Film Privacy in the UK

Film piracy is an issue that affects the film industry at the stages of exhibition and consumption.

There is a lot of information on the web for you to research yourself.

Here are a few things to get you started.

You can find information from The Guardian relating to film piracy by clicking here 

An interesting approach to trying to tackle film piracy related directly to 'Skyfall' can also be found by clicking here.

Film producer Stephen Follows give shis own opinions about whether or not piracy has harmed the UK film industry on his blog. The relevant post can be accessed by clicking here.

'Skyfall' and 'The Woman in Black" Exhibition, consumption and Exchange

Use the following to develop your awareness and knowledge of the UK film industry in 2012 - the year both 'Skyfall' and 'The Woman in Black' were released.

BFI Statistical Yearbook 2013 (covers 2012 figures for distribution and exhibition) 

CLICK HERE

BFI Statistical Yearbook 2014 (covers 2012 figures for exchange) 

CLICK HERE 

Exhibition = films being exhibited or 'shown'.

The number of screens in the UK continues to rise, although the number of screens per person and admissions per person vary considerably across the country. Complementing commercial cinema is a thriving voluntary sector in film exhibition, and film society admissions are highest in areas less well served by commercial cinemas.

EXHIBITION FACTS IN FOCUS:

• At the end of 2012, the UK had 3,817 screens, 50 more than 2011, in 769 cinemas.
• For the first time since 1984 the net increase in screens in traditional cinemas was greater than the net increase in multiplex screens.
• There were six screens for every 100,000 people, the same as in 2011, but lower than countries such as the USA (12.6), France (9.0), Australia (8.7), Spain (8.3) and Italy (6.4).
• Only 7% of screens were dedicated to specialised programming, with 0.2% dedicated mainly to South Asian films.
• More than 90% of all screens in the UK were equipped for digital projection.
• Membership of community cinemas
• and film societies continued to grow;
• the British Federation of Film Societies estimated a total membership of around 55,000 across all film societies, compared with 54,000 in the previous year.
• There were 584,000 admissions at more than 50 film festivals in the UK in 2012.
• The average ticket price at commercial cinemas was £6.37

Cinema screens by exhibitors with 20+ screens, 2012

  

Exhibitor                                                      Sites                Screens       % of total screens

Odeon	114	868	22.7
Cineworld	80	799	20.9
Vue	79	746	19.5
National Amusements	20	264	6.9
Empire Cinemas	16	150	3.9
Anderson	11	88	2.3
Reel Cinemas	16	63	1.7
Cineworld/City Screen	22	60	1.6
Movie House Cinemas	5	39	1.0
Merlin Cinemas	11	32	0.8
Others (21 major exhibitors and 329 independent single venue exhibitors)	395	708	18.5
Total	769	3,817	100.0

Technological change is transforming the shape of the creative industries at an extremely rapid pace. This presents both huge opportunities and challenges for the film sector. As John Adams, Professor of Film & Screen Media Practice at the University of Bristol, points out, “digital technologies create the possibility of a paradigm shift in the creative and commercial potential of film”. 

Films are already available on multiple platforms at users’ convenience. They carry an increasingly rich stream of metadata. Feature-length productions may still be the norm in cinemas but they are increasingly complemented by a wide array of other forms of moving images available via streaming sites. Transmedia storytelling, in which a narrative unfolds across different platforms, is becoming increasingly common. 

There is a strong public appetite to engage with film, not just as consumers, but as producers, curators and critics. The development of social media has been a powerful tool in this. Technological advances will allow faster access to audiences and more direct relationships between filmmakers and audiences; and analysts now believe that new devices that make it easier to watch internet video on television will accelerate the shift to on-demand movies. 

However, film needs to be able to compete with other content in the digital environment. According to the British Video Association, “the single biggest problem currently facing the film industry is falling revenues”. The challenge for the industry is to replace lost revenues from the collapsing DVD-based ownership model in a marketplace that is shifting away from physical media. Counterbalancing this is the huge opportunity presented by the digital revolution. The film industry is seeking revenue models to capitalise on what audiences are willing to pay for films (and related games, apps and other media).

Consumption = films being consumed ('watched') by an audience  

Exchange = how the audience then responds to these.

Understanding the audience is key to a vibrant film economy and culture. Surveys of the UK cinema audience provide us with an insight into one element of the film offer, but more research is needed on audience engagement with the full range of online experiences.

AUDIENCE FACTS IN FOCUS:

• In 2012, the proportion of over-45s in the UK cinema audience increased to 36% compared to 28% in 2011, while the 15-24 audience decreased from 31% to 25%.

Film on 'Physical' Video

Despite falling revenues, particularly in the rental market, physical video remains a crucial element of the film value chain. 

In 2013, feature film video sales and rentals in the UK generated just over £1.1 billion.

PHYSICAL VIDEO FACTS IN FOCUS:

• The combined sales and rental market for all categories of video on physical media in 2013 was more than £1.6 billion (over £1.4 billion in sales and £197 million from rentals); feature film on video accounted for just over £1.1 billion.
• There were 119 million sales of feature film on physical video
• (127 million in 2012) and 53 million rentals of film on video (78 million in 2012).
• Film accounted for 73% of the volume of the video sales market and 65% of the value. UK films accounted for around 24% of all films sold on video.
• The most popular purchase on both DVD and Blu-ray disc in 2013 was Skyfall.

Hardware

• According to the BVA, in 2013 some 3.3 million DVD players were sold in the UK. 
• Sales of DVD players have been decreasing each year since 2008 but over 60 million units have been sold in the UK in the last 10 years and, according to the BVA, over 90% of the population has access to a device that can play DVDs within the household. 
• Also, 1.2 million Blu-ray players were sold in 2013, one third of which were 3D players.
• Sales of Blu-ray players in 2013 were slightly lower than in 2012 (1.3 million units in 2012) but more than 5.5 million Blu-ray players have now been sold in the UK, and 21.2% of households own at least one player (compared with 17.6% in 2012).

Video on Demand 

Video on Demand (VoD) enables audiences to access films through a range of devices, anytime, anywhere. 

Revenues for online services were higher than television-based earnings for the second consecutive year in 2013, but our overall understanding of this market is hampered by a lack of robust data.

FACTS IN FOCUS:

• The total VoD film market was estimated to be worth £323 million in 2013, up 37% on 2012, and up over 400% since 2002
• Apple was the highest earning VoD provider in the UK, but YouTube is the most used provider to access feature film on VoD, with over 39% of online film viewers, followed by LOVEFiLM, with 25% of viewers and Netflix with 24%.
• 16% of online viewers access films on demand
• People can now watch film on demand wherever they are, as long as there is a 3G/4G hotspot or wireless router to connect their (mobile) devices to the web. 
• By the beginning of 2014, 84% of adults in the UK had access to the internet at home, and 53% of adults used a mobile phone to connect to the web. 
• In addition, 35% of households had a tablet or similar device, of which around half were 3G/4G enabled for mobile internet access.
• It is possible to gauge the potential audience for film on VoD content. In terms of television-based VoD providers, by the end of March 2014 approximately, 10.5 million Sky satellite subscribers, 3.8 million Virgin Media TV subscribers, 917,000 TalkTalk TV subscribers and 900,000 BT TV subscribers were able to access a range of on-demand services, including pay-per-view and catch up services. The potential audience for television-based VoD in the UK was estimated to be over 16 million.

Film on UK Television

In terms of viewer numbers, the single most important platform for film consumption is television. Viewers had a choice of almost 7,000 unique film titles across
all channels in 2013, and the cumulative film audience was just under 3.4 billion.

FACTS IN FOCUS:

• There were 6,941 unique film titles on television in 2013, including 1,800 on terrestrial channels, 1,324 on pay TV film channels and 3,817 on other digital channels.
• There were 1,990 film transmissions on terrestrial channels, down from 2,141 in 2012. Of these, 514 (26%) were UK films (up from 443 in 2012), 269 films (13%) were channel premieres and 47 (2%) were foreign language films (down from 71
• in 2012).
• There were over 57,000 film transmissions on multi-channel television, of which over 41,000 were on pay TV film channels.
• The top film at the UK box office in 2012, Skyfall, was the most popular film shown on pay TV channels in 2013, with a total audience of 4.9 million from 93 transmissions across the Sky Movies channels.

Lesson Slides

Here are 3 lesson slides we used on Thursday 23rd April.

You were asked to make your own notes from these so that you did not have to rely solely on my appalling handwriting.

The marketing of the woman in black

Momentum Pictures (the independent company responsible for the distribution and marketing of TWIB) worked alongside a company called Romley Davies to produce the print, broadcast and online publicity for the UK theatrical release of The Woman in Black, which was released nationwide on 10th February 2012.




Momentum Pictures (the independent company responsible for the distribution and marketing of TWIB) worked alongside a company called Romley Davies to produce the print, broadcast and online publicity for the UK theatrical release of The Woman in Black, which was released nationwide on 10th February 2012.

CLICK HERE  to visit their website and a description of the campaign and its success.

'The Woman In Black'  also used online and viral marketing as a means of reaching a wider audience in the marketing of the film.

CLICK HERE  to see an example of this as outlined by DreadCentral. 

What other examples of online or viral marketing can you find for 'The Woman In Black'? 

Look at this extract from Exclusive Media (the company who own Hammer) in relation to Momentum's marketing of the film and its subsequent success:

(CLICK HERE  to see this article online)

MOMENTUM TAKES HAMMER'S THE WOMAN IN BLACK TO HIGHEST GROSSING BRITISH HORROR FILM IN THE LAST 20 YEARS

UK DISTRIBUTOR MOMENTUM PICTURES TAKES HAMMER’S “THE WOMAN IN BLACK” TO NUMBER ONE AT THE UK BOX OFFICE

FILM GROSSES £3.13M IN ITS OPENING WEEKEND

Hammer’s chilling ghost story The Woman in Black shattered UK box office expectations during its three day opening weekend (Fri-Sun), grossing £3.13million with a per screen average of £7800 for distributor Momentum Pictures.

This weekend’s three day gross makes The Woman in Black the highest opening ever for a Hammer film in the UK and the biggest British independent opening of 2012 for Momentum Pictures.  Momentum also released The King’s Speech, the highest grossing British independent film of all time.  The Woman in Black was released in 412 cinemas across the UK and Ireland on February 10.

The film’s UK success follows last weekend’s sensational US release, which opened at an outstanding $21 million. 

The Woman in Black, starring Daniel Radcliffe, is directed by James Watkins and adapted by Jane Goldman from the classic novel by Susan Hill.   Radcliffe has been a huge draw for audiences everywhere and delighted fans on Saturday by introducing public screenings at The Empire Leicester Square and Vue Westfield.

The film is a Hammer, Alliance Films, The UK Film Council presentation, in association with Cross Creek Pictures and is a Talisman production in association with Exclusive Media. Producers are Richard Jackson, Simon Oakes and Brian Oliver. Executive Producers are Guy East, Nigel Sinclair, Tobin Armbrust, Marc Schipper, Neil Dunn, Xavier Marchand, Roy Lee and Tyler Thompson.

Daniel Radcliffe who plays Arthur Kipps in The Woman in Black said: “The whole experience of working on The Woman in Black has been truly magical, eerie and amazing.  It’s been an honour to work with Hammer and continue to contribute to British film after ‘Harry Potter’.  I found Hammer’s legacy fascinating and it was great to be able to draw upon such a rich heritage as the influence for my role as Arthur Kipps.”

Commenting on the success of The Woman in Black, Simon Oakes, President & CEO of Hammer and Vice Chairman of Exclusive Media added: “We are delighted The Woman in Black has performed so well here and in the US.  This is Hammer’s first feature ghost story and we’re delighted UK audiences have embraced it with so much enthusiasm and shows that British audiences enjoy intelligent genre which are the types of films Hammer is known for.”

“This is a fantastic result. The buzz in cinemas and online suggests great word of mouth which bodes well for the half term week ahead.  Our congratulations  to James Watkins, Jane  Goldman, Daniel Radcliffe, and all those at Hammer,” said Xavier Marchand, President of Worldwide Distribution, Alliance Films and Managing Director Momentum Pictures.

Nigel Sinclair, CEO and Co-Chairman of Exclusive Media, which is Hammer’s parent company, added: “This is a great result for Hammer in the UK and follows on from the film’s strong performance at the US box office. This project, like The Ides of March and Rush, further underlies Exclusive’s commitment to making great mainstream movies with top tier talent, and I’d like to congratulate our partners Momentum and of course Cross Creek Pictures on this success.”

Tobin Armbrust, President of Worldwide Production & Acquisitions of Exclusive Media added: “We are thrilled to share in the success of The Woman in Black with our close family, Daniel Radcliffe, Jane Goldman, James Watkins and the entire cast and crew who all worked incredibly hard on this great project. Hammer is one of our key production brands and to see it embraced in the US is a great show of support for its production philosophy.”

The Woman in Black director James Watkins said: “I'm thrilled that a British ghost story, made with a British cast, crew and investment, is playing so well with British audiences.”

Amanda Nevill, Director of the BFI said, “Following a record year in 2011, it's fantastic to see another British independent film continuing to achieve box office success, both here and in the US. Even better that a classic British story has been brought to life by Hammer, a classic British brand and with much-loved British on screen talent.”

Use the internet to search for research that has already been done for you by other media studies students such as the following.

CLICK HERE to access this post.

The Woman in Black - Researching a full marketing campaign

On the 12th of March 2012, 'The Woman in Black', a horror film starring Daniel Radcliffe, was released in the UK. Focusing on the horror genre of film, I have decided to look further into its marketing campaign to help me when creating components of my own campaign. 

The first case of marketing for this film began with the showing of the first trailer, on the 10th of April 2011 at 'Kapow!' Comic Con in London. Due to the fact that many people who go to Comic Con are interested in films, and possibly even franchises like Harry Potter (which Daniel Radcliffe starred in), this may intrigue them. Later that year, in July 2011, another trailer was advertised before showings of the final film in the Harry Potter series, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2'. Again, with the finale of the series, 'The Woman in Black' may provide fans of Daniel Radcliffe to see him in a new film. This choice of advertisement means that a specific part of the target audience is addressed (which may result in more viewings when the film is released). One month later, on the 24th of August 2011, posters within the UK were released, and by the 14th of October the official UK trailer was released. Posters were displayed around the country from billboards to the sides of buses. The posters, with the blues and black colouring linked together with the trailers.

On the 14th of October 2012, Momentum pictures released an official International trailer, and even a new version of the already established book (which was written in 1983 by Susan Hill) was released with a brand new cover, featuring Daniel Radcliffe. Again, this attracts fans of Daniel Radcliffe and even Harry Potter fans.

Daniel Radcliffe also appeared on around 10 magazine covers during the campaign and was even invited to be on both The Jonathan Ross Show and The Graham Norton Show (which was a first within the film industry).

As well as this, a national competition was held for people to submit their own original ghost stories, from the 31st of October. A video was filmed, featuring Daniel Radcliffe again requesting the entries, for which the prize was that the winning entry would be read out by him on the special features of the DVD when it was released. This competition promoted the film virally, and the competition was unique to this films advertising campaign, setting it apart from other films of its genre. 

The fact that Daniel Radcliffe endorsed this campaign would have increased the interest in the film as his fan base is quite large. However, apart from this, the synergy throughout the campaign allows the advertisements to be viewed by many different types of people, right across the country and internationally. The website and Facebook pages also added to the advertisements across the internet, and overall, the campaign reached a lot of different demographics.

Skyfall marketing