| It's a tough day for UK filmmakers trying to fund their projects, with the news from Deadline that the UK Film Council is to be abolished. The decision was confirmed in Parliament by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, and comes as part of a slew of cost-cutting measures affecting various museums, libraries and public bodies in the UK. "In the light of the current financial situation, and as part of our drive to increase openness and efficiency across Whitehall, it is the right time to look again at the role, size and scope of these organisations," said Hunt. The intention with regard to the UKFC is to have it completely shut down by next April. While the government has stressed its commitment to £15m of lottery funds and the continuation of the tax credit system for home-grown film projects, it's not at all clear as yet how that money will be controlled, and by whom. The UKFC was set up ten years ag as a non-departmental quango, answerable to, but separate from parliament. Its remit was to "stimulate a competitive, successful and vibrant UK film industry and culture, and to promote the widest possible enjoyment and understanding of cinema throughout the nations and regions of the UK, [with] a mandate spanning cultural, social and economic priorities". With several million pounds of Lottery money to play with each year, the Council divided its funding across various categories. The Development Fund was earmarked both for promising new filmmakers and those with some kind of track record: aiding the initial planning and writing stages until production funding could be scored elsewhere. Last year it benefited both Armando Iannuci's In the Loop, and Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank. The New Cinema Fund was for full or part-funding of a handful of not-necessarily-mainstream features and shorts every year. Beneficiaries included Ken Loach (The Wind That Shakes the Barley), Paul Andrew Williams (London to Brighton) and Shane Meadows (This is England). And the Premiere Fund was worth a few quid for projects deemed to have commercial and international appeal: How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, Dorian Gray, The Escapist... The Council also had a hand in distribution, exhibition, education and training, and provided crucial support for the British Film Institute (about three times the cash that the BFI makes from its own commercial enterprises). Quite what today's announcement will mean for the BFI's activities remains to be seen. The CEO of the UKFC, John Woodward, called the decision "short sighted and potentially very damaging", pointing out that there had been "no notice or period of consultation" and that "there is at present no roadmap setting out where the UK Film Council's responsibilities and funding will be placed in the future". Its chairman, Tim Bevan, called it "a big mistake, driven by short-term thinking and political expediancy". "British film," he said, "deserves better". | 
