1. Key Successes in the British Film
Industry
AIMS
To explain why some British films have been
successful.
To be able to explain how Britain’s cinema is both
Monopolized by Hollywood, whilst also being
distinctly British.

2. STARTER
THERE ARE TWO SHEETS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE
CLASS.
I would like you to write at least one thing on each
sheet to show what you have learnt about that
nation’s cinema.
BRITISH FILM AMERICAN FILM
It can be about any stage of the film production cycle:
PROUCTION  DISTRIBUTION (/MARKETING)  EXHIBITION

3. BAFTA – Best British Film
• This is often a measure of how successful a
film has been, with critics anyway
• Awards and accolades provide extra publicity
for a film and lead to increased box-office and
DVD/BD sales revenue
• BAFTA has toyed with the Best British Film
category (changes, incorporations) but now
has The Alexander Korda Award for
Outstanding British Film

4. Recent BAFTA winners
• 2012 – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• 2011 – The King’s Speech
• 2010 – Fish Tank
• 2009 – Man on Wire
• 2008 – This is England
What are the qualities of ‘Britishness’ that these
films convey?

5. The Oscars
• British films have fared well at the ceremony
• Internationally recognised
• Boost sales significantly
• ‘Licence’ to make more personal films
• Make the films you want
• Curse – past performance is not a guide to
future success

6. Recent British Successes at the Oscars
• 2011 – The King’s Speech
• 2009 – Slumdog Millionaire
• 2006 – Helen Mirren for The Queen
• 1998 – Shakespeare in Love, Best Picture
• Aardman Animations (Nick Park) –
1991, 1994, 1996 = Best Animated Short
Film, 2005 = Best Animated Feature (Wallace and
Gromit, Creature Comforts)
• Why has the American film industry chosen these
particular British films to reward?

7. Heritage of British Success at the
Oscars
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2
010/mar/08/british-oscar-winners
• How much of this is down to actors and
directors working exclusively in Britain?
• Why is this?

8. Honour is not always Profit
• Making the most money does not mean you will win
the award for best film
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1232776/ (Fish Tank)
• Look at the Inbetweeners Movie... Makes £50m, costs
£4m... No Oscar glory there!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1716772/videogallery
• Look at Four Lions... Wins the BAFTA Best British Film
award, but makes only a modest profit at the box
office... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1341167/

9. What does it take to be successful?

10. Total Box Office Gross
£200,938,649
Total Box Office Gross
£20,297,569£1.3m
£3.5m

11. Film4
• Launched as part of Channel 4 in 1982 under
‘Channel 4 films’ to Commission low- to
medium budgeted films.
• Promoted diversity in film and explored
contemporary social and political problems.

12. • Channel Four films were a major contributor
to British films success in America.
• However still only accounted for 1% gross at
the UK Box Office.

13. • Re-launched as Film4 in 1999 with the
successes of Four Wedding and a Funeral
(1994; gross of $240m), Shallow Grave (1994)
& Trainspotting (1996).
Film4 was a unique attempt to bridge
distribution and production in Britain.

15. The end of Film Four
• The distribution arm of Film Four came to an
end in 2002. It is often claimed that the film
Charlotte Gray (2001) is most responsible for
this.
• In trying to make films that appealed to both
international and domestic markets Film Four
achieved neither.

16. “Film four…invested in films that could be
defined as ‘typically British’…” Sarah Casey Benyahia
• It played an important role in the
distribution of films which British
audiences were unlikely to have
access to otherwise, to cinemas
and on Video and DVD.

17. New Models of Distribution
• Films are now readily available due to
advances in technology.
The first film to be released simultaneously
in cinemas, on DVD and on the internet on
the same day.
The film received 1.4 million viewers when
broadcast on channel 4.
The Road to Guantanamo

18. THIS IS ENGLAND
(Shane Meadows, 2006)
Create a presentation that addresses the
following:
• How it was financed – by whom? how much?
• How it was produced – Film studio? star
power? Director?
• How it was exhibited – Cinema (how many
screens), DVD, Box Office Figures, reviews,
was it successful abroad?
Try to comment on why you think these things happened. Why was the budget what it
was? Why did it get released how it was released (ie, number of screens or straight to
DVD)