Category Archives: Feature film data

Film and TV drama healthcheck (plus a footnote about distribution ‘windows’ and cinemas).

Posted on July 12, 2023 by Paul Evans

It’s been a bad few weeks for cinemas in the UK with Empire Cinemas putting a number of their companies into administration – closing six of its 14 cinemas (Bishops Stortford, Catterick Garrison, Sunderland, Swindon, Walthamstow, Wigan) and a further … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema exhibition, Economics, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Low budget features, SVoD | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Film and TV drama healthcheck (plus a footnote about distribution ‘windows’ and cinemas).

How to make flexible working work within the film and television industry

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Paul Evans

In 2022 Timewise and BECTU Vision came together to explore how flexible working could work on scripted productions, funded by Screen Scotland. You can read the report and findings by clicking here and download the PDF here. The report highlighted that … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Long hours | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The state of the UK film and TV economy

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Paul Evans

I occasionally get asked for updates on the general state of the UK film and TV sector, and I can usually reply offering a few links which general readers may find useful. My first, and most current link would be … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture policy, Economics, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Low budget features, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, TV Advertising, UK studios | Tagged , | Leave a comment

UK independent productions, the inflation punch-in-the-mouth, and the very European remedies.

Posted on October 10, 2022 by Paul Evans

The boxer, Mike Tyson, was once asked about his plan for a fight and he answered; “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Economists have a variation on that line: “Everyone has a plan until inflation … Continue reading →

Posted in EU & Brexit, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Low budget features, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

BFC Working Safety During CoViD-19 Guidance

Posted on May 16, 2022 by Paul Evans

Here is the latest version of the British Film Commission guidance on this issue [pdf] (posted without comment).

Posted in Coronavirus, Coronavirus, Feature film data, Health & Safety, High End TV data, Low budget features, Safe working practices, Safe working standards | Tagged | Leave a comment

Understanding commuting costs – some bookmarks

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Paul Evans

For freelancers working either in film and TV, or in Live Events, there is often no option to use public transport to get to work. For a typical filming day, Bectu members tell us that they tend to arrive at … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Freelance working, High End TV data, Long hours, Safe working practices, UK studios, Work-life balance | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Fatigue in the TV and film industy

Posted on March 28, 2022 by Paul Evans

There’s a useful summary of this issue on the IOSH magazine website here. It’s got a lot of the kind of thing you’d expect (including a quote from our own Spencer MacDonald). And this: “Research says that when an employee … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Long hours, Safe working practices, Safe working standards, Wellbeing, Work-life balance, Workplaces | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Skills shortages in film & TV – update

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Paul Evans

There’s a useful roundup in the i-Paper showing the scale of the studio expansion and growing physical production capacity that the UK has, in contrast to the roster of available skills which will leave an estimated “40,000 workers needed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Quotas, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Bectu Mental Health and Welbeing Policy published

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Paul Evans

This was an idea that came from Bectu members during the pandemic. We did a load of online sessions discussing different aspects of the question “what is wrong with ‘the freelance deal’?” and there was a repeated refrain saying “our … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Health & Safety, High End TV data, Long hours, Management, Mental Health, Safe working practices, Safe working standards, Wellbeing, Work-life balance | Tagged | Leave a comment

BFI Screen Business report details the scale of the UK production boom

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Paul Evans

Anyone who has any doubts about the size and scale of the UK production boom can have a look at the latest BFI Screen Business report (if the annual Pact Census most recently published in September wasn’t convincing enough!). The … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Economics, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Stephen Follows research site

Posted on November 29, 2021 by Paul Evans

For anyone who hasn’t already found this at some point, via Google, Stephen Follows runs a fine website full of industry research that answers many questions that you have, and a few you didn’t know you have. Here are some … Continue reading →

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Gender representation, High End TV data, Low budget features, Skills & capacity | Tagged | Leave a comment

Working terms in Swedish productions

Posted on November 29, 2021 by Paul Evans

It’s always worth looking at how other countries do work hours in the film and TV industry, and it is a commonplace view that the Swedish drama sector manages a high quality of production on working hours that also give … Continue reading →

Posted in Bectu Agreements, Employment Law and Rights, EU & Brexit, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Health & Safety, High End TV data, Long hours, Major Motion Picture Agreement, Productivity, SVoD, Tax incentives, Trades Unions, TV Drama Agreement, Work-life balance | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Shepperton expansion confirmed – with deeper Netflix ties

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Paul Evans

Further to the previous post about Shepperton Studios here a few months ago, it looks like the support from Spelthorne Council has borne fruit: The Pinewood Group has now announced its decision to further expand Shepperton. This will expand the capacity … Continue reading →

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Bray Studios expansion agreed

Posted on November 9, 2021 by Paul Evans

Bray Studios – the home of Hammer Horror films – is the latest of the UK’s historic film studios to announce an expansion. Plainly, this growing capacity is good news all round for Bectu members, though there will be mixed … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, High End TV data, Skills & capacity, UK studios | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More details of the proposed IATSE deal

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Paul Evans

The actual text of the proposed agreement between IATSE and AMPTP is still in the hands of the lawyers, but IATSE have published some more information about how they will be consulting on this, the financial aspects of the offer … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Trades Unions | Tagged | Leave a comment

IATSE briefs members on the proposed deal

Posted on October 22, 2021 by Paul Evans

The union is hosting a series of town hall meetings with members, along with this briefing on three key issues in a Twitter thread: NEW: We are releasing our first three one page documents explaining how the new tentative Basic … Continue reading →

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Trades Unions | Tagged | Leave a comment

Piracy of films is still a thing

Posted on October 22, 2021 by Paul Evans

The commonplace (one I’m occasionally guilty of repeating) that online piracy of movies is almost a non-issue now thanks to the emergence of competitively-priced streaming platforms is wrong, it seems. The Global Innovation Policy Center is claiming that worldwide online piracy … Continue reading →

Posted in Copyright and piracy, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Netflix global strategy on films

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Paul Evans

More fuel to the debate about how the SVoD boom will affect the cultural diversity of film and TV, and on that whole ‘cinema to sofa’ question will play out. Here, their international film Boss David Kosse talks about how … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture policy, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, SVoD | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Free database of legal developments in the Europen audiovisual sector

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Paul Evans

This one is probably only useful to massive geeks (hi!) but I’m telling you about it anyway just in case you find it useful. The European Audiovisual Observatory maintains a database of legal developments in all key areas, all key … Continue reading →

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives | Tagged , | Leave a comment

TV with an American accent?

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Paul Evans

A strong piece in the FT[£] here from John Gapper, outlining how strong SVoD investment in locally-set programmes may be a mirage – an attempt to build the subscriber base that can subsequently be fed content that is less rooted … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture policy, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD | Tagged , | Leave a comment

French windows (excuse the pun)

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Paul Evans

There are a few posts up here about how content regulation drives investment into film and TV, how the AVMS Directive is translated into national legislation and regulations, and on the general armoury that national governments have to shape the … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The latest Bond: A big couple of weeks for cinema

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Paul Evans

All eyes that are interested in the whole cinema-to-sofa thing will be watching the box-office performance of the latest Bond installment, No Time to Die, and Sony’s latest comic-book adaptation Venom over the next few weeks. This is not just … Continue reading →

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UK studio expansions – latest: Netflix announces plans for Longcross

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Paul Evans

Another sign of the UK production sector heating up rapidly, Netflix (already projected to spend more than $1bn on across 60 UK productions in 2021 alone) is adding to its UK production capacity with a partnership with Aviva Investors expanding … Continue reading →

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Skills & capacity, SVoD, UK studios | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Streaming demand for UK shows will create 30,000 film and TV jobs”

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

This, from today’s Guardian. But, as Head of Bectu, Phillipa Childs, says on Twitter.… “with a shortage of crew it’s important that the industry invests in training, development, safeguarding and well-being to attract diverse talent and bring the best of … Continue reading →

Posted in Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Skills & capacity, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Is UK audiovisual content about to hit a perfect storm?

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

I’d suggest that there is an emerging picture of where UK production is likely to head in the next few years, and it’s one that should worry us – particularly from the point of view of cultural diversity (which is … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, EU & Brexit, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Cultural Diversity is not just about limiting discrimination – it’s an economic and industrial factor

Posted on September 10, 2021 by Paul Evans

It’s worth bookmarking Unesco’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions here. This is an important global statement on the need for cultural expressions to be produced, distributed, and owned ‘locally’ (in the Nations and … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Disability equality, Diversity of representation, Economics, Equality, EU & Brexit, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Gender equality, Gender representation, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Race equality, Regulation, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios, Wealth inequality | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pact Census 2021 published

Posted on September 8, 2021 by Paul Evans

One of the biggest, and most useful info-dumps about UK TV production has landed today with the publication of the Oliver and Ohlbaum / Pact Census (which is also published alongside a briefing on the impact of Covid this year). … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Post-production, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax incentives, UK studios | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Racist stereotyping in auditions, and major BFI study into representation in UK film

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Paul Evans

More from the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity at Birmingham City University. “Two thirds of actors of colour have experienced racist stereotyping in an audition, while more than 50% have experienced racism in the workplace, according to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, Feature film data, High End TV data, Race equality, Skills & capacity | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Theatre Tax Relief paid out £74 million to 3,660 productions last year

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Paul Evans

According to The Stage [£]… “This represents a £3 million increase on the figure paid out in 2019/20, which was £71 million, and comes amid calls for the tax credit to be increased to help the sector recover after the … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation & VFX, Culture policy, EU & Brexit, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Public Service Broadcasting, Quotas, Regulation, Skills & capacity, SVoD, Tax, Tax incentives, Theatre and Live Events data | Tagged | Leave a comment

Cinema v SVoD – continued

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Paul Evans

CinemaCon (celebrating the moviegoing experience) is on in Las Vegas at the moment. Variety reports that… “This year’s convention has been noticeably lighter in attendance as fewer studio executives, Hollywood stars and media members opted to make the pilgrimage to … Continue reading →

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No Time to Die to premiere in London on September 28

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Paul Evans

The world premiere will take place on Tuesday, September 28 at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the theatrical release slated for October 8th in the US. The World Premiere for #NoTimeToDie will take place on Tuesday 28 September … Continue reading →

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More stats on the impact of the creative sector on the wider economy

Posted on August 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

Further to this post about the Creative Industries Federation report, here are more stats on the (potential) contribution to the UK economy from the creative sector. The Creative UK Group projects that the creative industries can create 300,000 new jobs … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, Film & TV industry policy, High End TV data, Regulation, Skills & capacity, Tax incentives | Tagged | Leave a comment

Shepperton Studios

Posted on August 13, 2021 by Paul Evans

Another ‘UK Studio Watch‘ post – this time on Shepperton Studios in Surrey. Shepperton is owned by the Pinewood Studios group (since 2001) and it has 15 stages including some underwater tanks for filming aquatic scenes. It is now (since … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, UK studios | Tagged , | 2 Comments

‘Meme Stocks’ paint a confusing future for cinemas as a business

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Paul Evans

There’s a useful overview of the state of play in UK cinemas in the Guardian recently. But there’s also an interesting development around something called ‘Meme Stocks’ which, according to the US Chartered Finance Analyst Institute are… “…a risky bunch. … Continue reading →

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Economic insight into the UK creative industries

Posted on August 9, 2021 by Paul Evans

On the 21st July, the Creative Industries Federation (a membership body which represents, champions and supports the UK’s creative industries) published a report commissioned from Oxford Economics entitled ‘Developing economic insight into the creative industries’. As this is an economic … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, EU & Brexit, Factual & Entertainment sector data, Feature film data, Film & TV industry data, High End TV data, Productivity, Skills & capacity | Tagged , | Leave a comment