Midsomer Murders is among TV productions supported by scheme
MIDSOMER MURDERS and Married At First Sight are among the productions which have been supported by a Government scheme aimed at helping kickstart the television and film industry.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has published a list of 50 of the 230 projects which have been supported by the Film and TV Production Scheme. The £500m scheme, which was extended for six months in the Budget, provides assistance to productions struggling to secure coronavirus-related insurance.
In addition to dating show Married At First Sight and crime drama Midsomer Murders, talent show Britain’s Got Talent Christmas Special and quiz show Pointless have also received support.
Independent film Mothering Sunday has also been backed by the scheme.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “Our restart scheme has already helped the UK’s world class film and TV sector bounce back strongly, with studio business booming, filling film studios and helping generate more than a billion pounds in production spend.
“Now we’re standing by it for another six months, supporting tens of thousands more jobs and many more box sets and box office hits.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Our world-leading film and TV industry supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and is a significant driver of economic activity.”
The terms of the scheme will be kept under review as the sector recovers from the impact of the pandemic over the course of this year.
In addition to the significant scheme extension, the screen industry is to benefit from more support to independent cinemas through the Culture Recovery Fund.
This will allocate a further £300m to help culturally significant projects recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Ben Roberts, chief executive of BFI, said: “The Government’s Film & TV Production Restart Scheme has been instrumental in enabling our independent production industry to get back up and running.”