The UK government has unveiled a £75m funding package for the UK film and TV industry, with the UK Global Screen Fund and the National Film and Television School (NFTS) among key recipients of the cash.
Titled the ‘Screen Growth Package’, the £75m funding will form a key pillar of the government’s Creative Industries Sector Plan to be announced next week.
The UK Global Screen Fund (UKGSF) will see its funding rise to £18m annually for the years 2026-2029, up from £7m currently.
The UKGSF was launched in 2021 as a way to boost international development and distribution opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Recent films backed by its three funds include Kneecap and The Salt Path.
The package will also include support for the BFI London Film Festival and British Film Commission, with specific funding details expected next week.
The NFTS will receive £10m to expand at its primary site in Beaconsfield, in a move the government said would unlock £11m in investment from industry and private supporters, including the Walt Disney Company, the Dana and Albert R. Broccoli Foundation and Sky. It will help to modernise its facilities, making them fully accessible for students with disabilities, and train 2,000 new trainees and apprentices over the next decade.
Meanwhile, £25m will fund another five CoSTAR research and development labs, focused on developing augmented reality and motion capture technology. It will also fund two showcase spaces to demonstrate new createch, film, TV and games innovations to investors. There are currently five CoSTAR labs, including a National R&D Lab set to open at Pinewood in January 2026, billed as the UK’s first national R&D facility for the creative industries.
Also being announced next week will be a funding package for an expanded BFI Film Academy, which offers courses, events and resources for young people aged 16-25. The funding is designed to open pathways into the industry for young people from underrepresented backgrounds.
On top of the bespoke £75m Screen Growth Package, a new £150m Creative Places Growth Fund will also be devolved to six Mayoral Strategic Authorities in cities such as Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham and Sunderland to support the development of regional screen agencies and production funds to boost film and TV clusters across the country.
The full Creative Industries Sector Plan will be published next week as part of the Labour government’s Industrial Strategy, identifying the film and TV industry as a high-growth sub-sector along with music, video games and advertising.
An industry task force, led by Shriti Vadera and Peter Bazalgette, has been working on the government-led Creative Industries Sector Plan since earlier this year. The task force also includes Framestore chair William Sargent, Bectu’s Philippa Childs and Creative UK CEO Caroline Norbury, among others.
UK Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said: “From Barbie and Killing Eve to Adolescence and Saltburn, the UK already has a stellar track record of producing award-winning films and cutting-edge TV which are enjoyed by millions at home and around the world. But I want us to go further and to cement the UK as the best place on earth to make film and television, as we deliver our Plan for Change. This landmark Sector Plan puts the creative industries at the heart of our economic growth strategy and is key to making that ambition a reality.”