ABSTRACT
Fears for the future of the British film industry have a long history and stretch back to at least the 1920s when British film production came close to extinction (Hartog 1983). However, during the 1990s such fears have been aired with increasing frequency. The reasons for this are plain enough. UK feature production has been in decline (and well below other European countries such as France and Italy), the level of budgets has been falling and US films have increasingly dominated British screens and video outlets (accounting for over 90 per cent of theatrical box-office in 1992). A significant factor in these developments has been the role played by government. What this policy has been and what issues it has raised are examined below. 1
