Minghella and Parker Team Up

The British film industry received a double boost today from the US and from within the UK. Hard on the heels of news breaking that Anthony Minghella is setting up shop in London came the first announcement from the new British Film Council in which chairman Alan Parker promised to make bigger and better British films. Minghella's move comes as a result of the director joining the American film company Mirage, which was founded in 1985 by Minghella's producer chum Sydney Pollack. Minghella is said to be keen to open an office in London, both as a European base for himself and Pollack and as a company which would embrace filmmakers. 'We look forward to substantiating Mirage's reputation as a filmmaker-driven group, offering the same rigorous shelter and encouragement to other writers and directors that I have found so valuable,' Minghella told Variety. Minghella and Pollack are next due to work with each other on the film version of Cold Mountain. In a separate, but equally important announcement, director Alan Parker unveiled his plans for the newly relaunched British Film Council. In an interview with BBC radio, the director explained how scripts would be the key to ensuring that lottery money wasn't mispent. 'If you don't have a good script, you are not going to have a good film. So we are going to put a considerable amount of money- probably more than ever before...into the area of screenplay development.' Parker will have some