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.

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.

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 cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors’ engagement with Creative Europe remained remarkably strong demonstrating the agility, resilience and determination of professionals and organisations involved.

Many exciting projects received the support of Creative Europe in 2019 and 2020:

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

Home Cinema continued championing European film while BFI Player was supported to deliver A Year of European Cinema promotional campaign. In November 2020, there were 29 UK Europa Cinemas all bracing themselves for the challenges of COVID-19 but unfaltering in their commitment to screen European films.

In the Culture sub-programme, UK-led projects awarded in 2019-20 demonstrated how UK organisations remained committed to collaboration despite Brexit uncertainties. 2020 was the last Cooperation Projects call the UK was fully eligible for, and one in five funded projects in this final call had UK partners. From developing new talent and supporting migrant artists, to transforming urban rooftops and making dance more diverse, the 54 funded projects, which can last up to four years, will continue to feed the ripples of European connections well beyond 2020.

In recognition of music as an important pillar of European culture, with its high economic significance and audience reach, Music Moves Europe was developed as a pilot programme in 2018, with new tenders and calls launched in 2019, which led to Brighton-based band Squid receiving a nomination for a MME Talent Award in 2020.

The i-Portunus pilot mobility scheme was launched in 2019 and ran for three open calls, supporting 29 UK-based visual and performing artists to travel in Europe for projects, and also enabling artists from other Creative Europe countries to travel to the UK to collaborate, network and learn.

This period also saw the development and launch of initiatives to support and help future-proof the sector in light of challenges such as sustainable and inclusive touring, and the implications of COVID-19 such as Perform Europe and the Creatives Unite platform.

The UK’s outward-facing cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors continue to share and exchange substantial expertise and innovative solutions within these European projects. Despite the political context of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, UK sectors remain fiercely committed to their valuable partnerships with European friends, positively contributing to and enhancing their value. The EU exit will require adaptation to the way these partnerships are made possible but it will not diminish the enthusiasm of UK organisations to engage in them.

It’s “All change!” from 2021 and these are uncertain times, but it is clear and more important than ever before that the UK’s creative sectors form part of a wider, vibrant European family, sharing so much history and common values. In the absence of Creative Europe, these deep links and connections will continue to thrive, even if the ways to support them may be different going forward.

Agnieszka Moody Director, Creative Europe Desk UK

“The impressive figures depicting the UK’s participation in both of Creative Europe’s sub-programmes, Culture and MEDIA, speak for themselves, but they alone do not show the full extent of the creative contribution that UK beneficiaries have made to the European Union’s cultural and creative landscape throughout the last programme period. The stories told by the people behind the projects, and the way those films and projects resonated with citizens, will have a lasting impact in showing the innovative potential and societal relevance of cross-border collaboration and circulation of audiovisual and cultural works. We would like to thank the UK Desk colleagues in particular for their commitment in helping to make this happen.”

Lucia Recalde Langarica and Barbara Gessler, Heads of Unit (Culture and MEDIA), Creative Europe at the European Commission

Edinburgh Panel and Networking Event 2019. Photo by Kat Gollock