Film FourWhy did it fail?

History…• When Channel Four became the fourth terrestrial channel in 1982 (the only channels you could get then were BBC1, BBC 2 & ITV) they aimed to provide more diverse and interesting material than other channels.

• British film benefited from this view. Many of these films became some of the best known and most financially successful films in British cinema since 1982. 

• Because there was a guaranteed TV premiere for these films they could afford to take more risks in terms of both their content and their treatment of this than mainstream films.

• In terms of costs C4 films were typically £500k-£600k at the top end, this compared with conventionally funded feature films of the time which typically cost around £3-4 million.

• Channel 4 wanted to invest in films that were aimed at a TV audience – the film companies disagreed. They wanted cinema release.

• C4 worried that if the audience had to wait to see their film on TV they’d have lost interest in the film. As a result few films had theatrical release and those that did had very limited ones.

Why?

• Want Cinema release? T.V. release on C4

• C4 worried that if the audience had to wait to see their film on TV they’d have lost interest in the film. As a result few films had theatrical release and those that did had very limited ones.

• Cinema was very defensive about its major circuits of distribution and exhibition - where the real money has been made in cinema.

• The distributors wanted to keep films off TV for three years and only in the case of commercial flops were they prepared to allow them onto TV in under three years.

• C4 had an ambitious target of co-producing 20 films per year (which was beyond the resources of any other film making companies in the UK.)

• It had a budget of £6 million to spend on films. It typically invested between £250k - £300k per film buying in the TV rights.

• By the end of 1987 C4 was producing approx 20 films per year on a £9.5 million budget. Very few of the films directly recovered their costs and to all intents and purposes C4 remained an 'art-house' producer as the films weren't reaching mass popular audiences.

• Breakthrough films for C4 :My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Letter to Brehznev (1985) Mona Lisa (1986). A useful boost was that these films were popular in U.S. too.

Recession hits…

• Channel reduced its financial commitment to film making reducing its annual production target down to 16 films.

• The head of film at Channel Four David Rose was about to retire - about £50 million spent on around 160 films up until this point.

• Many in the British film industry including the likes of David Puttnam and Working Title (the production company which had grown dramatically on the back of Film Four) were impatient for the bigger budget more ambitious films.

• TV financed films were too small in their scope and their appeal so the argument went.

David Aukin took over…

• The cost of a typical Channel Four film had risen from £400k in 1982 to £1.8 million in 1992.

» Cost £2.5m

• The sort of films that C4 was involved with through commissioning and / or co-production deals include Trainspotting and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

• FilmFour separated from Channel 4 to become a stand-alone company in 1998

2001• Charlotte Gray

contributed to a £5.7 million loss as it was one of the most expensive films that they had ever made and it was a box office flop.

2002

• UK distribution and international sales departments folded.  Film production budget was slashed by two thirds to £10m.  50 staff  axed

Created a pay-per-view channel showing films...

1 November 1998. It was a subscription-only service available on satellite television via the Sky Digital platform, Digital terrestrial via ITV Digital (until the platform went into administration in 2002), and most UK cable services. It cost £5.99 or £6.00 a month, eventually rising to up to £7.

• The subscription service ended on 19 July 2006 and the channel re-launched as a free-to-air service a few days later on 23 July.

What went wrong?

• One of FilmFour's biggest problems has been competing for cinema space with multinational film companies, whose films account for more than two thirds of UK box office takings. FilmFour blames the poor box office results on its lack of clout in the distribution market rather than the quality of its films. (BBC on Film Four Partner Search)