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Where does film financing come from?

March 12, 2014 3 comments

This is the final of ten articles revealing the results of my survey of 1,235 film industry professionals. More details of the survey and my methodology can be found here and for any questions or clarification please contact me.

If you would like to read the full survey results right now then sign up for my email mailing list. I’ll send you the full 25 page PDF report entirely free. You’ll also get updates on my weekly blog articles on film data and statistics. I won’t send you any spam and you can unsubscribe at any time.  Just add your email to the subscription box at the top of this page and you’ll be sent a download link.

Key Findings – Film financing
  • 27% of …
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When will Video on Demand ever pay like DVD?

March 11, 2014 1 comment

This is the penultimate of ten articles revealing the results of my survey of 1,235 film industry professionals. More details of the survey and my methodology can be found here and for any questions or clarification please contact me.

If you would like to read the full survey results right now then sign up for my email mailing list. I’ll send you the full 25 page PDF report entirely free. You’ll also get updates on my weekly blog articles on film data and statistics. I won’t send you any spam and you can unsubscribe at any time.  Just add your email to the subscription box at the top of this page and you’ll be sent a download link.

Key Findings – Video on …
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How sensible is a film business investment?

March 5, 2014 3 comments

This is the third of ten articles revealing the results of my survey of 1,235 film industry professionals. More details of the survey and my methodology can be found here and for any questions or clarification please contact me.

If you would like to read the full survey results right now then sign up for my email mailing list. I’ll send you the full 25 page PDF report entirely free. You’ll also get updates on my weekly blog articles on film data and statistics. I won’t send you any spam and you can unsubscribe at any time.  Just add your email to the subscription box at the top of this page and you’ll be sent a download link.

Key Findings – Film business investment
  • Over …
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Which MPAA rating earns the most money?

February 3, 2014 4 comments

Last week I looked at the top 100 films for each of the past 20 years, and whether they were adaptations or original screenplays. That post sparked a flurry of follow-up questions, with many people wanting to know more stats about those 2,000 films. A common question was about film ratings.

Last year I looked at the rating system in the UK (“Raters Gonna Rate“) so this post is exclusively about the American rating system. In America films are voluntarily rated by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), although few unrated films are released in major cinemas.

In summary:

  • 41% of releases are PG-13 but they make up 47% of the box office
  • In 1995 PG-13 films took 31% of the Box Office …
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Data on improving your crowd-funding campaign

October 28, 2013 13 comments

I spent the weekend at the London Screenwriters’ Festival. In previous years I’ve helped run the festival (including being Festival Producer in 2011) but this year my duties were light; just moderating sessions and drinking tea. This meant that I was fortunate enough to chat to many emerging and established screenwriters. A common theme that came up in conversation was opportunities for screenwriters to raise a little bit of money via crowd-funding and produce their own scripts. The festival’s creative director, Chris Jones, is a master in making everyone feel empowered to make their projects a reality. So I thought I would chip in and add some data to the dreams. I looked at Kickstarter, the largest and pre-eminent crowd-funding site, …

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How much is Tom Cruise paid?

September 16, 2013 6 comments

Below are the financial projections made by 20th Century Fox in the run up to the production of Valkyrie, showing how they work out how much is Tom Cruise paid. These numbers come from an internal file created to project the film’s costs and possible returns.  The film was made by MGM but Fox were handling the international distribution.

I’ve had these figures for a while and have been using them in classrooms of filmmakers and new producers. It’s always been one of the more fun lectures to teach, partly because of the opaque nature of Hollywood Accounting and partly to see the students’ reaction to the figures involved. I’ve long held the belief that we in the industry have a duty to …

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UK Tax Credit for Short Films

May 14, 2013 3 comments

A few years ago I wrote an article for Moviescope magazine about my discovery that short films are eligible for the UK Tax Credit.  I’m reposting in on my blog in 2013 and it’s possible that the rules have changed. One big change is that the UK Film Council is no more and all their duties are being handled by the BFI.

If you’re planning to use this scheme please check the current rules before relying on what I’ve written below.  Things change, and you don’t want to find out after it’s too late.

Anyway, now that that’s said, here’s the article…

Tax is rarely exciting. It falls between dealing with insurance and music clearances in the top ten things I dislike most about my job. However, it’s a necessary evil and …

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