The UK film industry had total revenues of over £4.1 billion in 2016, up from £4 billion in 2013. Cinema admissions were down 2% year-over-year but have remained relatively stable since 2007. Public funding for film in the UK reached £523 million in 2016, up 26% from 2015, largely due to an increase in film tax relief. The top two films of 2016 were Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

1. The UK Film Industry in
2016

2. Section A: Contemporary US & British Film
This component offers you the chance to undertake a comparative study of two set films
in terms of:
1. Genre
2. Narrative
3. Representation
And critical debates encompassing the significance of
1. Digital in film
2. Spectatorship (viewing conditions)
3. Auteurism
4. Film contexts
Comparisons will involve the low-budget British sci-fi drama Ex-Machina (2014) by Alex
Garland alongside Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) by James Gunn.

3. You are required to build on the skills from Film History (Component 01) and develop a
knowledge and understanding of how film form, narrative and the concept of genre
(including generic conventions and genre as a principal structuring element of narrative)
contribute to the creation of representations of societies and cultures in contemporary
British and US films.
Contexts of contemporary filmmaking
Learners will also be required to develop a knowledge and understanding of the
importance of both the production and exhibition of contemporary films, including:
1. critical debates on the significance of digital in film and the new possibilities for
cinema
2. the significance of viewing conditions to spectators
3. critical approaches to Auteurism and an evaluation of its continued validity as a theory
4. Contexts of film.

4. Contexts of contemporary filmmaking
1. The UK is the fourth largest film market in the world after the
USA, China and Japan (it was the third in 2013) generating total
revenues in excess of £4.1 billion, up from £4 billion in 2013.
2. Cinema-going remained the most significant component of the
film value chain, with gross receipts of over £1.2 billion based on
168.3 million admissions (down 2% on 2015).
3. The UK film industry contributed £5.2 billion to GDP, up from £2.9
billion in 2013.
4. The global film market was worth almost $67.5 billion in 2016; UK
films earned $3.9 billion (8.6%), down from (11.4%) in 2013.
5. Revenues across digital video (VOD), pay TV and terrestrial TV
were up compared with 2015, with digital video increasing by
29%.
6. Overall film revenues in the UK have increased year on year in
eight of the 10 years between 2007 and 2016. Cinema admissions
have been broadly flat.

5. Q. UK box office receipts in 2016 were 2% down on 2015 but have remained relatively
stable since 2007. In your opinion, why might admissions be flat year-on-year?

6. Q. What might explain the long-term decline of cinema admissions since the end of the
Second World War? And why have admissions picked up since the 80s?

7. WHAT FACTORS MIGHT AFFECT
CINEMA ADMISSIONS FROM
MONTH TO MONTH?

8. What might explain the 17.4%
jump in box office gross in 2015?

9. THE UK FILM MARKET AS A WHOLE IN 2016
1. A total of 821 films were released in the UK, up from 698 in
2013.
2. UK films, including co-productions, accounted for 21% of
releases and 36% of the market by value.
3. The box office share of UK independent films was 7.4%, down
from 10.5% in 2015.
4. A total of 46 3D films were released in 2016, up from 34 in 2015
but only the same as 2012. Their takings accounted for 7% of UK
box office revenues, down from 11% in 2015, and 18% in 2012.
5. 19 films were released in the 3D IMAX format, grossing £29
million, 2% of total box office.
6. UK films made with the backing of major US studios spent longer
than other films, on average, in UK cinemas in 2016.

10. THE UK FILM MARKET IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT
The USA accounted for 31% of the world market, with China accounting for 11%
and Japan for 9%. The UK accounted for 6% of the market. The next largest
countries in terms of market share were Germany (4.2%), France (3.8%) and
India (3.0%). According to forecasts, the USA, China and Japan will remain the
world’s top three markets for filmed entertainment over the next four years
(although the USA will lose significant share to China). However, India will
overtake the UK, France and Germany to become the fourth largest market.
Q. What British films have addressed China and India as the two fastest growing film
markets in recent years?
Currently China permits only 34 revenue sharing non-domestic titles to be
shown in Chinese cinemas each year…
https://youtu.be/oGo96xzNSEshttps://youtu.be/eHTI9srlI2E

11. THE UK FILM AUDIENCE
In 2016, 15-24 year olds made up the largest proportion of the UK cinema audience, at 29%.
Family films and animated features appealed most to the 7-14 age group with Alvin and the
Chipmunks: The Road Chip, The Secret Life of Pets and The BFG having the highest
significant above-average audiences. Fantasies such as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar
Children and The Huntsman: Winter’s War also appealed strongly to this group.
Action films based on comic books such as Suicide Squad, Deadpool and Doctor Strange
dominated the list of films with the strongest appeal to 15-24 year olds, however, the
horror sequel The Conjuring 2 had the highest significant above-average audience.
Comic-based action films also appealed to 25-34 year olds, alongside adventure and drama
titles The Legend of Tarzan and The Revenant.
A variety of genres were popular with cinema-goers in the two older age groups, both of
which showed a strong preference for UK films. All of the films attracting above-average
audiences from 45-54 year olds also appealed strongly to the 55+ age group, including
Bridget Jones’s Baby, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie and Eddie the Eagle. The latest
instalment in the Bridget Jones series was the most popular film while Dad’s Army had the
greatest appeal for 55+ audiences. UK independent films were particularly popular with
audiences aged 55 or over: six of the nine UK films with an above-average audience share
in this category were independent titles.

15. Q. Figure 2 shows us that 2012 and 2016 were turning points for the UK digital video (VOD)
& Physical video retail (DVD/Blu-ray) markets. Why?

16. UK TALENT LEADS THE WORLD
The global box office performance of UK films and foreign productions which draw on UK
source material is a good indicator of the international impact and exposure of British
culture. Of the top 200 grossing films released worldwide between 2001 and 2016, 38 films
are based on stories and characters created by UK writers, and collectively these films have
earned $29 billion (£19 billion at the average exchange rate) at the global box office. The 38
films include three titles released in 2016: The Jungle Book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to
Find Them and Sing. Fifty of the top 200 films are UK qualifying films.
In 2016, UK films and British individuals won 29 awards, representing 15% of the prizes
available. The number of awards won is very slightly up on 2015, when 28 awards were won,
representing 16% of those available. At the awards ceremonies in 2017, nine BAFTAs and one
Oscar® were presented to British films and talent. Dev Patel picked up the sole UK acting
prize from the covered festivals and awards ceremonies, winning the best supporting actor
BAFTA for his role in Lion.
For the fourth year in succession the visual effects prizes at both the BAFTAs and the Oscars®
were won by teams from British VFX houses. In 2017, both awards were won by a team from
the UK’s Moving Picture Company for their work on The Jungle Book. Previously Ex
Machina/Force Awakens, Gravity & Interstellar were the winners. The UK’s only win at the
Oscars® in 2017 was the Academy Award® for best short form documentary which went to
The White Helmets directed by an Alleyn’s alumnus Orlando von Einsiedel.

17. Total estimated public funding for film in the UK in 2016
was £523 million, an increase of 26% on 2015. This
increase is largely due to a corresponding increase in UK
film production tax relief (up 35% from £251 million in
2014/15 to £338 million in 2015/16).
The principal sources of public funding were the film tax
relief (64%), the National Lottery (14%) and grant-in-aid
(5%) from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
(DCMS).
In addition to the increase in funding from UK film
production tax relief, there were smaller but substantial
increases from the BFI/National Lottery, Northern Ireland
Executive, Scottish Government and Film4/Channel 4.
PUBLIC INVESTMENT IN FILM IN THE UK

20. TOP FILMS IN 2016
1. The top two films of the year were Rogue One: A Star Wars Story with
takings of £66 million and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them with
earnings of £55 million.
2. With takings of £16 million, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie was the
highest earning independent UK film of the year.
3. SEVENTEEN FILMS EARNED £20 MILLION OR OVER AT THE UK BOX
OFFICE IN 2016, ONE MORE THAN IN 2015. WE STILL LIKE
BLOCKBUSTERS…
4. Six UK qualifying films featured in the top 20 films of the year, down
from eight in 2015. WE STILL LIKE UK FILMS AND UK BLOCKBUSTERS…
5. THE TOP 20 UK FILMS GROSSED £395 MILLION, 36% OF THE TOTAL UK
BOX OFFICE. TENT-POLE PRODUCTIONS ARE STILL IMPORTANT…
6. INDEPENDENT UK FILMS ACCOUNTED FOR 54% OF THE TOTAL BOX
OFFICE FOR THE TOP 20 UK FILMS, COMPARED WITH 23% IN 2013. WE
LIKE VARIETY IN OUR FILM RELEASES…
7. The box office revenue generated from 3D film screenings was £93
million. This was 7% of the overall box office, down from 11% in 2015
and down from £133 million in 2013. 3D ISN’T AS POPULAR AS IT USED
TO BE…

25. Hollywood Trends
• Deadpool (2015) has taken over $500 worldwide
to date…
• Untypically, it’s a superhero film with a 15
classification in the UK
• Also, it doesn’t rely upon a world-famous star to
sell it!
• Is this a sign of change afoot in Hollywood?
• Well, two recent star-vehicles haven’t done so
well…

27. Hollywood Trends
• Film Industry revenue in the US grew by 6.3%
in 2015 to $11 billion…
• The Chinese film market grew by 49% in 2015
• Global revenues increased by 4% to $38 billion
• Increasing competition from streaming digital
video and videogames doesn’t appear to have
dented the global film audiences appetite for
going to the cinema…
• But…

28. Fading Stars?
• Much of the success comes from big, CGI-
driven event film franchises like…
• Fast and Furious, Avengers, The Hunger
Games, Jurassic Park, James Bond and Star
Wars.
• 14 films took more than $500m in 2015.
• Only 5 films managed that in 2006.
• Franchise productions like these are more
likely to make stars than be made by them…

29. Fading Stars?
• Would Joy or Concussion have been EVEN MORE
of a flop without Jennifer Lawrence or Will Smith
starring?
• Does the notoriously conservative Hollywood still
prefer a big name if only to justify their decision
for producing a dud film?
• Does this conservatism naturally lead to the
OSCARs being seen as ‘too white’? As worldwide
movie stars still tend to be white, middle-aged
and male?

30. Fading Stars?
• Recent analysis suggests that a film needs to following
to succeed at the box office:
1. Good CGI
2. A surprise ending
3. Cool locations
4. Believable, attractive actors
5. A damsel in distress
• Notice it doesn’t seem to matter who the damsel is, or
who the actors are?
• Actually the most successful movie stars at the
moment, the ones who get the most traction at the
box office are…

31. …Kevin Hart (Get Hard, Little Fockers)
and Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids,
Spy, Ghostbusters)?
Why?

32. Fading Stars?
• Expensive star vehicles seem to be a thing of the
past
• Recent films saw stars paid $20 million or more
and a cut of the Box Office…not any more…
• Some say this is because it is much easier to get
access to a star
• 24-hour news cycle, social media, Netflix mean
you can get your fix of Tom Cruise without going
to the cinema…
• Yet, there is one place where even former big
stars are still a big draw…

33. Foreign Markets
• Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator: Genisys
(2015) only took $90m in the US on a $155m
production budget yet…
• It was a blockbuster everywhere else!
• Earning $351m outside of the US and $113m
in China alone…

34. Want to succeed in Hollywood?
Here’s how…
• Get hold of as much money as you can…
• The strongest predictor of box-office receipts is the
film’s budget.
• For every dollar in the budget a film generates 80 cents
at the box office even without any good reviews or a
big star or any other positive influences.
• The bigger the production budget the wider the
release into cinemas and the larger the advertising
budget.
• On average mid-budget films ($10m - 40m) open in
1600 of the 6000 cinema screens in North America. Big
budget films of over $100m open in 3500 cinemas.

35. Still want to succeed in Hollywood?
• Don’t be original…
• Sequels and franchises limit risk
• In Hollywood 1 in 5 films today are sequels compared to 1
in 12 twenty years ago.
• Sequels and franchises earn $35m more at the box office
than an original film.
• Make a superhero movie…
• Between 1996 and 2000 Hollywood made 8 superhero
films.
• Between 2011 and 2016 it made 19…
• A superhero film with a $200m budget will earn $58m
MORE than a non-superhero film with an identical budget.
• Any film that receives less than an R rating (15 cert in the
UK) will automatically earn $16m more at the box office

36. Still want to succeed in Hollywood?
• Choose a star who’s just had a big hit…
• For every $1 earned by a star’s previous 5 films they
will add 2 cents to your film’s takings.
• Jennifer Lawrence’s films have earned over $500m in
recent years so she would add $10m to the box office.
• Don’t worry about the critics, worry about the
audience...
• For every 10% extra on the critics aggregator on Rotten
Tomatoes you’ll add $1m to your box office takings but
for every 10% extra on the audience reviews you’ll add
$11m.

37. Here’s the magic Hollywood formula…
• Ensure your film …
• Is Child-friendly
• About a super-hero
• Includes lots of action
• Includes the possibility of turning it into a franchise
• Has a budget of around $85m
• Is distributed by a major studio
• Opens in the summer
• Has a wide cinema release (around 2000 cinemas)
• Has two successful but unspectacular male and female actors in the two leads
• Receives reasonable reviews with both critics and audience and…
• You’ll earn $125m at the US Box Office
• + the likely global Box Office of about 3 times that figure ($375m) = $500m
• Subtract 2 and half times your budget ($212.5m) to work out your final profit of…
•$287.5m