John Woodward to stand down as Chief Executive of the UK Film Council
London – Monday 13 September
John Woodward today announced that he is standing down as Chief Executive Officer of the UK Film Council. He will leave the organisation in early November 2010 and will announce his future plans in due course.
Commenting on his decision, Woodward said: "For the next few weeks the UK Film Council is in a dialogue with the Government about the future support structures for UK film. By choosing to make my position clear now, I can be objective and unconflicted throughout that process. It should then, rightly, be for others to take the new system forward and write the next chapter for UK film.
"I can't adequately say what a privilege it has been to serve the British film industry since 2000 – and I enjoyed every minute of it up until 5.35pm on 24 July this year. I am proud of what the UK Film Council and its staff have delivered over the past decade. But now is the time to focus only on the future and ensure that whatever takes the place of the UK Film Council builds on its considerable achievements and retains the professionalism and expertise that the industry has said that it wants."
Accepting Woodward's resignation, Tim Bevan CBE, Chairman of the UK Film Council, said: "For ten years, John has shown complete dedication and commitment to British cinema. Under John's leadership the UK Film Council has consistently backed a succession of successful films and filmmakers and helped the British film industry through a period of sustained commercial and creative growth.
"In the weeks ahead, John, the Board and I will continue to stress the need for the key functions and expertise that currently sit inside the UK Film Council to be retained in one coherent structure. Once the DCMS has announced in October its plans for setting out the future of UK film, the UK Film Council will inevitably then begin a process of transition. I fully understand and respect John's wish not to be part of that reorganisation and, on behalf of the Board and staff of the UK Film Council, I wish John every possible success as he moves on to new challenges."
Tim Cagney, currently Head of UK Partnerships at the UK Film Council, will assume the role of Managing Director, working with Alan Bushell, Chief Operating Officer at the UK Film Council, and the UK Film Council's Senior Management Team to transition the UK Film Council into the new support system over the coming months.
For more information
Oliver Rawlins, Head of Communications
T: 020 7861 7505
M: 07855 326 362
E: oliver.rawlins@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
Notes to Editors
UK FILM COUNCIL (www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk)
- The UK Film Council – http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/ – is the Government's lead agency for film in the UK, supporting the UK film industry, celebrating UK film culture and nurturing UK film talent at home and abroad.
- Since its creation in 2000, the UK Film Council has invested over £160m of Lottery funding into more than 900 films and shorts which have entertained over 200 million people and helped generate over £700 million at the box office worldwide, generating £5 for every £1 of Lottery money it has invested.
- Its support develops new filmmakers, funds ambitious new British films and gets a wider choice of films to audiences throughout the UK. It also invests in training British talent, promoting Britain as an international filmmaking location and raising the profile of British films abroad.
- Since 2000 the UK Film Council has funded such films as Bend it like Beckham, Bright Star, The Constant Gardener, Fish Tank, Gosford Park, Happy-Go-Lucky, In the Loop, The Last King of Scotland, Man on Wire, Nowhere Boy,Red Road, St Trinian's, This is England, Touching the Void, Vera Drake ,The Wind That Shakes the Barley and Streetdance 3D, the UK's first 3D film.
- Upcoming films backed by the UK Film Council include Mike Leigh's Another Year, Stephen Frears's Tamara Drewe, Nigel Cole's Made in Dagenham, Joe Cornish's Attack the Block, Rowan Joffe's Brighton Rock, Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk about Kevin, Justin Chadwick's The First Grader, Tom Hooper's The King's Speech, Peter Mullan's Neds and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights.
John Woodward
John Woodward was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the UK Film Council in November 1999 and set up the UK's lead strategic body for film.
Prior to joining the UK Film Council he was Director of the British Film Institute (1998-1999), working with BFI Chairman Sir Alan Parker, and was instrumental in refocusing the BFI as a cultural and educational body.
Before that, as Chief Executive of the Producers' Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT), Woodward set up and ran the most successful and influential trade association in the UK film and television industry, representing the commercial interests of some 1,000 film and television companies. Previously Woodward had run the successful "25% campaign", forcing the BBC and ITV to buy 25% of their programmes from independent producers. Woodward also successfully lobbied for the introduction of tax breaks for film production investment and the introduction of Lottery funding for film.
Woodward was a co-founder of Skillset, the audiovisual industry's sector skills council. He is a Fellow of the Royal Television Society and a member of the Video Consultative Council of the British Board of Film Classification.
