British Film Industry needs to drive growth by exploiting new digital technologies

Valerie | 24 Jun 2009, 07:38

Despite riding high on the crest of the recent Oscar success of films such as Slumdog Millionaire, The Reader, Frost/Nixon, and Revolutionary Road, the British Film Industry still faces numerous challenges which means it won’t be a red carpet all the way, the Sunday Times reports.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, British Directors Tom Hooper, Justin Chadwick, Saul Dibb and Stephen Poliakoff , best known respectively for The Damned United, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Duchess and award winning TV dramas such as The Lost Prince, acknowledge the uniqueness of British films, which don’t have a “look” but argue that it is the “self-expression of directors making personal statements that makes British cinema distinctive.”

They also argue however, that despite recent success, the “British film community is still an extremely fragile thing” and that whilst films like Slumdog prove anything is possible, the same challenges remain – particularly raising money and having the means to market a film. As Dibb points out, new technology means that “everyone can make a film now, but it’s all about whether it gets seen or not.”

It is precisely technology that could be the industry’s salvation. NESTA and the UK Film Council have this week called on the film industry to expand digital distribution and work with online audiences as publishers not just viewers, as part of series of findings from their digital innovation programme. 

Releasing its interim findings from their Take 12 programme at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the ‘Take 12: Digital Innovation Guide’ includes key recommendations for how to harness digital media to build and reach new audiences and increase potential for growth and investment, from encouraging directors, writers and actors write a blog or Twitter to engage audiences in the film-making process to looking to brands and content creators as new sources of funding.

The Take 12 programme is working with 12 independent film companies with specialist ‘innovation partners’ over a period of 18 months to try and improve their potential for growth using digital technology and new methods of distribution.  Companies taking part include Warp Films, Revolver Entertainment, Metrodome and B3 Media.

Jon Kingsbury, Director of Creative Economy at NESTA said:

“The Take 12 programme allows us to test how traditional business models can be adapted for emerging digital technologies. Feeding back these learnings to the rest of the industry will help ensure independent film companies are well equipped to take advantage of the exciting new opportunities that a Digital Britain presents.”