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Successful Independent Filmmaking in BritainKen Loach

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The Angels’ Share is partly financed by the British Film Institute.

Carrying on the work of the UK Film Council, the BFI allocates lottery funds to an array of British Film projects.

The UK Film Council was abolished in 2011

However, in January 2012 the Prime Minister stated that ‘...the film industry should support “commercially successful pictures.”’

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+Questions

Read through this webpage from the BBC: www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16495095

■ What problems can you see with the Prime Minister’s statement? Think about the process of a film’s development.

■ How did filmmakers react to the PM’s statement? ■ What examples of commercially successful British

pictures can you think of from the last few years?

+The Kings Speech

Would not have been possible without the support of the UK Film Council. Both Film 4 and the BBC turned it down.

Head of the UK Film Council's Film Fund, said "The rise of The King's Speech from a British independent film to a worldwide commercial and critical phenomenon is a huge testament to the creators…It's a magnificent final chapter for the UK Film Council.“

The film won 4 Oscars, including Best Picture.

Buget: £15 Million Box Office: £250 Million

+Four Lions

Directed by Chris Morris The project was originally rejected by

both the BBC and Channel 4 as being too controversial.

Morris suggested in a mass email, titled "Funding Mentalism", that fans could contribute between £25 and £100 each to the production costs of the film and would appear as extras in return.

Funding was secured in October 2008 from Film 4 Productions and Warp Films.

At the BAFTAs 2011, Chris Morris won the award for 'Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer.

Box Office: £3 Million

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Ken Loach

A 75-year-old auteur

Loach was recruited by the BBC in 1963 as a television director.

This launched a long career directing films for television and the cinema, from “Cathy Come Home” and “Kes” in the sixties to “Land And Freedom”, “Sweet Sixteen”, “The Wind That Shakes The Barley” and “Looking For Eric”.

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Cathy Come Hone

Loach has always been a political filmmaker using his films to champion those on the margins of society and illustrate social injustices

In 1964 Loach made Cathy Come Home for BBC television

Its indictment of the treatment of homeless mothers led to a public outcry and a change in the law

In order to capture a “real” feel Loach usually casts unknown actors and often lots of the scenes in his films are improvised.

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In the 1990s Loach returned to feature filmmaking with great critical success.

Hidden Agenda 1990Riff-Raff 1991Raining Stones 1993Land and Freedom 1995Carla’s Song 1996My Name is Joe 1998

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Bread and Roses 2000Sweet 16 2002A Fond Kiss 2004The Wind that Shakes the Barley 2006It’s a Free World 2007Looking for Eric - June 2009Route Irish 2010

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Paul Laverty

Paul Laverty is a writer who has worked with Ken Loach since 1996.

He first worked with Loach on “Carla’s Song” and most recently he wrote the screenplay for “The Angels Share”

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Rebecca O’Brien

Loach and his producer Rebecca O'Brien have constructed a uniquely durable business model, which has sustained his remarkable productivity over the past quarter century.

Loach's films never cost more than £5 million, and they often cost much less.

"Ken is very particular about this, and very clued in to the economics," O'Brien notes. “Nobody is getting huge fees, and we all share equally in the costs of making the films."

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Production

In his early career, Loach's work was typically financed by the BBC or Channel 4.

However, Loach and O’Brien soon realised that sourcing finance in Europe was a much better strategy.

Loach and O’Brien formed “Sixteen Films“ in 1992

+Co-production/European Success Loach's films have increasingly become European co-

productions, A co-production means access to financial support from

other countries. Loach has a number of regular partners, particularly in

Germany, Spain and France. The international funding of Loach's films also reflects

their appeal abroad, and a number of them have attracted bigger audiences in countries such as France than at home.

+Pre-sales O’Brien also pre-sold “Land and Freedom” to

distributors in France and Italy. This made sure they had enough finance to produce the film.

This became O’Brien’s financial template for the next 15 years.

Presales are based on the script and cast, selling the right to distribute a film in different territories before the film is completed.

Typically, upon signing a pre-sale contract, the buyer will pay a 20% deposit, with the balance (80%) due upon the film's delivery to the foreign sales agent

+Distributors O’Brien says "In France,

Germany, Spain, even Switzerland, the same people have stuck with us

It's the backbone of our financing. The one place we haven't managed to find a consistent partner is the U.K."

+The Angel’s Share - Finance A co-production with Italy, Belgium, UK and France, Pre-sales to Spain and France and the UK Support from the BFI, France 2 and Studio Canal. “A lot of the money for our films comes from France.

But that is out best territory so it makes economic sense for it to come from the people who appreciate our films most.” O Brien

+The Angel’s Share - Distribution

+Cannes Film Festival The film premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival It was nominated for and then won the Jury Prize

+Box Office

UK - $3,028,569 Total -

$6,687,338

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Loach and O'Brien also work hard to engage directly with audiences, building the Loach brand on DVD, online and with social media.

"We need to nurture our audience, if we want them to come back for the next film," says O'Brien.

A Modern Approach

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A Modern Approach

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O'Brien is bringing Loach's old work to new audiences.

She created two DVD box sets by simply buying and repackaging 2,500 copies of each title

She started a Ken Loach YouTube channel, and launched Sixteen Films on Twitter.

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+A Modern Approach O’Brien explains "We just want to keep up with

whatever is happening and be part of the action. It's a triumph of ours that we've manage to make so much of Ken's work available, on DVD and online. When a new film wins new supporters, it makes sense to service them with our back catalogue."

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Exhibition

In the same innovative spirit, "Route Irish" was released simultaneously in U.K. cinemas and on satellite pay-per-view. Loach was delighted, because the TV launch reached his desired audience of young soldiers who were the subject of the film but would never have seen it in an art house.

That's the key to Loach's longevity -- using his long-term relationships to fund a restless exploration of new subjects and new audiences.

+Loach on distribution.... How do you feel about the changing distribution

landscape? You’ve adopted the digital revolution far more heartily than many other filmmakers, with your YouTube channel for example…

Personally I’d much sooner it was shown on 35mm film, projected on to a screen in a cinema, but the world is moving on. Particularly with this film, because we’ve had a struggle with the subject matter, and people thinking they’ve seen it all before, we probably only have around 20 screens, so if we didn’t work with new technology and pay-per-view television then we would lose. The plan is for the film to be able to reach people who otherwise wouldn’t get a chance to see it.

From an interview with “Little White Lies”

+Loach on Exhibition... Exhibition is in an interesting place at the moment… Cinema distribution is so narrow. If you think of the range of

films that are made across the world, and then what you have the opportunity to see if you live near a multiplex, it’s a tiny, tiny fragment. If you walk down a city high street you will find a Chinese restaurant, an Indian restaurant, a chippie, a pizza place, you’ll find a whole range of restaurants, and a bloody McDonalds! But in cinemas, the only thing you’ll find is the McDonalds. Imagine if you went in to an art gallery, and instead of a selection of works from across the world, and from across different periods all you had was two or three garish popular American painters! It wouldn’t be much of an art gallery, yet that’s what we do with cinemas.