David Puttnam- BAFTA Greats
David Puttnam CBE discusses his introduction to BAFTA in the early 1970s alongside his contemporaries Alan Parker and Ridley Scott, and reflects on receiving the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in 1982 and his friendship with both Balcon and Richard Attenborough. Puttnam also praises the achievements of the current CEO Amanda Berry and COO Kevin Price and looks forward to BAFTA’s future.
David Puttnam says he is ashamed UK voted for Brexit
Leave campaign exploited huge ignorance about EU, says Oscar-winning producer
The UK’s referendum result left David Puttnam, Oscar winner and member of the House of Lords who lives outside Skibbereen in west Cork, feeling “deeply, deeply ashamed” about his country.
However, he is not surprised: “I’ve been in a state of anxiety for the last two weeks. I feel that all of its worst elements have combined to create a result which I consider to be a catastrophe for my grandchildren,” he said.
The Leave campaign was “disgraceful”, exploiting huge ignorance about the EU. “We have allowed a kind of Monty Python parody of Europe to become commonplace, and we’ve entirely failed to correct it,” he said.
The Sun’s version of Brussels has gone “unchallenged”, he went on. “The fault lies not so much with the people who foolishly voted to leave, but with people like myself and those in the media who did not pay enough attention to addressing and correcting people’s misapprehensions.”
The UK is now divided along geographical and class lines, with working class communities in the once industrial northeast voting strongly for Brexit. More dangerously, it is split along generational lines.
“Class is the least of the issues – I think the crucial split is between those who think there is a bright future to be won if we Europeans stick together, and those who want to return to some Merrie England of the past as a kind of safety net.
“That’s why I think the split between the young and the old is the most serious. We have a growing problem of pensions. Young people feel themselves to be supporting an ever aging population – that’s already a fault line.
“Now you add to that another generational split over Brexit and, over time, the situation could become very, very serious,” says the film-maker, who became a Labour life peer in the House of Lords in 1997.
A second Scottish independence referendum is now a possibility given that it had voted overwhelmingly by 62 per cent to 38 per cent to remain part of the EU, only to be outvoted by England and Wales.
“I would absolutely understand if the Scots decided they had no reason to share England’s moment of lunacy – why would they, why should they? Remember that historically, Scotland has always had stronger ties to Europe than England, and is particularly close to France. ”
Surprised
The Welsh decision to vote Leave surprised him because, “rather like the Republic”, it has benefited “very significantly” from the EU. However, the Leave campaign was “at its most pernicious” there, targeting farmers.
Like others in Labour, Puttnam criticised Jeremy Corbyn’s performance during the referendum, describing it as half-hearted and lacklustre: “I don’t think the current leadership of the Labour Party ever had their heart in this.
“I think they felt conflicted – irrationally conflicted – and it was the unconvincing performance of the current Labour leadership that did much of the damage, particularly in the Labour heartlands,” he said.
“It is my sincere belief that had David Miliband won the Labour leadership contest six years ago, this would not have happened. He was a committed European and I’m convinced that today’s result would have been to remain if he’d been Labour leader.”
Northern Ireland’s 55.7 to 44.3 percentage points victory for Remain “was one of the few glimmers of good news”, but the UK’s decision could yet cause serious problems for relations with the Republic.
“It’s likely that the politicians involved will invoke some sort of historical fudge that continues to allow freedom of movement within the island of Ireland, but also I would guess between the island of Ireland and the rest of the UK. Obviously I’d welcome that.
“The only caveat is if the EU decides to play hard ball and says to the Republic, “I’m sorry, you can’t have any special arrangements with the UK.” But on balance, the desire for the EU Commission to make this as painless as possible for the Republic probably means Dublin will get its own way.
“I would be stunned and amazed if there wasn’t some form of special arrangement because it’s neither in the Republic’s interest nor that of the North to have a ‘hard border’ – the costs . . . are colossal, and in the end who is going to pay for it?”
Defensive compromises
A “way back” from the Brexit precipice for the UK “depends entirely on how frightened the other EU leaders are of their own electorates”, and whether they could make “defensible compromises” to form a new relationship with the EU for the UK.
Since the referendum result is not binding, he would not rule out a second referendum in the form of a UK general election. Depending on who is then leading the main parties, this could become a plebiscite on the UK relationship with the EU, he pondered.
“I wasn’t remotely surprised by David Cameron’s decision to resign as prime minister . . . but equally I can’t see Boris Johnson winning the Tory leadership,” he said.
Johnson will not be “forgiven for his largely unprincipled actions,” he said: “Personally I think he’s Britain’s Berlusconi, and I don’t think the more serious people in the Tory party will allow a Johnson premiership.”
Home secretary Theresa May, who played a quiet hand during the referendum, is the more likely successor to Cameron: “I know her, and I’ve always found her a very decent woman.”
If chosen, May could borrow from Irish history and send Johnson and Michael Gove to negotiate London’s departure terms from the EU in the way that Éamon de Valera sent Michael Collins to negotiate the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
“It was the ultimate poisoned chalice – she might consider something similar for [them]. It’s likely they’d come back with very bloody noses, having to explain why a lot of the things they’d promised during the referendum couldn’t happen,” he said.
Describing Johnson as “the most unprincipled”, Puttnam said his campaigning for Brexit had everything to do with personal ambition, with little thought for the damage that would be done to the future prospects of hundreds of thousands of young Britons.
“Nigel Farage is, in a sense the least culpable – he’s always held exactly the same position – Johnson and Gove may be feeling good for now, but they are going to come under terrible pressure, and I hope they’ll both be held wholly accountable when they fail to deliver the future they sold.”
Puttnam reserves a particular ire for media baron Rupert Murdoch, who used the referendum to increase his commercial influence in the UK through his newspapers’ virulent anti-European campaign.
“The notion that this is a victory for democracy is a fantasy – this is a victory for a mendacious group of media owners, not just Murdoch – that’s the reality and it really is a terrible, terrible day. Politically, I can’t remember a worse day in my life.”
Source: Irish Times
WATCH: David Puttnam says our children will pay the price of Brexit
British peer and Oscar winner David Puttnam has railed against Brexit, claiming future generations, including those in Ireland, will pay the price.
Speaking at an event in West Cork, Puttnam said the idea of re-erecting a border between the North and the Republic was “bonkers” and the vote in the United Kingdom today on whether Britain remains in the EU was the most important of his lifetime.
The filmmaker, a Labour peer in the House of Lords and a resident of Skibbereen, was speaking in Lisavaird National School near Clonakilty, the primary school attended by Michael Collins.
Puttnam was the first non-Irish person to address the annual Michael Collins commemoration in Béal na mBláth when he spoke there nine years ago.
Stressing Collins’ courage and statesmanship, he also appealed to any Irish residents with a vote in today’s referendum to vote remain.
He said the result of the vote would definitely affect Ireland and added: “I find that anyone lunatic enough to vote for the UK to leave Europe will have to pay a high price, but it won’t be them paying it — it will be their children and their children’s children.
“Anyone who thinks that the re-erection of a border between north and south is bonkers, I would suggest that you go home tonight and pray that the people of the UK come to a sane and sensible decision tomorrow and not damage your futures.”
Puttnam said he had already sent his postal vote in the referendum and would be “literally begging” anyone thinking of voting for the UK to leave the EU to think again.
He was also scathing of UKIP leader Nigel Farage and of the leader of the Leave campaign, Boris Johnson. Paying tribute to the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, he said her death had “isolated” Farage from other elements of the Leave campaign, adding: “Farage is an embarrassment to them.”
Puttnam described Boris Johnson as a “wholly unprincipled man” and said he hoped sufficient undecided voters would swing the vote towards remaining in the EU.
David Puttnam says our children will pay the price of Brexit from Atticus Education on Vimeo.
Source: Irish Examiner
Heavyweight TV and film figures back Remain vote
Heavyweight figures in the TV and film business, including Lord Puttnam and Working Title boss Tim Bevan, have come together to support Britain remaining in the European Union.
Some 23 major producers have co-signed a letter, arguing that remaining in the EU was the “right thing to do for our industry”.
Top of the Lake producer Iain Canning, James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, Big Talk’s Nira Park, Slumdog Millionaire producer Christian Colson and Debra Hayward and Alison Owen, who recently set up TV indie Monumental Pictures, have all signed the letter.
They highlighted that the EU’s MEDIA and Creative Europe Programme had delivered £100m to UK producers in the past 10 years, which has helped support thousands of creative and technical jobs nationwide.
They noted that one benefit of being a member of the EU was that producers were not subject to quotas or taxes and that equipment travels “carnet free”.
“Being in the EU means that our feature films, our television programmes and our games can travel far more easily across borders because they are not subject to quotas or taxes of any kind in Europe,” they added.
“This significantly increases the earnings of UK audiovisual companies helping them to grow their businesses and to employ far more people on film and TV sets, in special effects houses, in games development, in cinemas and right across all of our industries.”
They concluded that both Conservative and Labour governments over the past 20 years had helped build the TV and film industry into a “global powerhouse” and a vote to remain would allow this to continue.
The group is the latest to come out in favour of a remain vote following similar remarks from Pact, Animation UK and UK production group Argonon.
Source: Broadcast
ITV should make more current affairs content
Broadcaster should air more current affairs in return for keeping EPG position and retransmission fees from Sky, says peer
ITV should be required to make more current affairs programming in return for increased support from regulators, according to an influential inquiry into the future of broadcasting in the UK.
The inquiry, led by film-maker and Labour peer Lord Puttnam, said there was an opportunity to strengthen the broadcaster’s public service role and “recapture the scale and ambition of the best of ITV’s historic reputation for flagship current affairs programming”.
The suggested increases in the minimum requirements for current affairs programming are modest, moving from 15 minutes to 30 minutes a week of regional programming and the equivalent of 90 minutes a week on ITV’s national network. ITV’s licence currently requires 43 hours of current affairs programming a year on the national network and in 2015 it broadcast 63 hours. However, 90 minutes a week would be equivalent to 78 hours, the level required roughly a decade ago.
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In return ITV would get additional support including continued protection for its prominent place on the electronic programme guide and on future online services. The inquiry also recommends that, along with other public service broadcasters, ITV should be paid by platforms such as Sky which currently host its channels for free.
As well as increasing minimum requirements for non-news current affairs, the inquiry is calling for regulator Ofcom to embark on a review of ITV’s role in the UK’s broadcasting ecology and create an “imaginative proposal” for strengthening its contribution to democratic accountability.
Puttnam said: “There is a great opportunity here to reinvent current affairs television content for the 21st century, while building on the very best of ITV’s traditions. This would have the additional benefit of raising the game of other broadcasters, not least the BBC, by restoring the competition for quality that was a hallmark of the public service television world in the recent past.”
When ITV was established it had far more stringent public service commitments, but these have been steadily reduced as bosses argued they were hindering its commercial performance.
In 2013 Ofcom allowed ITV to reduce its weekday regional news bulletins from 30 minutes to 20 minutes but increased the number of regions targeted to 14 from eight. The regulator said audiences would benefit from more targeted programming. ITV currently runs 20 minutes of purely regional news as part of 30 minute programmes in all regions except London and Granada, where purely regional news makes up the full 30 minutes.
In 2015 ITV recorded an 18% rise in pre-tax profits to £843m, on revenues that grew 15% to £2.97bn. It has in recent years shifted increasingly into production through its ITV Studios arm, buying up companies such as The Voice creator Talpa Media.
Though ITV has been criticised for reducing current affairs output over previous decades, it recently launched Peston on Sunday, a weekly politics show fronted by former BBC business editor Robert Peston, one of a number of high profile hires.
An ITV spokesperson said: “ITV is proud to be a public service broadcaster with a strong commitment to very significant investment in original UK content, including international, national and regional news and current affairs.
“We welcome the inquiry’s recommendation that ITV, and other PSBs, should receive a range of regulatory support, including continued EPG prominence and the payment of retransmission fees. We look forward to reading the full report when it is published later this month.”
An spokesperson for Ofcom said: “Ofcom welcomes discussion about the future of public service broadcasting, to ensure it continues to meet audience expectations and needs. We will review Lord Puttnam’s report when published.”
The full findings of the Puttnam inquiry, which are expected to focus on the future of the BBC and Channel 4, will be published on 29 June.
Source: The Guardian
What has the EU ever done for my … TV viewing?
Television in Britain has come a long way since the days of the “Europudding” – costly 1980s drama flops involving several European countries that no one wanted to watch.
International co-productions of high-quality TV dramas are now commonplace and made with a global audience in mind. UK programme-makers increasingly turn to partners in the US, Australia and New Zealand, and Europe also plays its part.
A big exporter of television around the world, UK sales of shows and formats to Europe are worth about £380m a year.
How a vote to leave the EU would affect this is at the forefront of the sector’s concerns, both in terms of sales of UK content abroad and international co-productions being made in the UK.
A media industry survey by Broadcast and Screen International’s owner, MBI, last month said 67% of respondents thought Brexit would have a negative impact. MBI’s chief executive, Conor Dignam, said: “High-end drama tends to bring together a number of funders from international markets. Would that stop if we were not part of the European Union? Probably not. Would it make it more difficult? Potentially.”
Producers say homegrown expertise and tax relief draw programme-makers to the UK, not the EU.
The EU’s media programme, part of its Creative Europe scheme, has a more direct impact and invested €100m (£78m) into the UK’s audiovisual sector between 2007 and 2013. It provided funding for shows including BBC1’s Daphne du Maurier adaptation Jamaica Inn, the detective drama Hinterland, which aired on the BBC and the Welsh language channel S4C, and Sky Atlantic’s John Hurt thriller The Last Panthers.
The media programme also part-funded children’s series such as Shaun the Sheep and Julia Donaldson’s Room on the Broom, and films including Todd Haynes’ Carol, Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner, and the acclaimed Amy Winehouse documentary Amy.
The Chariots of Fire producer and former Channel 4 deputy chairman David Puttnam has warned that film, TV and creative industries would be “massively impoverished” by life outside of the EU.
Last year’s time travelling sci-fi drama The Refugees was the first co-production with a European partner – Atresmedia in Spain – for the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.
The EU has also made significant interventions in the UK market in terms of regulation of film and sports rights, and issues such as access to on-demand services abroad.
Source: The Guardian
Written by John Plunkett
