The British Film Industry – SECTION A

LO: To identify who does what within the British Film industry (PRODUCERS)

LO: To evaluate how the British Film industry competes globally (AUDIENCE) and retains profitability

Thinking question: Why have a British film industry?

Who does what in the British Film Industry?

Aims to support, develop and promote the art forms of the moving image

An independent, non-governmental body which classifies and censors film, video as well as computer and console-based games released in the UK.

The official UK agency for international cultural relations. Its Film Department promotes new British films (features and shorts), internationally principally through festivals and showcases.

Promotes understanding and appreciation of Britain's rich film and television heritage and culture.

Government backed lead agency for film in the UK ensuring that the economic, cultural and educational aspects of film are effectively represented at home and abroad.

Main British Production Companies

Can you name films by these production companies?

Ext: Who dominates the

UK film industry?

How do British films compete globally?

Ext: How are they distinct from Hollywood blockbusters?

Most bankable star?

The Top 10 list as of 2009 (in order of 'bankable' value):

1. Will Smith2. Johnny Depp3. Brad Pitt4. Tom Hanks5. George Clooney6. Will Ferrell7. Reese Witherspoon8. Nicolas Cage9. Leonardo DiCaprio10. Russell Crowe

Weekend 20 Mar - 22 Mar 2009 UK box office

Rank TitleCountry of

OriginWeekend

Gross Distributor

% change on last

week

Weeks on

release

Number of

cinemas

Site average

Total Gross to date

1Marley & Me USA £2,166,27020th Century Fox -51 2 476 £4,551 £8,164,3432Paul Blart: Mall Cop USA £1,289,513Sony Pictures 1 375 £3,439 £1,289,5133Duplicity USA £796,244Universal 1 356 £2,237 £796,2444Lesbian Vampire Killers UK £648,634Momentum 1 362 £1,792 £648,6345Watchmen USA/Can £594,510Paramount -58 3 381 £1,560 £7,556,5966Gran Torino USA £484,808Warner Bros. -41 5 311 £1,559 £6,659,1937Slumdog Millionaire UK £416,356Pathé -45 11 384 £1,084 £30,471,0848The Young Victoria UK £387,399Momentum -39 3 379 £1,022 £3,550,6759Bolt USA £201,250Disney -58 6 441 £456 £17,546,419

10Bronson UK £161,880Vertigo -37 2 109 £1,485 £581,21111Confessions of a Shopaholic USA £158,414Disney -63 5 307 £516 £8,051,25512The Unborn USA £126,630Universal -68 4 188 £674 £3,669,70813Hotel for Dogs USA/Ger £119,041Paramount -58 6 404 £295 £6,670,93214The Age of Stupid UK £101,752Dogwoof 1 20 £5,088 £101,75215 Il Divo Ita/Fra £71,952Artificial Eye 1 30 £2,398 £71,952

  Total   £7,724,653       4,523 £1,708 £95,829,511

Find star struck article from pack:

Read and underline evidence for stars attracting an audience and star persona

Answer this:

How much do you agree with ‘Hollywood films have movie stars. That’s why they are more appealing to UK audiences than UK films.’

Starter task:

WITHOUT LOOKINGLIST:

1. The 5 main film bodies in the UK who oversee the production, promotion and classification of UK films(ext: explain what each do)

2. The 5 main production companies and five films they have made

HOMEWORK:

Brit-flick Kick-Ass tops US box office

I want you to find out why

On paper/blog post a detailed response and as much evidence as you can find

Consider: Why is it deemed a Brit-flick?Who stars it in and how has this helped it succeedHow was it marketed?Who distributed the film?

We will feedback next Tuesday

RECAP

What do stars bring to a film?Why do Producers use certain stars?

RECAP

What do stars bring to a film?Why do Producers use certain stars?

1. Guaranteed sales – good box office figures2. Fans3. Narrative image - star persona/typecast4. Interest and attention from the press – publicity5. Expectations of genre

How else do British films compete globally?

GENRE as a toolHow does genre help sell films?

Genre helps to meet audience expectations. If the audience can assume the genre from the trailer, film posters etc, they can make an informed judgement on whether they wish to see it or not. If their expectations are met, they are satisfied and will recommend the film to others, leading to higher box office figures.

An example of misleading genre expectations:

By 2006, Julia Roberts’ 31 films had grossed over $2 billion and she had been involved in more $100 million movies than any other female star

BUT

Julia Roberts and Mona Lisa SmileBudget $65 million (large chunk of which was Robert’s fee)North American gross $63 million

WHY??? Not a typical Hollywood model ending which led to younger audiences being left unsatisfied and no love interests featured to drive the romance of the story.

Working Title formula for the ultimate ROMCOM

Using stars and genre to maximum effect

Combine 2 popular genres – Hybrid – ROMANCE & COMEDYDeemed ‘chick-flick’ with a large female audience – so a strong female leadRichard Curtis – screenwriter – linked to this genreHugh Grant – likeable and adaptable

This led to securing Julia Roberts (one of the most bankable stars) and succeeded in making

Now I want you to find a recent successful film that has used genre and stars effectively:

Note down:

The starsThe genreThe Production BudgetThe Gross takingsAnd anything else that you think made it successful (consider marketing, distribution company etc)

Weekend 9-11 April UK box office – audience consumption

http://infidelmovie.com/landing-trailer/

End thought:

Would the world be different if we relied only on the American film industry?

British cinema since 2000: The new century has so far been a relatively successful one for the British film industry. Many British films have found a wide international audience, and some of the independent production companies, such asWorking Title, have secured financing and distribution deals with major American studios. Working Title scored three major international successes, all starring Hugh Grant, with the romantic comedies Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), which grossed $254 million worldwide; the sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, which earned $228 million; and Richard Curtis's directorial debut Love Actually (2003), which grossed $239 million. At the same time, critically-acclaimed films such as Gosford Park (2001), Pride and Prejudice (2005), The Constant Gardener (2005), The Queen (2006) and The Last King of Scotland (2006) also brought prestige to the British film industry. Although all of these films were financed and distributed by American film companies, so there was little financial benefit to the industry itself.

In 2008, British releases included the costume dramas The Duchess and Brideshead Revisited, the documentary Man On Wire and a new comedy-drama from Mike Leigh Happy Go Lucky. However the year was dominated by a single film: Slumdog Millionaire, an Indian story that was filmed entirely in Mumbai with a mostly Indian cast, though with a British director (Danny Boyle), producer (Christian Colson), screenwriter (Simon Beaufoy) and star (Dev Patel) and the film was all-British financed via Film4 and Celador. Slumdog Millionaire has received worldwide critical acclaim. It has won four Golden Globes, seven BAFTA Awards and eight Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Film. This was the first entirely-British financed film since Hamlet in 1948 to win the Best Picture Oscar.

Despite increasing competition from film studios in Australia and Eastern Europe (especially the Czech Republic), British studios such as Pinewood, Shepperton and Leavesden remained successful in hosting major foreign productions such as Finding Neverland, V for Vendetta, Closer, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, United 93, The Phantom of the Opera, The Golden Compass, Sweeney Todd, Mamma Mia!, The Wolf Man, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Nine.The film industry remains an important earner for the British economy.

Tug used search marketing for Slumdog Millionaire’s UK Launch Tug used search marketing to create online awareness & user engagement for Slumdog Millionaire’s UK launch FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PR Log (Press Release) – Mar 13, 2009 –

Tug, an independent search engine marketing agency located in Shoreditch, London, recently impressed Pathe’s UK marketing team with the ability of PPC and SEO to play a key role in the film release marketing mix. Pathe approached Tug to use search engine marketing to drive targeted awareness, engagement and relevant traffic within a tight budget, for their new release, Slumdog Millionaire. December 08, Tug launched a PPC campaign across the major UK search engines targeting UK movie goers, the niche Indian market and independent film enthusiasts. Using a combination of keyword testing & bid management and ad testing & copy optimisation, Tug increased click throughs and drove the cost per click down throughout the campaign. Tug also used SEO techniques to optimise the film’s flash microsite. A short link building campaign was put in place to get the site to top position for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ searches in the UK. In addition, Tug launched a banner campaign across the Google content network of websites on a cost per click model. Standard banners as well as click to play video ads were served on relevant sites targeted at the chosen audiences. The cost model meant that banner impressions and even the trailers viewed within them were free – making awareness and engagement free. Ultimately Tug drove over 75,000 new visitors to the Slumdog Microsite, displayed the trailer online 73,000 times and served over 21 Million ad impressions for only £13,000 over a 5 week burst. Pathe are pleased with their first foray into search marketing and are working with Tug to develop a search marketing toolkit for subsequent film releases in the UK.

This research uncovered an audience typology that helped to inform the department’s ongoing audience development activities. Briefly, the cinema types uncovered were as follows:

Mainstream: unlikely ever to view anything other than major ‘Hollywood’ style blockbusters.

Mainstream plus: generally mainstream, but apt to see less mainstream films on a few occasions.

Aficionados: tend to view a mix of films, including major foreign language titles, and can be encouraged to become even more adventurous in their viewing choices.

Film Buffs1: eschew mainstream films in favour of more extreme, esoteric, challenging and difficult subject matter (specialised) films.

AUDIENCE TYPES

Other UK films – 9-11 April 2010

Now answer this question:

Looking at the evidence, is the UK film industry attracting the mainstream audiences as well as last year?

Questions for Box Office results

• What do these box office figures tell us about the British Film industry?

Consider:Country of originDistributorsGross profit

HOMEWORKCase Study Article

• How is the British Film industry responding to audience consumption?

• Consider the relationship between producers and audience

Facts in focus

• UK cinema admissions reached 162 million, up 4% on 2006.• Box office receipts were £821 million, up 8% on 2006.• 516 films were released for a week or more in the UK and Republic of Ireland, an increase of 2% on 2006 and 58% more than in 1998.• UK films, including co-productions, accounted for 21% of releases and 29% of the market by value, up 10% on last year.• The top 100 films earned almost 91% of the gross box office, 2% more than in 2006.

• UK films are films made by British companies and shot wholly or partly in the UK and/or films that qualify as British under Schedule 1 of the Films Act 1985 or under one of the UK's official co-production treaties.

• 3.2 Schedule 1 (UK film) certifications• Schedule 1 films are films certified as British

under Schedule 1 of the Films Act 1985. Under the old rules, the main qualifying criterion was 70% UK spend, but films commencing principal photography

• on or after 1 January 2007 have been required to pass a UK Cultural Test emphasising UK elements in the story, setting and characters (see UKFC website for full details of the Cultural Test).

CULTURAL TEST• Cultural Test Points

• Cultural Content• A1 Film set in the UK A2 Lead characters British citizens or residents

A3Film based on British subject matter or underlying material• A4 Original dialogue recorded mainly in English language• Cultural Contribution• Film represents/reflects a diverse British culture, • British heritage or British creativity• Cultural Hubs C1Studio and/or location shooting/ Visual Effects/ Special

Effects C2Music Recording/Audio Post Production/Picture Post Production • Cultural Practitioners• Director, Scriptwriter Producer Composer Lead Actors Majority of Cast

Key Staff (lead cinematographer, lead production designer, lead costume designer, lead editor, lead sound designer, lead visual effects supervisor, lead hair and makeup supervisor) Majority of Crew

• TOTAL ALL SECTIONS (pass mark 16)31

How dominant is British Film in the industry?

• Look at the box office figures:

• What can they tell us about British Film?