report stated, "that members from ethnic minorities are seriously under- represented."

Clearly, little thought and research has been given to what happens once training has been completed and what is currently happening to increasing numbers of filmmakers who have already been trained but find little in the way of employment. These are the real issues that have to be dealt with if the industry really wants to maximise its creative potential. Even then, it still has to find ways to create a level playing field for ethnic minority filmmakers to enter the frame.

The massive international success of The Full Monty, for example, a film which came from an idea brought to a producer by a black filmmaker, demonstrates how our creative input can help revitalise the British Film Industry.

[Commenting on the overall report, Stewart Till states "This is a game plan for making bigger and better British pictures"]

Black Filmmaker has another perspective to add to the debate. Matters not addressed fully (or in some cases, not addressed at all) in the report. Everyone recognises that the UK punches well below its weight in the film world in terms of the number of films produced annually, audience figures both at home and abroad, and as regards distribution, promotion and marketing skills. In another part of the Entertainment Industry however, music, Britain punches well above its weight globally, given its population size. BFM wonders why comparison and analysis hasn't been made in the music industry, where, - even given the lower costs vis a vis equipment and personnel involved in the production of music - the UK has so much more savvy, and better link-ups between independent labels (producers) and major labels (distributors) than in the film world.

And before everyone starts shouting about artistic integrity, remember, the UK has an international rep for producing a wide range of music, not just pure pop. Britain has Spice Girls (in commercial terms, the equivalent of Schwarzenegger movies) and Tricky (Bergman? Allen?)

The UK boasts of having the best technicians, and creative people in the film industry, but it is not known for producing the widest range of films, veering from arthouse to commercial. Could that be part of the problem?  Could it be that the music industry benefits from the wide range (age, class, gender, race) of the people involved both on the production side and the distribution side?

Unlike the UK music industry, the UK film industry does not come out of popular culture. The films that do - Spiceworld, Bean, Trainspotting, The Full Monty, have brought out domestic audiences - let alone the international audience- in a way that other British films have been unable to do, hype or no hype. Even allowing for the extra kudos that a prestigious award might bring. (Look at Bean's £17 million domestic box office take, compared to Mrs Brown's £3 million).

BFM hopes that the Action Committee lays the foundation for the development of a solid, domestic market, reflecting the UK as is, before they start going head to head with the US industry which over the last 70 years or so has already made sure to have these kind of points covered