Broadcast News

Bookmark and Share
22/03/2012

Tax Breaks Extended To Animation And TV

News Image
A new tax scheme is to be introduced in a bid to keep UK TV and animation talent from moving abroad where production is cheaper.
Chancellor George Osborne announced the film-style tax break as part of his budget for 2012.
It is understood that the tax break will aim to encourage development in the animation and video game sectors. While the chancellor's financial incentive will also apply to high-cost dramas, such as Titanic and Downton Abbey.
However details of the new tax break remain sketchy, with Osborne only announcing an intention to proceed, subject to obtaining state-aid approval from the European commission and a consultation.
Nonetheless the news is being received as a victory as it follows months of campaigning from UK animators who feared homegrown animation could be wiped out altogether if tax breaks were not introduced.
Animation UK, which represents producers including Aardman Animations and Astley Baker Davies, wrote to Mr Osborne, warning him that Britain was losing its best animation talent and urged him to "level the playing field".
The companies behind Wallace and Gromit and Peppa Pig had said that they were not looking for handouts but needed to be able to compete. They claim that animators overseas, particularly Ireland and Canada, where tax breaks and funding supply up to 50% of budgets had created "a distorted market place".
Aardman Animations, whose recent work includes the box office success Arthur Christmas, said the tax credit would be "transformational" for the industry.
They said: "We have seen a dramatic decline on UK television of home-produced animation and we now have a shot a reversing that trend. The credit will create thousands of UK jobs and our research shows that there will be a long-term financial gain for the UK."
Meanwhile several big-budget British TV programmes have also been filmed abroad in recent months to take advantage of foreign tax incentives.
A small-screen drama about the sinking of the Titanic, was filmed in Canada and Hungary, while the BBC series "Birdsong" was also shot in Hungary.
So production companies had also been lobbying the government to introduce tax incentives for them to stay.
The chancellor said: "This will help stop premium British TV programmes like Birdsong being made abroad, it will also attract top international investors like Disney and HBO to make more of their premium shows in the UK," he said.
According to the UK Film Council Britain is the world's second largest exporter of television programmes in the world after the US, with annual exports worth £1.3 billion.
Related News:
Osborne Unveils Drama Tax Break
UK Tax Breaks Needed To Win Disney Back
UK Animation Talent Recognised
(LB)
Solidmate Ltd Memory Card Hire London

Top Related Stories
Click here for the latest broadcast news stories.

21/04/2023
Qvest Strengthens Position In Australia And New Zealand
Qvest is strengthening its position in Australia and New Zealand through the integration of tm stagetec systems. With the new Qvest Australia hub, the
19/04/2023
Avid Launches New Partner Program
Avid® has launched a new partner program, Works with Avid On Demand, that enables customers to expand their workflow capabilities through a growing ra
14/03/2024
pixitmedia Appoints New Team Members
pixitmedia, a Kalray company, has appointed three new team members to its Leadership Team. As Chief Marketing Officer, Penta Stanley will lead pixitme
20/03/2023
Magewell Continues To Innovate With New Solutions
Magewell is continuing to innovate with new solutions that make live streaming, IP-based production and remote collaboration easier and more cost-effe
16/03/2023
Dielectric To Unveil New Apollo Software At NAB 2023
In Greek mythology, Apollo signified prophecy and healing with an ability to see into the future. Dielectric's new Apollo software adapts that lore fo
15/03/2023
MultiDyne Introduces New Format-Flexible NIA9205 Series
MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Solutions has unveiled the new format-flexible NIA9205 Series for broadcast and streaming media workflows. The MultiDyne
15/03/2023
Cooke Optics Launches New Focal Length Lenses
Cooke Optics has launched four new focal length lenses – 27mm, 35mm, 65mm and the highly anticipated 18mm – joining the S8/i Full Frame (FF) series ra
15/03/2023
Ateliere Unveils New Data Analytics Capabilities
Ateliere Creative Technologies has released new data analytics capabilities that enable customers to easily and quickly measure the media supply chain
14/03/2023
BTS Launches New SaaS Model
Broadcast Traffic Systems (BTS) has launched a new Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model for its channel management application, ESSENTIALS. The cloud-ba
14/03/2023
Marshall Electronics Unveils New ML-454-V2 Monitor
Marshall Electronics has unveiled the new ML-454-V2 monitor, at NAB 2023 (Central Hall, Booth C5520). Marshall will also feature its latest lineup of
13/03/2023
Lightware Announces New Appointments
Lightware Visual Engineering has appointed two key roles, with a focus on growth in the Australian market. Gordon Anderson is the National Manager for
13/03/2023
StreamGuys Adds New Tricks To Its Workflow Management
StreamGuys is adding new tricks to its workflow management and ad insertion capabilities in time for NAB Show 2023. StreamGuys will unveil new video a
15/03/2012
UK Tax Breaks Needed To Win Disney Back
Disney have said that they are unlikely to come back to the UK unless animation tax breaks are introduced. The Walt Disney Company has written to the
31/05/2004
Pact launches campaign for animation rights fund
Pact has launched a campaign to preserve the future of the UK's animation industry, by offering a viable model for the creation of an Animation Rights
22/03/2024
Sky Announces New Initiative
Sky has announced a new initiative aimed at supporting diverse-owned and diverse-led independent production companies in developing programmes for its