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British director Ken Loach — who last year released I, Daniel Blake — has spoken about the devastating effects Brexit could have on UK film industry.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter , the filmmaker explained how withdrawing from the European Union and stopping freedom of movement would cost co-productions.
"There will be some form of leaving the EU,” Loach said. "Our co-production deals depend on workers from other countries coming to [the U.K.] to work on our films.
“If it is made very bureaucratic and difficult, if we leave EU, that will make it more difficult and there is a danger that could happen.”
Many British films are co-productions, including I , Daniel Blake which received investment from France, Germany, and Belgium.
"If free movement stops and it becomes a big bureaucratic process for people to work in Britain, then that is going to inhibit [co-productions] because it is cumbersome,” he said.
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Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court
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Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit
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SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit
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Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais
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Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp
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The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today
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Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain
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Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry
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Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote
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The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging
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A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU
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Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum
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NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit
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A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain
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As a result, Loach predicts “a lot of producers and distributors" will "just not bother” making co-productions.
Others have also warned about Brexit possibly being disastrous for the British film industry, Pascal Borno of Conquistador Entertainment saying earlier this year: “Since Brexit, the pound has plummeted and [British] buyers are pulling back on pre-buys because they are afraid if the pound keeps dropping, it will get down to par [with the dollar], which, if you do the math, is half of what it was two years ago.”
UK films are currently classified as European productions, which makes distribution in other European countries easier. For instance, being a European film helps bypass France’s international movie quota. Post-Brexit, we will likely lose this luxury.
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Try for free There’s also the EU’s Creative Europe programme that offers subsidies and incentives to European based distributors to take European-based films, helping smaller studios get their films released.
As Mike Goodridge of Protagonist Pictures said, European buyers will simply “switch to French, German or Belgian movies… British films are good, but they aren’t that good.”
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