Competitive tax incentives for VFX

From January 1^st 2025, an increased rate of tax relief will be available for VFX expenditure in the UK.

The UK Screen Alliance campaigned for many years to get better tax relief for VFX. This would allow the UK’s VFX industry to achieve its full potential, stimulating economic growth, innovation and the creation of highly skilled, highly productive jobs.

An unintended consequence of the structure of the UK’s tax reliefs for film and high-end TV put UK VFX vendors at a disadvantage compared to other territories. Productions could claim 25.5% tax relief on their UK spending via the Audio Visual Expenditure Credit. However, the relief is capped once a production has spent 80% of its budget in the UK. Any UK spending beyond 80% received zero relief. Often this impacted the VFX spending in the UK, a part of the production process which is easily transferred to another territory, where further and higher tax incentives can be claimed. The cap therefore actively disincentivised productions from remaining in the UK for VFX if they had also filmed here. Highly credible research estimated that over £350 million per year of VFX work was being performed outside the UK on productions that had filmed in the UK and claimed UK tax credits.

In the Budget Statement of March 2024, we were successful in persuading the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt to announce that from April 2025, the VFX spend will attract a rebate of 29.25% net and will be immune from the 80% cap. The cap will remain in place for non-VFX spend.

The General Election in July 2024, bought a change of government before our proposal could be implemented. However it has cross party support and after an anxious wait, we were relieved when the Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in her first Budget in October 2024, that the VFX uplift would go ahead. Furthermore the date of implementation, at our request, had been brought forward to January 1^st 2025, and following an industry consultation, a proposal made by Treasury to make the costs of Generative AI ineligible for the rebate had been dropped.

We estimate that the VFX uplift will attract £175 million per year of additional VFX spending, an increase of over 45%. This will create 2,000 new jobs directly and 800 indirectly. This is effectively free growth for the UK, as the tax receipts from the additional economic activity created will cover the cost of providing the incentive.

For further details on the VFX uplift see our webpage. Detailed HMRC guidance is now available for the VFX uplift here.

The Independent Film Tax Credit (IFTC) for films with limited budget of under £15 million introduced in 2024, does not have an exemption for VFX spend from the 80% cap on total eligible expenditure. Our intent is to fix the cap problem for all budget levels, as VFX for limited budget film is often serviced by smaller VFX boutiques, which are often outside of London. We will gather evidence to make the case for including a VFX exemption from the cap in the IFTC.

Past successes

We were part of the TV Coalition which lobbied for the introduction of tax relief for High End TV drama.

In 2013/14 UK Screen successfully campaigned to reduce the threshold for the minimum UK spend to allow more VFX-only projects to qualify for tax relief. Previously this threshold had been set at 25% and we argued that projects which had been shot elsewhere in the world were not choosing the UK for post and VFX because they were not meeting the minimum spend requirement. Alongside this change, UK Screen also proposed changing the cultural test such that there would be extra points for performing VFX work in the UK. The government agreed and introduced the necessary legislation to reduce the threshold to 10% and to reform the cultural test.

A plan for growth in visual effects and post production

A plan for growth in visual effects and post production: an election manifesto for the next UK government.

The general election was held on July 4th 2024, and the UK Screen Alliance set out a manifesto for the policies that it wanted pursued by the next government.

Read the manifesto here

Visual effects and post production companies in the UK turnover more than £1.3bn and employ in excess of 12,000 people. Within the £4.2bn of spending supported by the UK’s four film and TV tax incentives, VFX accounts for £363.5m (8.5%). In addition, there is £346.5m of spending on VFX for non-tax relief supported genres such as advertising. In total, VFX contributes £1.6bn in GVA to the UK economy each year.

We ask the next government to:

Enact the VFX tax credit uplift proposed in the Spring Budget 2024 [ACHIEVED OCTOBER 2024]
Remove the Generative AI exclusion from the VFX tax credit proposal which will cost jobs rather than create them [ACHIEVED OCTOBER 2024]
Bring forward the implementation date for the VFX tax credit to 1st Jan 2025 [ACHIEVED OCTOBER 2024]
Introduce an exclusion for VFX costs from the 80% cap on eligible expenditure in the new Independent Film Tax Credit
Secure the future of the NextGen/AIM level 3 Extended Diploma in Games, Animation and Visual Effects Skills
Further increase the flexibility of T Levels placements to allow more employers to offer them
Reform the Apprenticeship Levy to cover employers’ running costs for providing placements and to fund other forms of training
Fund further waves of skills bootcamps in the creative sector and reduce bureaucracy and delay in the bidding process
Introduce workplace exchange programmes to increase the quality of teaching at all levels of education by providing tutors with real experience of current working practices and incentivise industry professional to become part-time tutors.
Remove the Immigration Skills Charge from Skilled Worker Visas in priority sectors
Retain the Graduate Visa route and continue access to the Creative Visa for workers employed by VFX companies
Refrain from capping cap overall visa levels
Prevent Channel 4 from operating their own in-house post production services
Review the contractual terms offered to post production and VFX suppliers by independent producers, who have been commissioned by the regulated broadcasters, to foster a more stable investment environment for supply chain employers with fairer commercial practices

Please feel free to share our manifesto with parliamentary candidates in your area.

Animation UK, which is part of the UK Screen Alliance, has also produced a separate manifesto “A Blueprint For Sector Growth“, which we support.

Home-Grown Talent Pipeline

Home-grown skills supply is an area which UK Screen Alliance and Animation UK members have made considerable efforts in recent years, including: schools outreach, careers advice, apprenticeships, and engagement with FE and HE.

UK Screen Alliance’s policy is for our industry to invest in an effective talent pipeline to develop a home-grown workforce to work alongside the best international talent. UK Screen Alliance and Animation UK members have made considerable efforts in this area in recent years. These include:

NextGen Skills Academy – Industry owned programme in Further Education (16-18) teaching an industry deigned curriculum with a package of support from industry professionals leading to a Level 3 diploma qualification in Animation, VFX and Games.
NextGen Futures – Summer Boot-camp entry level opportunity for Londoners aged 18 to 24

https://summerofanimation.com/Access:VFX – schools outreach and careers advice to widen the available talent pool by making young people (from age 11) from diverse socio-economic backgrounds aware of the opportunities for careers in VFX and animation. Positive action to increase inclusion in the workforce has included a nationwide careers advice tour (19 events in 13 cities during October 2018)
Access:VFX Summer School – free online taster workshops for 11-16 year-olds during the summer holidays
Coordinated industry attendance at major careers fairs such as WorldSkills UK Live, The VFX Festival, BFX, RTS Futures and animation markets and festivals.
Voluntary Animation Levy on UK production to boost CPD. Administered by ScreenSkills under the direction of an agreed industry Animation Skills Council.
UK Screen Alliance and Animation UK events introducing London careers advisers to the sector. This has led to several speaking invitations to schools’ industry encounter events and a mailing list distribution to schools and colleges for news of careers opportunities.

Apprenticeships in VFX, and animation – 2D Compositor and Assistant Technical Director apprenticeships have been delivering since 2016 with some spectacular personal successes, despite real difficulties making the government’s apprenticeship rules work in our industry to allow the programme to scale-up.
UK Screen Alliance through its connections with the Creative Industries Council was able to direct funds from the Creative Sector Deal towards the development of further apprenticeship standards for VFX and Post. Now there is a suite of around 20 relevant specialist standards and UK Screen Alliance has participated in trailblazer groups to facilitate their development.
Following two years of development initiated by UK Screen Alliance, a group of employers has developed an apprenticeship for Post Production Technical Operators that was approved by the Institute of Apprenticeships in April 2019. The first cohort started in April 2020 at London South Bank University.
The UK Screen Alliance ALT scheme – A match making service to link large apprenticeship levy payers who are willing to transfer/donate a proportion of their levy payment for the benefit of smaller companies willing to take on apprentices. This has enabled several of our members to take on apprenticeships and have their training fully subsidised. Recent changes made by the government to streamline transfers via a formal transfer pledge system have been as a result of our campaigning.
Engagement with future education policy – representatives for the VFX and Animation sector have been fully engaged in the creation of T-Levels through membership of the Media, Broadcast and Production T-Level panel. T-Levels are technical qualifications that will sit alongside A-Levels.
Universities – Many VFX and animation companies have direct relationships with the best university courses. However, in general, university engagement needs to be more coordinated in order to promote more centres of excellence that deliver the work-ready high-quality graduates in sufficient numbers. Work experience needs to be built in to university courses. UK Screen Alliance and Animation UK are working up proposals to foster greater cooperation between industry and university.
Many animation, post and VFX companies run summer internship programmes.

The VFX and Animation sector participated in the Creative Industries Sector Vision and will engage with the Creative Careers Campaign.
We are actively engaged with policy-makers via the Creative Industries Council, where UK Screen’s CEO, Neil Hatton chairs the CIC Technical Education Pathways sub-group. We have been campaigning for substantial policy change to unlock the Apprenticeship Levy for the Creative Industries and this has resulted in the flexi-jobs apprenticeship scheme.

100% funding for apprenticeships in smaller companies

UK Screen’s Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Fund, known as the ALT Fund, has at least £150,000 available for apprenticeship training in small and medium sized visual effects, post-production and animation companies.

The UK Screen Alliance ALT Fund

UK Screen Alliance has launched its Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Fund, known as the ALT Fund. This pot which has at least £150,000 available for apprenticeship training in small and medium sized visual effects, post-production and animation companies.

The ALT fund covers 100% of apprentice training costs and works by asking large companies who pay the compulsory Apprenticeship Levy, to transfer contributions they haven’t been able to spend to smaller non-levy paying companies (with less than a £3 million payroll) who want to take on apprentices.

Donor companies, although not benefiting immediately, will benefit eventually from the improved pool of talent available in the industry in future. The aim is to increase the overall stock of trained competent people within our industry for the benefit of the whole industry. Already several large levy-paying companies have promised a portion of their unused levy contributions which would otherwise expire and be absorbed by HM Treasury.

UK Screen Alliance are pro-actively marketing the ALT Fund to non-levying paying employers to facilitate the introduction of willing levy transfer partners. The cash within the ALT fund is “virtual” money made up of pledges from donor companies. The actual funds flow via an internal re-allocation within the Government’s Digital Account Service which is agreed between the donor and recipient companies. The chosen approved training providers then pull this funding down directly on a monthly basis to fund the delivery of the training. Such transfers are allowed by the Government’s rules. UK Screen Alliance will be acting as a dating agency to match the donor companies to the recipients.

Non-levy paying companies can access this free training money for either new apprentices or very importantly, to up-skill existing employees. VFX houses, post production companies or animation studios could receive around £9,000 to fund apprenticeship training such as 2D Compositor, Assistant Technical Director or Post Production Technical Operator. A list of apprenticeships that can be 100% funded by the ALT scheme are below.

UK Screen Alliance charges levy recipients a small admin fee which is equivalent to 1% of the transfer to cover our costs for introducing willing transfer partners, but this fee is waived for UK Screen Alliance or Animation UK member companies. Donor companies pay no fee.

We are also now accepting requests from smaller companies willing to train apprentices who want to access the ALT fund. Please contact UK Screen Alliance for all the details

Apprenticeships available now that can be 100% funded by the ALT scheme:

Junior 2D Artist (Visual Effects) – Level 4
Assistant Technical Director (Visual Effects) – Level 4
3D VFX Artist (generalist) – Level 4
Post Production Technical Operator – Level 4
Junior Animator – Level 4
Storyboard Artist – Level 7
Broadcast and Media Systems Technician – Level 5
Creative Industries Production Manager – Level 7
Media Production Coordinator – Level 4
Junior Content Producer – Level 3
Broadcast Production Assistant – Level 3
Broadcast & Media Systems Technical Operator – Level 3
Team Leader – Level 3
Business Administrator – Level 3
Project Manager – Level 3
Digital Marketer – Level 3
Marketing Executive – Level 4
PR Assistant – Level 4
HR Support – Level 3
Accounts assistant – Level 2 and Level 3

Visual Effects Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships in VFX and Animation have been delivering since 2016 with some spectacular personal successes, despite real difficulties making the government’s apprenticeship rules work in our industry to allow the programme to scale-up. Since then, work has continued on developing a further tranche of VFX apprenticeship standards for 3D Artists, Supervisors, and TDs, which are now being deployed.

UK Screen Alliance and our members are actively involved in the development and promotion of apprenticeship standards and are a part of the trailblazer group working on construction of the courses.

For a full list of apprenticeship standards that are relevant to VFX see our list here.

Post Production Technical Operator Apprenticeship

A new apprenticeship post production technical operators, championed by UK Screen Alliance, is now available. The apprenticeship was developed in conjunction with a group of Trailblazer employers including Clear Cut Pictures, Technicolor, MPC, Fifty Fifty Post, Molinare, Company 3, Encore, Run VT, Edit Store, Platform and Pinewood.

This level 4 apprenticeship, which is equivalent to an HNC qualification, leads to jobs as machine room operators in post-production companies, VFX houses and specialist content delivery companies. It is also suitable not only to post-production companies operating in TV, film and advertising, but also to in-house edit assistants working at indie production companies.

“Post production technical operators are key to smooth running of a post-production facility. The role became more challenging following the transition to end-to-end digital workflows and this apprenticeship will provide the essential knowledge and skills to give trainees a solid foundation for a successful career.”
Rowan Bray, MD of Clear Cut, Chair of the Trailblazer group

Two years in-the-making, the development of the apprenticeship was assisted by secretariat support paid for by the High-end TV Skills Fund administered by ScreenSkills.

“We wanted to support the development of this apprenticeship because technical operators are such an important part of the post-production process and we know that the technical demands are increasing all the time. It is also part of our broader work using industry contributions to the skills fund to help find, train and retain the skilled and inclusive workforce that high-end television production needs.”
Kaye Elliott, Director of the ScreenSkills High-end TV Skills Fund

The course covers best practice for media ingest, storage management, media export, secure digital despatch, support for creative colleagues in content finishing and quality assessment of finished content. Trainees are assessed for “operationally competence” after the 12-month apprenticeship by a multiple-choice exam, a professional discussion and practical tests under the eye of an independent assessor.

Industry trade body, UK Screen Alliance backed the apprenticeship from the start and CEO, Neil Hatton is one of its key authors.

“We want to raise the bar in technical skills for post production operators by ensuring that they don’t just learn how to do the necessary tasks by rote but instead have a deeper understanding of the theory behind the operational best practice as well”
Neil Hatton, CEO, UK Screen Alliance

Apprentices spend 20% of their working time in off-the-job training delivered by an approved training provider, whilst the remaining 80% is practical on-the-job training and experience provided by their employer.

The training costs around £9,000 per apprentice, but as this apprenticeship has been fully approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, larger companies can purchase the off-the-job training out of their compulsory Apprenticeship Levy payments and smaller companies can receive a full subsidy to cover these costs.

“The government will pay 95% of the apprenticeship training cost for non-levy paying employers but UK Screen can better that via our ALT scheme. We have obtained promises from large employers in our sector with unspent levy, that they will donate a portion of that to small employers which will then cover 100% of the training costs. UK Screen’s role is to act as dating-agency to connect willing levy donors to smaller companies wanting to employ apprentices and to facilitate that transfer.”
Neil Hatton, CEO, UK Screen Alliance

The employer group selected London South Bank University (LSBU) to be the preferred training supplier for this apprenticeship. LSBU is delivering the ‘off-the-job’ elements of the apprenticeship in three blocks, spread over a year. The University was chosen by a panel of employers responsible for ensuring a high quality level of teaching and value for money for applicants.

Apprentices undergo an external independent assessment by AIM Assessment at the end of the one-year course, after which, successful apprentices will receive an officially recognised qualification. AIM Assessment will gauge operational competence via a multiple-choice knowledge test, a professional discussion with an independent industry experienced assessor and a demonstration of practical tasks.

Apprenticeship levy-paying employers can offset the training costs against their compulsory levy payments, but smaller companies that don’t pay the Levy could receive a 100% subsidy on the training cost by applying to the UK Screen Alliance ALT (Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Fund) which redistributes unused levy contributions from larger companies.

View the Post Production Technical Operator informational leaflet:

Post Production Apprenticeship e-brochure 2021 Download

Apprentices can apply on the London South Bank University website:

LSBU webpage about the course
https://www.lsbu.ac.uk/study/course-finder/post-production-technical-operator-apprenticeship

A video recording of the virtual information session for the Post Production Technical Operator Apprenticeship 2021 cohort can be viewed in the section below:

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A SIC note for post-production

Statistics are the lifeblood of our advocacy work. They provide the evidence for change. The government collects data on businesses through the Office of National Statistics (ONS) but we have found that 30% of businesses in the post-production and VFX sector are incorrectly classified outside of our sector. This means that the number of enterprises in our sector, their turnover, jobs created and value to the UK economy are significantly under counted and therefore under recognised by government.

We estimate that there is about £300 million of UK turnover that is not recognised as post-production because it’s incorrectly classified.

How does this occur?

Each year a company has to provide a Confirmation Statement to Companies House, which lists its directors and persons with significant control etc. It used to be called your Annual Return. It also asks the company to provide its Standard Industrial Classification code, known as its SIC.

ONS use this SIC to place the vital statistics of companies into standardised industrial sectors. Then your figures are gleaned from business surveys, Companies House filed accounts, VAT returns and PAYE records, and are totalled with other business within that SIC.

If you want to what the figures look like, check out our industry data webpage.

How can I check my SIC code?,

It’s easy to check a company’s SIC code as it is publicly available on the Companies House website. We’ve noticed that many of you may be using the wrong code. It’s an easy mistake to make as unless you are familiar with the structure of the codes, it’s quite hard to find the optimal SIC for your business. The Film and TV codes are actually listed under Section J – Information and Communications rather than Section R – Arts, Entertainment and Recreation, where you might expect to find them.

Does it affect my business if I have the wrong code?

In short, no. It doesn’t stop you operating your business in the wrong sector, in the way that operating outside of the business sectors in your Memorandum and Articles of Association might. It also doesn’t affect the way you business is taxed.

So why is it important that I have the right SIC code?

If you want your sector to be successful and for your business to have the best conditions to flourish, we need to have the best quality evidence available for the government to make decisions about what affects you. ONS have privileged access to a lot of confidential sources that we cant see, so they are in the best position to measure our sector, so let’s make sure they are counting everyone.

So what is the right SIC for my company?

If your primary business is post-production or VFX, the right SIC code for you is definitely 59120 which covers “Motion picture, video and television programme post-production activities”. It shouldn’t be 59111, 59112 or 59113 which are for “Motion picture, video and television programme production activities”, unless your business is creating IP rather than servicing its creation.
If you are primarily involved in studios or location services there’s no specific code so 59111, 59112 or 59113 are the best fit depending on whether you work in film, video or television, but then your turnover is being lumped in with all the production companies.
Animation companies have more choice. Feature animation falls into 59111 and TV animation could be 59113. However if your animation business is mostly service work rather than IP creation, then 59120 is for you.
60200 for “Television programming and broadcasting activities” is meant for broadcasters not for post-houses specialising in broadcast.
If you are an NLE hire company, 77390 for “Renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods not classified elsewhere” might look right, but if your hire business model is veering toward being a pop-up-post facility, then consider reporting your turnover within SIC Code 59120.
Facilities specialising in audio-for-picture should also be using 59120 for post-production rather than 59200 for “Sound recording and music publishing activities” which connects you with music industry rather than the screen sector.
Using SIC 90030 for “Artistic Creation” puts your turnover in a “catch-all” category which is at least part of the creative industries but denies the screen sector an estimated total of £29.7 million of your valuable turnover.
There are some of you using even more generic SIC Codes that means your combined £84 million of turnover is not even allocated to the creative sector at all. Please don’t use these when there are much better alternatives. These include;
- 62090 – Other information technology service activities
- 74909 – Other professional, scientific and technical activities not classified elsewhere
- 82990 – Other business support service activities not classified elsewhere
- 96090 – Other service activities not classified elsewhere.

How do I change my SIC Code?

It’s simple. Next time you annual Confirmation Statement date comes round, if you need to change your SIC simply update it online at Companies House. You could do it now if you wanted to without waiting for you Confirmation Date, but it would cost you £13.

Can I have more than one SIC?

Yes you can if your business does multiple activities. You can have up to 4 SIC codes. We don’t recommend this as we can’t see how ONS apportions your figures accurately between the different SICs, other than doing it equally. If one code fits for most of your business use that, rather than multiple codes for all your secondary services.

The Government pays far more attention to their own official statistics than to any research that we might submit. At a time when we have big economic challenges, please review your SIC Code when you submit your Confirmation Statement and amend if necessary so that our sector’s value is not being under-reported. Thank you.

Guidance for Safe Working in Post-Production and VFX during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Our guidance has now been withdrawn

In 2020, UK Screen Alliance, in consultation with companies from the post and VFX sectors and industry bodies BFI, BFC, Pact and BECTU, published Guidance for safe working in Visual Effects and Post-Production during the Pandemic. The guidance provided a framework for companies as they transitioned back to on-premises working with client attendance, whilst ensuring the safety of everyone.

The substantial risk to health at the beginning of the pandemic has receded with high levels of vaccination, antibodies from previous infection and weaker variants. Since January 2022, levels of staff absence in post & VFX due to Covid-19 have noticeably reduced.

On 24th February 2022, the UK Government removed all remaining legal restrictions relating to Covid-19 in England. Legal restrictions remain in Scotland and Wales, but are likely to be removed in the coming weeks. Legal restrictions in Northern Ireland have also been removed.

Increasingly, the emphasis will be on personal responsibility to follow recommendations rather than being constrained by legal statute. In areas where you are no longer mandated to self isolate, it is still strongly recommended that you do not attend the workplace if you have symptoms of Covid-19. In this respect the protocols have not changed.

It is still mandatory to consider Covid-19 specifically within a company’s risk assessment and you should also consider the business continuity risks of spreading Covid-19 in the workplace, as well as the health risks.

Just as we did on the introduction of the Guidance, we have consulted once more with our members on how it should be phased out.

We have decided that specific guidance for post & VFX, which goes above and beyond the guidance issued by the four governments of the UK, is no longer necessary, and that the UK Screen Alliance guidance should be withdrawn. Companies, employees, contractors and clients should continue to follow the overall government guidance applicable to their location. You should still retain hand sanitising stations, keep up a rigorous cleaning regime, and ensure good ventilation. There is no need to dismantle screens if you have them in areas such as your reception. Continue to recommend wearing face coverings if you are in confined spaces with people you do not normally meet and continue to test for Covid-19 where appropriate.

Specific guidance documents for filming developed by the British Film Commission (BFC), the UK broadcasters and Pact will remain in place, as they are a condition of the Production Restart insurance scheme. The business continuity risks are higher for filming, where the absence of key cast or crew on set can result in delays costing hundreds of thousands of pounds per day. In post or VFX, the continuity of work is less dependent on specific individuals, who are often able to continue working from home if they have to isolate.

Useful links

Subsidised training for Post & VFX

Whilst there’s plenty of training available at full price, finding subsidised courses and programmes for employees in Post-production and VFX is hard going these days.

Not since 2004 in the early days of UK Post (as we were then called) has there been significant public subsidy avaialable for training in broadcast post. Back then some of our members, with support from UK Post created the “First Post” training scheme to move runners up into their first operational roles. This programme was funded by the European Social Fund and gave training to over 120 new entrants.

Whilst VFX received some DCMS funding a few years ago, designed to underpin the skills demand created by the tax credits, broadcast post-production has not been well served in this respect for years and UK Screen Alliance has been lobbying to redress this.

UK Screen Alliance liaises with the main skills body for our industry, ScreenSkills, formerly Creative Skillset, to direct funding into initiatives relevant to post-production and VFX.

The High-End Televison Skills Fund, which is administered by ScreenSkills, is funded by a voluntary levy paid by TV drama productions. We succesfully lobbied for them to assign some of this fund each year for post and VFX training and now UK Screen Alliance is at heart of deciding the priorities for this investment. UK Screen’s CEO, sits on the HETV Council and chairs the sub-group which allocates the Post and VFX funding.

Since 2017, we have focussed the HETV post & VFX funds towards the following programmes:

HDR training
Broadcast Quality Control training
IMF Delivery
Client relationships and negotiation for Post & VFX training
Leadership and Management of remote/hybrid teams
ACES colour workflow
Short courses on Blackmagic Resolve colour grading software
Short couses on Avid Editing and Storage Management
Return to Work Scheme delivered by Film London aimed at getting experienced people back into jobs after extended parental leave
Secretariat support for the creation of the Post Production Technical Operator apprenticeship standard
A tendering process to engage a prefered training supplier to deliver the Post Production Technical Operator apprenticeship

Where applicable, these training initiatives are made available for company employees. Employers are expected to match fund the HETV contribution, but freelancers receive full funding. Applicants for the funds must be working in HETV or have strong and realistic aspirations of doing so.

These courses are popular so check for avaialbilty on our website and the ScreenSkills site. We notify our members of training opportunities via our regular email newsletters.

Footnote: As part of the Creative Sector Deal in 2019, DCMS provided funds for the development of more apprenticeship standards. UK Screen Alliance working with ScreenSkills directed this funding to create 3 new VFX apprenticeship standards, a post production engineering standard, an audio engineer standard (in conjunction with UK Music) and a camera technician apprenticeship standard.

VFX and Post-Production Code of Practice

The Code sets out a series of commitments towards clients, employees and suppliers that can be expected of UK Screen’s VFX & Post Production members.

In 2013, UK Screen launched the first ever Code of Practice for UK Visual Effects companies. It was updated in 2018 to include reference to the BFI bullying and harassment code and the scope was widened to include post production companies.

The Code, which sets out a series of commitments towards clients, employees and suppliers, was developed in consultation with UK Screen member companies, following the extension of the creative sector tax reliefs to include high-end television and animation.

The new tax reliefs, alongside the proposed 2014 changes to film tax relief, are expected to attract more culturally-European productions to the UK, including content-makers previously unfamiliar with the world-leading infrastructure and talent available here. UK Screen decided to create a Code of Practice to help these new clients, and other audiences, understand what they can expect from a UK Screen VFX company.

The UK already has an excellent reputation for high quality visual effects. Its world-class talent base, collaborative working practices and cutting edge technologies attract the biggest and best productions to the UK. It is important that potential new inward investors understand the professionalism and integrity of the businesses which make up this sector. The VFX Code of Practice demonstrates the existing good practices and the shared standards to which our members aspire.

The UK Visual effects community is a vibrant group of companies which challenge each other to deliver world class VFX work to their clients; to provide a dynamic and enjoyable working environment for their staff; and to ensure that the industry continues to grow and develop through investment in technology, skills and training.

Whether it is about dealing with a client’s confidential material, addressing the well-being of employees or simply paying a supplier on time, there are certain standards that can be expected of UK Screen’s VFX members. We are immensely proud that they have supported this initiative and signed up to the Code of Practice.

With a new revised Code, launched in 2018, we hope that post-production companies will also adopt it and that VFX companies will reaffirm their commitment to it.

VFX & Post Production Code of Practice 2018 Download

VFX Code of Practice 2013 Download

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