The British film industry: institutional context

What is the 'cultural test' to see if a film counts as British?
The cultural test is a test that a film must pass in order to be defined as a British film, if it doesn't quality as a co-production. In the test, the are four different sections which are : Cultural Context, Contribution, Hubs and Practitioners. In order to pass this, the movie must get a score of 16 out of 31 points in order to be classified as British.

Complete the task on the Factsheet, researching the films listed and finding out what they score on the cultural test: Sweeney, Attack The Block, The King's Speech, We Need To Talk About Kevin and Skyfall.

• Sweeney - This movie itself scored 16. It past the minimum requirement just on the context section.
• Attack the Block - This is a British movie as it is using British characters and the setting is in Britain.
• Skyfall - A James Bond movie with links to British intelligence and it also uses a variety of British characters even though the subplot takes the characters outside the UK.
• The King's Speech - This is portraying the British royal family.

What is the main problem for the British film industry?
Recently, the British film industry has focused a lot more on the production side of the filming, and not as much on the distribution. This essentially results in many UK having difficulty getting exhibited, so many of the film makers are selling the film and it's distribution rights to a distribution company.

What are three of the strengths of the British film industry?

1. Historic and important film studios e.g. Ealing Studios
2. Third biggest film industry in the world
3. British films also take 5% of world box-office takings.

What are the two options for the future of the British film industry?

1. They could work with and co produce with American Studios as Hollywood is able to finance quite easily
2. Make low budget for a niche audience where the film-maker is able to keep all profits.