“The Miracle Club,” an Ireland-U.K. co-production starring Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Laura Linney, is one of a further nine independent co-productions being supported by the U.K. Global Screen Fund with a total of £1.32 million ($1.74 million).
The film is produced by Chris Curling and Zephyr Films with Irish producer ShinAwil Limited and funding from Screen Ireland and is being executive produced by Embankment Films.
Previously announced grant recipients include “My Happy Ending,” a U.K.-Israel official co-production, starring Miriam Margolyes and Andie MacDowell, which has recently wrapped production in Wales, and “The Coop Troop,” a U.K.-China-France animated co-production, which is now in the principal animation stage in Northern Ireland.
The U.K. Global Screen Fund is worth £7 million, which is financed by the U.K’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and administered by the British Film Institute. It was set up to replace grants disbursed from Creative Europe’s MEDIA program post Brexit. The fund is designed to be a new source of international distribution, business development and co-production coin for U.K. companies in the film, TV, documentary, animation and interactive sectors.
The other co-productions benefiting from the latest round of funding include Germany-U.K. co-production “The Drift,” “Drift” (U.K.-France), “The Ghastly Ghoul” (U.K.-Ireland), “The Settlers” (U.K.-Chile-Argentina-France-Denmark), “Merkel” (U.K.-Germany-Denmark), “Elephant Mother” (U.K.-Canada), “Stolen” (U.K.-South Africa) and “Bring them Down,” (U.K., Belgium and Ireland).
In addition, research commissioned by the DCMS and the fund has revealed that 70% of global audiences recognize “Britishness” as a mark of high-quality, with 30% of adults saying that British film and television influences their view of the U.K. The research across 15 international territories also showed that 66% of people who have previously visited the country said that seeing British locations and landmarks in film or TV influenced their decision.
U.K. Minister for the Creative Industries, Julia Lopez, said: “The U.K. independent production industry is world-leading, consistently serving up innovative, creative and inspirational content for big and small screens that wow audiences across the globe. Thanks to our brilliant U.K. Global Screen Fund, we are helping to create skilled jobs and boosting the U.K.’s international influence, which has a positive knock-on impact on tourism and the wider economy.”
The fund has also supported the development of new branding to promote screen content around the world. ScreenUK is created to showcase and celebrate U.K. screen talent, which will launch as a digital campaign, rolling out internationally over the coming months.
Neil Peplow, director of international, BFI said: “This extensive global research shaped how the new brand ScreenUK was developed, giving us valuable insights into how people around the world see us. When it comes to creativity and storytelling, the U.K. consistently produces outstanding talent and content and this report underlines how influential the U.K. film, TV and games sectors are on the global stage.”