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| 5/8/04 UK industry? 3/8/04 direct to DVD |
I have recently returned to the UK to produce feature films and I have begun to look at the film Industry here. I have made an observation and I would like some feedback. The British film industry seems to feel it needs to rely on 'American' goodwill to survive. The keynote speech of the chair of the UK Film Council, Alan Parker CBE, in 2002, says that we need to "reinvent the UK as a 'film hub' – a creative core. A film hub which is a natural destination for international investment. A film hub which is a natural supplier of skills and services to the global film market. A film hub which consistently creates British films that attract worldwide distribution and large audiences, while still using subsidy to support cultural production and new talent. " So the first part of it has to do with attracting foreign filmmakers to use our skills and facilities, but that third part, the part about British films, I want to focus on that. What do you think he identifies as the number one way to create this hub? Answer (in his own words): "Distribution. That means an industry that is led by distribution. Production led by distribution, not the other way round." And he means worldwide distribution. We have seen some debate about distribution on this forum before so I will not delve into the hows and whos of it, but I want to examine another aspect of it: why do Hollywood films get so much more international distribution than films made in the UK? Let us start to answer this question by identifying a Hollywood film. How do you identify one? The language? No, modern Hollywood films have people from all over the world as their stars (including some of the best talent from the UK), like Jude Law in Cold Mountain or Jackie Chan who can barely pronounce English. Maybe, we can identify them through their large special effects and explosions? No, Hollywood turns out films in many genres including thrillers like "Hannibal" (with another British star in the leading role), comedies like the Scream franchise and undefinable-genre films like M. Night Sayamalan's 4 most recent films and PT Anderson's Magnolia. These films do not rely on special effects. So, not the language, not the effects. How about the stars? Hollywood films all have stars in them right? Wrong. Hollywood launches new talent all the time in their main roles. So how on Earth does one identify a Hollywood production? Answer: all of the above and more. I do not mean to sound cryptic, I mean that Hollywood has created a BRAND, the Hollywood Brand. For those who may not know, a brand does not mean just a logo or a trademark, but rather represents a holistic system of concepts forming a solid identity. For example, Nike's brand does not consist of a tick logo and "just do it", they sell a whole lifestyle, "you wear these and you will have a life like this" and they present that life to us, in every medium possible. (To read more about brands - and their negative effects -, pick up a copy of Naomi Campbell's excellent book, "No Logo") Like all good little capitalists Hollywood moguls have created a brand and have marketed it to the world and trained their audience to want more. When someone talks about a Hollywood movie it conjures an image in the listeners mind instantly, a picture that goes way beyond what they have seen on the celluloid (or, nowadays LCD or Plasma). The image also contains the glamour of Hollywood, the gold and glitz; it conjures an image of parties and drugs and sex and easy women and sexy men; it even conjures an image of the young enthusiastic youth, the underdog, battling her way to the top, against the advances of unscrupulous producers and ruthless agents. When people watch Hollywood movies they feel just one step closer to this enticing world. More than that Hollywood has trained them to see this lifestyle as something attractive and to desire it. In contrast, when someone talks about a British film, it conjures the idea of a film made in England, nothing more; it brings up images of a soggy, grey existence full of slapstick comedians and bitter beer. (Sorry, but most of the world does not see Britain as a wonderful multi-cultural Empire, land of mighty football players and home of great traditions like good manners and afternoon tea. They simply do not.) So, does this mean that London has to become the new Hollywood to make our industry thrive? Do we need to start to celebrate and advertise glitz and sex and change our culture to succeed? Answer: No. I mean that we have our own brand, born of our own culture and our own style, for us to promote. Wait one moment though! Hold on. That does not mean that I think the industry should return to pure so-called "cultural" films that have no market outside of a 50 mile radius. As our friend Alan Parker also said "We need to abandon forever the 'little England' vision of a UK industry comprised of small British film companies delivering parochial British films. That, I suspect, is what many people think of when they talk of a 'sustainable' British film industry. Well, it’s time for a reality check. That 'British' film industry never existed, and in the brutal age of global capitalism, it never will." So to get back to our original question: why do Hollywood films get so much more international distribution than films made in the UK? Let's all say it together: because they have a brand. Next question: How do we create our own brand? The British Brand? To create a brand and sell it to the world we need to go back to the basics: business 101- identify elements of the products that already exist and work in the market and use those elements as a base for your own product, with your own modifications, and ease it into the market. That means a distribution-led film industry. We need to get that into our heads as producers, writers, directors and filmmakers in the UK. An industry. An international business. I do not advocate this for everyone, if you do not think you can do this, if you feel that you just want to make your film to express yourself, a localised masterpiece so to speak, or a very culture-specific piece for a limited audience, then go ahead and do so. Part of me says more power to you if you can. I personally wrestled with this demon for years: make commercially viable films or make what I love. Then I made a decision to do both: make commercially viable films to fund my babies. But I have added a twist: I introduce elements of my babies into my commercial productions so that when I make my little darlings they will also work commercially because the market has already sensitised itself to my work. (Thankfully for me directors like M. Night Sayamalan have already opened the doors to my style of film.) But I drift from my point: make films that sell internationally by including the selling elements of Hollywood pictures but with a British elements and tone. The audiences will identify with the elements they know and over time adapt and learn to like and desire the new ones they don't. The door has already opened to this with a string of films like "Snatch" and "Notting Hill" for example. We have to take this further and not leave it to the studios. Independent producers need to take up the baton and run for success. Together we can create a British Brand (capital "B") of film that the world will recognise. As creative people we must not feel fear when we have to deal with terms like "market share" and "demographics". We make films for people to see them, don't we? So why not make a few that people actually want to see? We will create a British Brand, that will conjure a picture of... well, I do not have the arrogance to define the brand myself. We must all do that through our work. On a practical level what does that mean? It means talking to distributors and sales agents before we decide what films to make. It means looking at the sales figures of the Hollywood productions and analysing what elements make them attractive. For example, you will notice that (I roughly estimate) more than 70% of the successful Hollywood productions have a huge hook in the first 5 pages. The films rarely start slow and ease in, they hook us from the get-go. Another thing: the Hollywood film pays a lot of attention to the grading of the film, whether the rich colours of a Jerry Bruckheimer film or the beautifully color-corrected and toned Coen Brother's "O' Brother! Where art thou?" They spend a lot of money and time getting it right. Yet another point: the soundtrack of these productions form a good part of their sales and contribute to the popularity of the movie. These types of elements we can use. The distributors have more of these jems that will make even the smallest independent feature salable. Did you know that the majority of buyers of direct-to-DVD features would still prefer even super16 mm to HD (as of the most recent film markets)? It also means concentrating on getting our films into the film markets AS WELL AS the film festivals. You see, it does not mean we have to sell our souls, it means we need to think of business, think of industry and think of working together to create a British Brand of films, training a worldwide audience who demand more of our films: internationally marketable and outstandingly unique. direct-to-DVD: think international As the person who started this discussion on "straight to DVD" I applaud Siman's article to further the discussion. I have successfully sold a number of movies direct to DVD. To clarify: while "direct to DVD" does not include theatrical release it does include TV, cable, pay-per-view and, soon, download-on-demand. This type of sales model for a film almost ensures that it can recoup its budget and even make a bit of profit... IF you think in a certain way: 1 Think international. 2 Think of your market during the production process. 3 Think about getting to the markets. • Cannes boasts a number of markets: MIP TV, Marché International du film (MIF), MIPcom and MIPcom junior. The next event, MIPcom, takes place in Cannes, France from October 4th to 8th 2004. The market has launched a new DVD award to help stimulate interest in DVDs. For more information look at www.mipcom.com. The best known market in Cannes, the MIF in May (the one with all the stars and glitz, not just the boring filmmakers, distributors and technicians like the other markets) represents a great place to network but also a huge market for international film sales. Most people think this event revolves around the festival, however the festival with the parties and prize giving actually exists along side the film market itself where buyers view trailers and finished features. In addition MIF offers the "Producer's Network" with the specific aim of "helping producers find new partners and financiers, as well as to encourage new projects and international exchange." (www.cannesmarket.com) • Mifed, the international film and multimedia market in Milan, Italy will happen on October 12th to 16th 2004. Mifed boasts over 5000 participants from over 70 countries, of which they count 1900 as buyers. This event has a distinct European feel and seeks to push european films to the international market (European includes the UK in this case, for those who may think otherwise) (www.mifed.com) Other markets exist like the European Film Market in Berlin, and over time may begin to hold as much significance as those listed above, so as filmmakers we need to keep our eyes and ears on the news. Remember also that as individuals we may not have too much influence, but if a large enough number of of us decide to move to a particular market, it will help it grow. On the one hand, you can go to the markets yourself which will involve incurring some costs like travel and living, entering your film for screening, a bit of printed material to hand out and show and various other expenses. In this case you need to have these expenses in mind as you produce to ensure that you can afford to get to the markets. What's the point of spending that 5000 GBP to have that lovely tracking crane shot of the car going over the bridge if you never get anyone to see it? Ensure you keep some money for the markets! On the other hand you can get yourself a sales agent or distributor that will take the film to the markets for you. I will not go into the details of this process but instead point you to Shooting People's book "Film Finance Guide 2004" by Caroline Hancock and Nic Wistreich which covers this subject quite well (and contains the most concise information I have read yet about the UK industry). But I can tell you that I consider going to talk to distributors one of the most important jobs of a producer. They know the market, they know what sells and what does not, they know how much you can expect to make on your film and therefore how much to spend. Go and talk to a distributor even if you do not have a script yet. If you can get them to have a chat with you and you can ask the right questions, you will get that much closer to realising your film. As I said before though get into the mindset now that your love story, set in the 16th century, may not match the present market needs, so you may need to reconsider your project. (As I mentioned before I recently returned to the UK so I have not had a chance yet to meet with and talk to UK distributors, once I have done so I may have more to say about how to approach them.) 4 Think about the buyers. _______________ I just want to comment briefly on Simon's suggestions for "what we need" - Distributors/Publishers with accessibility to the retail channels - Reviews and feedback With the advent of blogs, and the attention they have begun to raise in the media I think that on-line reviews of films will help immensely. We have all become the critics. So write reviews for films whenever you feel inspired and whenever you can on-line. If you do it often and enough people agree with you, you will get a name as a "reliable" reviewer and the people who have your taste will read what you write, and maybe even send feedback. However I have gone off Simon's original point: support the critics. Keep in mind that critics like all humans have their own taste, their own point of view, so they will not all like every film you make (or like), but you should support the ones that don't for two reasons: 1 They may like your next film and 2 in my experience you can probably learn more from constructive negative criticism that all the "wonderful, touching, amazing" comments in the world. - Innovative Marketing Companies I do not know whether this will help or not. I tend to want to push people towards gaining the interests of distribution companies and letting the latter do the marketing rather than trying to do it themselves. But as I have only recently returned to the UK after a long time abroad, I'll reserve comment until I learn more about the local market. I think we can certainly do more to move the direct-to-DVD market forward on an international scale. In the past distributors only picked up movies for international DVD sales if they had a predominantly American cast, an explosion in the first 2 minutes and a "named" star. This landscape has changed and a chance for well written, progressive films to do well internationally in the so-called "genre market" has arrived. So press on and keep filming. -cauri |
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