The most employed people in the British film industry
In the past I've shown how only one in five British filmmakers who have made a feature film manage to make a second film. This figure came up in conversation last week and it naturally led to the question "So who is making all the UK films?" I took a look at who has the most credits in the British film industry over the last 10 years across all UK films budgeted over £500k. In summary...
Michael Winterbottom has directed the most UK films over £500k from 2003-13
Over the course of his career, ex-head of BBC Films David M Thompson has 157 producer credits
20 people account for 40% of all cinematography credits on UK films over £500k from 2003-13
Pete Pedrero is the most-credited stunt performer/co-ordinator on UK films from 2003-13
Directors in the British film industry
There are 218 people who have a directing credit on a UK film over £500k made from 2003-13, with an average of 2.1 credits each.
[table id=27 /]
Producers in the British film industry
David M. Thompson leads the field, largely due to his Executive Producer credits from being Head of BBC Films (1997 to 2007).
[table id=26 /]
Screenwriters in the British film industry
Sharing the top spot in the screenwriters table are Tony Grisoni (Tideland, Red Riding trilogy) and Robbie Moffat (who also appears in the Top Ten for directors). [table id=28 /]
Directors of Photography in the British film industry
Just 20 people account for 40% of all the 505 cinematography credits on UK films from 2003-13.
[table id=32 /]
Editors in the British film industry
Not only is Chris Gill rather hard-working but he's also worked on a very wide range of projects including 28 Days Later, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and The Invention of Lying.
[table id=30 /]
Composers in the British film industry
Only 15 out of Hanz Zimmer's 94 film credits are UK films made between 2003 and 2013, which is why he's only number 6 in this chart.
[table id=29 /]
Stuntmen & Stunt Women in the British film industry
This last category was added in honour of my friend Pete. He has always been the first to help me when I've needed it and is known across the industry as an extremely talented and committed stunt co-ordinator. And now I have the stats to prove it. Thanks, Pete.
[table id=31 /]
Epilogue
I used the BFI's tracking data for films made between 2003 and 2013 to define what was and wasn't a UK film. I have no doubt that some of these classifications will be disputed as (a) the BFI are not perfect and (b) film can be a subjective field. If any of the people listed above feel aggrieved that their number of credits is incorrect then please do drop me a line. This research looks at number of credits, not number of days worked. Consequently, someone who worked one day apiece on ten films will get ten credits whereas someone else who performed ten days work on a single film will be listed as having one credit. There is little I can do to account for this possible unfairness.
