Film: Coronavirus

(asked on 13th October 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the planned partial closure of Cineworld's cinemas during the covid-19 outbreak, what plans his Department has to work with HM Treasury to provide further financial support to the film and screen industry.


Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 19th October 2020

The government deeply regrets the unfortunate news of Cineworld’s temporary closure and is in direct and regular contact with the screen industry, including distributors and exhibitors, as well as through the BFI Screen Sector Task Force.

The government has supported cinemas through the VAT cut on tickets and concessions, business rates holiday and Bounce back loans. Independent cinemas are also eligible for a share of £30m from our unprecedented £1.57bn Culture Recovery Rund, and funding has started to be allocated already.

We recognise that cinemas need an incoming stream of new releases to show and we are supporting production by establishing a £500 million in a UK-wide Film and TV Production Restart Scheme to help get productions back up and running again. This will support the creation of new content which can be released into cinemas of all sizes.

Unless subject to local restrictions, cinemas are open for business and Covid secure. We urge the British public to support their local cinema and save jobs by visiting and enjoying a film in accordance with the guidance.

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