This week I had the chance to chat with one of the UK’s most established and well-respected independent producers. Rebecca O’Brien has been making films for over 25 years and has been at the forefront of blockbusters such as the 1997 film Bean, produced as a transatlantic coproduction between Working Title (UK), Tiger Aspect Productions (UK) and Polygram Filmed Entertainment (US). First and foremost, however, she is known as a producer for small, independent films, most of which (12) she has done together with renowned British directing icon Ken Loach. Since 2002 she has been a producer for Sixteen Films, Ken Loach’s production company.
She explained to me that much has changed since she first started putting together funding models for feature films. Back in the day, “if you were doing a sort of low budget independent film, chances were that you would be able to get your money from one source. But there weren’t that many films being made.” Now that the technical side of filmmaking has become much cheaper and easier to access, however, there are an unprecedented number of films produced every year. One of the challenges for independent filmmakers of our time is finding professional distributers to get their film to its audience, which costs money. And this brings us straight to the main points we discussed throughout the interview: the relationship between the producer, the audience and the parties in between, i.e. the distributers and exhibitioners.
Rebecca was quick to point out that the public funding available in the UK is incredibly important to the independent filmmaking sector, the key players here being the BFI, BBC and Film4. The tax break system implemented by the government also plays a vital role for many independent producers. “So any film producing structure I put together will inevitably involve one or two of those (funding bodies) and certainly the tax credit, if the film is being made in the UK. The fact that a public funder has the trust in you to make a film means that it’s obviously worth making. I think that’s important.” The reason why Rebecca thinks this is significant is the audience. Because, although Rebecca makes small, provocative, politically uncomfortable films, she always has the audience in mind and wouldn’t pursue any project that she doesn’t think she could market. Or, to put it in her own words: “It’s got to make economic sense to make a film, even if you are Ken Loach. We certainly don’t make them for arts sake. We might make them for politics sake, but not for arts sake. There is absolutely no point in making a film if you don’t believe there is an audience for it.”
When thinking about audiences, Rebecca’s horizon stretches further than her native England. One example she cites is the 2012 film The Angels’ Share (dir. Ken Loach). 2/3 of its UK box office was grossed in Scotland, due to its Scottish subject matter. In fact all of her recent films have had involvement of producers outside of the UK. And her international model, mainly based on cooperations with European companies, has paid off. If we take for example the box office figures (fig. I) of her most recent film Jimmy’s Hall (2014, dir. Ken Loach), it becomes clear that most of its revenue comes from abroad with France in the lead (£1m), Italy second (£764k) and the UK only in third place (£555k).
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| -fig. I: box office revenue for Jimmy's Hall in Europe, Sourec: boxofficemojo - |
As already pointed out, Rebecca is a strong supporter of public funding for films. Having said this, however, she does have some interesting points to make about how the system could be adjusted to be fairer towards independent producers by regulating the connection between producers on the one hand and distributers and exhibitors on the other. So, if you’re interested in finding out what Rebecca’s suggestions are for a fairer funding landscape in the UK, stay tuned and be sure to read part two of this post.
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