Some interesting figures.

Some interesting figures from The Times Online and The Royal Television Society.

" At the beginning of 2004, about 84 per cent of all animated television shows for children were made in the UK, but that number had dropped to 28 per cent over the five-year period to 2009."

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article6579368.ece

"UK animation is at a “tipping point: it either survives or dies”, campaigners warned in a recent letter to the Daily Telegraph. They want the British Government to extend the Film Tax Credit to animation companies working on TV programmes to ensure local producers can compete against overseas animation companies, where tax breaks range from 28% in Ireland to 65% in Canada."

http://www.rts.org.uk/Info_page_two_pic_2_det.asp?art_id=8170&sec_id=3898

The State of Things.

SkillSet's Saint John Walker talks about the state of the UK Visual Effects and Animation industry.

"In terms of the health of the animation industry – we’re still quite a world leader in some of the activities that involve animation. Our computer games industry is still fourth in the World Table, which is incredible considering size of country we are. There’s still a powerful advertising animation block – the likes of Studio AKA, Passion Pictures etc. And we’ve got Europe’s biggest visual effects (VFX) industry in London. Double Negative have around 650 people for instance. So we are quite strong, but it’s just not thought of as an animation industry in the same way it used to be.

On the other side of the scales, there’s obviously the lack of broadcast commissions, the lack of TV advertising because of the current economic situation, the lack of children’s TV commissioning etc. So it’s swings and roundabouts. But we see it as still a very positive and very strong industry, made up of around 5,000 people. Two thirds of that are micro-companies and sole traders. "

He raises some interesting points. Perhaps the UK industry is not failing, but evolving? Studios seem to be adapting to the current market, specialising more towards advertisement production. The pressure for studios to adapt and broaden their employee's skill range seems to be more of a pressing issue than ever.

Saint John Walker is the Computer Games, Animation and Facilities manager at. Skillset

Source: http://www.apengine.org/2010/06/the-state-of-things-skillset%E2%80%99s-saint-john-walker/

CGI Britannia

New article from the BBC, following the recent news of Warner Brothers purchase of Leavesden Film Studios in Hertfordshire. Featuring Double Negative

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/willgompertz/2010/11/cgi_britannia.html

"Paul Franklin is the CGI whizz and co-founder of Double Negative, the London-based visual-effects company that is behind much of the on-screen wizardry that Harry and his chums rely on. He told me that without Warner Bros' decision to base HP in the UK, the British visual-effects industry would still be getting by adding sparkle to commercials for household cleaners and fixing the odd frame or two on the occasional mid-budget movie.

Instead, London has become a world centre for CGI and post-production. A-list blockbusters are constantly rolling into town as ideas and out again as fully-realised, freshly-minted hits. Franklin reckons London alone accounts for 20% of the global CGI market, his company sitting at the top table with the very best in the world. He says that Warners' decision 10 years ago has helped British-based companies like his to develop the skills, software and contacts that would previously have been inconceivable."

Perhaps all is not lost for the UK animation and VFX industry? Investments like this from blockbuster studios on UK shores can only bring good things.

Animation companies call on Clegg to introduce tax breaks

Taken from www.broadcastnow.co.uk November 11th

" A group of animation companies has written to deputy prime minister Nick Clegg calling for a meeting to discuss incentives needed to make the UK industry competitive globally.

A letter signed by representatives of newly formed trade body Animation UK said the industry was facing “a serious problem”.

One of the signatories, Finger Industries, is based in Clegg’s Sheffield Hallam constituency and recently lost out on a £4m commission. It had been competing with a Canadian company, which was able to offer tax breaks to help reduce the overall budget.

The letter was also signed by Red Car, Atum and Melmation, plus representatives of Sheffield Hallam University, Save Kids TV and Animated Yorkshire. It claimed more than half of the industry had disappeared in less than five years, “losing jobs, intellectual property and money paid in taxes”, despite growth in the sector worldwide.

It also pointed at the loss of “British identity” for children growing up watching imported programmes and claimed that companies in “most of the world” were now able to offer 25-50% tax breaks.

“We have now reached a point where, in a global economy, everyone is offering these incentives; we in the UK simply cannot compete,” the letter said. “What do we have to offer? Nothing – and our talent is leaving the country.”

Animation UK stressed that “for a relatively small sum of money, we can kickstart the industry” and suggested it could double in size with the introduction of tax breaks."

The BBC and the British animation industry

In 2009, the BBC and Blue Zoo studios created a report about the state of the UK animation industry Here. The report talks about how government tax breaks and subsidies for studios overseas, means largescale animation production in the UK "no longer makes economic sense."

Below is an extract from the animation community site, "Animation Forum West Midlands" summing up the report. Here.

"In Ireland, animation productions are able to benefit from a 28% tax break, whilst in France a 20% tax credit can be claimed for animation productions.

Although slightly alarmist in infering that the UK animation industry is 'dying', the news item didn't touch on the wider contexts behind why "the amount of animation produced in the UK has almost halved in the last five years." Other factors, such as CITV's large-scale, production budget cuts over the past decade, or the fact that "commercial budgets in the broadcast sector have been coming down for quite a long time anyway," have inevitably had a knock on effect on the volume of production in the UK, according to Andy Guest, Commercial Director of Birmingham animation studio, The CharacterShop.

Work on the feature film Sarila, some of which was due to be produced by The CharacterShop, is now due to be done in Mexico, whose government offer subsides to such productions. "We were going to do about 20% of the film, the lighting, rendering and compositing, but they're now going to get that done in Mexico where the Government will give subsidies and grants in order to attract work into the country," says Andy. "So now the film's going to be 60% Canada, 20% France, 20% Mexico and 0% UK."

The article definately provides food for thought for all those looking to find industry work in London and the rest of the UK.

Update

The Guardian reported yesterday that the BBC is setting up a new animation studio,in a location outside of London. Could this mean the outlook for the UK animation industry isn't as bleak as first thought? The choice to look outside of London for the studios location is an interesting one too, the article states:

"The BBC Vision Productions creative director, Pat Younge, is overseeing the initiative and expects to appoint a small development team of experienced animators and writers early in 2011. They will form the core of a new unit, which will grow as and when it wins commissions.

Younge said a feasibility study to find the best location for the animation unit was nearing completion, but it would be based outside London.

The head of BBC Vision production modernisation, Richard Williams, is conducting the study, and candidates include Bristol, where the presence of Aardman Animations – the independent producer of Wallace & Gromit – ensures a pool of cartoon expertise, the north west, Cardiff and other centres where there was a strong base, or colleges teaching students."