Funding the UK film Industry

What makes a film British?

Have a look at the TOP 100 HIGHEST GROSSING FILMS on: www.boxofficemojo.com

All the Harry Potter films appear in this list, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 2 sitting at no. 4, in front of Skyfall at no. 7

Do the Harry Potter films and Skyfall match your list of what makes a film ‘British’?

Other films that appear are The Dark Knight Rises and Inception by British director Christopher Nolan. Parts of these films were also filmed in the UK. Therefore, can these be considered British films?

Most of the profits from Harry Potter franchise and the past four Bond films have gone to American companies.

Have a look at the statistics below:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1&2

Budget: £150 million

Warner Bros (US production company)

Heydey Films (UK production company)

 

Distribution: Warner Bros

Exhibition:

Part 1: USA $125 million

             UK £18.3 million

Part 2: USA $169 million

             UK £23 million

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a film like Harry Potter having American backing?

Why do you think Harry Potter needed American backing?

How does Harry Potter appeal to international audiences? Is it because of its ‘Britishness’?

UK film - the vital statistics

UK film's contribution to the UK economy

·      The core UK film industry now contributes approximately £4.3 billion per year to the UK economy – up by 50% since 2000, when the UK Film Council was created;

• In 2009 UK films took 7% of the global box office and 17% of the UK box office; Independent UK films took an 8.2% share of the UK box office, the highest figure of the last decade;
• UK film grossed $2 billion at the worldwide box office last year;
• UK box-office takings are at record-breaking levels, worth £944 million in the UK in 2009, up 62% from 2000;
• The overall territory box office gross for the UK and the Republic of Ireland exceeded £1 billion for the first time in 2009;
• UK Film Council investments in British films have been hugely successful – for every £1 we have invested, £5 has been generated at the box office;
• Over 173.5 million people went to the cinema in the UK in 2009 – up 31 million from 2000, the highest since 2002 and the second highest since 1971;
• The UK has more digital cinemas than any other European country – 365 and counting;
• Overall UK audiences had a far greater choice of films in 2009 – 503 films were released, 31% more than a decade ago;
• The UK film industry directly provides jobs for almost 44,000 people, with extended employment impact of 95,000 jobs;
• The film industry earns over £1.3 billion in export income from film rights and film production services;
• In 2009 alone, British films and talent scooped 36 awards. 

http://industry.bfi.org.uk/vitalstats

Ken Loach calls David Cameron’s plans for the British film industry “a travesty”

Ken Loach calls David Cameron’s plans for the British film industry “a travesty”

The director says plans to channel National Lottery money into "mainstream" films fail to address important issues

Paul Jones

10:30 AM, 11 January 2012

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Film director Ken Loach has criticised Prime Minister David Cameron’s plans to direct National Lottery funds into “commercially successful… mainstream” British movies, saying it is impossible to predict which films will be hits.

"This is a travesty,” he told BBC1’s Breakfast. “If everybody knew what would be successful before it was made, there would be no problem.

"What you have to do is fund a lot of different, varied projects and then some will be successful, some will be original, some will be creative, and you will get a very vibrant industry."

Loach also argued that Cameron’s review of Britain’s film industry failed to address other significant issues - "one is the monopoly of the multiplexes where you get a very narrow range of films," he said.

"We do not have, as in other countries in Europe, a wide spread of independent cinemas. Now, unless you can really see a wide variety of films you don't have a vibrant film industry and we get a very narrow menu."

Loach won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2006 for The Wind That Shakes the Barley, and has two movies in the BFI’s list of the top 100 British films of the 20^th century.

He was responding to comments from David Cameron made on a visit today to Pinewood Studios. The Prime Minister paid tribute to the British film industry, saying it had made a £4 billion annual contribution to the economy and an "incalculable contribution to our culture", but said he wanted it to become “even more dynamic and entrepreneurial [and] commercially successful” to rival international industries.

Meanwhile, film critic Mark Kermode echoed some of Loach’s comments via Twitter.

“If you don't have a thriving independent cinema circuit to show adventurous British films, then you have no 'British film industry'," tweeted Kermode.

“As always, distribution and exhibition are the key," he told followers. "Patronise your local indie cinema. And hug a projectionist...

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-01-11/ken-loach-calls-david-camerons-plans-for-the-british-film-industry-a-travesty

Cameron calls for tighter focus from UK's film industry funding

PM visits Pinewood studios and backs review's call for lottery cash to go to those firms producing films with box office draw

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Colin Firth shows off his best actor award for The King's Speech at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles last February. In all, the British film won four Oscars. Photograph: Ian West/PA

David Cameron will urge the British film industry on Wednesday to make more films with mainstream appeal.

During a visit to Pinewood studios in west London, the prime minister will meet small and medium businesses in the £4.2bn UK film industry, and suggest he supports the expected findings of a review that aims to rebalance the industry's national lottery funding in favour of supporting independent pictures that have mainstream potential. Successful film companies would receive greater support, rather than government funding going to unproven film-makers.

Announcing the review in May 2011, arts minister Ed Vaizey said the industry was "still not as profitable as it should be for British film-makers".

The review is led by former culture minister Lord Chris Smith with eight industry experts including Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, and is expected to report next week. In its recommendations is thought to be a proposal that lottery funding support more mainstream films with a view to ensuring such companies becoming a commercial success. While there may also be support for what sources call "culturally rewarding films", the critics will question whether any body can guess which films may go on to find big audiences.

The government believes that if film companies can grow larger they have greater clout.

In 2010 the UK film industry brought in more than £1bn of production investment from overseas. The King's Speech, released last year, was the highest grossing independent British film and was awarded four Oscars. Between January and October, British films topped the box office charts for a total of 20 weeks.

The review is also expected to call for the British Film Institute to develop an export strategy to raise the profitability of the British film industry.

Cameron will say: "Our role, and that of the BFI, should be to support the sector in becoming even more dynamic and entrepreneurial, helping UK producers to make commercially successful pictures that rival the quality and impact of the best international productions.

"Just as the British Film Commission has played a crucial role in attracting the biggest and best international studios to produce their films here, so we must incentivise UK producers to chase new markets both here and overseas."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/10/cameron-uk-film-industry-lottery-funding