UK independent films enjoy best year for more than a decade

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/jul/26/uk-independent-films-best-year

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UK independent films performed better last year than at any other time in more than a decade with overall box office revenues breaking the £1bn barrier for the first time, new figures show.

The British Film Institute has published its 10th statistical yearbook, a 200-plus-page book containing a blizzard of facts and trends about film production, watching and the effect on the overall economy.

Amanda Nevill, the BFI's chief executive, said the yearbook showed UK film punching above its weight on the world stage. It "provides compelling evidence of UK film's increasing importance to our economy with a direct contribution of £3.3bn to UK GDP", she said.

The report's co-author Sean Perkins said if he had to pick out any surprising statistics from the hundreds in the report, it would be those relating to UK independent films.

In 2011 that sector took 13.3% of the UK box office: a dramatic increase from the figure of 3.8% in 2001. That helped push down the percentage for US films. In 2011 America took 60.1% of overall box office – down from 72% in 2001 and down from its peak year of 2009, when it had 81%.

The most successful UK independent films by some distance were The King's Speech, grossing £46m in the UK, and The Inbetweeners Movie, grossing £45m. They also went to the top of the charts of the top 20 independent films since 1989, coming in above Slumdog Millionaire and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – the other stand-out independent film of 2011 – grossed £14.2m, putting it at number five in the overall list.

The report shows the strength of Britain's love affair with movies. The UK has less than 1% of the world's population, yet it is the third largest consumer of film by value in the world.

There were 558 films released theatrically in the UK in 2011, selling 172m cinema tickets – a 1.4% increase on 2010 – which drove up box office revenues by 5% to £1,040,000,000, breaking the £1bn barrier. In 2001 the figure was £645m.

The culture minister, Ed Vaizey, said the UK was home to some of the most talented and creative people in the global film industry. "This dynamic industry continues to create jobs and attract significant overseas investment and the government is committed to ensuring this sector continues to flourish and survive."

It was not all positive news. The number of films produced wholly or partly in the UK was down from 343 in 2010 to 274, although total spend on film production was up slightly to £1.27bn.

And there will be challenges ahead, not least the one posed by the fact that the Harry Potter franchise – the most successful film franchise ever – has come to an end.

The yearbook quantifies the dizzying success of Harry Potter, which has grossed £442m at the UK box office and $7.7bn worldwide. It has sold more than 30m on all video formats in the UK and has been watched more than 212m times on UK television.