Film in Britain and America

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We

have established that in Hollywood the Film Industry is structured in a

Conglomerate system, with 6 major and 3 mini-major companies. The strengths of

this system are the avenues for Synergy and the Vertical and Horizontal

integration available. This allows the studios to have a guarantee of

distribution and exhibition before putting money into production, but also

allows for tie-ins and easy access to merchandise/ publicity through the other

companies.

In Britain, most of the films tend to

be seen as “independent”, this is an ambiguous term in the U.K as only a small

minority of films are attached to a major studio. There are two ways in which

one can consider the term “independent”- films which are produced through no

affiliation with the Major and Mini-major studios, or films which are produced

with transgressive (or non-mainstream) ideologies, themes and values.

In America, some independents include:

Fast Food Nation (Linklater) –

documentary investigation into the corruption of Fast Food companies, Little Miss Sunshine – a black comedy

about a dysfunctional family, Milk (Van

Sant) – a drama about a gay rights activist, Do the Right Thing (Lee) – a realist

exploration into race issues in the Bronx. These films were made outside of the

Hollywood industry and are transgressive of the dominant ideology.

We do not have a “film industry” in

the same way that Hollywood is structured. Working Title is the only

“mainstream”, large production company, they are attached to Universal and thus

have guaranteed distribution/ exhibition and the other benefits of the

Conglomerate system. Films include United

93, Notting Hill, 4 Weddings and a Funeral, Billy Elliot. They make 3 types

of films: Major projects, mid-projects, risks. They tend to produce films for

commercial reasons and have a relationship with the Coen Brothers, producing

most of their contemporary films.

In Britain there is a great

correlation between the Film and TV industries: BBC Films and Four Films

regularly produced films in the UK, though Four Films often finds itself

falling in and out of bankruptcy. Both, often focus on independent films (in

terms of ideological messages) –particularly Film Four.

Demands on British films often means

they do not get marketed as successful and distributed as widely, often popular

in Europe- Ken Loach is a particularly favour amongst French cinephiles,

co-productions with US/ Europe and romanticised British films are more likely

to sell abroad.

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