Introduction

 

Welcome to the 2008 UK Film Council Statistical Yearbook.

This yearbook, the sixth we have published, is a rich source of industry data and analysis on film in the UK.

This publication is one of the ways we deliver on our commitment to evidence-based film policy.

We hope you enjoy this yearbook and find it useful.

2007 - the year in review

UK admissions and UK film share increase

The two best results for film in the UK in 2007 were the increase in cinema admissions (up by 4%) and the jump in the box office share of UK films to 29% from 19% last year. The two results are likely to be connected, as we generally observe a positive relationship between national market shares and overall audience size. The increase in admissions was especially pleasing in view of the multiplicity of alternative ways of viewing film, the shortening of windows and the continued pressure of copyright theft. It seems that, where the films on offer are of the best quality for whichever part of the market they appeal to, mainstream or specialised, people still wish to see them at the cinema, where the experience is the best. Furthermore, the exhibition sector is adopting new technologies such as digital projection and 3D, which should reinforce the popularity of the cinematic experience into the future.

How big is the audience for film in the UK?

While most media attention is paid to the cinema release of films, it is via television (Chapter 11) that people watch most of the films they see. In the UK in 2007, the total audience for film on television was 3.1 billion, 19 times larger than the cinema audience and three times larger than the estimated audience for film on DVD/video. The top film on television in 2007 was Shrek 2 on BBC1 with 9.4 million viewers - one in six of the UK population. British films The Queen and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban came second and third with 8.7 million and 8.4 million viewers respectively. British films attracted around one-fifth of the television film audience - 590 million viewing occasions in 2007, about 10 per person. Of those viewing occasions, roughly one-quarter were for recent UK films (released theatrically within the last eight years), suggesting that the Government's investment in UK film reaps a substantial dividend in terms of public enjoyment.

Who watches films in the UK?

The majority of the theatrical audience was young (nearly half under the age of 25), but the older audience (people aged 45 and over) has grown substantially over the last decade, accounting for 19% of cinema visits (31 million) in 2007 (Chapter 14). Growth in the older audience seems to have been driven both by the ageing of the population and by the wider choice of films on offer.

The television audience for film had a much older profile: only 16% under the age of 25 and 56% over the age of 45 (unchanged from 2006), reflecting the preference of the older age groups for home-based audio-visual entertainment.

The film audience was diverse. It was roughly 50/50 male and female, and minority ethnic groups were well represented. As to be expected, the audience for individual films varied widely, depending on the genre and type of film and the location of the cinema. Disabled people had proportionate access to retail DVD/video but were under-represented in cinema access and DVD/video rental.

A small, but growing, part of the audience enjoys foreign language films, of which there were 170 releases in 2007 in 33 languages, taking 3.5% of the box office. Hindi was the most common foreign language in terms of number of releases, followed by French, Tamil, German and Spanish. The top four foreign language films in 2007 were Apocalypto (Mayan), The Lives of Others (German), La Vie en Rose (French) and Om Shanti Om (Hindi).

Audiences continue to enjoy UK films

2007 saw the UK film share of the UK box office rebound to 29% (from 19% in 2006) with strong performances by Working Title films (Mr Bean's Holiday, Hot Fuzz, Atonement and Elizabeth: The Golden Age), collaborations with US studios (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Golden Compass, The Bourne Ultimatum) and independent UK films such as St Trinian's, Notes on a Scandal and 28 Weeks Later (Chapter 2).

Two British films (Casino Royale and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) topped the UK DVD retail charts in 2007 and on television The Queen did particularly well (two appearances in the top 10 terrestrial TV films) along with three Harry Potter films, Bridget Jones, Lara Croft, Love Actually and Die Another Day.

The persistent appeal of the James Bond franchise, now into its 46th year, is a feature of the above results, likely to be reinforced in November 2008 with the global release of the 22nd Bond film, Quantum of Solace. British audiences clearly like archetypal British characters, whether they be adolescent wizards, romantically vexed singletons or emotionally bewildered secret agents.

Taking UK film to the world

UK films were again seen by huge audiences around the world. The UK film share of global cinema takings was 12%, or US$3.3 billion, equal to approximately 700 million admissions (Chapter 4). Harry Potter led the way with US$937 million for The Order of the Phoenix. The Bourne Ultimatum took images of Waterloo Station and The Guardian newspaper to the world, while Mr Bean cycled his way chaotically across France to the tune of US$226 million. Millions saw the fantasy Oxford of The Golden Compass while international fans of UK comedy saw two bumbling coppers (in Hot Fuzz) shoot their way through a previously peaceful West Country village.

The international reach of UK film was confirmed by the latest (2006) trade figures released by the Office for National Statistics, showing UK film exports of £913 million, contributing a trade surplus of £128 million to the UK's balance of payments (Chapter 18). Two-thirds of the export income came from royalties and one-third from the export of production services.

The reach of UK talent goes further than British films, as UK actors, directors and writers work on films produced in the USA and other countries (Chapter 5). Thirty of the top 200 films at the world box office in 2001-2007 were based on stories and characters created by British writers, including JK Rowling (the Harry Potter films), JRR Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings), CS Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Ian Fleming (Casino Royale and Die Another Day). British directors directed 20 of the top 200 films and British actors appeared in more than half of them. The director Ridley Scott appeared most frequently in these charts, with Orlando Bloom and Sir Ian McKellen the most watched actors.

The performance of British talent was recognised by numerous academy and festival awards - 173 in total over 2001-2007 (14% of the awards made) at the major international events: the Academy Awards, the BAFTA Film Awards, and the Berlin, Cannes, Sundance, Toronto and Venice film festivals. Most prominent in 2007 was Helen Mirren with her double Best Actress wins at the Academy and BAFTA Film Awards for her performance in The Queen. Talent involved in all types of film - features, shorts, documentary, animation - was recognised.

Film production - fourth best year on record

Assisted by the new UK film tax relief, UK film production was solid in 2007 with an aggregate UK spend of £747 million, making 2007 the fourth-highest production year on record (Chapter 15). The number and value of inward features was similar to the year before, while the number of domestic UK films (with budgets greater than £500,000) increased from 55 to 60. The only category to fall significantly was co-productions (from 52 in 2006 to 29 in 2007), probably reflecting the shift to calculating tax relief on UK spend rather than on the whole budget of the film. Co-productions usually have lower UK spend than inward and domestic productions.

Release rates and release opportunities

One less positive result was an apparent decline in the release rate of UK films after several years of improvement (Chapter 6). Only 44% of films certified as British in 2006 gained a theatrical release in the UK and Republic of Ireland (by 2 March 2008) compared with 54% of 2005 films. Schedule 1 films had a higher release rate than co-productions and their better performance extended to international releasing as well, where 64% of 2006 Schedule 1 films had a release in one of the 12 territories monitored by Nielsen EDI compared with 57% of co-productions.

The workforce diversity challenge

The film production workforce was concentrated in the 25-50 age brackets, with fewer workers under 25 or over 50 compared with the UK average (Chapter 19). There was also a marked gender difference: the majority of women in the industry were under 35, whereas two-thirds of the men were over 35. This statistic supports anecdotal evidence that many women drop out of the industry in their mid-thirties due to the long, unsocial hours of the production sector.

Disabled workers were under-represented in the industry (only 3% in 2006) and, most challenging of all, the 2006 Skillset production workforce survey shows that the minority ethnic group profile did not improve between 2002 and 2006. Only 5% of the film production workforce was from a minority ethnic background, compared to 7% in the UK workforce as a whole and 24% in the London workforce, the most appropriate comparator due to the London-centricity of film production.

Lack of diversity was apparent in writing and directing, for example, where only 13% of the writers and 7% of the directors of UK films in 2006 and 2007 were female. Research into the recruitment of writers for British films found that commissioning leans towards established writers, usually male, white, often over the age of 45 and frequently represented by the Writers Guild of America and American agents, even when they are British. The film production workforce was concentrated in the 25-50 age brackets, with fewer workers under 25 or over 50 compared with the UK average (Chapter 19). There was also a marked gender difference: the majority of women in the industry were under 35, whereas two-thirds of the men were over 35. This statistic supports anecdotal evidence that many women drop out of the industry in their mid-thirties due to the long, unsocial hours of the production sector.

Disabled workers were under-represented in the industry (only 3% in 2006) and, most challenging of all, the 2006 Skillset production workforce survey shows that the minority ethnic group profile did not improve between 2002 and 2006. Only 5% of the film production workforce was from a minority ethnic background, compared to 7% in the UK workforce as a whole and 24% in the London workforce, the most appropriate comparator due to the London-centricity of film production.

Lack of diversity was apparent in writing and directing, for example, where only 13% of the writers and 7% of the directors of UK films in 2006 and 2007 were female. Research into the recruitment of writers for British films found that commissioning leans towards established writers, usually male, white, often over the age of 45 and frequently represented by the Writers Guild of America and American agents, even when they are British.

What's new in this Yearbook?

Regular readers will notice a number of changes this year, in particular:

• •an extension to Chapter 5 to cover UK successes in academy and festival awards around the world;
• •a new chapter (12) on the embryonic market for film on video-on-demand in the UK;
• •a new chapter (16) looking at public investment in film in the UK;
• •an extension to the chapter on the UK film economy (Chapter18) to include the latest Annual Business Inquiry data on the sector's turnover and value added.

Within the limits of data availability, the RSU is developing the Yearbook to meet the economic, cultural and public policy needs of UK film. Feedback is welcome and if you would like to discuss any issues, or make suggestions, please contact us.

Finally, a special thank you to all our data suppliers, who have allowed us to publish the statistical results arising from their surveying and tracking activities with suitable protections for the confidentiality of individual respondents and the commercial interests of the suppliers. This is a valuable service to the public and everyone connected with UK film.

David Steele,
Head of Research and Statistics

Edmond Ng,
Senior Research Executive

Sean Perkins,
Research Executive

 

 

About the Research and Statistics Unit (RSU)

 

The Research and Statistics Unit (RSU) provides research data and market intelligence to anyone with an interest in UK film and film in the UK. Research enquiries should be directed to the RSU: +44 (0)20 7861 7940, rsu@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk.

 

All other enquiries, including for hard copies of the Yearbook, should be made to the UK Film Council Communications department: +44 (0)20 7861 7861, press@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk.