Eady Levy - The Levy Established

The Levy Established

The Eady Levy came into effect on 9 September 1950 but was not established on a statutory basis until its incorporation in the Cinematograph Film Act of 1957. It had the effect of both assisting the film industry, and reducing the effect of Entertainment Tax on film exhibition, to which all the cinema industry was opposed.

In the Eady Levy, a proportion of the ticket price was to be pooled — half to be retained by exhibitors (i.e., effectively a rebate on the tax) and half to be divided among qualifying 'British' films in proportion to UK box office revenue, with no obligation to invest in further production. The Finance Bill (1950) had previously made the necessary changes in the Entertainments tax. The levy was collected by HM Customs and Excise and administered by the British Film Fund Agency.

The rise in British cinema (including the James Bond movies) during the 1960s caused by an influx of American producers can be attributed to the Eady Levy - and also to the cheaper production facilities - making it cost far less in the UK to achieve the same quality of production. A number of American film makers worked in Britain in this period on a near-permanent basis, including Sidney Lumet, Stanley Donen, and John Huston. Stanley Kubrick moved to Britain in the early sixties to make Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange amongst others. Another expatriate American, Richard Lester, directed The Beatles' films A Hard Day's Night and Help!.

To qualify as a British film no less than 85% of the film had to be shot in the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth, and only three non British individual salaries could be excluded from the costs of the film ensuring the employment of British actors, technicans and film crew.

It was not only American film makers who came; a number of distinguished European directors also made films in Britain. These included Roman Polanski, François Truffaut (who made Fahrenheit 451) and Jean-Luc Godard.

The Eady Levy also provided funding for the National Film and Television School, which trained a number of directors and actors still in work today. It also provided funding for the boost of the British pornographic film industry through the 1970s