Each week I look at a different topic around the film industry, focusing on the data and statistics which reveal what’s going on.
It’s been almost a year since I last addressed the topic of Brexit on this blog and I’ve wanted to give you an update for a while. The reason you’re reading this now is that the BFI have finally released an internal report (commissioned last summer) which looks at the effect of Brexit on the […]
Short films have long been a vital part of the journey of new filmmakers, allowing them to learn new skills, meet like-minded collaborators and showcase their talent. Most people’s first few shorts have a budget of almost (or exactly) nothing, with the filmmakers relying on the help of friends and family. However, as their ambition […]
You may have heard rumblings in the press about a possible upcoming writers’ strike in Hollywood, and a few readers have been in touch to ask about the debate. In today’s article, I will look at some of the key numbers that lie at the heart of the disagreement between the writers and the studios. I […]
Recently, I’ve been covering topics that could be described as ‘inside baseball’, eg they are very technical or mainly for people deep within the film industry. I don’t intend to stop doing this, but I also want to address questions I get from film fans and people who are just curious about how the industry […]
Last week, I looked at six trends for how the film business is changing. It got a great response and I was heartened to see such interesting, lively debate about it. One of the topics raised by a few people was the move from analog to digital processes. I didn’t include the move to digital as a […]
The coming of a new year always makes me pause and take stock. It’s a time when people traditionally ponder what they’re up to, where they’re going and what they want to do next. So I have spent some time thinking about what’s happening in the film business and where we’re going. I don’t like predictions […]
Age is a touchy subject for many actors, and last September actors in California have won the right to have their date of birth removed from IMDb. IMDb claims that a date of birth is just a piece of biographical data (therefore fair game for publication) whereas the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) claim that it […]
Today’s article was inspired by a question from Pliny, founder of movie titling software Endcrawl. We got chatting on Twitter and the topic of end credits came up. He mentioned that a couple of years ago they had worked on the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz and noticed that a large number of the cast […]
The film industry is good at generating wisdom but not so good at disseminating it. A case in point is all of the tips and tricks learnt by attendees of a festival or market. The first time someone attends they spend the first half of their trip totally lost, but after a few days they start to get the […]
In the past, I have conducted quite a bit of research into gender inequality in the UK film industry. I often receive questions asking when I’m going to tackle race to the same degree I have researched gender. My answer has always been two-fold: yes, I’d absolutely love to but sadly I don’t have a way […]
