British cartoons boom as industry is reanimated by tax relief deal -- Tax credits tipped the balance, says CBeebies boss who has commissioned six new series from homegrown studios ...
The creative surge comes after a helping hand from George Osborne, who has introduced a tax break for the animation industry, amounting to around 20% of production costs. Announcing the measure in his 2012 budget, Osborne said he wanted to ensure that Wallace and Gromit stayed at the top of the global animation game.
The effect has been to revive an industry that had been down in the dumps, with even the production of Thomas the Tank Engine being shifted in 2010 from Britain to Canada. Kay Benbow, head of CBeebies, said the tax credits had "tipped the balance", with more and more projects that had been pre-ordered by the channel suddenly going ahead. ...
Productions that had been outsourced overseas are being repatriated, he said, and there are signs of inward investment as foreign producers start to place work with UK animators. Blue-Zoo is adapting one animation for a Japanese client. ...
It has, of course, become a buyers' market.
Companies and conglomerates now look around for the biggest subsidies, and set up shop where the money spigot is biggest. And when the cash flow gets turned off, they move on to a new locale with a generous dole.
Robust and unfettered free enterprise is truly a wonder to behold. Now, let's get the lazy moochers off of food stamps so we can make room for bigger farm subsidies.
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