London pic org to slash staff

CEO, board to resign as Film Commission goes from 14 to 4

By ADAM DAWTREY

LONDON -- The London Film Commission is slashing its staff from 14 to four after losing the bulk of its funding.

The commission failed to raise the £475,000 ($740,000) it was seeking from the U.K. government, broadcasters and sponsors in order to maintain its current scope of activity. Instead it will continue as a drastically reduced operation with $235,000 from the U.K.’s new Film Council.

The chairman, chief exec and most of the current board of directors are expected to resign. The four remaining staff will work toward creating a new structure.

The London Film Commission was set up in 1995 to help coordinate production across the city’s jigsaw of 32 boroughs. But it has always lived on the brink financially, and execs have had to devote a significant amount of time to fund-raising.