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AS Media Studies

Study NotesUnit G322 Section BAudiences and Institutions

The Film Industry

Part 3The British Film Industry

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The British Film Industry in 2012

2012 mars a !articularly stron" year #or British #ilm$ As %ell as the e&traordinary !er#ormanceo# the last o# the 'arry Potter #ilms( 2011 %as also mared )y "reat success in the inde!endent

sector %ith The *in"+s S!eech and The In)et%eeners Mo,ie contri)utin" to a record maret

share #or British inde!endent #ilms$ But i# %e %ere to try to de#ine the year in terms o#!er#ormance( a "ood !lace to start %ould )e to loo at ho% U* #ilm has #ared internationally

and the stren"th and success o# British talent and creati,ity a)road$$$BFI STATISTI-A. /AB* 2012

Summary o# the /earUK films earned 17% of the $33 billion worldwide gross box office last year while, in 2010,the UK film industry generated a aluable trade sur!lus for the "ritish economy amounting tooer #1 billion &uite 'ustly, UK talent has been feted at all the (ey festials such as)undance, *oronto, and +annes, and recognised in the awards season, all of which has hel!ed

!romote "ritish culture, s(ills and creatiity abroad

i"ital Pro4ection and 5o 65ideo on emand7irtually all screens in the UK are ex!ected to be digital by the end of 2013 and whilst we areyet to see the u!ta(e of o- grow significantly as a !latform for reaching audiences, itremains a !riority technology

Inde!endent U* FilmsUK films en'oyed significant commercial and critical success in 2011, no more so than athome, where "ritish films too( the first four !laces at the UK box office .t was an

exce!tional year for inde!endent UK films with*he King/s )!eech grossing a record #7 million

at the UK box office, $1 million worldwide, fourcademy wards and seen "* film awards*he second highest grossing inde!endent film of alltime, *he .nbetweeners 4oie, earned # millionin the UK and together with a range of films suchas, 5ane 6yre, 4y ee( with 4arilyn and *in(er,*ailor, )oldier, )!y a!!ealed to a wide range ofaudiences and hel!ed !ush inde!endent UK filmsmar(et share to its highest leel since records

began

*he highest grossing film of the year was the finalinstalment of the 8arry 9otter series, 8arry 9otterand the -eathly 8allows: 9art 2, which earned #73million in the UK and oer $13 billion worldwides the most successful film series of all time, 8arry9otter has dominated the global film industry for adecade "ased on UK source material, shot in theUK with "ritish cast and crew and !roduced by aUK com!any with finance from arner "ros, the

series has grossed #2 million at the UK box office ;$77 billion at the worldwide box

office

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Some hi"hli"hts o# 20118

UK films en'oyed significant success in 2011, no more so than at home, where "ritish films

too( the first four !laces at the UK box office It

%as an e&ce!tional year #or inde!endentU* #ilmswith *he King/s )!eech grossing arecord #7 million at the UK box office, $1million worldwide, four cademy wards andseen "* film awards *he second highestgrossing inde!endent film of all time, *he.nbetweeners 4oie, earned # million in theUK and together with a range of films such as5ane 6yre, 4y ee( with 4arilyn and *in(er,*ailor, )oldier, )!y a!!ealed to a wide range ofaudiences and hel!ed !ush inde!endent UK films

mar(et share to its highest leel since recordsbegan

*he final 8arry 9otter film was one of 9: 3 #ilms released in 2011, u! from 2= in2010, but 3- ta(ings were down from 2% to 20% of UK box office reenues *he use of 3-

was !articularly memorable in #eature documentariesduring the year including the UKinde!endent film **3-: +loser to the 6dge, which grossed oer #12 million at the UK boxoffice >erall, 2011 was a record year for UK documentaries with )enna brea(ing the boxoffice record set by *ouching the oid in 2003 with ta(ings of #32 million

;$1

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The U* remains the third lar"est consumer maret #or #ilm in the %orld,worth # billion or 7% of global reenues +inema going remains robust but the decline inre,enues #rom 5 salesre!resents a ma'or challenge for the industry UK films, includingco?!roductions, accounted for 21% of releases

The si"ni#icance o# the #ilm industry to the U* economywas highlighted in therecent international trade figures !ublished by the >ffice for @ational )tatistics *he UK filmindustry ex!orted #21 billion worth of serices in 2010 *otal UK !roduction actiity in 2011was a record #127 billion, with the UK s!end associated with inward inestment featuresexceeding #11 billion, also the highest yet recorded

Production? hile a small number of large budget films are res!onsible for thema'ority of UK !roduction alue, most domestic #ilms !roduced in the U*are lo% and micro>)ud"et #eatures >f the 200 UK domestic features made in2011, A2% were !roduced with budgets of less than #00,000 >er =A% of UK films

at this budget leel failed to secure a theatrical release

;$2 scar?winner *he King/s )!eech, earned oer $1 million

U* #ilms and talent %on 30 ma4or #ilm a%ards in 2011, with eight of theseawards being won at the >scars and 1 at the "*s *he 2C awards receied from2001D2011 re!resented 1% of the total of all ma'or awards

Punchin" a)o,e our %ei"ht? of the to! 200 global box office successes of 2001D2011,31 films are based on stories and characters created by U* %riters *ogether they haeearned more than $20 billion ;#123 billion< at the worldwide box office 8alf of the to! 20global box office successes of the last 11 years are based on noels by UK writers 4ore than

half of the to! 200 films released worldwide since 2001 hae featured U* actorsin lead or38

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!rominent su!!orting roles U* directorswere behind 2 of the 200 biggest films of thelast 11 years

istri)ution? *he to! 10 distri)utors had a 9? share o# the maretin2011, the same as in 2010ee(days ;4onday to *hursday< accounted for 2% of the

box office, the highest share since our records began

;$3 %ee= 6iF4 ;wwwloefilmcomE< G @etflix

;wwwnetflixcomEUK< accounted for A% of all feature film ideo rental transactionsin 2011

;$9

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-om!arison )et%een 2002 and 2011

In 2002( 3C #ilms %ere released in U* cinemas( com!ared to DDE in2011;a 1% increase

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'o% do #ilms "et #unded in the U*=

*he UK does not hae the massie studio structure that 8ollywood has in terms of !roducingfilms but there are now many more ways in which a film can be !roduced in the UK than eer

before and it is almost im!ossible to find out about in detail, because of the myriad ofcom!anies and consortia inoled and the legal and financial minefield about rights, loans,inestment deals, tax brea(s and funding criteria inoled

.n the !ast, there were great "ritish studios that !roduced successful films, some of whichbecame international hits, for exam!le, -enham )tudios, 6aling )tudios and the 8ammer)tudios in "ray 8oweer, during the 1C70s and 1C=0s, film?ma(ing in the UK became moreand more reliant on 8ollywood funding and its cultural and artistic influence

*o change this, in May 1:, the then Fabour goernment announced that #C2 million!ounds of lottery funding was to be designated from the -e!artment of +ulture 4edia and

)!ort ;-+4)< oer six years to create three UK mini?studios to !roduce successful "ritishfilms that could com!ete in the international mar(et !lace and ma(e a !rofit for funders andinestors

*he three successful bidders were:

1 PAT' PU-TINSD 9athJ UK has a ma'or !resence within the UK filmindustry, o!erating as a fully integrated studio .t is inoled in all as!ects of film?ma(ing, from !roduction and deelo!ment through to international sales anddistribution 9athJ UKs !roductions range from ardmans +hic(en Lun to )te!henrears *he &ueen to -anny "oyles )lumdog 4illionaire ;200C

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titles including -anny "oyles horror hit, 2= -ays Fater ;2002

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In,estment #rom uro!eN "end .t Fi(e "ec(ham ;2002< had assistance from the8amburg ilm und in return for shooting some seIuences in Hermany, 4i(e Feigh has adeal with +anal9lus in rance for !art?funding of his films and Ken Foachs Foo(ing for 6ric;200C< had inestment from Hermany and )!ain

BB- Films;htt!:EEwwwbbccou(Ebbcfilms< and Film9;htt!:EEwwwfilmcomEfilm?!roductionsEcurrent?slate< are still an im!ortant source of "ritish cinema by funding wor( forthe small screen but which is then released into cinemas *he ""+ has inested in films sincethe 1C70s, although on a much smaller scale than +hannel our, whose ilm channel wasmade aailable on digital reeiew in 200A, and screens seasons of "ritish films or(ing in

!artnershi! with com!anies, the ""+ has funded some significant films .* com!anies hae!artici!ated in film finance to a lesser extent *he ex!ansion of cable and satellite * hasmade more films aailable on the small screen, but moie channels are in fierce com!etitionwith s!orts and other !o!ular channels

;C$ 'o% does #ilm !roduction in the U* seem to )e ,ery di##erent #romthe 'olly%ood model o# lar"e( !o%er#ul studios=

'o% do you mae a British+ #ilm=

*he )ecretary of )tate for +ulture, >lym!ics, 4ediaand )!ort ;-+4)< is res!onsible for issuing "ritishilm +ertificates on the basis of recommendationsmade by the +ertification Unit .n 2011 this Unit

became !art of the "ritish ilm .nstitute ;".< when

the ". assumed res!onsibility for the ma'ority of theUK ilm +ouncil/s functions 4a(ers of certified"ritish films can a!!ly #or ta& relie#on Iualifyingfilms or a!!ly for Fottery funding from the ". andother sources ;htt!:EEindustrybfiorgu(EIualifyingfficial co?!roductions must be certified by the com!etentauthorities in each country as meeting the certifying criteria, which include the creatie,artistic, technical and financial in!ut from each co?!roducer ilms which receied final co?

!roduction certification in 2011 include frica United, *he .maginarium of -r 9arnassus andLoute .rish

.n 2011, a total of 1=C films ;170 in 2010< receied final certification as "ritish under the44

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilmshttp://www.film4.com/film4-productions/current-slatehttp://www.film4.com/film4-productions/current-slatehttp://industry.bfi.org.uk/qualifyinghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilmshttp://www.film4.com/film4-productions/current-slatehttp://www.film4.com/film4-productions/current-slatehttp://industry.bfi.org.uk/qualifying

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+ultural *est *he total budget of finally certified films increased from #1,002 million in 2010to #2,11C million in 2011 *his increase reflects the higher number of big budget inwardinestment films made in 2010 feeding through to a higher alue of final certifications in2011 )o we made a great number of )chedule 1 films in 2011, yet there are few well (nown!urely "ritish films *his !aradox becomes more com!licated when we start to ex!lore

where the money comes from

or exam!le, if a film is made by a "ritish film com!any, but that com!any is owned by alarger merican grou!, is the !roduction financed in the UKB nd what is the significance ofdistributionB .f a film is !urely "ritish at the !roduction stage but it is distributed in thiscountry by an merican com!any ;who then claw bac( a chun( of the box office !rofits

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U* Films H the 200D -risis

UK film !roduction ex!erienced a crisis in 200 and early 200A

.nestment in the ma(ing of films dro!!ed, largely due to the rate of the 6nglish !oundagainst the merican dollar and the aailability of low cost studios in 6astern 6uro!e "utlater in 200A and since, inestment has returned, and this is related to a new Hoernment

!olicy of tax relief

*his allows !roducers to be exem!t from certain tax !ayments 9reiously there had been acom!ulsion for films to be mainly shot in the UK for them to Iualify for the aoidance of tax,

but in 4arch 200A this was reised to allow for more oerseas filming, an attractieamendment for inestors

U* cinema Admissions 2002 > 200

*his is a great exam!le of the im!ortance o# !olitics in understandin" the media.t is im!ossible to critically assess the relationshi! between "ritish films and audiences byonly thin(ing about cultural reasons why "ritish cinema is more or less successful in relationto 8ollywood bloc(busters "ehind the scenes there are financial, !olitical and institutionalreasons why films do or dont get made and released and seen by a !otential audience

recent good exam!le of 8ollywoods dominance is the record?brea(ing box office!erformance of 9irates of the +aribbean 2 ;200Ascars,

school holidays, the s!ringEsummer bloc(buster !eriod and -- releases at +hristmas isstrategic, and any "ritish release attem!ting to get attention amidst this mar(eting stealth will

be at the mercy of this

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-ase Study > BB- Films

"ritish films hae ex!erienced a boom since 200A, largelydue to a renaissance of teleision com!anies inolementin !roduction and distribution *he ""+ and +hannel hae both inested far more in film than at any time sincethe 1C=0s *he recent teleision licence fee increases hasmeant that the ""+ hae had more money to inest indomestic film !roduction ? anotherexam!le of cross?media !oliticalEinstitutional eents being hugely im!ortantin cultural deelo!ments

""+ films are co?funded with an oerseas inestor,usually merican *he most successful of these in 200A

was *he &ueen, !roduced without ma'or 8ollywoodfinance +learly *he &ueen, des!ite its indigenousIualities, can be seen as following the ty!ical route ofma(ing films about 6nglish culture with an eye to the U)audience, !reiously achieed by films such as @otting8ill and "end it Fi(e "ec(ham

;E$ 'o% many o# these could )e considered British #ilms= 'o% many o# them are co>!roductions %here the ma4ority o# the money lea,es the country=

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.n the 1CC0s, "ritish film ma(ers tried to imitate the8ollywood genre a!!roach, most notably with the

!roliferation of gangster films in the wa(e of the success ofFoc( )toc( and *wo )mo(ing "arrels ;1CC=< and )natch;2001< *his is now seen by the industry and its

commentators as fatal, as this statement from .an Heorge,managing director of *wentieth +entury ox UK,demonstrates:

The #ilms that ha,e succeeded ha,e not tried to a!e'olly%ood$ They ha,e )een ty!ically British su)4ects( done in

an entertainin"( con#ident %ay$ 6Grant 200:7

*he institutional relationshi! between ""+E+hannel andfilm is always changing, in the last few years it has been ina healthy state with the ""+ co?funding )treetdance 3?d,

"righton Loc(, n 6ducation, Leolutionary Load and the* s!in?off .n the Foo! ith the current financial situation though, funding to * from bothHoernment and adertising has slowed or een crashed, meaning less money for less filmsand more !ressure on those films to succeed

In the U* the cinema tradition has )een less !rotecti,e o# #ilm culture than other countries andmore concerned %ith commercial ,ia)ility$$$No%adays( tele,ision !lays an im!ortant !art in the

!rocess( in,estin" real money in the real maret!lace %hile remainin" cushioned #rom the directeconomic constraints o# #ailure )y the nature o# T5 accountin"$ The JreturnJ on the in,estmentis re!resented )y the )roadcast ri"hts to the #ilm( money that %ould other%ise ha,e to )e s!ent

to acKuire some t%o hours o# !ro"rammin"$ 6oddic 200:7

;$ !roduction and %hy=

ind out here ? htt!:EEwwwbbccou(EbbcfilmsEaboutE

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms/about/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms/about/

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-ase Study H U* Film -ouncil closed in 2010$ ne exam!le is )creenMor(shire ;htt!:EEscreenyor(shirecou(E