The British Film Industry

1. The British Film Industry G322: Institutions and audiences

2. Lesson objectives • Describe the different categories of British films • Consider the costs of production and how this is funded • Note the changes in funding of the industry over time

3. Then and Now • Hollywood has always been ruthlessly efficient at producing, distributing and exhibiting films. In 2003, cinemas in Britain recorded their biggest January audiences for 32 years, with a total of 16.3 million movie visits – 8% more than January 2002. • What do you think created this result?

4. $313,364,114 $116,750,901

5. British Film Institution (BFI) The BFI (British Film Institute) promotes understanding and appreciation of film and television heritage and culture. Established in 1933, the BFI runs a range of activities and services such as the IMAX in London, tours and festivals. According to the BFI what constitutes a British Film? The classifications take into account the cultural dimension of the film (how it represents British Life and Society) as well as how the film was financed. There are 5 categories (all feature films are longer than 72 mins)

6. Category A • The cultural and financial input has been generated from the UK and the majority of the cast and crew are British. • Category B • Co-productions where the majority of the finance and personnel are British and there is a strong British cultural content. • Category C • Co-productions where the majority of financial input and cultural content is non-UK, but not from the USA. • Category D • American financed (or partly financed) films mainly shot in the UK. Titles mainly have UK cultural content. • Category E • Mainly American Films with some UK financial involvement and, in some cases a small number of British Cast or crew but may have little or no UK cultural content in terms of setting or story.

7. Task • Which category do you think the following films fit into. Use the internet and your research to help you: • ‘Dirty Pretty Things’ • ‘The World is Not Enough’ • ‘Billy Elliot’ • ‘The Full Monty’ • ‘Cold Mountain’ • ‘Sense and Sensibility’

8. UK Film Council • Domestic: film shot in the UK with a majority financial stake and mainly British Cultural content • Inward: film shot in UK but financed from outside UK – usually America The UK Film Council has built on the work of the BFI in categorising UK film production. It suggests the following three categories for ‘British films’ in 2003:

9. What does this tell us? • It is evident from the figures above that ‘domestic features’ and ‘UK co-productions’ have average budgets far lower than the Hollywood films that shoot in the UK. (44 films for a total of £270 million gives an average of around £6 million – in practice, a small number of bigger budget films means that the majority of domestic features have budgets of £3 million or less). In itself, a low budget is not necessarily a ‘bad thing’. • Some of the films made with budgets around £2-5 million have been highly praised and have had successful international distribution. E.g ‘The Full Monty’ But this is most likely to happen only if they are picked up by a Hollywood distributor.

10. How much does a film cost? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_mRqoleUVA • Watch the above clip and estimate how much it cost to produce. • Stars – a major Hollywood star adds several million pounds to the budget, but also attracts the audience. Angelina Jolie, Brendan Fraser, Nicolas Cage and Gwyneth Paltrow all worked on Hollywood films in the UK in 2000. • Script development funding. Hollywood spends as much on getting the script right as British films spend on the whole production. • Shooting time and the possibility for reshoots. • Elaborate camera work (cranes, helicopter shots etc.) stunt work. • Digital effects • Music rights to popular songs

11. So, the choices for British producers are: • Hollywood gloss shows on screen, Britain can’t compete with the budgets. • Any UK producer aiming for a large budget from UK sources alone is unlikely to be able to raise much more than £5 million. To compete with Hollywood probably means gaining access to American money and partnership with a Hollywood studio. • Make low budget films targeted at mainstream British audiences, hoping that it will attract overseas audiences. A low budget film could cover costs by careful sale of rights in the UK and Europe. Anything earned in the US is then a bonus. Shallow Grave for example • Make low budget films for a niche ‘arthouse audience’ in the UK and abroad. • Look for partners in Europe and/or America and aim more clearly for an ‘international audience’. ‘Notting Hill’ for example.