Development Hell
"A matter of life or death"
Have to re-invent yourself every year. Some start ups become a thing/business in themselves
High risk, high return business
Looking to create worldwide brands that they can put across many different platforms
British Film Industry- service providers for America (Matthew Vaughn)
Nobody knows anything in Hollywood, what movies are gonna work, whether a director will be wanted or not, whether a producer will be wanted or not
Screen-writers are the basis of everything, bad script = bad film
Have to use showmanship to get films off the ground- Donnie Darko, Jason Schwartzman originally cast (didn't do it) which got other stars introduced
Take nothing for granted
Your screenplay will be re-written
Development Hell- when something has been in development for too long
Cheaper to not make a movie- tent pole movies can cost up to $200 million
Abundance of content but no effective filter
Films are driven by casting- stars sell pictures- insurance of bankability
Under the skin- 13 years in development
Development hell can make a better film overall
BFI Film Fund- fund commercial films
Have to try and get people to distribute your film- many ways to do this (calling in favours, getting stars, screening films etc.)
Lots of talent, need to exploit it
Getting to the Screen
The success of the film is based on profit over audience reaction- audience reaction comes second
Birdman earned less than American Sniper but won more Oscars (more popular?)
Create original films that strike a chord with audiences
Finding favour with an older audience- finding an audience underserved and exploiting it
'Sequel'- dirty word in some circles, but can add to more money
America- looking for franchises, British- cottage industry, we don't do that
2014- 7 of the ten leading films were sequels
70% of the market is not in the US (US Film Industry)
2008- financial crash
Film 4 and BBC Films, Pre sales, international distribution deals, BFI- places to fund a film
82% of filmmakers don't make another feature film in 10 years
The Inbetweeners 2- 2.75 million pounds on it's opening day- broke records of British Comedy
Take just over a million to 30 million, 5 million is an average, 7-8 million you know you need specific directors (credibility and success) and cast
Tax rebate- needed- officially a British film to get a tax rebate
Spending on film production rose 35% in 2014
Sales agent- sells distribution rights
Upwards of 700 films released in the UK every year
Academy Awards 2015- Best Picture nominees outside the studio system
Hollywood has been slow to respond to a more culturally diverse society and audience
Percentage of women in crews- 22% in Hollywood, 26% in Britain- pretty much static for the last 20 years
Developing roles for women
Don't see women as action directors- hard to get financing
Over 55 audience- need to be looked at
91% of money goes to studios
Biggest selling film of 2014- Transformers: Age of Extinction
The Business of Showing
Filmmaking- public experience
Production is part of the promotion
Opening weekend- very important
Become part of the cultural moment
Posters, adverts, editorial road show- create an event
Gravity- communicate that something is different, will get in audiences; first weekend- 39% of the audience over 35; event movie, film that had to be seen at the cinema
Festivals are used for marketing and are the first step for the Oscars
Films can disappoint, possibly a surprise
Trailer- art form in itself, different decade trailer tropes
Only industry that can continually lie to an audience- capture the tone over the plot
In it over watching it
5 seconds- 10 seconds need to grab the audience
Film needs to be able to be marketed to get green-light
Viral successes vs hype and expectation over a known director
Digital Ambassadors
15 year olds vs 35 year olds vs 55 year olds
Go bigger over better
China- second largest box office- do things for China
Number 1 at the Box Office? Often the film will still be in trouble. Promote the film instead
Theatres- take 70% share
Film has become more immersive
Traditional distribution models are going
Netflix- over 50 million subscribers
