The writing was on the wall months before the National Media Museum’s recent announcement that its director Colin Philpott was leaving in April.
In June, the T&A revealed that the jobs of Tony Earnshaw, artistic director of the museum’s Bradford International Film Festival, and up to nine other staff, had been made redundant.
The Media Museum’s parent organisation, the National Museum of Science and Industry, was making a 15 per cent cut in its budget. The NMM’s share of that was said to be in the region of £120,000.
With unemployment at 2.64 million and rising, Mr Philpott, a former head of BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, is seasoned enough to know that people are unlikely to be shaken by his parting company with a £95,000-plus job after seven years, a decision he reportedly made in spite of being offered the revised post of head of the museum.
Next April, for the last time, Mr Philpott will shut the door of his glass-fronted office with the cinemascopic view of central Bradford and beyond.
“I have loved working at the National Media Museum, however, I now want to advance my career in other ways,” he says. “I have a number of creative projects I want to develop and am looking forward to pursuing other opportunities.”
Mr Philpott took up his post in April 2004, shortly before the 21st anniversary of the opening of the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, as the place was known.
Within three years of his arrival, about £70,000 was spent altering the brand name to the National Media Museum, a change endorsed by the-then Culture Minister David Lammy and former BBC director-general Greg Dyke, who said: “Twenty-first century Britain needs a media museum reflecting the importance in all our lives of TV, radio, film, photography and of course the internet, new media. There’s only one place to have it – and that’s Bradford.”
Mr Philpott said at the time that the museum’s “vibrant programme of fesitvals, events and exhibitions” were attracting, on average, 650,000 visitors a year. However, six years before, that figure had topped one million. Last year, the figure was just under 527,000 – about 12 per cent down on 2009.
The disruption to the city centre with consequent parking problems may have something to do with the decline in attendance, although that is hard to believe on Saturdays, bank holidays and during the three film annual film festivals, when the building appears to be overrun with visitors, especially families.
In the past seven years the NMM has tried hard to embrace a broader range of people at different times of the day, putting on activities for young children, illustrated talks, Wednesday film mornings for mothers with a baby and afternoon screenings for senior citizens.
In September, the museum was voted Yorkshire’s best indoor attraction, and ranked third overall in a poll to find Yorkshire’s Most Magnificent Attraction. Mr Philpott said the result came on the back of an increase in visitor numbers over the summer, compared to last year.
Future plans include a new gallery, Life Online, exploring the history and impact of the internet, due to open next year. Both an online resource and physical space, it’s described as the world’s first gallery to explore the social, technological, and cultural impact of the internet.
Kenneth Branagh, Alan Bennett, Michael Palin, Jean Simmons, Ken Loach, Jenny Agutter, Terry Jones, Ray Harryhausen and Amitabh Harvinash Bachchan are some of the big names in world cinema to attend events at the museum during Mr Philpott’s time as director.
In 2009, the NMM was in the national media spotlight with the announcement that UNESCO had declared Bradford its first City of Film, an accolade greeted eagerly by screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, from Glusburn, who later brought his Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire to the museum, and Bradford-born movie producer Steve Abbott.
Mr Abbott said: “What I don’t want is for the people of Bradford to not feel a part of it. I had to go to London and Los Angeles and I was fortunate to enjoy some success, but people should not have to go to London.
“Bradford is the Hollywood of Yorkshire. This is a realistic aspiration that will bring realistic economic benefits, and Lord knows we need that here.”
Those opposed to the scrapping of the Bite The Mango Film Festival and the shortening of the Bradford International Film Festival might not regret Colin Philpott’s departure; but they would have to acknowledge the impact he has had.
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