The Challenge for the UK
It is very fashionable these days to bash the British film industry. At its worst, it is described as an undercapitalised 'cottage industry' 1 with few sustainable businesses, offering little stability and a patchy track-record in producing hit British films.
In many ways, it's difficult to argue with this assessment. Much of British production is driven by pockets of entrepreneurial individuals striving to make their next single project. Most (95.8%) film and video production companies are small outfits that employ less than ten people.2
In fact, most companies are set up solely to produce one film, meaning that few build a catalogue of films that they can exploit in years to come. The UK industry is also resolutely production led with few direct links to the distribution chain, which is largely dominated by powerful US players.
This 'cottage industry' structure means that most companies are unable to deliver a consistent flow of films so that risk can be spread across a slate of projects. Little wonder, therefore, that private investors are often reluctant to invest in the film industry and have to be encouraged to do so by highly attractive tax breaks offered by the government.
This situation stands in stark contrast with the United States where powerful film studios like Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox or Paramount sit at the heart of vast global media conglomerates and deliver a diverse slate of films every year including high end blockbusters such as Spider-Man 2 and The Incredibles.
Grounds For Optimism
Yet comparison with the US studio system will always see the UK film business - and nearly all other countries - come off a poor second.
The fact is the UK film industry is one of the most dynamic in the world. It's estimated that the global market for filmed entertainment was worth $63bn in 2002 - and that the US industry accounts for 80% of this market. The UK film industry's share stood at 5% - low in comparison to the US, but high in contrast to the 15% captured by the rest of the world put together.3
And there are grounds for optimism about the way the UK film industry is developing.
UK studios and crews have been exceptionally busy in recent years. Thanks to its strong skills base and attractive tax breaks, the UK has attracted some of the biggest budget Hollywood and independent films to its shores. Large scale features such as Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, Die Another Day, Alexander, Troy, Sahara, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Batman Begins and The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy have all either shot in the UK or have made use of large numbers of British talent and post-production expertise. UK studios such as Pinewood, Shepperton, Leavesden, Elstree and Ealing have been consistently booked up to cope with the influx.
Artistically, British films compete strongly on the world stage. Mike Leigh's Vera Drake won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival in 2004 and received several Oscar nominations. UK produced films and UK co-productions such as Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, Love Actually, Calendar Girls, Johnny English, Touching The Void, Shaun Of The Dead, Bride And Prejudice and Layer Cake have also performed strongly worldwide.
Cinema admissions are booming. 2002 saw the highest admissions - 176 million - in the UK for over 30 years.4 The DVD boom is also bringing extra revenue into the industry, with a staggering 145 million units sold in 2003.5
In a recent speech6, UK Film Council CEO John Woodward said that, despite the merchants of gloom, there's much for the British film industry to be proud of.
He argued that the UK is now the third biggest film market by revenue in the world after the US and Japan; that we are world's largest inward investment production destination; that we have a seemingly limitless reservoir of world-class creative film-makers and talent; and that we have the most sophisticated financial and legal film infrastructure outside of Los Angeles.
There has also been an increase in opportunities for employment in the film industry. Some 34,000 now work in the film industry7 - a significant increase from 10 years ago.
The challenge facing British film is to maintain this upwards momentum and to help build a sustainable industry - one that is populated with stronger British companies with the size and financial resources to aggressively produce and market its own films.
The industry has devised several lines of attack to tackle the structural weaknesses dogging British film. Skillset, for example, has launched a £50 million strategy called A Bigger Future to boost the skills, talent and company development needs of the UK industry.
1 House Of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, The British Film Industry, Sixth Report of Session 2002-03 page 3.
2 UK Film Council, Statistical Yearbook 2003, page 104.
3 House Of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, The British Film Industry, Sixth Report of Session 2002-03, page 9.
4 Skillset, A Bigger Future: The UK Film Skills Strategy, page 54.
5 UK Film Council, Statistical Yearbook 2003, page 2.
6 Speech to Screen International, UK Film Finance Summit 2004. Full speech available on www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk.
7 Skillset, A Bigger Future: The UK Film Skills Strategy, page 55.
In many ways, it's difficult to argue with this assessment. Much of British production is driven by pockets of entrepreneurial individuals striving to make their next single project. Most (95.8%) film and video production companies are small outfits that employ less than ten people.2
In fact, most companies are set up solely to produce one film, meaning that few build a catalogue of films that they can exploit in years to come. The UK industry is also resolutely production led with few direct links to the distribution chain, which is largely dominated by powerful US players.
This 'cottage industry' structure means that most companies are unable to deliver a consistent flow of films so that risk can be spread across a slate of projects. Little wonder, therefore, that private investors are often reluctant to invest in the film industry and have to be encouraged to do so by highly attractive tax breaks offered by the government.
This situation stands in stark contrast with the United States where powerful film studios like Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox or Paramount sit at the heart of vast global media conglomerates and deliver a diverse slate of films every year including high end blockbusters such as Spider-Man 2 and The Incredibles.
Grounds For Optimism
Yet comparison with the US studio system will always see the UK film business - and nearly all other countries - come off a poor second.
The fact is the UK film industry is one of the most dynamic in the world. It's estimated that the global market for filmed entertainment was worth $63bn in 2002 - and that the US industry accounts for 80% of this market. The UK film industry's share stood at 5% - low in comparison to the US, but high in contrast to the 15% captured by the rest of the world put together.3
And there are grounds for optimism about the way the UK film industry is developing.
UK studios and crews have been exceptionally busy in recent years. Thanks to its strong skills base and attractive tax breaks, the UK has attracted some of the biggest budget Hollywood and independent films to its shores. Large scale features such as Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, Die Another Day, Alexander, Troy, Sahara, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Batman Begins and The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy have all either shot in the UK or have made use of large numbers of British talent and post-production expertise. UK studios such as Pinewood, Shepperton, Leavesden, Elstree and Ealing have been consistently booked up to cope with the influx.
Artistically, British films compete strongly on the world stage. Mike Leigh's Vera Drake won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival in 2004 and received several Oscar nominations. UK produced films and UK co-productions such as Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, Love Actually, Calendar Girls, Johnny English, Touching The Void, Shaun Of The Dead, Bride And Prejudice and Layer Cake have also performed strongly worldwide.
Cinema admissions are booming. 2002 saw the highest admissions - 176 million - in the UK for over 30 years.4 The DVD boom is also bringing extra revenue into the industry, with a staggering 145 million units sold in 2003.5
In a recent speech6, UK Film Council CEO John Woodward said that, despite the merchants of gloom, there's much for the British film industry to be proud of.
He argued that the UK is now the third biggest film market by revenue in the world after the US and Japan; that we are world's largest inward investment production destination; that we have a seemingly limitless reservoir of world-class creative film-makers and talent; and that we have the most sophisticated financial and legal film infrastructure outside of Los Angeles.
There has also been an increase in opportunities for employment in the film industry. Some 34,000 now work in the film industry7 - a significant increase from 10 years ago.
The challenge facing British film is to maintain this upwards momentum and to help build a sustainable industry - one that is populated with stronger British companies with the size and financial resources to aggressively produce and market its own films.
The industry has devised several lines of attack to tackle the structural weaknesses dogging British film. Skillset, for example, has launched a £50 million strategy called A Bigger Future to boost the skills, talent and company development needs of the UK industry.
1 House Of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, The British Film Industry, Sixth Report of Session 2002-03 page 3.
2 UK Film Council, Statistical Yearbook 2003, page 104.
3 House Of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, The British Film Industry, Sixth Report of Session 2002-03, page 9.
4 Skillset, A Bigger Future: The UK Film Skills Strategy, page 54.
5 UK Film Council, Statistical Yearbook 2003, page 2.
6 Speech to Screen International, UK Film Finance Summit 2004. Full speech available on www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk.
7 Skillset, A Bigger Future: The UK Film Skills Strategy, page 55.
