The Fourth of July may mean US Independence Day to most people, but for those working in the TV and Film sector in the UK, it is also the date that TV and film trade body – and APPG Media Group sponsor – Pact, came into being thirty years ago.
Created by the merger of several film and TV agencies, Pact (Producers’ Alliance for Cinema and Television), was formed to protect and enhance the interests of the rapidly growing number of UK independent production companies, following a boom which had been spurred along by the introduction of a 25% quota for indie productions across all UK Public Service Broadcasters in the 1990 Broadcasting Act.
By the early 2000s, the combined annual profits of the top 50 independent producers were £13.5m and it became clear to the then regulator, the Independent Television Commission, that there was an imbalance in the market, with independent producers generating all of the IP and broadcasters reaping the financial rewards.
This led to Pact – with the help of the late Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, Lord Puttnam, Lord Dubs and Baroness Bonham-Carter, among others – successfully campaigning for the introduction of the Terms of Trade in the 2003 Communications Act. The Terms meant that for the first time indies could retain the rights to their programmes, allowing them to generate additional revenue from their IP both domestically and internationally.
The success of the Terms of Trade is evident from the annual Pact Census of the industry, which in 2019 showed revenues had increased to a record £3.3 billion. And that success is global, with over £1 billion of those revenues coming from international sources. Today, the UK indie sector is the envy of the world, lauded for its creativity, innovation, and highly skilled workforce.
Like many industries, we’ve been hit hard by the global pandemic, so it is unsettling that Ofcom, at a time of recovery for the sector, risks chilling the market by reviewing the Terms of Trade. It will be the third time since their inception that the Terms have been reviewed – on all occasions thus far they’ve been found to be fit for purpose.
And it appears that the PSBs also agree with us, as Ofcom recently published their responses to its review, and the majority of the PSBs are happy with the way the current framework is working. The Terms of Trade can – and do – adapt to industry developments. Through regular negotiations between the PSBs and Pact, we can reflect changes in commissioning and consumption, evidenced by the landmark deals we struck with Channel 4 and BBC iPlayer within the last 18 months.
So this year, as well as looking back to celebrate 30 years of creativity and innovation from UK indies, we will also be looking ahead to the next 30 years, and Pact will continue its work to ensure that indies are able to do what they do best – make great British TV and film.