17/02/2003

First the reality, with figures from an analytical survey of UK production published by trade magazine Screen Finance. Last year, some 84 films with major or minor British involvement went before the cameras for a total investment of £565.68m.(Euros848m circa), a 5.2 per cent drop on 2001 when 83 films were made for a total budget of £596.75m (Euros895m circa) although this was a huge improvement on 1995 when only 52 films were made.
As usual, Hollywood productions were the driving force behind the increase in inward investment into the local film industry. A total of six US films were wholly or partially shot in the UK with a combined budget of £138.96m (Euros 208m circa). They include the £65m (Euros 97m) Lara Croft, Tomb Raider 2 and the £40m (Euros60m) Jackie Chan vehicle Shanghai Knights, which, together with the £90m (Euros135m) James Bond film Die Another Day - which was majority-produced by UK outfit Eon Productions for MGM/UA - were responsible for up to 34.4 per cent of all investment into the UK.
The heavy involvement of US studios in British filmmaking can however be problematic when having to decide what actually makes a British film. This emerged very clearly at the last BAFTA nominations when Stephen Daldry’s The Hours was nominated in the ‘Outstanding British film of the year’ category in spite of being totally financed by Miramax and Paramount Pictures. Heavy US involvement might also seem like a cultural and economic threat to the rest of Europe. But the UK film industry has learned to live with this situation and make the best possible use of it. Alan Parker summed this up when he said: “We have to stop worrying about the nationality of money. We want to encourage investment into our film industry from anywhere in the world, without tearing up the roots of cultural film production”.

Nevertheless the other trend that emerged in 2002 was the relentless fall in the number of indigenous productions, from 51 films in 2001 to 41 in 2002, less than half the number made in the boom year, 1997 (84 films).
The average budget for a British production was £4m (Euros6m), a little higher than the 2001 average of £3.5m (Euros5.25m). However two titles made a significant contribution to pushing up the production average and the total spent on local film production: the £25m (Euros 37.5m) Bond spoof Johnny English starring Rowan Atkinson and John Malkovich, and the £20m (Euros30m) romantic comedy, Love Actually, directed by Richard Curtis and starring Hugh Grant. Most interestingly, both films were produced by Britain’s most prolific production company Working Title, responsible for four titles in 2002.