Stephen Follows, Founder of Catsnake Films: "Big Screen Data"

@StephenFollows stephenfollows.com

Stephen Follows

[email protected]

Big Screen Data: What The Numbers Tell Us About The Film Industry


• Stephen Follows, Writer & Producer based in Ealing Studios

• I blog about film data and stats at stephenfollows.com/blog

MY STATS


1. Do film professionals pirate movies?

2. Do film critics and audiences agree?

3. What is the state of the British Film industry?

4. What does the average movie cost to watch?

5. What percentage of film directors are women?

6. What does the industry really think of 3D movies?

7. What percentage of Hollywood films are “original”?

8. How much does it cost to make a $80 million movie?

9. Is the industry supplying what audiences are demanding?

10.How many people does it take to make a Hollywood blockbuster?

10 QUESTIONS TO ANSWER IN 15 MINUTES


1. Box office Gross receipts at cinemas

2. Total Income Including DVD, TV, VoD

3. Costs Production budgets and promotional costs

4. Output Quantity of films being produced

5. Content Looking at why types of films are made

6. Reception Views of critics and audiences

7. Employment Number of people working in each sub-

sector

8. Demographics Age, gender, etc of cast and crew

9. Sentiment Mood and opinions of the industry

NINE EXAMPLES OF FILM DATA

Money

Creative

Industry


1935

1937

1939

1941

1943

1945

1947

1949

1951

1953

1955

1957

1959

1961

1963

1965

1967

1969

1971

1973

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

2011

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

Cin

em

a A

dm

issi

ons

(millions)

1. MONEY – BOX OFFICE

UK Cinema Admissions, 1935-2012


1. MONEY – BOX OFFICE

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Cin

em

a A

dm

issi

on

s (m

illio

ns)

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 £-

£1.00

£2.00

£3.00

£4.00

£5.00

£6.00

£7.00

£4.40 £4.14 £4.29 £4.44 £4.50 £4.72 £4.87 £5.05 £5.20 £5.44 £5.84 £6.05

£6.37


Average Cinema Ticket Price, 2000-12

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

£ (

mill

ion

s)

UK Cinema Box Office, 2000-12


2. MONEY – TOTAL INCOME

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 £-

£1,000

£2,000

£3,000

£4,000

£5,000

£6,000

(£ m

illions

adju

sted t

o 2

012)

UK Feature Film Revenues, 1998-2012


1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 £-

£200

£400

£600

£800

£1,000

£1,200

£1,400

£1,600

£1,800

£2,000

Theatrical Rental video (physical) Retail video (physical)Film on Television Film on VoD

(£ m

illions

adju

sted t

o 2

012)

2. MONEY – TOTAL INCOME

UK Feature Film Revenues by source, 1998-2012


3. MONEY – COST OF PRODUCTION

Under £0.5m45%

£0.5m - £2m30%

£2m - £5m14%£5m

- £10m7%

Above

£10m3%

Budgets of UK Films 2007-10 “Valkyrie” (2008) Costs At Breakeven

Official Valkyrie “Breakeven”

Total cost $450,836,789

Production budget $ 80,000,000

Tom Cruise $ 46,777,414

Prints & Adver-tising28%

Budget18%

Distribution fees14%

DVD Costs13%

Tom Cruise10%

Brian Singer5%

Union Residuals

4%TV costs

2%Christopher McQuarrie

2%Interest

2%Other3%


4. CREATIVE - OUTPUT

Dram

a

Comed

y

Docum

enta

ry

Thril

ler

Horro

r

Action

Roman

ce

Crime

Other

Biopic

Sci-fi

Animat

ion

Adventu

reW

ar0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

20%

17%

15%13%

9%

5% 5% 4%3% 2% 2% 2% 2%

1%

% of films made

UK-produced Feature Films by genre, 2012



Dram

a

Comed

y

Docum

enta

ry

Thril

ler

Horro

r

Action

Roman

ce

Crime

Other

Biopic

Sci-fi

Animat

ion

Adventu

reW

ar0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

20%17%

15% 13%

9%

5% 5% 4% 3% 2% 2% 2% 2% 1%

8%

45%

3%1%

20%

4%1%

5%3%

9%

0% 0% 0% 0%

% of films made % of Box Office

UK-produced Feature Films by genre vs UK Box Office Gross, 2012$48.9m$3.6m


191219161920192419281932193619401944194819521956196019641968197219761980198419881992199620002004200820120

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

Cin

em

a A

dm

issi

ons

(millions)




191219161920192419281932193619401944194819521956196019641968197219761980198419881992199620002004200820120

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Featu

re fi

lms

pro

duce

d in t

he U

K

Feature films produced in the UK, 1912-2012



5. CREATIVE - CONTENT

Original Screenplay

42%

Fiction Book / Short Story

25%

Comic / Graphic Novel8%

Remake7%

TV6%

Real Life Events4%

Factual Book / Article

2% Folk Tale / Legend / Fairytale

2%

Game1%

Other3%

Script sources of top 100 grossing films, 1994-2013

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

% o

f 1

00

top

gro

ssin

g fi

lms

Sequels as a % of top 100 grossing films, 1994-2013


6. CREATIVE – RECEPTION

Horro

r

Rom

antic

Com

edy

Thril

ler/S

uspe

nse

Actio

n

Com

edy

Adve

ntur

e

Dram

a

Mus

ical

Wes

tern

Blac

k Co

med

y0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Audiences (IMDb user ratings) Film critics (Metascore)

Score

(ou

t of

10

0)

Screen Gems

Dimension Films

Disney

Lionsgate

20th Century Fox

MGM

Sony Pictures

Summit Entertainment

Columbia Pictures

Relativity Media

Touchstone Pictures

Warner Bros. Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Universal Pictures

New Line Cinema

Walt Disney Pictures

Buena Vista Pictures

Weinstein Company

Dreamworks

Miramax Films

Fox Searchlight

Focus Features

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Audience and critics’ scores for top 2,000 grossing films by genre, 1994-2013

Audience and critics’ scores for top 2,000 grossing films by production company, 1994-

2013

Largest difference: Relativity Media


7. INDUSTRY – EMPLOYMENT

Iron Man 3 The Day After Tomorrow Blade The Fifth Element Wreck-It Ralph Double Jeopardy The Mexican The Devil's Own Stepmom0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Nu

mb

er

Of

Cre

w M

em

be

rs

Crew members on top 2,000 grossing films, 1994-2013

Iron Man 3

3,310 crew members


8. INDUSTRY – DEMOGRAPHICS

Directors Writers0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

89% 84%

11% 16%

Female

Male

Directors Writers0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

93% 95%

7% 5%

Female

Male

Gender of writers and directors of UK independent films, 2010-2012

Gender of writers and directors of UK-USA studio, 2010-2012

Gender of writers and directors of all UK films by genre, 2010-2012

Fam

ily

Mus

ic/D

ance

Biop

ic

Rom

ance

Dram

a

Adve

ntur

e

Anim

ation

War

Docum

enta

ry

Actio

n

Horro

r

Thril

ler

Com

edy

Fant

asy

Crim

e

Mus

ical

Sci fi

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Male writer and director Female writer OR director


9. INDUSTRY – SENTIMENT

Development Production Post-production Sales & Distribution Exhibition Marketing Other0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%74%

70%73%

58%60%

68%

60%

20%23% 22%

29%31%

22%

30%

6% 7%5%

13%

9% 10% 10%

2014 will be better than 2013 2014 will be the same as 2013 2014 will be worse than 2013

“How Does The Future Look For Your Business?”



“A feature film is more enjoyable in 3D compared to 2D”

Agree5%

Disagree95%

Agree Disagree Develop

men

t

Prod

uctio

n

Post

-pro

duct

ion

Sales & D

istrib

ution

Exhi

bitio

n

Mar

ketin

g

Other

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0% 3% 0% 3% 5%

21% 24%

100% 97% 100% 97% 95%

79% 76%



Self-confessed piracy by those who agreed with the statement

“Piracy has negatively affected my business”

Develop

men

t

Prod

uctio

n

Post

-pro

duct

ion

Sales & D

istrib

ution

Exhi

bitio

n

Mar

ketin

g

Other

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

46% 42%33%

43%

0%

55%

31%

54% 58%67%

57%

100%

45%

69%

Yes, has illegally downloaded a TV show or feature film

No, has not illegally downloaded a TV show or feature film

Develop

men

t

Prod

uctio

n

Post

-pro

duct

ion

Sales & D

istrib

ution

Exhi

bitio

n

Mar

ketin

g

Other

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

44%37%

32% 28%

0%

55% 58%

56%63%

68% 72%

100%

45% 42%

Self-confessed piracy, by sector


For these slides, the data or other questions, email

[email protected]

Follow me on Twitter @StephenFollows

Data from the BFI Research Unit, DCMS, British Video Association, Kantar Worldpanel, IHS, Rentrak, MPAA,

Olsberg SPI, Cinema Exhibitors' Association, Screen Digest, Screen Finance, David Steele and my 2014 Film

Industry Survey

1. Do film professionals pirate movies?

2. Do film critics and audiences agree?

3. What is the state of the British Film industry?

4. What does the average movie cost to watch?

5. What percentage of film directors are women?

6. What does the industry really think of 3D movies?

7. What percentage of Hollywood films are “original”?

8. How much does it cost to make a $80 million movie?

9. Is the industry supplying what audiences are demanding?10. How many people does it take to make a Hollywood blockbuster?

YesBroadly, yesBusier than ever but no better off£6.37 in cinema or £8.11 to buy on DVD11% in UK in 2012 (and falling)95% prefer 2D42% are not adaptations or sequels$450 millionNot at allUp to 3,310

THOSE 10 QUESTIONS…

Stephen Follows, Founder of Catsnake Films: "Big Screen Data"

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Transcript of Stephen Follows, Founder of Catsnake Films: "Big Screen Data"