Mike Newell, the Bafta-winning director of films including Four Weddings And A Funeral and Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, has called for the appointment of a “UK film czar” to represent the independent film sector’s interests with government.

“You need people to make [the industry] cohere,” said Newell. “The whole trade at the moment has exploded into little inter-competing and not particularly friendly to one another [groups]. That person needs to be a czar, who needs to be able to massage all of these disparate interests.”

He was echoed by veteran sales executive Michael Ryan. 

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