Record contributions to film Skills Investment Fund

Studio blockbusters to arthouse indies and micro-budget productions paid a record amount towards training the next generation in 2017-2018, Creative Skillset announced today.

Contributions to the Skills Investment Fund (SIF) – commonly known as the film levy – hit £937,768, an increase of 18 per cent on the year before and a 24 per cent increase in terms of the total number of films contributing.

The receipts are invested in skills including the Trainee Finder scheme, which places trainees on placements with productions, as well as other schemes and initiatives to improve the diversity of the workforce and support training at every level of a career in screen. More than 450 people received SIF-funded training in the last year.

The majority of productions paying in also used the trainees supported, including Mike Leigh’s new film with Film4, Peterloo, Disney’s Artemis Fowl, and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald from Warner Bros.