R.I.P. IdeasTap

Today young creatives across the UK received some sad news. This morning founder and director of IdeasTap Peter De Haan announced that the free online hub for fledging artists will be shutting its doors for good on 2^nd June 2015. In a letter he sent out to the platform’s members this morning he said:

“Despite our success, to-date IdeasTap has been primarily funded by my charitable trust. Our efforts to secure government or corporate support have failed – and my charitable trust, which was set up in 1999 to improve the quality of life for people and communities in the UK, will soon run out of money. The result, regrettably, is that IdeasTap will close three months from now.”

Since its launch in December 2008 the platform has had a great impact on young people hoping to carve out a career in the cultural industry and has gathered a considerable following “with just shy of 200,000 members across the UK today and millions of people visiting our website every year. We’ve given away more than £2.3m in funding and mentoring to our members and 62,000 people have benefited from opportunities we’ve created”, so De Haan.

Proof that IdeasTap has become an important tool for many came just half an hour after De Haan sent out his letter in the form of an online petition being launched on the campaigning website change.org.

It's understandable why many are worried to see IdeasTap closing down. It is another step along the road of cutting corners in cultural education and arts funding, not only for filmmakers but performers, painters, poets, composers – the list goes on and on. De Haan expresses his concern about this trend when he writes:

“After six years, the picture for the arts is still gloomy. Further funding cuts are coming. The cost of higher education is now dauntingly high. The recent Warwick Report suggests that the arts are not catered for by government agencies, and that arts education is steadily being marginalised – despite the huge value the creative industries offer the UK, both culturally and financially. I hope they wake up, and soon.”

This opinion is shared by Vikki Heywood, fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and chair of the commission that put together the Warwick Report mentioned by De Haan. In the report’s foreword she voices her concern as follows:

“The key message from this report is that the government and the Cultural and Creative Industries need to take a united and coherent approach that guarantees equal access for everyone to a rich cultural education and the opportunity to live a creative life. There are barriers and inequalities in Britain today that prevent this from being a universal human right. This is bad for business and bad for society.”

So what does this mean for young filmmakers? Speaking in relative terms and on a purely financial level, the loss might not seem too big. In its seven year history IdeasTap only distributed £2.4m, which seems insignificant in comparison to the approx. £30m the BFI has to offer every year. But to only look at the money would be missing the point. IdeasTap was an organisation that specifically supported young people who might be lacking experience but with the necessary élan to bring their creative vision to the screen. Only recently a friend of mine was supported with £4000 to have his script for a short film developed and then, with the help of a budding director chosen by IdeasTap, made into a film. He told me that "Ideastap has given me much more than £4000, however. It has given me the opportunity to realise a new film project, have access to industry professionals, attend additional, useful workshops and network with up-and-coming talent. I am sadden that others will now not have the same opportunity." This is the kind of support the creative industry needs if it wants to stay fresh and bring forth big names and innovation in the future. And with IdeasTap about to kick the bucket the cultural landscape as a whole will surely be the worse for wear in years to come.

If you agree, sign the petition I mentioned earlier and hope for the best. Until then there is nothing more to be said than “R.I.P. IdeasTap, you will be missed!”