The British Film Commission responded to the UK Government’s announcement earlier this evening (Saturday 31 October) of a second, month-long national lockdown for England, commencing on Thursday 05 November until Wednesday 02 December.

Adrian Wootton OBE, Chief Executive of the British Film Commission, said:

“Despite the extraordinary and difficult circumstances surrounding this second national lockdown, it’s a great relief to see confirmation from the Culture Secretary that we have Government’s support to continue Film and TV Production in England during lockdown, so long as productions are safely working within the extremely rigorous and comprehensive COVID safety guidance developed by the British Film Commission, in liaison with Government and industry.”

The intention of this lockdown is to manage infection rates whilst enabling “work” activity to continue – including COVID-secure film and television production. As set out on GOV.UK, workers who cannot work from home should go to their place of work. This means that even in these circumstances, film and television production can continue.

Film and television production is also permitted under current restrictions in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Employers should continue to check the specifics of any restrictions where they are working.

British Film Commission’s ‘Working Safely During COVID-19 in Film and High-end TV Drama Production’ guidance will be updated to reflect changes to the regulations and HM Government guidance.

For further press information, please contact:

Lauren Preteceille, Head of Communications and Public Affairs, British Film Commission

E: lauren.preteceille@britishfilmcommission.org.uk

M: 07778 607 855

Notes to Editors:

• As set out in the No.10 Press conference this evening (Saturday 31 October), as well as on GOV.UK, the Government has announced that workers “who cannot work from home should go to their place of work”. This means that even in these circumstances, film and television production can continue, a point which has since been confirmed by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden this evening via his official Twitter account: https://twitter.com/OliverDowden/status/1322619718247817219?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

• Film and television production is also permitted under current restrictions in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

• The British Film Commission will update its ‘Working Safely During Covid-19 in Film and High-end TV Drama Production’ Guidance http://staging.britishfilmcommission.org.uk/guidance/regarding-covid-19-coronavirus/ to make clear these points.

• About the British Film Commission

The British Film Commission (BFC) is the UK Government’s national organisation responsible for international film and television production in the UK. Funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for International Trade and the BFI, the BFC leads on:

• Maximising and supporting the production of major international feature film and high-end television in the UK;
• Strengthening and promoting the UK’s film and television infrastructure;
• Liaising between the Government and the film and television industry on policy issues that impact on production.

The BFC has industry sponsors who form the membership of the agency’s innovative public/private partnership: Angels, Disney, Harbottle & Lewis, HBO, Movie Makers, Netflix, Pinewood Studios, Saffery Champness, Warner Bros, 3 Mills, BBC Studios, Double Negative, Elstree Studios, Framestore, MPC, The Bottle Yard and Working Title.

The BFC is the national division of Film London.

www.britishfilmcommission.org.uk

www.filmlondon.org.uk
@FilmInUK_BFC

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