INTRODUCTION In 2019 and 2020, Creative Europe invested a total of €21.4 million in the UK’s creative, cultural and audiovisual sectors. This included €6.9 million through the Culture sub-programme and €14.4 million through the MEDIA sub-programme, €5 million of which supported distributors of UK films in other European countries. A further €90,000 was awarded through the Cross Sector strand. This takes the overall amount of Creative Europe funding the UK has benefitted from since 2014 to €111 million. The period we are reviewing in this report is inevitably overshadowed by uncertainty relating to the final stages of the process of the UK leaving the European Union and, in 2020, by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Given these circumstances, this report reviews the period covering 2019 and 2020 combined as the Desk prepares to close on 31 March 2021.
cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors’ engagement with Creative Europe remained remarkably strong demonstrating the agility, resilience and determination of professionals and organisations involved.
The UK’s official departure from the EU came into effect on 31 January 2020, commencing the 12 month transition phase. Soon after, in February 2020 it was confirmed that the UK would not be seeking participation in Creative Europe’s successor programme from 2021.
UK cinema audiences enjoyed the cinema releases of European films supported by Creative Europe, which included The Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Les Miserables and Little Joe. The MEDIA sub-programme also backed the distribution of many UK films in Europe with Ken Loach’s Sorry We’ve Missed You receiving nearly €1 million for its distribution in 22 countries. It’s become a tradition that the animated BBC One Christmas special is supported by Creative Europe and so it was the case in 2019 with the Snail and the Whale adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s beloved book. VOD services MUBI and Curzon
Throughout this challenging time, the Desk continued its activity to promote the programme in the UK and to encourage companies and organisations to apply despite uncertainties, and more generally to engage in international collaboration. During this period the UK’s 06
Many exciting projects received the support of Creative Europe in 2019 and 2020:
