The Economic Impact of the UK Film Industry - BFI - British Film ...

3. Introduction
Economic Contribution of the UK Film Industry
This report, prepared by Oxford Economics 1 , provides a comprehensive evaluation of the economic
contribution of the ‘core UK film industry’. It provides an update and extension of our previous study
looking at the film industry published in 2005 2 .
3.1. Study scope and objectives
July 2007
The specific economic impacts we have focused on in this study are those which arise in the UK from the
activities of companies and/or individuals employed in the:
• different stages of film production in the UK (including pre- and post-production);
• distribution of UK-made films; and
• exhibition of UK-made films.
The key point to note here concerns the distribution and exhibition categories – specifically, the economic
activity associated with the distribution and exhibition of non-UK qualifying films – is not included in our
definition of the core UK film industry 3 . While the economic impacts associated with all of the activities of
the film production sector in the UK – whether on UK or non-UK films – are set out in this report, we only
include activity in the distribution and exhibition sectors related to UK qualifying films. A UK film is
currently defined as any film which is certified British by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and
Sport under Schedule 1 of the Films Act 1985 (see Section 3.2 for a description of the full definition).
The reason for making this distinction is to focus on the benefits that follow from having a UK-based film
infrastructure industry which would be lost if all films shown in the UK were made in other countries. The
general approach we use in the study is, firstly, to present the economic impact associated with activity
related to UK films only (ie after making suitable adjustments to remove the activity associated with the
distribution/exhibition of films made abroad) and then, secondly, to present the figures for the overall
activity from the film industry in the UK.
In conducting the study, we have been mindful of the different elements in the value chain of the film
industry. In particular, we use a definition of the film industry which has been commonly used in other
studies, surveys and literature, disaggregating the industry into the following three segments:
• Production: rights (eg IP creation); planning, writing, direction and casting; cast (eg costume, makeup,
props sales/rental); location (eg stage and studio rental and equipment; location management and
catering; set production, electrical skills); and film and sound (eg equipment rental and sales, camera
operations, sound recording and mixing, animation, visual effects); and post-production including
editing, music, sound, and post-production computer generated imagery (CGI).
1 Appendix B gives a brief description of Oxford Economics, its services, capabilities and experience.
2 The Economic Contribution of the UK Film Industry, September 2005
3 For example, the activity in the distribution/exhibition sector associated with a film like Casino Royale is included
but not the activity associated with Pirates of the Caribbean.
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