CREC021130 - Qualifying productions: independent films: creative connection condition

Section 1179DJA Corporation Tax Act (CTA) 2009

The Corporation Tax (Certification as Low-Budget Film) Regulations 2024

A film is treated as an independent film if it has been issued with a low-budget certificate by the British Film Institute (BFI). The BFI will issue a certificate if the film passes the cultural test for film and also meets two further conditions:

  • The budget condition (CREC021120)
  • The creative connection condition

This page covers the creative connection condition. Please read CREC021120 for more detail about the budget condition.

The creative connection condition states that a film is an independent film if

  • it is an official co-production (CREC010300), or
  • it has a UK writer or director.

A film is an official co-production if it is produced under the Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-production or one of the UK's official bi-lateral co-production agreements. ‘UK’ means someone who has British citizenship or is ordinarily resident in the UK. ‘Writer’ includes scriptwriters and writers of documentary treatments.

A film only needs to meet one of the two options. A co-production does not also need to have a UK writer or director. Equally, a film with a UK writer or director does not also need to be a co-production.

Films with multiple writers or directors

If more than one writer or director works on a film, the UK writer or director for the purposes of the creative connection condition must be the lead writer or director.

A writer is the lead writer if they make a greater or equal contribution to the film in that role than any other writer.

A director is the lead director if they make a greater or equal contribution to the film in that role than any other director.

Evidence requirements

If the film meets the creative connection condition because it is an official co-production, no further evidence is required by the BFI.

For films that are not official co-productions, production companies must provide the BFI with:

  • the name of the writer or director the film is relying on to meet the condition
  • their role in relation to the film (ie. whether they are a writer or director)
  • their nationality or ordinary residence, which must be UK
  • an auditor’s report verifying the nationality/residence of the writer or director
  • the contract of employment between the writer or director and the production company

If the UK writer or director is the lead writer or director out of multiple, the production company must also provide the BFI with:

  • the reasons why the UK writer or director should be considered the lead writer or director
  • the contracts of employment between the production company and all other writers or directors
  • the chain of title for the film (only needed for lead writers)

The requirements are the same for interim certification and final certification.

Not all writers and directors are directly employed by a production company. ‘Contract of employment’ is taken to include any contract securing the services of the writer or director on the film.

For more information, please see the BFI’s guidance: Apply for British certification and tax relief | BFI