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With over £26m to invest in 2013, the BFI Film Fund is the UK’s largest public investor in film – supporting first-class film-making through development and production, to distribution and international sale
Friday, 14 February 2014
In a nutshell
Development - the writing, packaging and financing of film ideas and scripts.
Production - the process of setting up and shooting every scene in a film.
Post Production - where all these shots are assembled, treated and mixed into a finished product.
Distribution - the process of selling this product to audiences, via the cinemas, retailers and rental firms.
Exhibition - the cinemas which screen the film for the general public.
Production - the process of setting up and shooting every scene in a film.
Post Production - where all these shots are assembled, treated and mixed into a finished product.
Distribution - the process of selling this product to audiences, via the cinemas, retailers and rental firms.
Exhibition - the cinemas which screen the film for the general public.
Film Forever
The BFI has launched the Production Company Vision Awards 2013-15 to provide crucial support for the production sector and help grow strong and sustainable UK film businesses. The Vision Awards are the latest initiative to roll out following the launch of Film Forever, the BFI's bold five year plan to support creative excellence and foster economic growth within the UK's film industry
Interesting article about Working Title
Working Title is something of a rarity in the UK film business, in that it is a true hit factory - a British based company that consistently produces box office smashes that set cash tills ringing in cinemas right around the world.
Working Title is behind some of the most successful British films of all time: Four Weddings And A Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary and Love Actually. The company also has a long association with the Coen Brothers, producing five of their films including Fargo and The Man Who Wasn't There. It has also brought books such as Nick Hornby's High Fidelity and About A Boy, and Louis de Berniere's Captain Corelli's Mandolin, to the big screen.
On top of this, the company's credits also include Elizabeth, Bean, The Guru, Ned Kelly and Thunderbirds. It recently released romantic comedies Wimbledon and Bridget Jones The Edge Of Reason and is in post-production on The Interpreter starring Nicole Kidman and is shooting a version of Pride And Prejudice on location throughout England.
It's a hugely impressive list of credits. In all, the company has produced more than 70 films since its launch in 1983, with a combined gross in excess of $2.5 billion worldwide; its films have won four Oscars and 20 Baftas. This year, the company was awarded the prestigious Michael Balcon Bafta Award for its contribution to the British film industry.
Eric Fellner - Working TitleCo-chairs Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan have run the company together since 1991. The plan, according to Fellner, was pretty straightforward when he joined: "We decided to make films for the international market place - about three to six a year."
Despite its famous name, the structure at Working Title is pretty lean. It employs just 42 full time staff, split between the main Working Title production arm and its low-budget offshoot WT2, run by Natascha Wharton, which since 1999 has produced films like Billy Elliot and Ali G Indahouse.
In terms of production, a strong emphasis is placed on development. Six people work sourcing, developing and honing projects in the UK, with another three in the US and one person in Australia.
The production department itself is six strong, and comprises two senior production executives, backed up by four staff, and is responsible for overseeing Working Title's films. This involves managing a film's budget and keeping the shoots on schedule.
Other key departments include a legal and business affairs team, headed by company chief operating officer Angela Morrison who is responsible for financing Working Title films and sorting out legal issues. She works with three full time lawyers on her team.
How does Working Title choose which films to make? Fellner says projects get championed by individuals in the development department and these 'percolate' their way up to the top. Bevan and Fellner then both take the decision on what to greenlight.
Although contractually they are allowed to give the go-ahead to any film with a budget of up to $25m, on a practical basis they do so in consultation with studio chiefs at Working Title's parent company -Universal, which itself is owned by giant US corporation Comcast.
Recruitment into Working Title is pretty rare. "The problem is that people don't seem to leave that much, so there are not a lot of opportunities to hire people," explains Fellner. However, the company has just started an intern programme which provides four trainees the chance to work in all Working Title departments over 12 month period. Working Title's literary executive Amelia Grange oversees the programme with Angela Morrison.
Working Title is behind some of the most successful British films of all time: Four Weddings And A Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary and Love Actually. The company also has a long association with the Coen Brothers, producing five of their films including Fargo and The Man Who Wasn't There. It has also brought books such as Nick Hornby's High Fidelity and About A Boy, and Louis de Berniere's Captain Corelli's Mandolin, to the big screen.
On top of this, the company's credits also include Elizabeth, Bean, The Guru, Ned Kelly and Thunderbirds. It recently released romantic comedies Wimbledon and Bridget Jones The Edge Of Reason and is in post-production on The Interpreter starring Nicole Kidman and is shooting a version of Pride And Prejudice on location throughout England.
It's a hugely impressive list of credits. In all, the company has produced more than 70 films since its launch in 1983, with a combined gross in excess of $2.5 billion worldwide; its films have won four Oscars and 20 Baftas. This year, the company was awarded the prestigious Michael Balcon Bafta Award for its contribution to the British film industry.
Eric Fellner - Working TitleCo-chairs Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan have run the company together since 1991. The plan, according to Fellner, was pretty straightforward when he joined: "We decided to make films for the international market place - about three to six a year."
Despite its famous name, the structure at Working Title is pretty lean. It employs just 42 full time staff, split between the main Working Title production arm and its low-budget offshoot WT2, run by Natascha Wharton, which since 1999 has produced films like Billy Elliot and Ali G Indahouse.
In terms of production, a strong emphasis is placed on development. Six people work sourcing, developing and honing projects in the UK, with another three in the US and one person in Australia.
The production department itself is six strong, and comprises two senior production executives, backed up by four staff, and is responsible for overseeing Working Title's films. This involves managing a film's budget and keeping the shoots on schedule.
Other key departments include a legal and business affairs team, headed by company chief operating officer Angela Morrison who is responsible for financing Working Title films and sorting out legal issues. She works with three full time lawyers on her team.
How does Working Title choose which films to make? Fellner says projects get championed by individuals in the development department and these 'percolate' their way up to the top. Bevan and Fellner then both take the decision on what to greenlight.
Although contractually they are allowed to give the go-ahead to any film with a budget of up to $25m, on a practical basis they do so in consultation with studio chiefs at Working Title's parent company -Universal, which itself is owned by giant US corporation Comcast.
Recruitment into Working Title is pretty rare. "The problem is that people don't seem to leave that much, so there are not a lot of opportunities to hire people," explains Fellner. However, the company has just started an intern programme which provides four trainees the chance to work in all Working Title departments over 12 month period. Working Title's literary executive Amelia Grange oversees the programme with Angela Morrison.
Review of 'About Time' (2013)
Following a summer season dominated by animation and action blockbusters, cinemas welcomed a more grownup programming mix after kids and teens went back to school after the long holiday. The reliable Richard Curtis delivered another box-office chart-topper, About Time, thanks to a debut of £1.76m, including £385,000 in Wednesday/Thursday takings. That's almost dead level with the opening salvo of 2009's The Boat That Rocked: £1.80m, including £471,000 in previews.
About Time
Production year: 2013
Country: UK
Cert (UK): 12A
Runtime: 123 mins
Directors: Richard Curtis
Cast: Bill Nighy, Billy Nighy, Domhnall Gleeson, Lindsay Duncan, Rachel McAdams, Tom Hollander
The Boat That Rocked was an expensively made film that ended up with a weak £6.2m total in the UK – a massive disappointment after the £36.8m success of 2003's Love Actually. About Time suggests itself as a tricky distribution challenge since the romance and comedy come with a time-travel sci-fi element, and also intimate family drama: great if all the genre hooks accrete; less so if they cancel each other out. On top of that, it's been a full decade since Curtis enjoyed a real box-office hit. The director's name is the strongest marketable ingredient in About Time since the protagonist is played by the talented but commercially unproven Domhnall Gleeson; co-stars Rachel McAdams and Bill Nighy also add value.
After encouraging results from advance "talker" free screenings, undertaken with various media partners, distributor Universal will be hoping that positive word-of-mouth will sustain About Time in the coming weeks, pushing its total ahead of that of The Boat That Rocked
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
What is a British film?
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.
Homework
Look at the website of the BFI to understand how they support the UK film industry.
Homework
Look at the website of the BFI to understand how they support the UK film industry.
Points to explore in your case study
You need to find out the following information about your chosen film:
Production: where did the finance come from?
What production companies have been involved?
What else have they produced?
Cast and crew: what else have they been involved in? Have they been UK based?
Distribution & Marketing:
Who is the distrbution company, who are they owned by, what else have they promoted?
How much money have they spent?
Marketing: who is promoting the film, what techniques have they used?
To what extent have they used digital technology in this ? facebook, TV promotions, radio, magazines, what else???
What audiences have they targeted, how can you tell?
Is it above the line or below the line marketing?
Exchange:
Where is this film being screened?
What sort of exhibition? Blanket? targeted?
What sort of cinemas is it screened at?
What does this tell us about the audience?
Is it exhibited in digital or film format? Why might this be?
Can you find a budget for this?
What makes this a UK film?
Which BFI category (a, b,c,d,e) does you film fit into?
What attracted it to you?
When you have watched it how does it represent UK?
Did you enjoy it?
Put links to articles, reviews, companies etc on your blog.
Production: where did the finance come from?
What production companies have been involved?
What else have they produced?
Cast and crew: what else have they been involved in? Have they been UK based?
Distribution & Marketing:
Who is the distrbution company, who are they owned by, what else have they promoted?
How much money have they spent?
Marketing: who is promoting the film, what techniques have they used?
To what extent have they used digital technology in this ? facebook, TV promotions, radio, magazines, what else???
What audiences have they targeted, how can you tell?
Is it above the line or below the line marketing?
Exchange:
Where is this film being screened?
What sort of exhibition? Blanket? targeted?
What sort of cinemas is it screened at?
What does this tell us about the audience?
Is it exhibited in digital or film format? Why might this be?
Can you find a budget for this?
What makes this a UK film?
Which BFI category (a, b,c,d,e) does you film fit into?
What attracted it to you?
When you have watched it how does it represent UK?
Did you enjoy it?
Put links to articles, reviews, companies etc on your blog.
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