THE UK FILM COUNCIL REPORT: The Economic Impact of the UK Film Industry
June, 2010
The industry has in general weathered the recession well, partly thanks to the emergence of 3D, and is strongly placed to continue its recent trend of growth and expansion.
The core UK film industry contributes substantially to the cultural life of the UK. Successful UK films are a means of expression of British identity. UK films also address the social challenges faced in the 21st century, including drug addiction, prejudice and race relations, as well as positive themes such as family values, friendship and triumph over adversity.
Moreover, econometric evidence suggests that film audiences place a premium on indigenous films. Our estimates suggest that, all things being equal, a film shown in the UK can expect its box office revenue to be up to 30% higher if it is indigenous. On this basis, we calculate that the existence of UK films boosted the box office revenues of cinemas by an average of around £60 million a year over the last decade.
THERE ARE SEVERAL KEY INDICATIONS THAT THIS IS AN IDEAL TIME TO INVEST IN BRITISH FILMS
Oct, 2009
Apart from the most obvious – the recent success at the Academy Awards (Oscars), where not only ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ (with its stunning haul of 8 Oscars) but also a range of other feature films, documentaries, short films and key technical wins helped to raise the flag for the British Film Industry – last year saw spend on indigenous British films rise by 21.5% compared with 2007.
John Woodward, Chief Executive of the UK Film Council recently said “Britain is firing on all cylinders at the minute. The industry is turning out relatively low-budget, commercial, and quirky films like ‘Slumdog’. If you look at the British film industry over the past six or seven years, it’s been consistent. People in the industry know they’re in hard times, but what is interesting is that they’re quite confident because the rest of the world feels the Brits are really at the top of their game at the moment. So we’re in a good place.”
(The Observer 1st March 2009)
HMV achieved a like-for-like increase in sales of DVD’s of 4.3% in the quarter to 1st April 2009 and Cineworld have reported box office income up 19.1% and total Revenues up 13.2% in the 17 weeks to 23rd April 2009.
(Evening Standard: 29th April 2009)