BFM

bfm highlights a worring trend in UK film cycles by Marsha Prescod

We all know that getting films made is a struggle for Indie filmmakers generally, and Black Indie filmmakers in particular. But this pales into insignificance when compared with the problem of getting films shown.

The problem of distribution/exhibition results in a situation where UK films command only 15%–20% of the domestic box office most years. A crucial factor here is the short lifespan these films increasingly have at the UK box office once they've been released. Viewing patterns amongst cinema audiences is along the fast food line. Increasingly, if a film doesn't do great business in the first two weeks of theatrical release... its adios muchachos. It has reached the stage where the top films are taking over a quarter of their total gross in their opening week! This appears to be mirroring the music business, and the singles market. The cost of producing, promoting and distributing singles is of course much, much less than film.

This pattern in a 10 week theatrical cycle for films. The top 40 films of 1997 had taken over 90% of their total gross by week 10, the one exception being The Full Monty which was a sleeper and had grossed under 60% of its total by week 10. This short cycle pattern makes the UK a riskier market than the US, with films being pushed out in ever increasing numbers, for shorter runs. In the US, even given the fact that a) it is a huge territory b) its own product has the lion's share of the domestic market, and c) there aremore screens per million inhabitants, the amount of films released each week compared to the UK is proportionately less.

Consequently there is less chance of a second run after the first release of a film in the UK. This is in contrast with the US where there is a second run market showing films at a discount on older screens. The US industry has analysed the different kinds of markets that exist for a movie, and caters for different tastes according to region, ethnicity, age so that these markets are targetted and a film can be show in them at different times, or at the same time with appropriately tailored publicity campaigns. In the UK market analysis is based on age,gender, and perhaps taking into account for regional differences in tastes. In the US, they seem to have nerves of steel, when it comes to precipitous drops in revenue during week two of release. The takings of Lost World: Jurassic Park fell by 57% in the second week of release. Neverthless,...

The full text of this article can be found in blackfilmmaker Issue 4




Trend in UK Editorial Finance: bfm looks at alternative source of finance for indie filmmakers bfm highlights a worring trend in UK film cycles Report from Edinburgh Financing a short film Distribution Interview with Horace Ove: The Godfather of Black Brit Cinema (c)Black Filmmaker Publications 1998: All right reserved			bfm highlights a worring trend in UK film cycles by Marsha Prescod We all know that getting films made is a struggle for Indie filmmakers generally, and Black Indie filmmakers in particular. But this pales into insignificance when compared with the problem of getting films shown. The problem of distribution/exhibition results in a situation where UK films command only 15%–20% of the domestic box office most years. A crucial factor here is the short lifespan these films increasingly have at the UK box office once they've been released. Viewing patterns amongst cinema audiences is along the fast food line. Increasingly, if a film doesn't do great business in the first two weeks of theatrical release... its adios muchachos. It has reached the stage where the top films are taking over a quarter of their total gross in their opening week! This appears to be mirroring the music business, and the singles market. The cost of producing, promoting and distributing singles is of course much, much less than film. This pattern in a 10 week theatrical cycle for films. The top 40 films of 1997 had taken over 90% of their total gross by week 10, the one exception being The Full Monty which was a sleeper and had grossed under 60% of its total by week 10. This short cycle pattern makes the UK a riskier market than the US, with films being pushed out in ever increasing numbers, for shorter runs. In the US, even given the fact that a) it is a huge territory b) its own product has the lion's share of the domestic market, and c) there aremore screens per million inhabitants, the amount of films released each week compared to the UK is proportionately less. Consequently there is less chance of a second run after the first release of a film in the UK. This is in contrast with the US where there is a second run market showing films at a discount on older screens. The US industry has analysed the different kinds of markets that exist for a movie, and caters for different tastes according to region, ethnicity, age so that these markets are targetted and a film can be show in them at different times, or at the same time with appropriately tailored publicity campaigns. In the UK market analysis is based on age,gender, and perhaps taking into account for regional differences in tastes. In the US, they seem to have nerves of steel, when it comes to precipitous drops in revenue during week two of release. The takings of Lost World: Jurassic Park fell by 57% in the second week of release. Neverthless,... The full text of this article can be found in blackfilmmaker Issue 4 (c)All rights reserved Blackfilmmaker 1998