The document discusses the British Film Industry and provides context on key organizations, funds, and tax incentives that support the industry. It also examines several successful British films like Harry Potter and The King's Speech that received backing from these national supports. Challenges facing British films like achieving profitability and appealing to international audiences are also addressed. Questions are posed about strategies to strengthen the industry and importance of British talent and internationally-known stars.

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2.  British Film Institute (was UK Film Council)
◦ fund script development, film production, short films, film
export and distribution, cinemas, film education, culture
and archives, festivals and audience support schemes
◦ Film Fund 15 mil per year (90% of applicants will be
rejected) and money from Lotteries
◦ Innovation Fund – to help move to the digital age esp
in rural areas
◦ Export Fund – British films shown at key
international film festivals

3.  Co Production deals which BFI can help set
up
 Tax Breaks - Film Tax Relief (25%)
Need to spend at least 10% of the
budget in the UK
Can be a co production but must pass the
Cultural Test

4.  Production
 Distribution
 Exhibition
 Export
 ‘Britishness’
http://industry.bfi.org.uk
Look at the website

5.  Very different to the US set
 Govt support
 Independent Film Production Houses
◦ Warp Films, Bedlam, Pinewood, Between the
Eyes, Hammer, Aardman Animation
The UK’s top 40 Producers
Go and find out about some of these
companies

6.  Need to team up with a distribution
company
◦ ‘British’ Distribution Companies
 Can be very hard to get films made in
Britain and they are not necessarily very
profitable (Harry Potter/James Bond)
 Need to be distinctively British.

7. 7

8.  Do British films have to say
something to their audience about the
‘British experience’ to be a success?

9.  What obstacles or problems do you
think a British studio would face in
trying to find an audience for it’s
films? What might stop that film from
being a success?

10.  How important for the British Film
industry is the use of UK 'talent' in
films financed outside Britain?

11.  What strategies do you think can
be used to create a successful
British Film Industry?

12.  How important is it for the British
film industry to have
internationally recognised stars?

13.  Harry Potter was primarily funded by Warner Bro but did
include a British production company – Heyday Films
 They received tax breaks (unclear how much but overall
there have been £8bn… This includes the HP films, Gravity,
Maleficent. There were 222 films that received tax
breaks in 2014)
 Budget - $250m (shared with Part 2)
 Box Office - $960.3 (wiki – in American cinemas for 140
days, 147 in UK)

14. • The UK Film Council awarded The King’s Speech
£1,021,080 of Lottery funding. They were included in the
title sequence and give Producer credits.
• The films was also produced by See Saw Films and
Bedlam Productions (Producer credits)
• London’s Prescience Film Finance stepped in to provide
two-thirds of the film’s £9 million ($14.5 million) budget
using its £25 million Aegis Film Fund
• Total Budget - $15m
• Box office – $414.2m (in American cinemas for 126 days,
147 in UK)

15. • BBC and Channel 4 rejected this film as they saw it as
being too controversial. Both BBC and C4 are required to
support film making….
• Film 4 finally ended up funding this along with Warp Films
(2.5 mil). Film 4 is owned by Channel $ but does work
independently. Film 4 have worked with Fox Searchlight,
Pathé; France’s cinema giant, and niche producers like
Warp Films.
• Total Budget - £2.5m
• Box Office - £6.9 m

16.  As a micro budget film there were several Production
companies involved -DreamWorks SKG (as Dreamworks
Pictures)
 Reliance Entertainment (presents)
 Participant Media (in association with)
 Anonymous Content
 FBO
 Reliance Entertainment
 Umedia
 Production Budget $28,000,000 (estimated)
 Box Office – Very hard to find information on. Weekend box
office - $1,714,000 (USA) (20 October 2013) (1,769 Screens)
 Rotten Tomatoes gives it 37%

19. • Loosely based on true events
• The film's screenplay was based in-part on two books
• Co-produced by DreamWorks Pictures and Participant
Media
• Directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Kinsey)
• Cost $28m (£17.1m) to make (not including marketing
costs)
• Released in the United States on October 18, 2013
by Disney's Touchstone Pictures label

20.  One technique filmmakers use to ‘guarantee’
revenue is to employ elite Hollywood actors.
 The Fifth Estate has plenty of A-star talent,
especially Benedict Cumberbatch who has a
large passionate fan following…

21. Benedict Cumberbatch
Star Trek Into Darkness
Daniel Bruhl
Inglourious Basterds
Laura Linney
Frasier/The Truman Show
David Thewlis
Harry Potter Series
Peter Capaldi
Doctor Who/World War Z

22.  Another technique in guaranteeing strong
box office returns is promoting your film
appropriately to your audience.
 The Fifth Estate was marketed in two ways
(Trailer and Poster)

24. Other posters

26.  What do you learn about the film from
these posters?
 Are they successful at marketing The
Fifth Estate?
 Why/Why not?

28. Although the film uses mostly British and American actors,
and it is made and distributed by an American conglomerate,
The Fifth Estate is based on true global locations making it
more universal…

29.  The role of journalism in international affairs
 Media ethics in a changing world
 Free press (Fourth Estate) being transparent
 The balance between privacy and
transparency
 Media literacy

30. …in a similar vein have prospered at the
box office in recent years.
Also…
Hollywood agency WME
is said to be offering a
film about Edward
Snowden, who exposed
the US National Security
Agency's programme of
surveillance of its own
citizens

31.  Larger institutions have the means of
distributing and marketing on a much larger
scale due largely to one thing…
MONEY
 The Fifth Estate is a Disney Film, and was
initially distributed by Touchstone (one of
Disney’s asset companies). The following
Disney-distributed films occurred large sums
at the box office in recent years…

32. Gross: $3,255,008
Gross: $182,207,973Gross: $623,357,910
Gross: $415,004,880
Gross: $83,151,846
Gross: $79,884,879

33. Think back to when you were discussing what
you thought the
target audience was for this film…
 Young tech-savvy people (possibly more
male) 18-35y/o?
 Interested in current events and journalism
 Fans of Assange and Wikileaks?

34.  WikiLeaks leaked the movie's script along with a detailed
manifesto explicating all the perceived errors in the film
 Then Wikileaks Twitter feed posted a link to all of The Walt
Disney Company’s major shareholders.
 Assange told the Hollywood Foreign Press during a Skype
conversation that the movie was going to fail because
audiences would “rather have a "combative underdog" to
root for than see an anti-WikiLeaks movie”
 Some have said WikiLeaks "sabotaged" The Fifth Estate by
releasing its own documentary, called Mediastan, for free
download.
 Assange directly pleaded with star Benedict Cumberbatch
not to play him in the movie before production began.

35. Do you think that The Fifth Estate’s largely adult audience rely on movie
reviews more so than an audience of say, teenagers?

36. IMDB Rating (as of 23/03/14)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating
(as of 23/03/14)

37. At the box office, the movie was consumed by…
 54 percent male
 90 percent over the age of 25
The latter number is troubling, as it indicates that
more young people, typically more digitally savvy,
weren't interested.
Disney said most of The Fifth Estate’s revenue
came from the big cities; the film didn’t begin to
connect with Heartland and small-town audiences.

38.  This was an overcrowded weekend, with at
least six high profile premieres, not to mention
the continuing box office machine Gravity.
 Was it wise for Disney-DreamWorks to try to
release the film as a blockbuster thriller rather
than a smaller, intellectual movie?
 Maybe moviegoers just don't care about
Assange or Wikileaks?
“Insiders close to the film say Americans,
particularly those living in conservative states,
have no interest in Assange or WikiLeaks,"

39.  The film’s disappointing premiere at the
Toronto International Film Festival failed to
create the kind of buzz necessary for a
movie hoping to win over educated and
discerning moviegoers
 That summer Edward Snowden was all over
news media. Snowden leaked the National
Security Agency surveillance program,
which bypassed WikiLeaks in favor of
traditional media outlets. This perhaps also
robbed Assange of much of his Most
Dangerous Man on the Internet mojo.

40.  WHY was The Fifth Estate a flop at the Box
Office?!
 Create your argument using some of the
evidence above, but mostly your reasoning in
order to choose good evidence.
 Brainstorm an essay plan which details your
argument
 HOMEWORK – create your essay using the
brainstorm plan