The Cine Technician (1953-1956)

November 1956 CINE TECHNICIAN 163 CINE TECHNICIAN EDITORIAL PREPARE FOR THESE DEBATES DECISIONS of vital importance to the British Film Industry are likely to be taken by Parliament before Christmas. The Queen's Speech opening the new session earlier in November outlined the proposed legislation. Steps would be taken. Her Majesty said, " to continue the lending powers of the National Film Finance Corporation and to substitute a statutory levy on exhibitors for the present voluntary levy." In its report on the Speech from the Throne The Daily Film Renter pointed out that, since any law making the levy statutory must be operative by the end of October, the time schedule is very tight and it was therefore reasonable to assume that the bills would be before the House before the Christmas recess. The content of whatever legislation the Government may introduce for the future of our industry is of vital concern to every Trade Unionist employed in any branch of film making and for this reason we return once again in these columns to the statement of policy unanimously placed before the Government through the National Film Finance Corporation earlier in the year. Such slight evidence as we have had up to now suggests that the Government has so far paid little attention to the advice given to it by the workers in the industry. As we pointed out in last month's Cine Technician, the Government recently renewed unchanged the Anglo-American Film Agreement in face of the Unions' advice that it should be revised to bring it into line with other suggestions for the well-being of the industry. The whole scope of the forthcoming debates in the House is not yet clear, but it appears likely to be very wide and to offer an opportunity which we hope will be seized by all those M.P.s, particularly those members of the Labour Party, who recognise the need for a healty British film industry and who have steadfastly given us their support to this end in the past. Of course A.C.T.T. welcomes the news that the lending powers of the N.F.F.C. are to be continued, but, as was made very clear in the policy statement of the six Film Unions, a great deal more is needed than that. The N.F.F.C, if it is to do the job which it should be enabled to do for British films, must be made into a permanent body with far wider powers than it has at present. It scope should include, among other things, power to enable the State to acquire a circuit of cinemas equal in size and booking power to the present main circuits, and it should be placed in a position, too, from which it can initiate policy rather than merely follow it. We welcome the fact that legislation is to be introduced which will make the levy on exhibitors compulsory instead of voluntary, as it is at present. It must be borne in mind, however, that the total amount of the levy has in any case tended to decline. What is now necessary is that as well as making the levy a compulsory one, there should be an upward revision of the scale of the levy in order to ensure that producers shall in fact recoup at least their production costs. The Quota Act is also due for renewal during the coming year. While there is as yet no indication of the Government's intentions, this may be taken at the same time as the other film legislation. Our position on the quota is, briefly, that instead of being a British quota there should be a foreign quota and it should be adjusted so that the bulk of film programmes are British and a strictly limited remainder foreign. We strongly urge all our members to draw the attention of their Members of Parliament to these and the other points of our policy for the Film Industry which were set out fully in the statement of the six film Unions.'"" * BRITISH FILMS, the joint policy statement of the six Unions was issued to A.C.T.T. Shop Stewards for distribution to members at the time of its publication. A limited number of copies are still available at Head Office.