The British government has announced plans to extend by six months the £500M ($698M) Film & TV Production Restart Scheme, which is offering a substitute to coronavirus insurance for UK shoots.
The insurance scheme is considered a world-leading intervention, which has helped give producers the confidence to return to production. It will be extended until the end of December, meaning it will capture the glut of summer shoots.
Sky/FX comedy Breeders is one of the 160 productions to have taken advantage of the initiative, and the government has claimed that it has protected nearly 20,000 jobs. Feature Boxing Day has also used the scheme.
The extension was announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in his Budget on Wednesday. Commenting on the scheme last month, he said: “Tens of thousands of jobs in our Film & TV sector have already been protected by the Production Restart Scheme. The sector is not only a national treasure, but also a significant driver of our economy, so it’s only right that we do everything we can to get productions up and running again, and get people back doing what they love.”
“The scheme fills the insurance gap and gives productions the confidence to keep shooting, delivering the much-loved classics and ground-breaking new art that the UK is known for around the world.”
