UK FILM COUNCIL LAUNCHES FIRST FULLY DIGITAL STATISTICAL YEARBOOK

http://www.digitalcinemainfo.com/ukfilmcouncil_07_21_10.php

July 21, 2010

Source: UK Film Council

Annual Statistical Yearbook published as searchable website for first time:

-UK box office reached record levels in 2009 – totalling £944 million 

-Inward investment up 111% year-on-year to reach record level of £753 million 

-Value of 2009 UK domestic production down 18% year-on-year (£169.2 million) 

-UK films took 17% UK market share, with independent films taking record 8.2% share 

-UK film exports 92% higher in 2008 than in 2001, totalling £1.3 billion 

-71 UK domestic feature films made in 2009, down slightly from 77 in 2008

Last year, film in the UK bucked the recession - posting a record box office of £944 million, the second highest level of admissions since 1971 (174 million), and the second best year on record for the level of production investment (£957 million) - according to the latest statistics published today by the UK Film Council. The full report, 2010 Statistical Yearbook, can be found athttp://SY10.ukfilmcouncil.ry.com/.

Internationally, the UK share of the global market was 7% (pulling in around $2 billion), with the top three UK films grossing almost $1.5 billion together (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Slumdog Millionaire, and Sherlock Holmes). 

Independent UK films were at their most popular - both in the UK and global markets - since records began, taking 8.2% of the UK and 2.3% of the global market share. UK film exports in 2008 were a massive 92% higher than in 2001 and the most recent figures (from 2008) show that the UK’s trade surplus was £494 million.

Avatar, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Ice Age III were the three most popular films in UK cinemas in 2009, with Avatar alone grossing £92 million (to 20th July 2010), making it the highest grossing film of all time in the UK, surpassing the previous record of £69.2 million set in 2008 by Mamma Mia!. 11 of the top 20 highest grossing films of all time (at the UK box office) were UK/USA collaborations, and the importance of the UK’s creative talent to the global film industry is underlined by the presence of no fewer than 13 films based on stories and characters created by UK writers.

Compiled by the UK Film Council’s Research and Statistics Unit, the 2010 Statistical Yearbook presents the most comprehensive picture of film in the UK and the performance of British films abroad during 2009. This is the first year that the Statistical Yearbook is published fully online, making it an even more accessible, open and valuable resource. Additionally this year, there is more focus on the production and performance of independent UK films, a 10-year analysis of specialised films at the UK box office, more data on the market performance of 3D films, and, for the first time, a chapter on film education.

Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, Creative Industries and Communications, said: “These figures are clear evidence of the UK’s thriving film industry and its valuable contribution to our economy and cultural life. Not only are people visiting the cinema in ever greater numbers, some of the biggest hits at the box office in the last year are British. In the UK we have the talent, skills and creativity in film making of which we can be truly proud.”

John Woodward, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Film Council, said: “The UK Film Council’s Statistical Yearbook is the definitive annual snapshot and health check on the British film sector. It allows us to see the really big picture both in terms of audiences and the industry itself. This year it’s clear that the picture is one of increasing contrasts. 

“In terms of sheer economic value, jobs and overall contribution to the economy, film has had a truly great year and is more than punching above its weight. We can see the growing strength of the industry, the continued strength of our creative talent, the robust infrastructure we have in place as well as the vital role that films and film culture play in the life of millions of people up and down the UK.

“That said, it’s also clear that year-on-year the marketplace for financing smaller independently-produced British films is becoming increasingly tough – partly as a result of the overall economic slowdown and partly because of the increasingly tough transition from the analogue to the digital age. This part of the industry will therefore need particular care over the next few years and it will be very important to maintain current public funding levels. At the same time there needs to be real focus on building new business models to secure the future for independent British films that can find audiences online as well as in cinemas.”


ADDITIONAL FACTS AND FIGURES

Film production – a mixed picture

2009 saw a substantial increase in production in the UK, driven by a record level of inward investment. Total UK production activity rose from £613 million in 2008 to £957 million in 2009, £753 million of which came from inward investment (up 111% on the 2008 figure of £357 million), and £169 million from domestic UK feature films (down 18% on the 2008 figure of £207.2 million). The number of inward investment films rose slightly from 27 in 2008 to 32 in 2009, whilst the number of domestic UK feature films fell slightly from 77 to 71. 

The number of co-productions remained static at 22 in 2009, whilst their combined value made up £35 million of the total level of production (down from £48.9 million in 2008). Median budgets for UK domestic feature films fell slightly from £1.7 million in 2008 to £1.5 million in 2009.

Alongside the Statistical Yearbook, the UK Film Council also publishes today the UK film production statistics for the first half of 2010. The numbers show a continuing strong performance for the total level of production, with inward investment maintaining its high rate thanks to a combination of the UK’s envied creative talent pool, our simple tax relief, and the current level of exchange rate. However, there continue to be pressures on the smaller UK independent films, which are finding it difficult to secure finance in the marketplace and are suffering from the ongoing low levels of co-productions. 

Box-office – record-breaking success

Despite the recession, the 2009 UK box office saw record receipts (£944 million) and the highest admissions since 2002 (173.5 million), increasing by 5.6% since 2008 – a huge success at any point in the economic cycle, but particularly during a global downturn. One of the main drivers of this growth was the emergence of 3D cinema, which, in total, accounted for £176 million in box office receipts. 

Global box office revenues reached almost $30 billion in 2009, increasing by 7% since 2008. The top 10 performing UK films worldwide grossed $1.8 billion in 2009, with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince topping the chart to gross over $900 million. 

Overall 503 films were released for a week or more in the UK, and the top 100 films earned over 91% of the gross box office. UK films (including co-productions) accounted for 23% of releases in the UK market (up from 21% in 2008).

Avatar has entered the record books as the top earning film of all time at the UK box office (£92 million to 20th July 2010). Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings films made up six and three respectively of the top 20 films of all time at the UK box office. Sequels and franchise films made up 16 of the top 20 films of all time.

British talent and creativity

For a small country, the UK film industry has an astonishing creative track record. Of the top 200 global box office successes of 2001-2009, 30 films are based on stories and characters created by UK writers, which together have earned more than $16 billion at the worldwide box office. More than half of the top 200 films released worldwide since 2001 have featured UK actors in lead or prominent supporting roles. British directors have directed 19 of the 200 biggest films of the last nine years. And eight of the top 20 global box office successes of the last nine years are based on novels by British writers. 

This success is bolstered by the tally of awards won by Brits. In 2009 alone, UK films and talent scooped 36 major awards (up from 32 in 2008), with Slumdog Millionaire being the most recognised film. The 241 awards won by UK films and talent between 2001 – 2009 represented 14% of the total of all major awards. 

Other headline statistics in the 2009 Statistical Yearbook include: 

· The UK film industry makes a substantial contribution to the UK economy. The latest figures (2008) show that the industry has a turnover of £6.8 billion, contributes directly £3.1 billion to UK GDP (£4.6 billion including all indirect effects), and exports £1.34 billion worth of services (made up of £792 million in royalties and £549 million in film production services) 

· The total filmed entertainment market in the UK in 2009 was estimated to have been £3.7 billion, unchanged from 2008, making the UK the third-largest market after the USA and Japan 

· The total size of the UK’s film audience in 2009 was estimated to be 4.5 billion, 75% of which was on television, followed by 20% on DVD and video. The VoD audience was estimated to have reached 41 million

· 42,543 people work in the UK film and video industries, of whom 25,556 work in film and video production

· Women make up 17% of the screenwriters (the same share as in 2008) and 17% of the directors (up from 12% in 2008) of UK films released in the UK in 2009

· In 2009, 60% of the UK population said they went to the cinema at least once a year, whilst 18% went once a month or more. Total ‘film viewing occasions’ totalled over 4.5 billion, which means an average of 81 film viewings per person in 2009

· The number of UK screens continues to rise – 3,651 (up by 41 since 2008) across 723 cinemas. The number of digital screens increased by 107% since 2008 to total 642, but the UK has been overtaken by France with its total 959 digital screens. At the end of 2009 the UK had 449 screens capable of screening 3D (70% of all digital screens). The number of multiplex sites increased from 269 in 2008 to 275 in 2009, representing 38% of all cinema sites (up only 1% since 2008)

· 347 specialised films were released in the UK in 2009, which was 69% of the total releases, and representing a 15.4% market share, almost doubling from the 8.2% share in 2008. 15% (£173 million) of the total box office was taken by specialised films 

· Film distribution in the UK continues to be dominated by a few very large companies, but a number of smaller companies distribute almost as many titles – the top 10 distributors had a 92% share of the market in 2009 (down from 95% in 2008), distributing 201 films, whilst the other 83 smaller distributors combined to handle a total of 374 films (65% of the total, 8% box office share)

· In 2009, there were nearly 5,000 film production companies, 2,500 post-production companies, 420 film distributors, and 225 exhibitors in the UK. The majority of companies were small (turnover under £250,000) but more than 70% of turnover was accounted for by the 170 companies with turnover over £5 million

· In 2009, 180 million film ‘videos’ were sold, down 8% on 2008, and the total market value was £1.3 billion, down 10% on 2008. For video sales as a whole, DVDs accounted for the vast bulk of sales by value (92%), with Blu-Ray accounting for 6.4% (up from 2.9% in 2008)

· There are now 32 internet and TV-based VoD film services available to UK consumers – a five-fold increase in two years. iTunes has emerged as the leading internet-based VoD service, with a 55% share of the UK online market in 2009. The total VoD market was estimated to be worth £124 million 2009, up 3% since 2008, with online film revenues increasing by 156% to £15.9 million