Cinemas: Grants

(asked on 28th August 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what additional support his Department is providing to independent cinemas applying for the British Film Institute managed grant.


Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 9th September 2020

My officials are working closely with the British Film Institute (BFI) to ensure that appropriate support is in place for those independent cinema owners applying to the Culture Recovery Fund. We recognise that some independent cinema owners will not have had much experience applying for Government funding and as a result we have agreed with the BFI a range of measures to support their applications.

This includes detailed guidance notes, a robust supporting Q&A document, dedicated contact points to answer questions, and proactive engagement from the BFI’s Film Audience Network and its regional English Film Hubs to actively promote the Fund and support applicants through the required process. DCMS and the BFI have also been promoting the Fund through press and comms channels and encouraging potential applicants to apply. It is also positive that the industry has provided further support, with the UK Cinema Association setting up a series of meetings for their members to better understand the application process.

The Culture Recovery Fund is intended to support the nation’s most important national, regional, and local organisations and funding will not be available for every organisation. As such it is critical that we scrutinise applications against rigorous criteria and continue to act to support applications from all eligible cinemas.

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