THE BUSINESS OF CREATIVITY: SIR WILLIAM SARGENT ON POLICY, PROFIT AND THE UK’S SCREEN BOOM 

A leader in the global VFX and creative industries, Sir William Sargent explains the meteoric rise of the UK’s screen industry off the back of strategic government intervention and what’s required to sustain the creative pipeline.

Emma Fitzsimons (Princess Pictures), Sophie Taylor (Nant Studios), Sir William Sargent (Framestore), Sharna Hackett (Weta FX), Katie Shortland (Princess Pictures) and Lara Hopkins (Framestore). Photo by Daniel Mahon

Sir William Sargent, co-founder of the Academy Award-winning visual effects house, Framestore, spoke to a small group of Victorian screen industry leaders on Monday morning about the impact of UK government policies on the creative industries, and the combined importance of fiscal incentives, education, and clustering to attract worldclass productions and ensure economic growth for the screen sector.

Sir William Sargent addressing the room at Docklands Studios Melbourne. Photo by Daniel Mahon

Sir William Sargent co-founded Framestore in 1986 and led its expansion from an award-winning commercials house to a world-renowned film and digital studio based in major cities like London, New York, LA, Chicago, Montreal, Mumbai, and since 2020, Melbourne. 

Over the past three decades, working with clients like Disney, Warner Brothers, Netflix, and NBC Universal, the Oscar, Emmy and BAFTA-winning studio has worked on all the Harry Potter films, Gravity, Guardians of the Galaxy, Paddington, Marvel’s Avengers series, Dr Strange, Christopher Robin, and Blade Runner 2049 to name a few. Although, it wasn’t that long ago that the UK was struggling to attract any major screen activity at all, Sargent explains. 
 A group of Victorian screen industry leaders listening to Sir William Sargent. Photo by Daniel Mahon

In fact, it was the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair who invited the heads of Warner Brothers to Number 10 Downing Street when it seemed likely the Harry Potter film franchise would be made in America and convinced those executives that this UK story needed to be made on UK soil. He promised his government would help facilitate this endeavour in whatever way possible. “And everything else is pretty much history, so to speak,” Sargent says. 

The Harry Potter precedent paved the way for the UK’s creative industries to become a formally recognised sector. “By making this a sector, you then have the Foreign Office, the Transport Office, the Department of Treasury, and everybody else with an opinion involved. And more importantly, you have one or two officials in each department whose job it is to be responsible for the creative industry sector in their space,” Sargent says. "The creative industries are now bigger than the financial sector in the UK."

A group of Victorian screen industry leaders in attendance. Photo by Daniel Mahon

Of course, the cultural legacy of creating screen projects in the UK is essential, but the business accomplishments and economic drivers of the sector are what determines its success. “The emphasis that I always return to is about culture and the creative industries as a business. This is about jobs and economic activity. This is not something that's nice and interesting and niche, this is about really important business.” 

The creative industries contributed £125 billion to the UK economy in 2023 – close to $200 billion AUD – and accounted for one in 14 jobs across the country. The work being done in the creative sector is also informing and advancing disparate sectors, Sargent explains. Computer Generated technologies are now being used in medical procedures to virtually enact operations before conducting them on patients, saving time and ensuring better accuracy and patient outcomes. 

A group touring one of Nant Studios’ LED volume screens at Dockland Studios Melbourne. Photo by Daniel Mahon

Despite the creative industries growing at twice the national average in terms of jobs and economic activity, one of the biggest barriers the sector faces in the UK is contending with parents who believe their kids should not enter this field for fear of career instability. This presents a unique social challenge to develop the future workforce, and one that can only be addressed by partnering with key educational and tertiary institutions. “The pipeline relies on education,” Sargent stresses. It’s paramount that the education system and curriculum produce skilled graduates ready to step into the plethora of opportunities available in the creative industries.

Clustering, or the growth of competing businesses vying for the same work in the same geographical location, is equally tantamount to the sector’s overall success, Sargent says. “Over the past 25 years, I could see three of my competitors’ front doors from my front door in Soho; we were competing within 50 yards of each other. So that made us very strong, because if we weren't good enough, we’d miss out.” In the same way a restaurant will likely generate a greater profit on a street with 50 other restaurants, compared to a restaurant on a street with no other restaurants. 

Anthony Tulloch (CEO of Docklands Studios Melbourne), Sir William Sargent, and Producer Paul Currie engage in conversation at Docklands Studios Melbourne. Photo by Daniel Mahon 

Creativity and profitability are inextricably linked, Sargent says. “We get to make creative choices [at Framestore] because we are financially strong. Without that, you find yourself chasing jobs just to pay bills, or saying yes to jobs you really shouldn’t. So, financial strength and creative strength are virtuous. That’s something that’s not said very much in this industry.” 

Learn more about the Victorian Government’s Screen Industry Strategy 2021-25 here and the vision for putting screen at the centre of Victoria’s growth and prosperity.