How much impact has Film Four had on the UK film industry in the last 20 years? What do you think their role will be in the future and will it ever be possible for such an institution to compete against the vertical integration that is possible with institutions such as Disney?
They don’t fully finance production so they work with producers to find the right finance at the right time is a very important part of their work. Their money represents both licence fee for free UK TV, and also an equity investment which is a way for them to be invested across the long life of a film. They spend a very large proportion (around £2.5m a year) on developing scripts and ideas and see this as a hugely important part of their work – this is where the risk lies, this is where they find and nurture new writers and directors, and this commitment to development means they can work with producers to build projects in a creatively challenging environment to the point where they are robust enough to go out to the market.
The Film4 ambition holds new talent at its heart – their view it as a long term strategy and it is indeed one which has paid off many times over over many years. A mixture of long term returning directors and new directors form the spine of our feature film production slate. Directors like Danny Boyle, Shane Meadows, Kevin MacDonald, Steve McQueen, Martin McDonagh and Roger Michell all continue to make films with British money, albeit sometimes shooting in the US (Martin McDonagh’s new film Seven Psychopaths has just shot in LA with an all US cast – but it has British talent and British money behind it, from a British production company).
Their see our ability to support film-makers from the outset of their career to be the essential ingredient in building a stable of distinctive, important British voices. And what they have learnt is that to take a risk on an apparently less “commercial” project, but one which a film-maker and they both believe holds something special, different, challenging, resonant, can often be the best – and scariest – decision they can make. Just take the famous example of Slumdog Millionaire, a film half in Hindi with no cast and turned down by many in its early life.
What is liberating for them is the freedom to fail. They try really hard not to, obviously, but occasionally a film doesn’t work, despite everyone’s best endeavours. And when they're in it for the long term with a film-maker then they won’t drop them after a film that doesn’t quite succeed – they will keep working with them, building on experience, and offering partnership.
When they’re looking for new talent, they look absolutely everywhere they can from film schools to online (watch out soon for an online competition for new directors), from theatre to TV to gaming to self-financed films to the art world. They have a new digital initiative, Film4.0 which is developing innovative new projects across different platforms, with talent often new to film, but also with established film-makers new to the digital sphere.
They are looking at new financing models for super low budget films which allow the film-maker teams to share in gross from first pound in and access audiences through new distribution models. They have a diversity initiative on which they are working with new producers to reach out to communities they feel are under-represented. They are working with various regions around the country to develop new writing, and they make a small number of short films ourselves every year as a stepping stone to a first feature with new directors often emerging from different areas – their most recent batch included this years’ Bafta award winner Pitch Black Heist. John Maclean the director came from the music world with a brilliant first short film shot on a mobile phone. They’re now developing his first feature with him.
They are extremely pro-active about going out to look for talent, they don’t wait for talent to come to them. They work in a completely bespoke way too – a short film might be right for one director, a pairing with a new writer might be right for someone else. And continuous support, from short to first feature and then beyond is crucial.
Film 4's current productions include The Iron Lady, Shame and The Woman In The Fifth. The Film 4 channel is avaliable for free for everyone with digital TV. There is a daily line-up of great films guarentees a choice for every type of film fan. Including British film-making, US independent films, Hollywood blockbusters, mainstream drama and comedy, guilty pleasures, forgein films and cult cinema.
Film 4 review the biggest films avaliable in the widest range of cinemas and have an archive of thousands of film reviews covering films that go back to 1895. They don't review the special features on the DVDs, but if the film itself. The site focuses on the Film 4 channel and Film 4 productions, because while there aer thousands of film review sites out there, there is only one Film 4. Being part of Film 4 is what makes the site different.
