Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight added star power late in the first day of SXSW London 2026 on Monday, sharing the stage with U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.
In case you wonder: No, they did not bring up the much-discussed future of Peaky Blinders star Tom Hardy on MobLand after criticism of his on-set behavior!
Did Knight hint at what the new James Bond movie will look like? After all, he was tapped last summer to write the script for filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, who is directing the next 007 film for Amazon MGM Studios and producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman. He didn’t do that either.
But he did support U.K. political calls for global streamers to contribute to supporting the U.K. production sector, given the content they create in the country. Last year, a parliamentary committee recommended a levy of 5 percent of U.K. subscriber revenue on foreign streamers, including Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV+ and Disney+, to help finance British drama production. Netflix rejected that, saying that the goal should be to “incentivize rather than penalize investment and success.”
Argued Knight: “The issue for me is: They come here, they make big blockbuster productions,” which is “great” for job creation in the British sector. “But they keep all profits. I just feel there’s a conversation to be had. It’s not [a] tax. it’s a two-way street.”
