UK Film & TV Industry

[DiogoJ42]

SIGH.
BT Sport was bought by TNT.
... Then TNT was bought by Warner Bros.
.... Then Warner Bros. was bought by Discovery.
..... Now Warner Bros. Discovery are “merging” with Paramount.
...... Who exactly am I going to be working for in the new year‽ And will they ever actually pay me?

I swear, in another year, there will be nothing but Disney and Netflix left.

(Also, I agree that using virtual studios to do something abstract or fantastical is fine. It’s when they try to recreate the “real world” that it fails.)

 

[The Big Mack]

Broadcast isn't my area, but from where we stand in scripted film and TV, the future is in independently funded productions. As in, not bankrolled by the usual big Hollywood (which is imploding very quickly) and UK players and traditional funding sources. There is a lot of work happening behind the scenes to revitalize the UK's independent film industry, there are some extremely promising routes to investment and audience generating tools being proposed behind closed doors.

The other problem has been that in order to get a film greenlit by the traditional sources (the national film funds and major broadcasters), all kinds of inclusivity boxes need to be ticked, while also favouring ideas that are more 'socio-realist', 'kitchen sink' or have political 'ideas' rather than simply telling a story that is more personal to the majority of storytellers, and as well intentioned as the executives at these companies and organizations are, they rule out a number of films from actually getting made (partly because not every Head of Department, director or producer hails from a minority background and not all filmmakers want to make their films too grounded in reality, so their films are not favoured for funding), especially the kinds of films that are more commercially minded and stand a better chance of bringing in healthier profits and ROI.

There's room for everything in this industry, and I say that as someone who does belong to a diversity, but the traditional funding sources only want to fund the same kinds of films, and that is just not healthy for the industry. More options for funding are coming available through private investors overseas, but people have to be looking in the right places for it rather than joining the same old queue for BFI lottery funding and the like.

Films are being funded and greenlit, but the usual routes to getting that funding are no longer viable for most producers, which threatens their livelihoods and in turn the livelihoods of others in the industry. A lot of producers in the industry are not aware of the more viable avenues, so less British films are being made unfortunately.

Crowdfunding is not always effective, and not sustainable as an option to fund most creators full budgets (it rarely happens).

 

[The Big Mack]

(Also, I agree that using virtual studios to do something abstract or fantastical is fine. It’s when they try to recreate the “real world” that it fails.)

LED Volumes are great when there's integration of physical environments within them to create a world that's larger than life. I completely agree that they definitely shouldn't be a substitute for going out on location for the kinds of stories that are brought to life more by being on location, doing it for real will always feel more immediate. I cannot imagine Dune being as impactful as it was had they substituted Jordan and the UAE for a virtual stage.

 

[WillPS]

Probably best I don’t give any more detail on a public forum

SIGH.
BT Sport was bought by TNT.
... Then TNT was bought by Warner Bros.
.... Then Warner Bros. was bought by Discovery.
..... Now Warner Bros. Discovery are “merging” with Paramount.
...... Who exactly am I going to be working for in the new year‽ And will they ever actually pay me?

I swear, in another year, there will be nothing but Disney and Netflix left.

(Also, I agree that using virtual studios to do something abstract or fantastical is fine. It’s when they try to recreate the “real world” that it fails.)

 

[DiogoJ42]

Frankly, I don’t care any more. Still haven’t been paid. Was supposed to be today. I have no faith that this farce of a network will still exist in a few months.

 

[WillPS]

Sorry to hear that dude. Not what you need before Christmas. Not the first negative story I've seen about working for TNT Sport either, in sharp contrast to BT.

 

[John_P]

From someone outside the industry it's always sad to see something like the volume go from some great piece of kit that's perfect for certain situations to quickly just being used whether it's suitable or not.

A big like the noughties when suddenly animation became almost entirely CGI and moved away from traditional animation only because initially due to Pixar and Dreamworks massive success people decided the reason was the CGI not the story that was getting people into the cinemas.