Tories Plan To Link Film and Games Industry

A conservative government could expand the remit of The UK Film Council to incorporate the computer games industry.

Ed Vaizey, the shadow minister for culture and the creative industries, told a Westminster eForum on Thursday that he would favour the UK’s games sector joining forces with the film industry to gain more clout.

“Video games need a voice at the top table,” he said. The UK games sector’s two trade associations, Tiga and Elspa, did not individually command the same attention in parliament as the Film Council, he said.

One of the key roles of the UK Film Council is to distribute around £100m ($162m) a year in National Lottery money to support British film-makers.

Richard Wilson, chief executive of Tiga, the industry association representing the computer developers, said games companies were likely to support a tie-up if it meant getting access to some of this funding.

Senior executives in the games industry said they would be willing to consider working with the Film Council in order to raise the profile of gaming.

“It is something that has to be looked at,” said Ian Livingston, life president of Eidos, the games company behind the Lara Croft Tomb Raider franchise.

“We don’t have any representation on that level. It could be beneficial. I can see little downside, at least in the short term,” said Keith Ramsdale, head of Northern Europe for Electronic Arts, the US games publisher.

Mr Vaizey also indicated that a Conservative government could be supportive of tax breaks, which the industry has been lobbying for over the last few years.

“We do agree that the UK video games sector needs to develop a framework to be competitive with the rest of the world,” he said.

(Source The Financial Times)