British industry in great shape: Study
The British film industry is in good health and Britons count watching films amongst their most favourite pastimes, according to a new study published by the UK Film Council.
The Statistical Yearbook 2006 compiled by the Council’s Statistical and Research Unit reveals that UK box office collections have increased by 56% in ten years, the audience for film on TV has touched 3.3 billion and the international demand for British product have seen film exports reach an 11-year high.
Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl was the most watched film on TV, attracting an audience of 9.5 million viewers for BBC1. Box office collections climbed from £489m in 1997 to £762m in 2006 with Casino Royale [+see also:
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In addition, 115 million film DVDs were rented (including online rentals) and 163 million film DVDs were sold.
The UK also continues to be the third largest film entertainment market in the world, after the US and Japan, with revenues exceeding $6.6bn in 2005. In addition, UK films took $2.2bn at the global box office. Further, film exports soared from £633m in 2003 to £967m in 2005 – a jump of 65%.
British writers continue to enjoy their pre-eminent global position with 31 of the top 200 films at the global box office featuring British talent and earning more than $13 billion. They include JK Rowling (Harry Potter), JRR Tolkien (Lord of the Rings) and CS Lewis (Narnia).
Creative Industries Minister Margaret Hodge said, “We should be proud of the great successes of the last year with the award triumphs of The Queen [+see also:
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Council CEO John Woodward concurred but added a note of caution and said that the industry needed to be wary of the threat from online piracy.
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