Read the whole of Factsheet #100 British film industry
1) What is the 'cultural test' to see if a film counts as British?
The Cultural Test is the gateway to accessing the UK film tax relief and is one of the criteria to apply to the BFI film fund. It is a test that is divided into four units. In order to classify as a British film, a film must score at least 16 out of a possible 31 points.
Complete the task on the Factsheet, researching the films listed and finding out what they score on the cultural test: Sweeney, Attack The Block, The King's Speech, We Need To Talk About Kevin and Skyfall.
2) What is the main problem for the British film industry?
A big issue that the British film industry faces is having to sacrifice their distribution rights by selling the film to a distribution company. This is because the British film industry has been production led rather than distribution led. This means in order for it to be exhibited, they have to be sold to a distribution company. Once sold, all revenue from cinema screenings, DVD and Blu-ray sales, plus sales to television companies, are lost. Even a highly successful British film is not necessarily making money that will be reinvested in British filmmaking e.g Slumdog Millionaire.
3) What are three of the strengths of the British film industry?
To begin, British films take 5% of world box-office takings, which is an unusually large amount for such a small nation. Also, the outstanding creative skills of practitioners, prevalent in many British films such as the Harry Potter films. Finally, they are notorious for their outstanding facilities. These include studios, companies and so on.
5) What are the two options for the future of the British film industry?
The first option the British filmmakers are given is to rely upon co-productions with American studios. A huge downside however is that much of what makes the film British may be lost. For instance, regional accents and dialects or themes prominent in births society such as certain aspects of politics. Their second option would include resorting to creating low budget films targeted at a niche, British audiences. However, the limited audience and lower production costs will result in the profits of the film being subsequently lower. Although the filmmakers will be able to retain what it is that makes British films there is a significant downside.
6) In your opinion, which of these two options would best safeguard the future of the British film industry?
Personally, I feel that the future of the British film industry would be more secure if they relied upon American studio. This is because by working with Americans, they would enable the films created to fit the demands of a wider, broader audience. This will lead to a far larger profit and ultimately result in rejuvenation of the British film industry.
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