Animation Forum West Midlands is supporting Animation UK's calls for fairer support for the UK animation industry, to match that offered by other countries and allow UK animation companies to compete globally.

We need your support in writing to local MP's in the region, and gaining their support for the campaign.Here's an open letter that was today sent to Birmingham Ladywood (covering the City Centre) MP Shabana Mahmood (Lab).

If you'd like to add your name to the letter or contact your local MP, please lend your support in the comments below.

Shabana Mahmood MP,

I write as project manager of Animation Forum West Midlands (www.animationforumwm.co.uk), a network for animation professionals and students based in the West Midlands. We currently represent over 860 animation businesses and individuals within the West Midlands region, and have been successfully supporting the animation sector at all levels through a range of activities since 2006.

As members of your constituency, and as local concerned parties, we are writing to you about a serious problem that is affecting animation businesses both in your constituency and right across the UK. We wanted to explain the problem and arrange to meet with you to talk about how this issue is impacting local businesses and students studying animation in and around your constituency.

Animation production in this country, once the envy of the world, has been decreasing at an alarming rate. In England, we have lost over 50% of our children's animation production in a little under five years, losing jobs, Intellectual Property and money paid in taxes to the government. A further result of this is that our children will be growing up losing their British identity as now most programming is imported. Just look at any children's channel and see how many animations are quite clearly created abroad and imported.

Animation worldwide has been growing even through the recession. Many governments have recognised this and have put in place tax breaks and incentives to encourage business to flow through their studios. We have now reached a point where in a global economy, where everyone is offering these incentives; we in the UK simply cannot compete.

Broadcasters around the world want to buy UK product, producers want to make UK product and distributors what to sell UK product. However, with companies in most of the world being able to subsidise 25%-50% of their budgets in the form of a tax break, what do we have to offer – nothing - and our talent is leaving the country.

In the last year the House of Lords concluded "We recommend the extension of the film tax credit, on a pilot basis, to children's programmes and animation productions made for television" so people are beginning to recognise the seriousness of the situation.

We appreciate that we are in times of austerity and cuts. However, Animation UK, our representative body nationally, has done some great research on this topic and for a relatively small sum of money we can kick start the industry. By our calculations we know the industry in this country would double in size almost overnight. The resultant benefit to our economy, both locally and nationally, is obvious.

We would love to share some of this detailed research with you. It could end up not only helping voters, students and business in your constituency, but could be a huge success story for your government and this country and we as a nation do need good news. We share Animation UK's core beliefs and objectives. This is their mission statement:

'Animation UK campaigns for fairer trading conditions for UK animation producers, to help protect or increase the ownership of IP that is of such value to the UK Economy. This country has an illustrious heritage in animation, a wealth of emerging young talent, and is a major worldwide exporter of animation for TV. We aim to work with the Government to get the best possible trading conditions for UK producers faced with increasingly subsidised competition from overseas.'

In Parliament George Osbourne said, "I want a sign to go up over the British economy that says 'Open for Business,'" when he reduced corporation tax. But as you can see, the doors are firmly closed for animation. We would love to be able to pitch for jobs around the world and we have the evidence they want to use us. If we don't win the jobs, we will not make profits and we will have no tax to pay!

Anna Home OBE, Chair of the Save Kids' TV campaign and the Children's Media Conference has expressed support and welcomes the idea of a meeting between yourself and local animators to explore the problems they face and the potential solutions proposed by the UK Animation Campaign.

In the West Midlands alone, animation degree courses at Birmingham City University, University of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire University, Hereford College of Arts, Coventry University and University of Worcester produce talented animation graduates every year, yet a lack of large animation productions can lead to many talented local graduates struggling to find work or following productions abroad.

There have been real and tangible cases of local studio's missing out on work due to these circumstances. Last year, Birmingham studio The CharacterShop lost out on post-production work for the multi-national, animated feature 'Sarilla' to a company in Mexico, due to the subsidies offered by that country's government.

You will be fully aware of the unemployment problems in our area, especially amongst the young, any lost opportunities just compound this. We have 864 members (as of 23rd November 2011) and a wealth of talent in Birmingham that could really thrive should conditions be more favourable, all we ask is to be put on a level playing field with other countries so we can compete and thrive.

If you could please take the time to see us, your constituents, and hear our worries about the future that would be brilliant.

We look forward to hearing from you,

David Allen

Creative Project Manager
Animation Forum WM
+44 (0)121 202 4816

On behalf of Animation Forum West Midlands, plus:

Andy Guest, Mark Vale, The Character Shop
Chris Randall, Second Home Productions
Neil Hadfield, Animation Course Leader, Hereford College of Arts
Louis Hudson, Dice Productions
Samantha Moore, independent animator and senior lecturer, University of Wolverhampton
Brendan O'Neill, Animation Writer, Stickleback Productions
Jonathan Hearn, Freelance Animator
Oli Hyatt, Chairman of Animation U.K.

Please add your support in the comments below.