The UK Film Council published its annual Statistical Yearbook today, with news that 2009 had been a record year at the box office. £944 million was taken across British cinemas, with 174 million visits overall, the highest number since 2002. As the review states, 2009 was the year cinema bucked the recession.
The rise of 3D and, in particular, Avatar were widely responsible for the unparalleled level of income generated, with James Cameron’s film generating more in 3D takings alone than the total gross of any other 2009 film. Closer to home, three UK films in particular enjoyed success last year, with David Yates’ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes coming second, fifth and eighth respectively in a list of the highest-grossing films in the UK and Ireland.
Regarding film production, the UK spend of inward investment films reached £753 million, the highest on record, while the total UK spend of £957 million was, after 2003, the second best year on record. However, the median budget of UK domestic films fell slightly, from £1.7 million to £1.5 million, whilst the number of domestic features released reduced from 77 in 2008 to 71.
"Low budget independent production is a tough business - it always has been," said UK Film Council Chief Executive John Woodward. But he also conceded that getting smaller, independent films off the ground here in the UK was becoming increasingly difficult, due both to the global economic problems and the "the increasingly tough transition from the analogue to the digital age".
After tax relief, the biggest public contributions to the British film industry came from Lottery funding and grant-in-aid from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. With public spending very much in the spotlight at present and a spending review expected in October, the film industry will hope these sources continue to invest at a similar level.
To read the UK Film Council Statistical Yearbook, click here.
Thursday 22 July 2010
Monday 19 July 2010
Horror helmers give new life to the genre
British horror is making something of a comeback it seems, a fact not missed by the Guardian website this morning.
Joe Cornish, one half of comedy duo Adam and Joe, is directing his first feature Attack the Block, which will share producers with horror hit Shaun of the Dead. Meanwhile Hammer Films, the studio synonymous with British horror in the Sixties and Seventies, is on the comeback trail after a thirty year break from the genre, with a slate of productions that includes a 3D version of The Woman in Black.
The adaptation of the hit West End play will be directed by James Watkins, whose previous credits include the similarly chilling My Little Eye and Eden Lake. The Guardian credits Watkins’ work in the genre as key to its renewed success, along with the likes of Danny Boyle (28 Days Later), Neil Marshall (The Descent) and Christopher Smith (Creep).
To read the article, click here.
Joe Cornish, one half of comedy duo Adam and Joe, is directing his first feature Attack the Block, which will share producers with horror hit Shaun of the Dead. Meanwhile Hammer Films, the studio synonymous with British horror in the Sixties and Seventies, is on the comeback trail after a thirty year break from the genre, with a slate of productions that includes a 3D version of The Woman in Black.
The adaptation of the hit West End play will be directed by James Watkins, whose previous credits include the similarly chilling My Little Eye and Eden Lake. The Guardian credits Watkins’ work in the genre as key to its renewed success, along with the likes of Danny Boyle (28 Days Later), Neil Marshall (The Descent) and Christopher Smith (Creep).
To read the article, click here.
Friday 16 July 2010
DCMS announces Structural Reform Plan
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced provisional details of the DCMS Structural Reform Plan, which will set out the department’s priorities from now until 2013.
Amongst the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s plans include a new Communications Bill – although not until 2012 at the earliest – and a reduced role for the regulating body Ofcom. Also included was the proposed launch of new local television stations in the summer of 2012, and the implementation of Europe’s leading universal and superfast broadband.
The government will also begin negotiating the terms of a new licence fee for the BBC, which is due to occur between July 2011-April 2012.
For more click here and here.
Amongst the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s plans include a new Communications Bill – although not until 2012 at the earliest – and a reduced role for the regulating body Ofcom. Also included was the proposed launch of new local television stations in the summer of 2012, and the implementation of Europe’s leading universal and superfast broadband.
The government will also begin negotiating the terms of a new licence fee for the BBC, which is due to occur between July 2011-April 2012.
For more click here and here.
Thursday 15 July 2010
Directors UK at the Rushes Soho Shorts Festival
Directors UK is hosting a panel session at this year's Rushes Soho Shorts Festival, which takes place from 21-31st July.
The session is entitled The Future of Short Film – are shorts becoming longer?, and will see a panel discuss what's next for the short film. The discussion will be chaired by Directors UK Board member Tim Sullivan, and the panel includes Tom Harper, director of Scouting Book for Boys, BAFTA nominated director Corinna Faith and BBC New Directors Award winner Martin Gooch.
It's being held at the Apple Store on Regent Street on Wednesday 28th July, from 5-6pm. It's free to attend, so why not come along?
The session is entitled The Future of Short Film – are shorts becoming longer?, and will see a panel discuss what's next for the short film. The discussion will be chaired by Directors UK Board member Tim Sullivan, and the panel includes Tom Harper, director of Scouting Book for Boys, BAFTA nominated director Corinna Faith and BBC New Directors Award winner Martin Gooch.
It's being held at the Apple Store on Regent Street on Wednesday 28th July, from 5-6pm. It's free to attend, so why not come along?
Bruce Webb's Film The Be All and End All for Karlovy Vary judges
Monday 12 July 2010
Cooke’s sloth film leaves viewers greedy for more
Lucy Cooke’s short film about her trip to a Costa Rican sloth orphanage has been a huge viral hit, with The Guardian picking up on her success on their website.
Cooke posted a 90-second clip about the sloths on the video platform Vimeo, and then spread the word via Facebook and Twitter. The film’s popularity was staggering, with 1 million views in the first ten days, and garnering praise on the Twitter pages of Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross.
The Guardian describe Cooke’s success as “just the kind of person that this year’s [Sheffield Doc/Fest] competition is hoping to attract”, with Cooke advising entrants to the festival to "choose a popular subject – look online at what videos and what subjects go viral".
For more, click here.
Cooke posted a 90-second clip about the sloths on the video platform Vimeo, and then spread the word via Facebook and Twitter. The film’s popularity was staggering, with 1 million views in the first ten days, and garnering praise on the Twitter pages of Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross.
The Guardian describe Cooke’s success as “just the kind of person that this year’s [Sheffield Doc/Fest] competition is hoping to attract”, with Cooke advising entrants to the festival to "choose a popular subject – look online at what videos and what subjects go viral".
For more, click here.
Friday 9 July 2010
Emmy nominations: another good year for the Brits
The Emmy nominations were announced yesterday in Los Angeles, and once again UK television more than held its own.
A number of programmes and people from Britain found themselves in the running for an award, with directors proving no exception. In Nonfiction Programming British directors’ work led the way, with Bill Jones and Ben Timlett nominated for their work on Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut). Dan Reed is also in the running, thanks to his direction on the BAFTA-winning Terror in Mumbai.
In the Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special category, British director Mick Jackson was nominated for his work on Temple Grandin, a biopic about an autistic woman who becomes a leading scientist. Richard Loncraine also had reason to celebrate, as his film The Special Relationship was nominated for the Outstanding Made for Television Movie award.
Outside of direction, Dame Judi Dench and Jonathan Pryce were both nominated for their performances in Cranford. Sir Ian McKellen (The Prisoner), Dame Maggie Smith (Capturing Mary), Sir Patrick Stewart (Hamlet), Sir Michael Gambon (Emma) and Hugh Laurie (House) are also all up for awards.
For more, click here.
A number of programmes and people from Britain found themselves in the running for an award, with directors proving no exception. In Nonfiction Programming British directors’ work led the way, with Bill Jones and Ben Timlett nominated for their work on Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut). Dan Reed is also in the running, thanks to his direction on the BAFTA-winning Terror in Mumbai.
In the Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special category, British director Mick Jackson was nominated for his work on Temple Grandin, a biopic about an autistic woman who becomes a leading scientist. Richard Loncraine also had reason to celebrate, as his film The Special Relationship was nominated for the Outstanding Made for Television Movie award.
Outside of direction, Dame Judi Dench and Jonathan Pryce were both nominated for their performances in Cranford. Sir Ian McKellen (The Prisoner), Dame Maggie Smith (Capturing Mary), Sir Patrick Stewart (Hamlet), Sir Michael Gambon (Emma) and Hugh Laurie (House) are also all up for awards.
For more, click here.
Macdonald to direct "user-generated documentary"
British directors Kevin Macdonald and Ridley Scott are teaming up with YouTube to create “a user-generated documentary”.
The film, which will be directed by Macdonald and produced by Scott, is to consist of footage filmed by YouTube users on July 24th 2010. Macdonald will then compile the best of the footage into the final film, with the filmmakers contributing to the finished article being credited as co-directors.
The film, entitled Life in a Day, will have its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. For more, click here.
The film, which will be directed by Macdonald and produced by Scott, is to consist of footage filmed by YouTube users on July 24th 2010. Macdonald will then compile the best of the footage into the final film, with the filmmakers contributing to the finished article being credited as co-directors.
The film, entitled Life in a Day, will have its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. For more, click here.
Belgium's EU Presidency to focus on film
Belgium has promised to prioritise discussion on cinema now it has began its presidency of the EU, with particular focus on national and regional film subsidies.
Each nation within the EU takes over the EU Council Presidency for a spell of six months, with Belgium beginning theirs on 1st July. Film policy under its stewardship was on the agenda at a three-day conference held in Mons last weekend.
"We want to discuss moving from a Cinema Communication document that concentrates on production aid to one that encompasses more broadly and exhaustively all the types of aid that we judge to be legitimate and necessary when it comes to the creation, production and promotion of European cinema," said Frederic Delcor, head of Belgium's French community government cinema center.
For more on this story, click here.
Each nation within the EU takes over the EU Council Presidency for a spell of six months, with Belgium beginning theirs on 1st July. Film policy under its stewardship was on the agenda at a three-day conference held in Mons last weekend.
"We want to discuss moving from a Cinema Communication document that concentrates on production aid to one that encompasses more broadly and exhaustively all the types of aid that we judge to be legitimate and necessary when it comes to the creation, production and promotion of European cinema," said Frederic Delcor, head of Belgium's French community government cinema center.
For more on this story, click here.
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