RESEARCH: Business of Film

The cultural value of film:

When it comes to the public spending in the arena of the arts and culture, such as film, policy-makers need to be able to measure the importance and value of their professional opinions and intervention. David Throsby is an economist that specialises in the economics of art and culture. The diagram below is Throsby’s attempt to simplify debate. Throsby bases his opinions on a definition of value that encompasses cultural value.

The UK is home to the British Film Institute and was home to the UK Film Council before the BFI was created, these institutions have published numerous reports on the economic and cultural significance of film. The most recent of these reports, on the subject of the economic impact that film has on the country, found that film contributed £3.67 billion to the UK economy. 

Other studies on the cultural impact of film have shown that films can be more than just an activity, but they can be used to convey important personal or political messages for the audience to think about, they can also give new insights into other cultures.

 
Many films perform well at award ceremonies such as the BAFTAS and the OSCARS, these nominations and awards are, naturally, a sense of pride for the UK. This is one of the reasons why many stars in Hollywood are British. Another increasingly important aspect of film production is tourism; film tourism is the visiting of a place that features in a film or television programme, for example the Harry Potter series being set in England/ Scotland. Film tourism is becoming more and more popular. Approximately £840 million of tourism spending by visitors form abroad can be attributed to film-induced tourism.

 

Film is often attributed to be the influence for many other creative industries, as film requires skill in design and lots of creativity and film was the first creative industry to be supported by film incentives to show recognition of how important the film industry is.

In the film industry the term ‘Value chain’ is frequently used to describe the process that it takes to go from the initial conception of the idea to the final commercial product, the value chain is important for the production of the film as it includes the pre-production phase, establishing the budget, the actual production of the film and the marketing

Development -> Hire director, Option Agreement, Hire Casting Director, Certify as British,
                              Preliminary Budget, Secure Key Cast, Hire Writer

Finance -> Secure Development finance, Prepare estimates

Production -> Secure Rights, Pre-production, Principal Photography, Post-production

Distribution -> Broadcast license, Video/DVD/VoD licensing

Concept Origination -> Find Ideas.

Exploitation -> Download to Own, Cinema Exhibition, DVD Rental and Sales,

Creative Packaging -> Marketing Campaign