tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/film-industry-8700/articles
Film industry – The Conversation
2023-11-20T17:32:09Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/217971
2023-11-20T17:32:09Z
2023-11-20T17:32:09Z
How movies use music to manipulate your memory
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560360/original/file-20231120-21-67ekqj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=143%2C78%2C8531%2C5696&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Around one in five American adults manage to squeeze in <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/935493/movies-watching-streaming-frequency-us-by-age/">watching a movie</a> on a daily basis. It’s a great way to escape the daily grind and unwind with loved ones. But, what can you actually remember about last night’s film? </p>
<p>You may be able to remember the title, the rough story outline or the Hollywood star who acted in it. But dig a little deeper. How easily does a specific movie sequence come to mind right now? And more importantly, can you hear or recognise the film’s musical score? </p>
<p>Filmmakers have long used music to try to make movies, scenes and characters more memorable. Now psychological research has started to uncover the science behind this process. </p>
<p>Music is so closely ingrained in our cinematic experience that we sometimes end up having false memory for it. One study showed that, after watching a brief movie sequence, up to two-thirds of participants believed that the sequence was accompanied by a musical score – even when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1525/MP.2007.25.2.135">it wasn’t</a>. Scientists call this “expectancy bias”. </p>
<p>A successful musical score often involves <a href="https://theconversation.com/earworms-why-some-songs-get-stuck-in-our-heads-more-than-others-68182">earworms</a> – songs that stick in our minds. These <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000090">tend to be songs</a> that have achieved great success and recent runs in the music charts.</p>
<p>When paired with a movie sequence, fresh takes on old hits help <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735613483848">keep audiences entertained</a>. Their sing-along, foot-tapping familiarity reflect the huge exposure they’ve had for decades. They are therefore <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2012.07.004">readily exploited</a> as an effective marketing hook, especially in movie trailers – where there’s little time to make an impact on viewers. </p>
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<p>Music also helps us interpret characters. Research shows that listening to a 15 seconds segment of fearful music <a href="https://doi.org/10.1525/MP.2007.25.2.135">can act as an important cue</a> to look for signs of fear in the facial expressions of the characters on the screen. </p>
<p>But how are deeper emotional connections made? Filmmakers rely on a range of techniques to try to create enduring and distinctive movie scenes. They often home in on the emotional properties of the pairing between sound and images. But is there any firm evidence that music can actually influence visual memories in this way? </p>
<p>Research into music and memory has unveiled that the two are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356211033344">strongly linked</a>. People are more accurate in recalling the actions, characters and final outcome of a positive or negative film scene if it <a href="https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197154">is accompanied by music</a> with a similar positive or negative emotional quality, respectively.</p>
<p>This match between the emotional content of the film and music is called a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/mood-congruence">mood-congruency effect</a>. It enhances our memory of what was previously viewed by “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29698045/#:%7E:text=Chunking%20is%20the%20recoding%20of,of%20working%20memory%20(WM).">chunking</a>” memory fragments into a quick, easy and more manageable whole in our minds.</p>
<h2>Irony and incongruency</h2>
<p>Irony is linked to the ability to say one thing while meaning the opposite. Often considered a linguistic device, it is also apparent in sound and image pairings. In the ironic contrast technique, scenes that depict negative events or emotions such as sadness, anger and fear are paired with emotionally positive music. </p>
<p>The outcome of this pairing is that the incongruous background disrupts the emotional tone of the film scene, often creating a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000242">sarcastic or melancholic effect</a> that is memorable. </p>
<p>The movies Bowling for Columbine and A Clockwork Orange provide examples of violent episodes that are accompanied by incongruent music. </p>
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<p>Mood-incongruency effects represent yet another twist in viewers’ expectations. We rely on our own personal experiences and associations with musical conventions to help shape our understanding of what happens next. </p>
<p>Watching a brief clip of a wedding party set against a backdrop of slow-paced, sad music, for example, alerts us to a mismatch between the visual content and our previous (direct or indirect) experiences of wedding parties. The movie script in our mind might be asking, “where is the upbeat music for the party guests to dance to?” Searching for the answer makes us notice the mood-incongruency effect conveyed by the music even more. </p>
<p>This enables us to develop a more distinctive image in our memory. In fact, we’ve <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356211033344">tested this in the lab</a>. We asked 60 participants to view a romantic comedy trailer to either sad, happy or no music. When we tested their memory of the trailer later on, we found that people who had heard the sad music had a better visual memory of the film scene than those who watched it with happy music or without any music at all. </p>
<p>Mood-incongruency effects are not limited to audio-visual pairings. They can be found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjx081">with other senses too</a>, such as odours, and serve to alert us quickly and efficiently to expectancy violations in our immediate environment. This is almost like a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-of-the-plot-twist-how-writers-exploit-our-brains-95748">what’s coming next</a>” setting in our brain that makes us pay more attention – and therefore remember the event better. </p>
<p>These effects appear to be relatively short-lived and whether they can exert any longer-term impact beyond the few minutes of a movie trailer or a film scene is yet to be fully determined. Ultimately, they are informed by our previous experiences and <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315194738">stored in our long-term memory</a>, ready and on standby for the next plot twist. </p>
<p>So what happens if our previous experiences of these music-induced emotions are fragmented or missing altogether, as might be the case in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2019.1631362">individuals who are deaf or hearing-impaired</a>? </p>
<p>Can captioning a piece of music as “ominous” elicit similar ironic contrast effects on memory as actual, ominous-sounding music, for example? And if the unexpected becomes the expected, is the irony lost? Answers to these questions might just open up a new portal into our movie-viewing universe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217971/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Libby Damjanovic receives funding from Lund University, Thora Ohlsson stiftelsen. </span></em></p>
A sad song coupled with a happy movie scene can become strangely memorable.
Libby Damjanovic, Research Fellow of Psychology, Lund University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/209714
2023-10-19T15:17:53Z
2023-10-19T15:17:53Z
How Vivien Leigh survived Hollywood before #MeToo
<p>Vivien Leigh’s achievements in cinema were extraordinary. Known for her glamour and beauty, the actress rose from a bit-part player to become one of the most famous women in Hollywood, playing Scarlet O’Hara in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031381/">Gone with the Wind</a> in 1939. And November 5 marks the 110th anniversary of the birth of the two-time Oscar winner. </p>
<p>But Leigh also worked in an era of deeply ingrained inequality, sexism and racism in the Hollywood industry. The lessons from her life and career arguably take on a new meaning in the wake of <a href="https://metoomvmt.org">#MeToo</a> and <a href="https://www.timesupuk.org">#TimesUp</a>, and the changes they have wrought on women’s agency and equality in the industry since 2017.</p>
<h2>Career control</h2>
<p>Like many of the whistleblowers of #MeToo, Leigh arrived in Hollywood as a young and highly ambitious actress hoping that a personal connection with an important industry figure would lead to her big break. She put herself in the running for one of the most coveted roles of all time in Gone with the Wind by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/22/vivien-leigh-life-on-screen">showing up</a> on set with her then lover, actor Laurence Olivier, demanding the attention of producer David O. Selznick. </p>
<p>The career which followed was punctuated by two Best Actress Academy awards and public struggles with mental health. It was also presided over by powerful men in the industry, from director Alexander Korda to Selznick. </p>
<p>Leigh worked in a period where female stars were contracted, controlled and crafted. Her working partnership with Olivier afforded her a mentorship which she deeply valued, but also placed her in his shadow. Theatre critic <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/arts/critic/feature/0,,567652,00.html">Kenneth Tynan</a> famously hounded her with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/aug/08/from-the-observer-archive-the-fiery-life-of-vivien-leigh-remembered-in-1977">negative reviews</a> of her theatre work – always in direct contrast to his admiration of Olivier’s achievements.</p>
<p>Letters from her <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/39639">archive</a>, which I have studied, also reveal her difficult experiences on set, particularly during Gone With the Wind, where she was made to work 16 hour days for six days a week with extremely limited rest and sleep, often in conflict with her director Victor Fleming.</p>
<p>But Leigh worked in an era where outrageous misogyny was an industry norm in many regards. Take, for example, the treatment of Judy Garland on the set of The Wizard of Oz by the ultra-powerful producer Louis B. Mayer. Garland, who was just 16 at the time, was subjected to sexual harassment and physical and psychological abuse throughout her time at <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/retropod/judy-garland-and-the-long-history-of-me-too-in-hollywood-1/">MGM</a>.</p>
<p>Leigh also crossed paths with stars whose abuse at the hand of male industry figures has been well documented. Marilyn Monroe took over the role that Leigh had played on stage in The Prince and the Showgirl in 1957, for example, co-starring with Olivier. Monroe had written a piece for the fan periodical <a href="https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=mpmag">Motion Picture Magazine</a> a few years earlier titled <a href="https://archive.org/details/wolves-story/mode/2up">Wolves I Have Known</a>, calling out the sustained sexual harassment she had faced from men in the industry from the earliest days of her career. </p>
<p>And Leigh herself portrayed a character who suffered at the hands of abusive and controlling men: most famously in her role as the ageing southern belle Blanche in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044081/">A Streetcar Named Desire</a>.</p>
<h2>Actress or Activist?</h2>
<p>But what would Leigh have made of #MeToo? After all, she was no stranger to a protest. She led a rally through London in July 1957 campaigning against theatre closures while sporting a distinctive eye-patch (the result of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/oct/07/biography.features1">domestic violence</a> in her own marriage). That same year she loudly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/jul/13/archive-a-cue-for-miss-vivien-leigh">protested</a> in the House of Lords against the demolition of the St James’s Theatre. </p>
<p>Yet her public causes were focused more on the arts and on patriotism than inequality and gender. It’s also important to remember that she essentially stood on the sidelines when others around her stepped forward to address intersectional inequality, where people encountered discrimination because of gender and race, for instance, in the industry within which she prospered. </p>
<p>When African-American actress Hattie McDaniel was barred from the 1940 Academy Awards ceremony, it was co-star <a href="https://theweek.com/articles/539316/remembering-hattie-mcdaniel-75-years-since-historic-oscar-win">Clark Gable</a>, not Leigh, who threatened to boycott unless she was allowed to attend.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Vivien Leigh accepts her Oscar in 1940.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Age and (in)visibility</h2>
<p>Leigh rarely commented on the gendered nature of her experiences despite her high profile status in Hollywood. The restrictions she experienced as a female star became more pronounced as she aged, however. </p>
<p>Though she died in 1967, aged just 53, she had been struggling to gain any significant roles for more than a decade. Like many other actresses of her era, she was a victim of the extreme fetishisation of youthfulness and sex appeal that has only recently begun to shift in Hollywood. </p>
<p>Leigh made 19 films in total, but only three after she turned 40. Her struggle to find meaningful roles as she aged now seems a stark contrast with the thriving careers of other A-List female Oscar winners post-#MeToo. Stars such as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19392397.2022.2157296">Kate Winslet</a>, as my recent research has shown, are enjoying access to a wide range of roles as they enter middle age. </p>
<p>Reframing the careers of classical stars like Leigh through the lens of #MeToo reminds us that the movement isn’t just about <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41594672">Harvey Weinstein</a>, but about a system of gendered power that has run through the industry from its classical period to the present day. </p>
<p>Were Leigh working today, perhaps she would have reaped some of the benefits of the movement. And what an intriguing body of work she may have produced into her later years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209714/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Smithstead received funding for this research from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>
As Hollywood continues to reckon with its past, Vivien Leigh’s story is a reminder of the challenges faced by women, even the most successful ones.
Lisa Smithstead, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, Swansea University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/214026
2023-09-26T10:59:51Z
2023-09-26T10:59:51Z
‘You have to be everybody’s best friend’: how dreams and desires leave TV and film crew vulnerable to workplace exploitation
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550047/original/file-20230925-19-cig4tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4256%2C2331&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/behind-scene-film-crew-studio-montage-1132607975">guruXOX/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.channel4.com/programmes/russell-brand-in-plain-sight-dispatches">recent investigation</a> by UK media outlets has uncovered a number of sexual assault allegations against Russell Brand, a comedian and TV presenter. Brand has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psFiwFI_VQo">denied the accusations</a>, however this is a timely reminder of the urgent need to challenge and address power asymmetries – not just between men and women, but within workplaces, and particularly across the creative industries.</p>
<p>People may work for little or no money, often for experience or exposure – typically in the hope that future opportunities may follow. We call this “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0018726720940777">hope labour</a>”. This phenomenon is widespread, especially among those in the earlier stages of their working lives.</p>
<p>Hope labour is distinct from free labour because the work is discounted against imagined future opportunities or earnings. But our research shows it also creates a power imbalance: in hoping to gain experience or make connections in your chosen industry, you might be so eager to get a foothold that you leave yourself open to exploitation in terms of working hours, pay and conditions.</p>
<p>In the creative industries, hope labour is widely understood as a necessary pre-condition to paid work. There is a need for people to “prove that they deserve to earn their living”, as <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0018726720940777">one person told us</a> when we spoke about their experiences in the creative industries. This is how exploitative labour and working conditions become the responsibility of the hope labourer.</p>
<p>This form of self-exploitation is often understood as a rite of passage, or an obligation, even if it has a wider negative effect on the labour market. By working for free or at reduced rates, hope labourers downgrade the value of labour in the very sectors they wish to work in. They effectively become the gravediggers of their own and their peers’ careers.</p>
<p>And hope labour is only possible in certain settings. Creative and cultural jobs are often characterised by self-employment, uncertainty, project-based work, long hours, inequality and competition for scant opportunities. The resulting risks – not getting enough work to pay your bills – are transferred to workers, while employers are freed from the costs involved in standard employment. </p>
<h2>The rise of freelancers</h2>
<p>Work in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00187267211062863">TV and film</a> has transformed over the last 30 years. Freelancers make up <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/166804/diversity-in-tv-2019-freelancers.pdf">over a third</a> of broadcasters’ workforces, although many previously worked in-house. </p>
<p>Recruitment and vetting for freelance teams are often managed through informal social networks. Commissioning editors use their connections to build their teams. </p>
<p>And commissions are given to independent production companies, which can reduce, if not absolve, broadcasters from the legal responsibility for hiring labour and managing production. </p>
<p>People, therefore, see social networks as important gateways to work that ought to be extended and nurtured. To gain access to these groups, undertaking unpaid or under-compensated work in the creative industries can be considered a necessity – or even an opportunity – rather than a hindrance. </p>
<p>This leaves hope labourers both keen but also at risk of exploitation. They need to build experience, reputation, exposure, or simply maintain access to work opportunities. </p>
<p>Our research also shows that being passionate about your art or work can help to downplay the severity of these risks and unequal power relations. It creates a “<a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/cruel-optimism">cruel optimism</a>” that you can turn experiences of uncertainty and vulnerability into future security. In this way, work isn’t simply about earning, it’s a way to build reputation, gain creative freedom or fulfilment, and learn or enhance skills. </p>
<h2>Getting a reputation</h2>
<p>Reputations are important and travel widely in the creative industries, especially if you can keep your cool during tricky shoots or moments of stress. One freelance artist and curator that we spoke to during our study of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0018726720940777">hope labour</a> among creative freelancers, admitted:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>there’s a trap that people fall into. I’m going to sound like a psychopath here, but that you have to be really nice with everybody all the time and that you have to be everybody’s best friend … People are trying to extract value from your time and they’ll keep taking that value if you keep giving them it as well. So you have to be careful with that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is how the exploitation of hopes and desires in creative work and employment creates persistent power asymmetries. When your working life is governed by anxiety and insecurity about your next contract, project or job, you might be unwilling to speak out for fear of reputational damage or reprisal. And the <a href="https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526144164/">precarious working conditions in creative industries</a> provide few safe spaces for dialogue and critique, rebuke and reform. </p>
<p>This leaves people open to witnessing or even being subject to the kinds of situations that have been alleged by the joint investigation into Brand. Production staff interviewed by Dispatches <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/18/first-edition-russell-brand#:%7E:text=Production%20staff%20on%20the%20programme,Brand's%20needs%2C%E2%80%9D%20they%20said.:%7E:text=%E2%80%98We%20were%20basically%20acting%20like%20pimps%20to%20Russell%20Brand%E2%80%99s%20needs%E2%80%99">talked about</a> “acting like pimps to Russell Brand’s needs”, hinting at a reluctance to upset the “talent”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Russell Brand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550049/original/file-20230925-25-anm63a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550049/original/file-20230925-25-anm63a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550049/original/file-20230925-25-anm63a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550049/original/file-20230925-25-anm63a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550049/original/file-20230925-25-anm63a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550049/original/file-20230925-25-anm63a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550049/original/file-20230925-25-anm63a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Russell Brand has denied recent allegations but recent media coverage has highlighted concerns about power imbalances in many workplaces in the creative industries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-oct-11-russell-brand-despicable-63047002">Chris Harvey/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>In the wake of the reporting, Philippa Childs, head of UK media and entertainment union Bectu, <a href="https://members.bectu.org.uk/advice-resources/library/3155">told broadcasters</a>: “In a sector where power imbalances are particularly extreme and the environment for junior freelancers can be incredibly precarious, it’s critical that victims can have confidence that their complaints will be taken seriously, investigated thoroughly, dealt with swiftly, and perpetrators held to account.”</p>
<p>The recently formed <a href="https://ciisa.org.uk/">Creative Industries Independent Standards Agency (CIISA)</a> offers the beginnings of an independent body for raising concerns about poor behaviour, workplace safety, and advice and protections. This could provide a way to challenge the disproportionate effects of a deregulated labour market on these freelancers. </p>
<p>If so, desires and hopes could be directed towards helping creative workers critique the way their industries are governed and managed. Hope, in this sense, would point to a different future that could be about fairness, equity and safety for all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214026/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
‘Hope labour’ leaves people working in creative industries open to exploitation as they try to develop their careers.
Ewan Mackenzie, Lecturer in Work and Employment, Newcastle University
Alan Mckinlay, Professor of Human Resource Management, Newcastle University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/209786
2023-08-09T01:10:46Z
2023-08-09T01:10:46Z
Film camera departments operate on a system of who you know, so what happens when you’re not a member of the in-group?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540956/original/file-20230803-23-6iheys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C0%2C4224%2C2828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Concerns about power imbalances and toxic working environments in the film and TV industries <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mij/15031809.0006.201?view=text;rgn=main">long pre-date</a> the emergence of #metoo as a global rallying cry against sexual assault and harassment on set. </p>
<p>Well-intentioned policymakers have made many attempts to intervene over the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/13675494221145307">past 50 years or so</a>, focusing primarily on addressing gender imbalances using a “just add women and stir” approach. </p>
<p>In Australia this is exemplified by the <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/backgrounders/2021/10-27-gender-matters-2021">Gender Matters</a> policy suite from Screen Australia, which aims to improve the number of women working behind the scenes, and the number of productions telling women’s stories.</p>
<p>Yet while gender inequality is important, it certainly is not all that matters if the ultimate goal is a safe, equitable and inclusive workplace. Instead, we need to take a detailed view of who works in the Australian film industry, and understand the specific challenges they face.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/screen-australia-celebrates-its-work-in-gender-equality-but-things-are-far-from-equal-122266">Screen Australia celebrates its work in gender equality but things are far from equal</a>
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<h2>Building a camera department</h2>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03128962231179379">Our recently published research</a> finds inequitable power dynamics behind the camera on Australian film sets are pernicious and persistent. </p>
<p>Purely in terms of gender discrimination, this industry is a shocker. </p>
<p>Camera departments are highly skewed to male employment. The camera department is headed by a director of photography (DOP or cinematographer), and is made up of a variety of positions including camera operators, camera assistants, gaffers and grips. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/cinema/industry-trends/2021-snapshot">industry snapshot</a> in 2021 reported a mere 4% of Australian films employed a woman as the DOP. The percentage of women working as cinematographers in the top 250 Hollywood movies <a href="https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2021-Celluloid-Ceiling-Report.pdf">only increased</a> from 4% in 1998 to 6% in 2021. </p>
<p>Of cinematographers working in Europe between 2017 and 2021, <a href="https://rm.coe.int/female-professionals-in-european-film-production-2022-edition-p-simone/1680a886c5">10% were women</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540960/original/file-20230803-19-bsh4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A busy film set." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540960/original/file-20230803-19-bsh4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540960/original/file-20230803-19-bsh4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540960/original/file-20230803-19-bsh4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540960/original/file-20230803-19-bsh4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540960/original/file-20230803-19-bsh4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540960/original/file-20230803-19-bsh4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540960/original/file-20230803-19-bsh4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most people employed in camera departments are men.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our study draws on the survey data collected from 582 people included in the <a href="https://cinematographer.org.au/a-wider-lens-australian-camera-workforce-development-and-diversity-report">Wider Lens Report</a> commissioned by the Australian Cinematographers Society. </p>
<p>Under 2% of respondents who had worked exclusively as the director of photography in the 12 months prior to COVID were women. This percentage lifts slightly to the 4% observed in other industry data when we account for women who worked across multiple camera department roles including director of photography. This discrepancy reveals how women DOPs are more likely than men to work across other (less prestigious) camera department roles. </p>
<p>Beyond focusing on the headline gender statistics, we also wanted to interrogate an <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-intersectionality-mean-104937">intersectional</a> view of discrimination inside camera crews, considering how factors such as racism, sexism, ageism, ableism and homophobia can also impact employment opportunity and experience.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-intersectionality-mean-104937">Explainer: what does 'intersectionality' mean?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What does a cinematographer look like?</h2>
<p>Looking at the survey data, we identified four main cohorts in Australian camera departments. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the dominant and most successful in-group was Anglo-Celtic heterosexual men (37% of the total sample). </p>
<p>Another cohort, sharing some of the same features, is made up of heterosexual men from non-Anglo-Celtic ethnicities (34.5%). </p>
<p>There are also two clear, much smaller “out-groups” comprising of heterosexual women (11.5%) and a significant cohort of sexuality and gender minorities (13.5%) including lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, queer men and women, and gender non-binary people. </p>
<p>(A small percentage of people were not able to be assigned to any of these groupings because of missing information.)</p>
<h2>Workplace power</h2>
<p>Cis-heterosexual men are paid more and occupy higher status roles than women and other groups. Experiences of discrimination and harassment tend to be found in the two “out-groups” and, to a lesser extent, among men from underrepresented ethnicities. </p>
<p>We found 88% of heterosexual women reported experiencing sexism, and 39% of respondents from the sexuality and gender minorities group reported experiencing homophobia.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540961/original/file-20230803-15-bzq062.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman behind a camera." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540961/original/file-20230803-15-bzq062.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540961/original/file-20230803-15-bzq062.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540961/original/file-20230803-15-bzq062.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540961/original/file-20230803-15-bzq062.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540961/original/file-20230803-15-bzq062.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540961/original/file-20230803-15-bzq062.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540961/original/file-20230803-15-bzq062.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">88% of heterosexual women working in camera departments reported experiencing sexism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Interestingly, nearly 20% of heterosexual men also claimed to have experienced sexism. From looking at qualitative responses, we found these experiences were linked to respondents’ perceptions that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives generated disadvantage for straight men. </p>
<p>Experiences of ageism tended to be less concentrated in any one group, although there was one interesting distinction. </p>
<p>In the sexuality and gender minorities group, ageism was more likely to manifest around perceptions of being “too young” and “inexperienced”. For the other groups, ageism was more likely to be linked to the perception of being “too old”. </p>
<p>Experiences of ableism were highest for the sexuality and gender minorities group, with most reported discrimination related specifically to perceptions of mental illness. </p>
<p>Camera departments operate so that “who you know” and being able to “fit in” matter. Those who are not men, not White and not heteronormative often felt they were discriminated against.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-number-one-barrier-has-probably-been-stigma-the-challenges-facing-disabled-workers-in-the-australian-screen-industry-200345">‘The number one barrier has probably been stigma’: the challenges facing disabled workers in the Australian screen industry</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Rethinking the industry</h2>
<p>It doesn’t have to be this way. In-group dominance does not require hostility and discrimination against out-group members. </p>
<p>Current piecemeal policy responses won’t be enough to overhaul the entrenched systems and cultures that perpetuate toxic workplaces and social inequalities in the screen industries. </p>
<p>Typical policies focus on the idea that individuals from under-represented groups can succeed if they get more training or <a href="https://screenworks.com.au/learn/gender-matters-webinars/">personal skills development</a>. </p>
<p>Instead, we argue, strategies for change need to be targeted at multiple levels, and need to include wholesale reform. </p>
<p>This means rethinking how the agencies and guilds that endorse the industry define its values, how the business and operational layers of the film industry work to reinforce discrimination, and how such inequitable production teams are brought together. </p>
<p>A toxic system is supported by many individual ethical decisions. Some are acts of cowardice or fear. Some are actually bad actions that hurt people. </p>
<p>Some, in defiance of their context, are acts of grace and courage.</p>
<p>On the set and in the boardrooms where decisions are made, screen industry workplaces need to be regulated to ensure zero tolerance for toxic behaviours and structural discrimination. Where there are no real consequences for bad actions, bad actors prosper.</p>
<p>Anything less would be tinkering at the edges of a foundational problem.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tony-burkes-double-ministry-of-arts-and-industrial-relations-could-be-just-what-the-arts-sector-needs-183623">Tony Burke's double ministry of arts and industrial relations could be just what the arts sector needs</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209786/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Eltham has previously received funding from the Australia Council for the Arts. He is a member of the Media, Arts and Entertainment Alliance, a union that represents workers in the screen industries. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Coate and Deb Verhoeven do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Our recently published research finds inequitable power dynamics behind the camera on Australian film sets are pernicious and persistent.
Bronwyn Coate, Senior Lecturer in Economics, RMIT University
Ben Eltham, Lecturer, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University
Deb Verhoeven, Visiting Fellow, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/209828
2023-07-17T19:34:33Z
2023-07-17T19:34:33Z
Here’s how the Hollywood actors’ strike will impact the Canadian film industry
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537874/original/file-20230717-236884-qp5o4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C0%2C5573%2C3732&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Picketers carry signs outside Paramount in Times Square on July 17, 2023, in New York.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/heres-how-the-hollywood-actors-strike-will-impact-the-canadian-film-industry" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Hollywood actors <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/hollywood-actors-to-begin-historic-strike-at-midnight-after-studio-talks-break-down-1.6905349">went on strike on July 14</a>, joining film and television writers <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/23696617/writers-strike-wga-2023-explained-residuals-streaming-ai">who have been on the picket lines since May</a>. It’s the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/actors-strike-why.html">first time actors and writers have picketed together since 1960</a>, when Ronald Reagan was the president of the Screen Actors Guild.</p>
<p>Following failed talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) announced the strike at a press conference on July 13.</p>
<p>At the heart of the negotiations between the union and the guild <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/jul/14/the-hollywood-actors-strike-everything-you-need-to-know">are two key issues</a>: residual payments in the streaming era and the ownership of an actor’s likeness if it’s reproduced by artificial intelligence. The union is calling for fairer pay splits and tighter AI regulations over these issues.</p>
<p>This strike is a watershed moment for the entertainment industry, marking a turning point for the future of labour in the arts. But it will also have widespread impacts on the film and television industry beyond the United States, and Canada is bracing for impact.</p>
<h2>‘Cataclysmic’ issues at stake</h2>
<p>The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists <a href="https://www.actra.ca/news-release/news-you-can-use/2023/07/actra-stands-in-solidarity-with-sag-aftra/">released a statement last week in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA</a>: “[U.S. actors’] issues are our issues and performers deserve respect and fair compensation for the value they bring to every production.”</p>
<p>These issues are “cataclysmic,” according to Canadian actor and producer Julian De Zotti. De Zotti and I discussed these issues as part of a greater conversation on the future of entertainment <a href="https://www.artscapedanielslaunchpad.com/ctrl-alt-disrupt/">in the ongoing CTRL ALT DISRUPT series</a>, organized by Artscape Daniels Launchpad and the City of Toronto’s Creative Technology Office.</p>
<p>He says the issues being negotiated are existential for creators the world over: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We are at a seismic inflection point in the industry, as a massive technological shift is changing how working and middle class artists, actors, writers, craftspeople can make a sustainable living in the entertainment industry.”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman crowd of people wearing SAG-AFTRA shirts hold their fists up" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537885/original/file-20230717-228004-r0vcf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537885/original/file-20230717-228004-r0vcf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537885/original/file-20230717-228004-r0vcf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537885/original/file-20230717-228004-r0vcf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537885/original/file-20230717-228004-r0vcf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537885/original/file-20230717-228004-r0vcf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537885/original/file-20230717-228004-r0vcf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher attends a press conference announcing a strike by The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists on July, 13, 2023, in Los Angeles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To be clear, it’s not the technology itself creators are taking issue with. When it comes to AI, many film industry professionals <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dbloom/2023/02/24/how-ai-and-the-cloud-are-erasing-the-borders-in-making-movies-and-tv-shows/">are already using tools</a> like ChatGPT and Midjourney to help flesh out the background for scripts or develop visual worlds and imagery for pitch decks.</p>
<p>De Zotti, who has won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Web Program or Series for the past two years, is already integrating AI tools into his practice. He is not afraid of new technology, but rather, how it might be misused. </p>
<h2>An existential threat</h2>
<p>AI poses a threat for actors in particular because their livelihoods depend on their identity. There need to be specific guardrails and parameters established that protect artists, their creations and their image. They must have a say in how their work and image are used and receive fair compensation for it.</p>
<p>Technology advances quickly, sometimes outpacing our ability to fully comprehend its repercussions before adopting it. The strike offers the opportunity to press pause on the otherwise unbridled adoption of disruptive AI technology. </p>
<p>“This can’t be like social media where the technology came too fast and there were no clear guidelines on its use, and now it’s completely out of control,” says De Zotti.</p>
<p>Instead of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup/are-you-ready-to-go-back-to-the-office-1.6437043/stronger-government-regulation-of-social-media-companies-could-improve-free-speech-says-expert-1.6437583">scrambling to play regulatory catch-up after damage has been done</a>, considerations need to be made at the outset to avoid damaging consequences, intended or not.</p>
<h2>What the strike means for Canada</h2>
<p>During the strike, service production, which <a href="https://www.ontariocreates.ca/research/industry-profile/ip-filmtv">represents a majority of the $11.69 billion annual work done in Canada</a>, will come to a halt. All American productions — from big budget blockbusters like Star Trek, which shoots in Toronto, to indie feature films using SAG actors — will be affected. </p>
<p>This will, in turn, have a direct effect on the <a href="https://madeinca.ca/film-and-tv-industry-statistics-canada">244,000 people who work in the film and television industry</a> in this country. But it might also open up a different business model, that, as De Zotti points out, “doesn’t rely on you to package your show or movie with stars to get it made.” </p>
<p>While the streaming issue under negotiation is centred around residuals and compensation, Canadian content creators face additional struggles. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-online-streaming-act-will-support-canadian-content-201862">How the Online Streaming Act will support Canadian content</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Streaming companies have set up shop in Canada for a few years now, promising to make shows led by Canadians. However, De Zotti says this has not been the case. “It’s been a mirage. <a href="https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/industr/modern/myth.htm">Bill C-11</a> is supposed to change all that, but that is still yet to be seen.”</p>
<p>However, if the strike lingers, perhaps markets outside of Canada will look to acquire Canadian content, as is already the case with the CW, which <a href="https://www.mikehughes.tv/2023/05/12/cws-solution-for-summer-and-fall-o-canada/">turned to Canadian content to fill its fall schedule</a>.</p>
<h2>Is this Canada’s moment?</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A protest sign that says 'SAG-AFTRA on Strike'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537561/original/file-20230714-36081-f52ks8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537561/original/file-20230714-36081-f52ks8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=722&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537561/original/file-20230714-36081-f52ks8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=722&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537561/original/file-20230714-36081-f52ks8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=722&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537561/original/file-20230714-36081-f52ks8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=908&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537561/original/file-20230714-36081-f52ks8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=908&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537561/original/file-20230714-36081-f52ks8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=908&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Striking writers and actors take part in a rally outside Netflix studio in Los Angeles on July 14.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Perhaps this strike is a moment for Canada to rise to the occasion; while the Canadian entertainment industry can’t compete with the sheer scale or spending power of Hollywood, it is in this environment of massive change that we shine as scrappy, creative disruptors. </p>
<p>From <a href="https://www.nfb.ca/directors/norman-mclaren/">Norman McLaren’s experimental work with the NFB</a>, through the <a href="https://macleans.ca/culture/movies/a-documentary-like-no-other-documentary">rise of interactive documentaries</a>, to the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/21/18234980/fortnite-marshmello-concert-viewer-numbers">explosion of game-based virtual concerts</a>, Canada has always been seen as an innovator in entertainment.</p>
<p>As for the strike itself, its outcome will surely set a precedent. Whatever guidelines the WGA and SAG establish with the studios will be used as a template when it’s time for Canadian unions to negotiate. </p>
<p>The reality is, AI and streaming are not technologies of tomorrow; both are here to stay. As the dust settles south of the border, we have the chance to not just sit back and wait, but to lead by example. </p>
<p>We have the opportunity to not only create unimagined new forms of storytelling, but also experiment with fairer business models rooted in transparent data and more equitable ways of using the powerful tools that threaten to upend the industry of yesterday.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209828/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ramona Pringle has received funding from the Canadian Media Fund, Ontario Creates and the Bell Fund. She is affiliated with the City of Toronto’s Film Television and Digital Media Board, Artscape Daniels Launchpad, and Interactive Ontario.</span></em></p>
The Hollywood actors’ strike is a watershed moment for the entertainment industry, marking a turning point for the future of labour in the arts.
Ramona Pringle, Director, Creative Innovation Studio; Associate Professor, RTA School of Media, Toronto Metropolitan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/205518
2023-05-16T16:36:21Z
2023-05-16T16:36:21Z
Making movies in video games: why the film world is finally ready to take ‘machinima’ seriously
<p>Last week in a small city in the Ruhr area of Germany, a film that I made inside the video game Grand Theft Auto was screened at the <a href="https://www.kurzfilmtage.de/en/">Oberhausen International Short Film Festival</a>, as part of an extensive overview of machinima.</p>
<p>“Machinima” is a linguistic mash up of machine, animation and cinema. The term has <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/understanding-machinima-9781441140524/">been defined as</a> “films made by real-time three-dimensional computer graphics rendering engines”, but it essentially means films made using video games.</p>
<p>My own machinima film is titled <a href="https://vimeo.com/575310066?share=copy">We Are Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On</a>. I recorded gameplay footage of myself playing Grand Theft Auto while trying to perform Shakespeare to other gamers, without getting blown up. I then edited that footage to make a ten-minute film.</p>
<p>The genre has been around for a while. The exact origins of machinima are debated, but it’s generally agreed that the first machinima film was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq4Ks4Z_NGY">Diary of a Camper</a>. It was created by a group of gamers called the Rangers in the first-person shooter game, Quake. The crude 90-second game demo was released on the internet in October 1996.</p>
<p>People had been recording and sharing sections of their game play since the 1980s, but this was the first recording to contain a narrative with text-based dialogue.</p>
<p>As graphic technology improved and game-capture software became more sophisticated and readily available, more and more artists and filmmakers began exploring the aesthetic and narrative possibilities of making films inside video games. Machinima began to attract mainstream interest.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mq4Ks4Z_NGY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The first machinima film, Diary of a Camper (1996).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In June 2000 the late influential American film critic Roger Ebert, wrote an article on this new form of filmmaking for Yahoo! Internet Life magazine entitled <a href="https://dondeq2.com/2018/05/31/roger-eberts-critical-eye-on-machinima-will-the-use-of-video-game-technology-make-movies-result-in-art-or-kitsch/">The Ghost in the Machinima</a>. </p>
<p>In 2001, director Steven Spielberg used the first-person shooter video game Unreal Tournament (1999) to test special effects for his film, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_19pRsZRiz4">AI: Artificial Intelligence</a>. </p>
<p>In 2003, the production company Rooster Teeth created a web series <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N8IpxO6rKs">Red vs Blue</a> using the video game Halo (2001). It was downloaded hundreds of thousands of times, sold <a href="https://collider.com/rooster-teeth-red-vs-blue-season-16-dvd/#:%7E:text=dawn%20of%20time.-,The%20Red%20Vs.,over%20one%20million%20DVDs%20sold.">over a million DVDs</a> and ran for 18 seasons on Netflix.</p>
<h2>Machinima’s critical reception</h2>
<p>But machinima has struggled to shrug off its reputation as a niche pursuit of the hardcore gamer geek community and be considered a serious mature art form. I think a closer look at Ebert’s comments on machinima reveal the biases and misapprehension around video game culture that explain this.</p>
<p>While recognising the revolutionary potential of video games as a filmmaking technique, Ebert saw machinima as “visually impressive but empty”. He thought it was restricted by its associations with the style and themes of video games, forever existing outside the realm of “cinematic art”.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F63h3v9QV7w?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>His conception of video games as nothing more than “aliens, laser rays, space cadets and tomb raiders” has been shared by cinematic gatekeepers for years. But finally, this view of video games as an eternally adolescent, unserious medium is starting to crack.</p>
<p>Few who have played Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018), Elden Ring (2022) or Disco Elysium (2019) can deny the sophisticated artistry that infuses contemporary gaming culture. And that culture is everywhere. </p>
<p>Globally, the number of video game players <a href="https://newzoo.com/resources/trend-reports/newzoo-global-games-market-report-2022-free-version">is predicted to grow</a> <a href="https://newzoo.com/resources/trend-reports/newzoo-global-games-market-report-2022-free-version">from 2.9 billion in 2020 to 3.5 billion in 2025</a>, making up almost half the world’s population.</p>
<h2>The future of machinima</h2>
<p>And as it grows, gaming culture is bleeding into other cultural spheres that had previously been stubbornly resistant to its charms. The British Film Institute has explicitly placed video games as an equal partner alongside film and television in its <a href="https://blog.bfi.org.uk/">recently published 10-year strategy</a> to “advocate for the value of the full breadth of screen culture”.</p>
<p>HBO’s television adaptation of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-last-of-us-a-show-that-surprised-and-challenged-audiences-even-those-who-had-played-the-game-201814">The Last of Us</a> this year achieved the kind of critical and commercial success long thought to be out of reach of video game adaptations.</p>
<p>This year also marks the first time that a major international film festival has presented an entire programme of machinima. Oberhausen may not have the global brand recognition of Cannes or Venice, but when it selects its programme, the film world sits up. </p>
<p>Oberhausen is the oldest short film festival in the world and one of the few that is Oscar qualifying – win a prize here and your film can be nominated for an academy award. The festival also has a history of programming early work by filmmakers such as Werner Herzog, Martin Scorsese and Agnès Varda, who have gone on to become household names. So its programming choices are hugely significant within the film industry.</p>
<p>The curators, Vladimir Nadein and Dmitry Frolov, <a href="https://www.kurzfilmtage.de/en/press/detail/theme-2023-against-gravity/">noted that</a> we are in an age “where the question of medium specificity becomes less and less prominent” and that “the border between traditional cinema and new forms of filmmaking is blurring dramatically”.</p>
<p>Oberhausen’s sold-out programme of films made within video games can be seen as the moment when machinima transcended its gaming subculture, to become a mature artistic medium in mainstream visual storytelling.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205518/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sam Crane is the co-director of a forthcoming machinima film "Undiscovered Country" which has received funding from the British Film Institute </span></em></p>
More and more artists and filmmakers are exploring the aesthetic and narrative possibilities of making films inside video games. Here’s why.
Sam Crane, PhD Candidate, School of Arts and Creative Technologies, University of York
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/200507
2023-04-11T14:35:53Z
2023-04-11T14:35:53Z
Nollywood could see a major boost from Nigeria’s new copyright law - an expert explains why
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519669/original/file-20230405-22-qvwbqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C44%2C4913%2C3231&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The digital era contributed immensely to the growth of Nollywood, Nigeria's film industry.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/customers-look-at-nollywood-movies-in-a-shop-at-idumota-news-photo/1128688331?adppopup=true">Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nigeria has finally <a href="https://infojustice.org/archives/45182">updated its 2004 copyright law</a>, bringing it into the digital era – where the entertainment industry has been for decades already.</p>
<p>Before the late 1990s, it was difficult even to get telephone services in Nigeria. And it was very expensive for private enterprises to make films. Since then, digital technology has unleashed a multitude of ways to receive information and entertainment. </p>
<p>With the arrival of digital technology, all a filmmaker needed was a simple video recorder and a group of talented creatives. Thus modern Nollywood – the Nigerian film industry – was born.</p>
<p>Nollywood employs <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2021/06/streaming-video-services-flood-emerging-markets-behsudi">more than a million people</a> directly or indirectly, making the sector Nigeria’s second largest employer after agriculture. In 2022, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1186955/arts-entertainment-and-recreation-sector-contribution-to-gdp-in-nigeria/#:%7E:text=Arts%2C%20entertainment%20and%20recreation%20sector,GDP%20in%20Nigeria%202019%2D2022&text=In%20the%20second%20quarter%20of,when%20it%20reached%200.3%20percent.">Nollywood’s contribution to Nigeria’s GDP stood at 0.1%</a>. It’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/10/nigeria-africa-biggest-economy-nollywood">Africa’s most successful film industry</a> and the third largest globally after Hollywood and Bollywood in terms of the number of movies produced <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1186955/arts-entertainment-and-recreation-sector-contribution-to-gdp-in-nigeria/#:%7E:text=Arts%2C%20entertainment%20and%20recreation%20sector,GDP%20in%20Nigeria%202019%2D2022&text=In%20the%20second%20quarter%20of,0.21%20percent%20of%20Nigeria's%20GDP">annually</a>. </p>
<p>But Nigeria’s copyright regime lagged behind the industry’s technological and business developments. The biggest issue was piracy, that it was easy to copy and sell other people’s work without their consent. The courts found themselves with new intellectual property problems to deal with and it was clear a new copyright regime was needed.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man looking at some movies in a store filled with shelfs stacked with DVDs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519675/original/file-20230405-23-fw13cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519675/original/file-20230405-23-fw13cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519675/original/file-20230405-23-fw13cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519675/original/file-20230405-23-fw13cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519675/original/file-20230405-23-fw13cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519675/original/file-20230405-23-fw13cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519675/original/file-20230405-23-fw13cr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The new copyright law make provision for the digital rights of Nollywood creatives. Photo by Cristina Aldehuela/AFP via Getty Images.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/customers-look-at-nollywood-movies-in-a-shop-at-idumota-news-photo/1128688331?adppopup=true">from www.gettyimages.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I have spent much of my career <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1390877">researching copyright law in Africa</a> and the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3373358">connection between copyright and the economic growth</a> of Africa’s creative industries – films, fashion, music, literature and others. </p>
<p>I have <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4228165">written specifically about Nollywood</a>, arguing that it needs a new copyright regime if it is to thrive. And I have <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3989947">researched the kind of copyright curriculum</a> that law schools in Nigeria need in order to make the amended copyright law effective in growing its creative industries. My research supports the idea that Nigeria should deliberately include digital copyright regimes in its laws and strengthen the institutions that put them into effect. </p>
<p>And the new copyright law in Nigeria does fill gaps. Nigerians will now have a legal regime that can protect their creativity within the technological space. The new law will be useful to combat online film piracy and loss of revenue from the illegal use of copyrighted works.</p>
<p>The new law has the potential to create stability and predictability in industries like Nollywood. This is a positive step towards a more diversified national economy – and economic growth. </p>
<p>But it will be important to allow the courts to do their job. Trying to settle disputes through the Nigerian Copyright Commission – which is a new option – could complicate and prolong the litigation. That might discourage investment in the creative industry.</p>
<h2>Key benefits of the new law</h2>
<p>Nigeria’s <a href="https://www.adams.africa/africa-general/nigeria-enacts-new-copyright-act/#:%7E:text=Nigeria%20enacts%20Copyright%20Act%2C%202022,the%20Copyright%20Act%20of%202004">new</a> copyright law recognises and protects creative works that are based on current digital productive technologies. It covers films, music, performances, literary works and performances enabled by the internet and wireless devices through streaming techniques, uploads, hyperlinks and air-drops. </p>
<p><a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3373358">The law now provides</a> anti-circumvention devices. It is now a copyright infringement to illegally circumvent a computer program, software or a technical protection measure created to protect a copyrighted work. Film piracy is both a criminal offence and a civil wrong, with severe punishment and consequences. This now applies to new forms of online film piracy too. </p>
<p>The new copyright law also includes a “safe harbour” provision which protects Nollywood entrepreneurs from unnecessary legal suits. For example, online service provider business is an emerging technology that requires huge investment and is vulnerable to illegal actions. People upload unauthorised content on an online platform and this can result in lawsuits which affect investors in this sector. The safe harbour comes with responsibility on the part of the online service provider: it must quickly remove unauthorised content and must not benefit financially from it. </p>
<p>The new law gives copyright owners ways to resolve disputes over ownership of online content without necessarily going to court. </p>
<h2>Five other new aspects</h2>
<p>The new law has five more aspects that will help sustain the creative economy and promote access to knowledge and education.</p>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>Alternative dispute resolution system.</strong> This mechanism can be used to settle issues surrounding creative rights within contemporary digital platforms. The process will be organised by the Nigerian Copyright Commission, the regulator. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Register of works.</strong> Creators are required to register their created works. Although creators of works like Nollywood films automatically own their copyright, the register – if well executed – may help with rights management and be a resource for potential investors in the industry. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>User generated content.</strong> When you take a photo of yourself and upload it on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram or TikTok, what you have done is upload content on an online service provider. You may have copyright over that content. The new copyright law clearly defines your rights and regulates infringement of such rights. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Copyright exceptions.</strong> Sometimes a copyrighted work can be used without the copyright owner’s authorisation. The new law seems to take the approach that the public has a right to use a copyrighted work if it’s good for society. For example, anyone can use a copyrighted work for educational purposes – to teach in a classroom, for news reporting, criticism, or parody. People can also use the underlying idea in the copyrighted work (ideas aren’t protected by copyright) to create a new, “derivative” work. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Copyright management organisation</strong>. Another new aspect is that regulators can appoint more than one copyright management organisation to serve a specific class of creative work. This will potentially further liberalise and democratise creativity. </p></li>
</ol>
<h2>The cautions</h2>
<p>Laws ought to be effective in action. If the new law is to benefit Nollywood and other digital industries, government institutions and policies will need revamping.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.eregistration.copyright.gov.ng/">Nigerian Copyright Commission</a> should use its new administrative powers carefully. It should be sensitive to the fact that only the courts can judge disputes of property rights.</p>
<p>The commission must stop licensing only one collective management organisation per creative category. Currently, for example, in the musical works category the commission has granted only one copyright management organisation the licence to collect royalties on behalf of creators. This has resulted in court <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=3260555">battles for sole control</a> over royalties. If the commission makes rights management more competitive, there may be less tension in the sector. Creatives should have more choice.</p>
<p>Nigeria will also need to pay more attention to training experts with knowledge of the digital era laws. The <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3989947">university creative and legal curriculum</a> needs reform along with the new law. </p>
<p>If the new law is to benefit Nollywood, it will have to be properly implemented. </p>
<h2>Why this matters</h2>
<p>The updated Nigerian copyright law recognises how a contemporary creative system can encourage investment in the Nigerian film industry.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200507/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel Samiái Andrews. does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, recently signed the copyright law. Its provisions will be beneficial only if it is well implemented.
Samuel Samiái Andrews., Professor, University of Gondar
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202007
2023-03-27T12:42:22Z
2023-03-27T12:42:22Z
Nepo babies: why nepotism is such a problem for British film and TV – and how to fix it
<p>“Nepo babies” (or “nepotism babies”) have been the talk of the entertainment industry since New York Magazine’s <a href="https://nymag.com/press/2022/12/extremely-overanalyzing-hollywoods-nepo-baby-boom.html">December/January issue</a>, which featured a <a href="https://www.vulture.com/article/hollywood-nepotism-babies-list-taxonomy.html">definitive guide</a> to the: “actors, singers [and] directors who just happen to be the children of actors, singers [and] directors”.</p>
<p>Industry connections have always made it easier to break into Hollywood. Academy Award-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of Hollywood stars Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, recognises that she “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/jamie-lee-curtis-has-never-worked-hard-a-day-in-her-life">clearly had a leg up</a>”, while Jeff Bridges, whose father (actor Lloyd Bridges) put him up for parts in his own films, acknowledges that he <a href="https://people.com/movies/jeff-bridges-on-what-he-admired-most-about-his-father/">wouldn’t have had the career he has if it wasn’t for his famous father</a>. But the problem isn’t just American.</p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-39070-9_6">Academic</a> <a href="https://www.alphavillejournal.com/Issue24/HTML/Editorial.html">research</a> <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/14648849211001778">has shown</a> that the British media – and the UK screen industries more broadly – has a problem with accessibility and diversity, which is putting those industries at risk.</p>
<p>The creative industries are vital to the UK economy, accounting for <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-sectors-economic-estimates-2019-business-demographics">£115.9 billion</a> in 2019. As one of the UK’s <a href="https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/impact-of-government-policy-on-the-creative-sector/">fastest growing industries</a>, it is estimated that film and high-end television production alone will require between <a href="https://www.screenskills.com/news/new-forecast-of-skills-and-training-needs-to-support-uk-film-and-high-end-tv-production-boom/">15,130 and 20,770 additional full-time employees</a> by 2025. But major issues need addressing if the screen industries are to prosper.</p>
<p>Last month, the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee published its inquiry into challenges affecting creative industries. <a href="https://ukparliament.shorthandstories.com/creative-future-comms-digital-lords-report/index.html?utm_source=committees.parliament.uk&utm_medium=referrals&utm_campaign=creative-future-comms-digital-lords-report&utm_content=organic">The report</a> highlighted five priorities, one of which was blind spots in education. </p>
<p>The number of skilled workers and quality of training are two of the biggest issues facing the screen industries. But missing from the report is the question of who has access to education and subsequently gets a job in the industry.</p>
<h2>A game of connections</h2>
<p>I carried out research into <a href="https://screen-network.org.uk/publication/skills-and-training-provision-in-the-uk-film-and-tv-industries/">skills gaps and training provision</a> for film and television. Interviewing lecturers and new entrants to the industry revealed concerns about the sector’s entrenched nepotism and recruitment practices.</p>
<p>In theory, all social classes can access higher education and develop their knowledge of the creative industries. But in practice the skills that make applicants stand out to production companies (confidence, communication, adaptability) are often gained through extracurricular activities which are more easily accessible to those from affluent backgrounds. As one lecturer told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The local students [in the southwest] … are always going to struggle. They’re going to struggle economically [and] they’re going to struggle in terms of just a lack of exposure to certain worlds.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Middle or upper class students were more likely to have been exposed to a range of extracurricular activities from a young age, allowing them to develop social and cultural capital and the ability to interact with a wide range of people with confidence. </p>
<p>While at university, they often had financial support from parents which enabled them to undertake work experience or spend more time building a portfolio, rather than having to secure a part-time job.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young woman smiles wearing an apron as she uses a coffee machine to make a drink for a customer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515870/original/file-20230316-24-zwztjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515870/original/file-20230316-24-zwztjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515870/original/file-20230316-24-zwztjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515870/original/file-20230316-24-zwztjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515870/original/file-20230316-24-zwztjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515870/original/file-20230316-24-zwztjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515870/original/file-20230316-24-zwztjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students from wealthy backgrounds have the advantage of not needing to work part time to support their studies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-barista-preparing-coffee-customers-her-1366212986">pikselstock/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those whose had parents or family friends in the industry were far more likely to “get on” in the sector. As a production company employee told me, getting a job in this industry is “just about contacting people and networking” – something far easier when students already have connections.</p>
<p><a href="https://pec.ac.uk/research-reports/getting-in-and-getting-on-class-participation-and-job-quality-in-the-uks-creative-industries">A 2020 report</a> found widespread and persistent class imbalances, with those from privileged backgrounds more than twice as likely to land a creative job. One interviewee told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I went into a room of writers and producers. Most of the women of colour that were there – and they were only two or three – were working on Call the Midwife … I thought: ‘Gosh, I’m the only northern working class woman in this room. I’m the only northern working class queer woman in this room and the only northern working class queer woman over 50.’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Informal recruitment practices – often used given the short time frames between commissioning a project and starting production – mean employees are <a href="https://pec.ac.uk/research-reports/screened-out-tackling-class-inequality-in-the-uks-screen-industries">less likely to come from working class backgrounds</a>. Producers often use existing networks to find crew or look at film credits to find people who have worked in similar roles. These practices take less time compared to formal recruitment but are more open to nepotism.</p>
<p>It is not enough that skills gaps alone are addressed. Encouraging creativity in schools and improving careers guidance is important, but barriers to entry include: a lack of role models, limited access to extracurricular activities, unequal access to higher education, limited professional skills, a reliance on internships and ill-defined progression pathways.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://screen-network.org.uk/publication/skills-and-training-provision-in-the-uk-film-and-tv-industries/">my research</a> has established, the industry needs an overhaul. A clear outline of the different types of training should be developed, along with information about how they map onto career pathways.</p>
<p>There are different regional needs for skills, that should also be considered. A regional careers guidance service should be developed that understands the skills gaps, training provision and labour market within specific regions. A shared apprenticeship scheme is also needed for the screen industries, which would address issues of access and inclusion as well as skills gaps.</p>
<p>At this year’s BAFTAs, Barry Keoghan – who won best supporting actor for his role as Dominic in <a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/banshees-of-inisherin-male-friendship">The Banshees of Inisherin</a> – was hailed by GQ magazine as the “<a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/barry-keoghan-award-season-success-anti-nepo-baby-2023">anti-nepo baby star that Hollywood needs</a>”. The article pointed to Keoghan’s childhood in the Irish foster care system, concluding that: “He worked his way up, which is all you can do when life doesn’t hand you a ladder.”</p>
<p>As much as Hollywood loves a rags-to-riches story, Keoghan is just one person who’s made it in an industry beset by nepotism, compared to hundreds who haven’t. If the UK screen industry is to continue to grow, it needs diversity in all stages of production.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202007/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bethan Jones is a research associate at the Screen Industries Growth Network project, which receives funding from Research England, the University of York, and its partners.</span></em></p>
Industry connections have always made it easier to break into Hollywood. But the problem isn’t just American.
Bethan Jones, Research Associate, University of York
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/200345
2023-03-08T00:56:37Z
2023-03-08T00:56:37Z
‘The number one barrier has probably been stigma’: the challenges facing disabled workers in the Australian screen industry
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513323/original/file-20230303-19-x6zxvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=34%2C6%2C4566%2C2145&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The stories of people with disability rarely make it onto Australian screens. This isn’t surprising when we look at the ways disabled people are treated in the Australian screen industry.</p>
<p>Workers with disability in the screen industry commonly face stigma, stereotyping, exclusion, bullying and harassment. </p>
<p>As one producer with disability told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For me the number one barrier has probably been stigma – people assuming that it’s going to be more difficult to have you working on the production. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, experience of disability can have positive impacts on work. Disabled filmmakers make valuable contributors to Australian screen production and culture.</p>
<p>As another producer told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We solve problems better than anyone; we do it every minute every day, living in a world not made for us. Can you imagine the asset this is on your creative team?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For our new report, <a href="https://disability.unimelb.edu.au/home/projects/community-based-research-program/Disability-and-Screen-Work-in-Australia">Disability and Screen Work in Australia</a>, we surveyed more than 500 screen workers with and without disability. </p>
<p>Our report is the first in-depth research into the experiences of and attitudes towards people with disability in the Australian screen industry.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/disability-and-dignity-4-things-to-think-about-if-you-want-to-help-198993">Disability and dignity – 4 things to think about if you want to 'help'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>An inaccessible and prejudiced industry</h2>
<p>Nearly <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-in-australia/contents/people-with-disability/prevalence-of-disability">one in five Australians</a> lives with disability and the Australian screen industry employs <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/people-and-businesses/employment-trends/summary">more than 200,000 people</a>. </p>
<p>Workers with disability contribute to all parts of the industry, in production, distribution and exhibition. Disabled people work as writers, producers, directors, performers and crew. </p>
<p>Despite the diversity of their experiences, roles and talents, screen workers with disability commonly encounter similar discrimination in the workplace. </p>
<p>Disabled people working in the Australian screen industry are paid much less. Among our survey respondents, most screen workers with disability (58%) are paid less than $800 per week, while most workers without disability (57%) are paid more than $1,250 per week.</p>
<p>Compared to screen workers without disability, workers with disability are more likely to be on short-term and casual contracts, to be working without pay, and to be unemployed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513325/original/file-20230303-28-kz12zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman with down syndrome sits at a table in a bright office using laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513325/original/file-20230303-28-kz12zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513325/original/file-20230303-28-kz12zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513325/original/file-20230303-28-kz12zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513325/original/file-20230303-28-kz12zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513325/original/file-20230303-28-kz12zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513325/original/file-20230303-28-kz12zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513325/original/file-20230303-28-kz12zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Employers are frequently inflexible when it comes to alternate models of working.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many screen workers with disability report a widespread lack of understanding about accessibility in the industry.</p>
<p>We spoke to one producer who uses a wheelchair. He found the physical barriers he faced were not noticed by his employer and he was expected to “overcome” these barriers. “It hampers your ability to work effectively,” he said. </p>
<p>Many respondents reported difficulties talking about access requirements at work. Employers are frequently inflexible when presented with options such as working from home or using different technologies.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-lagging-when-it-comes-to-employing-people-with-disability-quotas-for-disability-services-could-be-a-start-199405">Australia is lagging when it comes to employing people with disability – quotas for disability services could be a start</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Positive impacts of disability</h2>
<p>Despite these barriers, many respondents said the screen industry benefits from the skills they have because of their experience of disability.</p>
<p>Nearly half of respondents with disability (47%) say their disability status impacts their screen work positively. </p>
<p>One screenwriter without disability said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>employers often see just the costs/difficulties, and not the benefits of having disabled writers in rooms or involved in projects.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Screen workers with disability told us they bring unique skills and perspectives that stem from navigating inaccessible environments. They demonstrate creative thinking, problem-solving, teamwork and empathy. </p>
<p>Ade Djajamihardja is a disability activist and founder of <a href="https://www.a2kmedia.com.au/">A2K Media</a>, a production company that prioritises disability pride in their purpose, identity and activity. He works as a producer with “unapologetic acceptance” of his own disability status and that of his collaborators.</p>
<p>This means respecting the skills and talents workers with disability bring, and providing access requirements without resistance and judgement. This allows employers to fulfil their legal responsibilities and allows workers with disability to do their jobs effectively.</p>
<p>Screen workers with disability are crucial to telling authentic stories about disability, helping represent the diversity of our community. The disabled respondents to our survey noted they often see characters with disability on screen created and performed by people without disability, which stand out because they are inaccurate and stereotyped. </p>
<p>One screenwriter told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think the more <a href="https://helloasphyxia.wordpress.com/2020/12/01/what-is-ownvoices-and-why-does-it-matter/">#ownstories</a> that we can have in screen media the better. Things like insisting on [disability] representation in writing teams is a really good step in the right direction.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The screen industry’s future</h2>
<p>Far from building an industry full of the most skilled people, the Australian screen industry excludes and marginalises people with disability.</p>
<p>One producer sees potential in the screen industry becoming more welcoming to disabled people: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I work in the creative industries. We need to be better at creatively working through these sorts of issues.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The people we surveyed suggested many ways to improve inclusion in Australia’s screen industry. They highlight easier access to reasonable adjustments, clear lines of communication and responsibility in workplaces, and targeted funding for creatives with disability. </p>
<p>Most importantly, survey respondents repeatedly call for greater understanding of disability issues. People with disability would like it to be normal to talk about accessibility in the workplace.</p>
<p>With employment discrimination a key focus of the current <a href="https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/employment">disability royal commission</a>, the proposed <a href="https://theconversation.com/pay-safety-and-welfare-how-the-new-centre-for-arts-and-entertainment-workplaces-can-strengthen-the-arts-sector-198859">Centre for Arts and Entertainment Workplaces</a> should provide leadership in prioritising accessibility and inclusion.</p>
<p>Disability inclusion also requires the urgent attention of everyone working in the screen industry. As one actor said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We deserve empowerment and to sit at the table too. Even if we need a ramp to get to the table or subtitles to understand.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pay-safety-and-welfare-how-the-new-centre-for-arts-and-entertainment-workplaces-can-strengthen-the-arts-sector-198859">Pay, safety and welfare: how the new Centre for Arts and Entertainment Workplaces can strengthen the arts sector</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200345/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded by Melbourne Disability Institute at the University of Melbourne and A2K Media.</span></em></p>
Our report is the first in-depth research into the experiences of and attitudes towards disabled people in the Australian screen industry.
Radha O'Meara, Lecturer in Screenwriting, The University of Melbourne
Anna Debinski, Research Assistant, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/187910
2022-08-03T17:54:19Z
2022-08-03T17:54:19Z
Jordan Peele’s ‘Nope’ shines spotlight on animal work in entertainment
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477487/original/file-20220803-18-wxwd2h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C0%2C1749%2C864&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jordan Peele's latest horror film challenges viewers to consider technology, surveillance, other worldly life and the making of spectacle through different lenses — including the eyes of animals.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Universal Pictures)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is a horse named Ghost who first signals that something is awry in the sky in Jordan Peele’s latest visually and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In8fuzj3gck">thematically ambitious film <em>Nope</em></a>. OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) is the head wrangler of Heywood Hollywood Horses, an intergenerational, Black-owned and now struggling ranch that specializes in training horses for the big screen. </p>
<p>But it is his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) who notices that Ghost, one of their family’s veteran equine actors, is unexpectedly standing in an outdoor pen staring out into space, his light grey fur as sublime as the moonlight. Ghost jumps the fence and gallops away, saying “nope” in his own way.</p>
<p>As a subversive Western science fiction kaleidoscope, <em>Nope</em> challenges viewers to consider technology, surveillance, other worldly life and the making of spectacle through different lenses — including the eyes of animals. The result is an unsettling view that exposes core ethical questions about animals’ work in films, including in <em>Nope</em> itself.</p>
<h2>Reform or replace?</h2>
<p>As Emerald recounts early in the film, the very first moving picture was created from photos of a <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2022/07/nope-and-the-story-behind-muybridges-moving-pictures.html">man galloping on a horse</a>, specifically a Black jockey whose name has been lost to — or erased from — history, depending on your perspective. The horse was named <a href="https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/06/27/46591-2/?firefox=1">Sallie Gardner</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A series of photographs showing a man galloping on a horse" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476744/original/file-20220729-5168-4l8g6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476744/original/file-20220729-5168-4l8g6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476744/original/file-20220729-5168-4l8g6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476744/original/file-20220729-5168-4l8g6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476744/original/file-20220729-5168-4l8g6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476744/original/file-20220729-5168-4l8g6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476744/original/file-20220729-5168-4l8g6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eadweard Muybridge’s ‘The Horse in Motion’ series of photographs was the first example of chronophotography.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Gallery of Art</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Horses have had <a href="https://www.salon.com/2012/04/02/hollywoods_long_history_of_animal_cruelty/">a long and rocky history in Hollywood</a>. Early Hollywood films put horses through gruelling working conditions, often resulting in injury or death. They were essentially treated as disposable. </p>
<p>Now on-set animal action, in the United States at least, is monitored by the nonprofit <a href="https://www.americanhumane.org/program/humane-hollywood/">American Humane</a>. Plus, animals on screen are increasingly <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/his-dark-materials-bbc">computer-generated images</a> or <a href="https://www.iflscience.com/iflscience-meets-csaba-k-vri-on-the-complexities-of-motion-capture-and-cats-64648">motion capture marvels</a> that fuse digital imagery with human actors, as was the case in the award-winning rebooted <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/planet-of-the-apes-andy-serkis">Planet of the Apes</a> trilogy starring Andy Serkis as the lead chimpanzee, Caesar. We have both reformed and replaced animals’ work in the making of entertainment.</p>
<p>Horses and chimpanzees are now often placed on opposite sides of a perceived line between accepted and unacceptable animal use. Most horses are <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/when-did-humans-domesticate-the-horse-180980097/">domesticated and have worked for humans for thousands of years</a>. Their careers, reproduction and social lives are largely controlled by humans. In contrast, although individual chimpanzees have been held captive, their species remains wild.</p>
<p><em>Nope</em> reflects this divide and begins with the chilling sounds of what viewers later learn was a chimpanzee named Gordy, the star in an eponymous sitcom, who snaps after balloons pop loudly on set and ends up attacking his human co-stars. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two men in suits pose with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame red carpet with a white tiger sub" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476751/original/file-20220729-12-68kczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476751/original/file-20220729-12-68kczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476751/original/file-20220729-12-68kczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476751/original/file-20220729-12-68kczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476751/original/file-20220729-12-68kczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476751/original/file-20220729-12-68kczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476751/original/file-20220729-12-68kczn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illusionists Siegfried Fischbacher (left) and Roy Uwe Ludwig Horn pose for photographers with a white tiger cub after they unveiled their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles in September 1994.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Neil Jacobs)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This mirrors real life human-animal eruptions, like when <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/why-tiger-attacked-siegfried-roy-explained-1670348">Mantacore the tiger</a> mauled Roy Horn of the (in)famous Siegfried & Roy, or when <a href="https://www.nonhumanrights.org/blog/travis-and-tragedy/">Travis the “pet” chimpanzee</a> and former actor attacked his caretaker’s friend before being shot by police.</p>
<p>In <em>Nope</em>, the tragedy involving <a href="https://www.slashfilm.com/934603/nope-makes-perfect-use-of-a-planet-of-the-apes-mvp/">Gordy (Terry Notary)</a> is revealed in excruciating detail, including an evocative moment when the chimpanzee sees his young co-star Ricky (Jacob Kim), hiding under a table. The two reach out to touch hands, as bullets fly. In a situation ripe with horror, viewers are asked to consider whether the foundational tragedy is Gordy’s employment as an actor.</p>
<h2>Horses at work</h2>
<p>Each chapter in the film is named after an animal — Ghost, Lucky, Clover, Gordy and Jean Jacket — foregrounding four horses and one chimpanzee. The horses are essential to the Heywood family’s livelihood and legacy, with OJ noting that he needs to get up early because “he has mouths to feed.” </p>
<p>Yet the ultimate fate of Ghost, the horse who rang the initial alarm by bolting away, is unclear. More troublingly, Clover meets an untimely end (off screen), one which is surprisingly un-mourned and barely noted.</p>
<p>In contrast, Lucky, who is portrayed as a sage and experienced equine, is essential to each facet of the plot. OJ asks those on a television set not to look Lucky in the eye early in the film, a foreshadowing of later extra-terrestrial communication. </p>
<p>As a lifelong horsewoman, I can confirm that horses generally have no concerns about eye contact. Recent studies have found that they are not only attuned to <a href="https://doi.org//10.1126/science.aaf4032">human facial expressions</a>, but also have more than <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/26/sport/horse-facial-expressions-spt/index.html">a dozen of their own</a>. Granted, the aversion could be particular to Lucky.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two Icelandic horses playing. Their eyes are wide and their lips are peeled back, revealing their teeth." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476752/original/file-20220729-11809-omilb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476752/original/file-20220729-11809-omilb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476752/original/file-20220729-11809-omilb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476752/original/file-20220729-11809-omilb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476752/original/file-20220729-11809-omilb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476752/original/file-20220729-11809-omilb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476752/original/file-20220729-11809-omilb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Horses are surprisingly expressive animals and have more than a dozen different facial expressions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Michael Probst)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Without question, the real horse (or perhaps horses) who plays Lucky is extraordinary. Most horses are fearful of blowing objects. Yet Lucky, in partnership with OJ, gallops past a whole series of massive wind dolls dancing erratically, without batting an eye. That reflects significant preparation and real-time emotional control.</p>
<h2>Respecting animals</h2>
<p>Animal actors and the skill involved in their work are being recognized. The canine star of the Canadian television program <a href="https://theconversation.com/hudson-and-rex-charming-canine-actor-challenges-us-to-look-at-animal-labour-132844">Hudson and Rex</a>, Diesel vom Burgimwald, is named in the credits and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hudsonandrex/">regularly appears on the show’s social media channels</a>. Jeff Daniels, in his Emmy-acceptance speech for Godless, <a href="https://www.eonline.com/ca/news/969184/jeff-daniels-dedicates-2018-emmys-win-to-his-godless-horse-apollo">thanked his equine partner, Apollo</a>.</p>
<p>Yet the real horses who played Lucky, Clover and Ghost in <em>Nope</em> are <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10954984/fullcredits">not included in the credits</a>. The head horse wrangler — Bobby Lovgren — is named, but the horses are omitted. In a film that powerfully explores the ethics of animal actors, for those it depends upon to be erased in this way is strange.</p>
<p>When it comes to our ethical duties to other animals — especially if we ask them to work for our entertainment — we must use great caution and pay close attention when they say “nope.” Representation and respect should go hand in hoof.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kendra Coulter receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and is a fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.</span></em></p>
When it comes to our ethical duties to animals, representation and respect should go hand in hoof.
Kendra Coulter, Professor, Management and Organizational Studies, Huron University College, Western University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/187080
2022-07-28T08:01:43Z
2022-07-28T08:01:43Z
Precarious employment, hiring discrimination and a toxic workplace: what work looks like for Australian cinematographers
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475810/original/file-20220725-11-1mwcwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6192%2C4124&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It has been a fantastic year for Australian cinematographers in Hollywood. </p>
<p>Australian directors of photography represented two of the five nominees for best cinematography at the 2022 Oscars. <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/australian-oscar-winner-greig-fraser-on-dune-star-wars-and-his-big-night-20220401-p5a9xm.html">Greig Fraser</a> won the Oscar for his work as cinematographer on Dune. Ari Wegner became the <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/01/awards-insider-female-cinematographers-oscar-nominations">second woman ever</a> to be nominated for best cinematography in the 94-year history of the Oscars, for her work on Power of the Dog. </p>
<p>Now, the work of Aussie director of photography Mandy Walker is being seen by audiences around the globe on Baz Luhrmann’s film Elvis, grossing more than <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3704428/">US$210 million</a> (A$304 million) at the worldwide box office. </p>
<p>The director of photography or cinematographer is responsible for the overall look of a film. This key creative leadership role demands advanced artistic and technical expertise. Our new report, <a href="https://cinematographer.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/A-Wider-Lens-report-final.pdf">A Wider Lens: Australian camera workforce development and diversity</a>, looks behind the red carpet glitz to analyse the workforce, the work model and the work culture of Australian film and television camera departments. </p>
<p>We have found a workplace lacking in diversity and a toxic work culture rife with discrimination, stress and precarious employment.</p>
<p>Our findings suggest Australian cinematographers are succeeding on the international stage in spite of – rather than because of – labour markets and working conditions in the Australian film and television production industry. </p>
<h2>A serious lack of diversity</h2>
<p>Commissioned by the <a href="https://cinematographer.org.au/">Australian Cinematographers Society</a>, the report draws from Screen Australia production data and on 640 complete responses to a survey of Australian film and television camera professionals conducted in early 2021. </p>
<p>In line with a growing body of research in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1329878X19892772">Australia</a> and <a href="https://rm.coe.int/female-professionals-in-european-film-production-december-2021/1680a4d30a#:%7E:text=Women%20accounted%20for%2023%25%20of,23%25%20of%20European%20feature%20films.">internationally</a> on diversity in the film and television production industry, our study finds that gender inequality is a defining feature of work and labour markets in the camera department. </p>
<p>The Australian film and television camera workforce is 80% men, 18% women and 2% trans/gender diverse. It is an ageing workforce, with nearly 70% of camera professionals over the age of 35. It is also largely white, with 63% identifying as Anglo-Celtic. Only 2% of the survey respondents identified as Indigenous, and only 13% as non-European. </p>
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<p>The workforce is 85% heterosexual, and 8% identify as a person with a disability. </p>
<p>This data snapshot must be understood in relation to the quantity and quality of work for film and television camera professionals – and indeed in the film and television production industry more generally.</p>
<h2>A stressful environment</h2>
<p>Work as a camera professional is high-performance, requiring a highly specialised, technical skill set and intense concentration for extended periods of time. </p>
<p>Job stress is compounded by the fact that film crews commonly work in unusual, and at times dangerous, locations. </p>
<p>The very real dangers that camera professionals face in doing their jobs is demonstrated by the tragic deaths of director of photography <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-30/alec-baldwin-halyna-hutchins-shooting-what-happened/100581016">Halyna Hutchins</a> on the set of Rust in 2021, and of camera assistant <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/midnight-rider-accident-sarah-jones-death-gregg-allman-685976/">Sarah Jones</a> on the set of Midnight Rider in 2014. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-are-filmmakers-who-work-with-firearms-this-is-what-is-important-in-on-set-safety-170455">We are filmmakers who work with firearms. This is what is important in on-set safety</a>
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<p>Work stress is compounded by an employment model that is the definition of precarity. </p>
<p>Employment and income insecurity are driven by short-term freelance contracts that can be for as little as one day. Employment is accessed through highly exclusionary, informal hiring networks. </p>
<p>Half our survey respondents report directly experiencing discrimination in the hiring process, with gender, age and racial discrimination being the most frequently encountered.</p>
<p>When work is secured, working patterns are highly erratic, with irregular, frequently excessive and antisocial hours. </p>
<p>This work model produces severe consequences for workforce development and wellbeing. From our survey respondents, 60% of all camera professionals – and 70% of women – reported the work model actively prevents work-life balance. </p>
<p>Precarity and health stressors are even further exacerbated by what can only be described as a toxic industry work culture. Discrimination and harassment at work is commonly experienced. </p>
<p>Half of all non-European and Indigenous respondents report experiencing racism at work. Sexism at work has been experienced by 75% of trans and gender diverse respondents, and 89% of women. Sexual harassment is routine for women.</p>
<p>Those in positions of power and influence are often the perpetrators of discrimination, harassment and bullying. Unsurprisingly, reporting is a key challenge facing the industry. </p>
<p>Freelancers work in a reputation economy. There is widespread fear that reporting incidents of bullying, discrimination and harassment will jeopardise both future job prospects and career longevity in the camera department.</p>
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<h2>A workforce-wide problem</h2>
<p>The timing is good for action. Many of the key policy and industrial issues fall across Tony Burke’s dual portfolios as Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and Minister for the Arts. </p>
<p>These issues aren’t unique to film sets. Many of the issues raised by the report speak to key issues in <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/respectwork-sexual-harassment-national-inquiry-report-2020">Australian work places</a> more generally. </p>
<p>The upcoming <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/employment-whitepaper/jobs-summit">Jobs + Skills Summit</a> offers an opportunity to advance the core issues raised here as emblematic of the types of workforce development and diversity issues cultivated by high-skill, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_696146/lang--en/index.htm">low-quality</a> and insecure work.</p>
<p>A lack of diversity in camera departments will not be solved by simply adding different people to the existing toxic system. </p>
<p>An industry-wide commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion must first focus not on the excluded, but those doing the excluding.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tony-burkes-double-ministry-of-arts-and-industrial-relations-could-be-just-what-the-arts-sector-needs-183623">Tony Burke's double ministry of arts and industrial relations could be just what the arts sector needs</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187080/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research project was funded by the Australian Cinematographers Society.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine Ferrer and Vejune Zemaityte do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Our new research casts a harsh light on the realities of working in film and television.
Amanda Coles, Senior Lecturer, Employment Relations, Department of Management, Deakin University, Deakin University
Justine Ferrer, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management, Deakin University
Vejune Zemaityte, Senior Research Fellow in Cultural Data Analytics, Tallinn University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/163824
2021-07-03T10:53:17Z
2021-07-03T10:53:17Z
Michael Sheen is right – there is a class crisis in the arts
<p>The actor Michael Sheen recently complained about the lack of opportunities in film and journalism for working-class people. Writing in the <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music-theatre/2021/06/michael-sheen-why-creative-industries-need-do-more-offer-others">New Statesman</a>, Sheen said that the path he had taken into the film industry – as a working-class young man from South Wales – has all but disappeared. But Sheen isn’t just complaining, he is doing something about it. </p>
<p>He’s started a creative arts scheme for people from working-class and under-represented communities. Sadly, he is right to be concerned. The latest Office for <a href="https://www.culturehive.co.uk/CVIresources/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-jobs-in-the-cultural-sector-part-2/?owner=CH">National Statistics Labour Force Survey data</a>, collected in the summer of 2020, suggests an ongoing class crisis in the arts. The screen industries, with which Sheen is closely associated, key roles are dominated by the middle classes. For producers and directors, 61% were middle class. In screen occupations, only 25% of the workforce is working class – the lowest proportion since this data was first collected in 2014. </p>
<p>Our research found that a complex blend of social inequalities, labour market failures, and outright discrimination are making these jobs so exclusive and keeping talented working-class people from making it.</p>
<h2>Early obstacles</h2>
<p>We know that low pay and work insecurity, the costs of education, and the importance of networks and nepotism, all influence who makes it in Britain’s screen sector. Yet there are more subtle barriers stopping working-class success. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.pec.ac.uk/research-reports/screened-out-tackling-class-inequality-in-the-uks-screen-industries">research</a> for The Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, and our recent book <a href="https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526144164/">Culture is Bad for You</a>, we found class inequality starts early in the life of our cultural workers. </p>
<p>Access to culture, both in school and extracurricular, was important in shaping whether a job in the screen sector would be plausible as a career. Unequal access to culture in childhood also had important implications later in life. Not having the “correct” cultural references shaped working-class origin workers’ sense of confidence in the workplace. It was also part of the feeling that they were not at home in the middle-class environment of the film set, the TV studio, or the office where productions are commissioned. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1410183236752269313"}"></div></p>
<p>While issues of unpaid work and internships have seen lots of <a href="https://www.creativetoolkit.org.uk/your-rights/nmw">policy</a>, screen sector, and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1360780419895291">academic</a> attention, these unwritten cultural rules have not. One painful, example of this came in our interviewees’ discussions about discrimination as a result of their accents. </p>
<p>They told us their accents would be mocked and joked about in ways that went far beyond “playful banter”. Discrimination based on accent connects directly to well-known issues of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gwao.12318">sexism</a> and <a href="https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/jbctv.2020.0506">racism</a> in the screen industry. The markers of social class, such as someone’s accent, aggravate the injuries felt by women, people of colour and disabled people, as they struggle to get in and get on in the industry. </p>
<h2>Social barriers</h2>
<p>Even if the financial and social network barriers to success were solved, these cultural barriers would still exist. Consciously or not, those who are well connected via school and university, and are middle-class starting points, may <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0038038520982225">find new ways</a> to exclude those who make it into places that they dominate. This is not to say that more senior people working in cultural jobs actively seek to reinforce these inequalities, but what they say is often <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1367549419886020">at odds</a> with their practice.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://www.culturehive.co.uk/CVIresources/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-jobs-in-the-creative-and-cultural-sectors/?owner=CH">data</a> from the Centre for Cultural Value’s impact of COVID on the cultural sector project suggests 2020 saw huge numbers of job losses and reduced working hours in key parts of the cultural industries. While film and TV seem to be recovering from restrictions on working hours as a result of the first lockdown, music, performing and visual arts occupations saw the numbers of workers reduce by 55,000. The loss of a third of the workforce, the huge uncertainty about reopening and recovery, means the class crisis is only likely to get worse.</p>
<p>There is significant discussion of social mobility in relation to the government’s current “levelling up” <a href="https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/there-can-be-no-true-levelling-up-if-social-mobility-cold-spots-endure">agenda</a>. This sits alongside changes in the media industry, with the BBC’s new <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/24/bbc-set-targets-workforce-based-class-status/">focus</a> on social mobility and Channel 4 moving to <a href="https://www.channel4.com/press/news/channel-4-opens-business-leeds">Leeds</a>. These are starting points to address this class problem. The stories of discrimination will continue until there is a change in the culture of our cultural industries that are still comfortable excluding people because they are different from the dominant, middle-class norm.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163824/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dave O'Brien receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Taylor receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>
Research has found that the arts industries are lacking working-class representation and that the barriers to entry start early in life
Dave O'Brien, Professor of Cultural and Creative Industries, University of Sheffield
Mark Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Methods, University of Sheffield
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/162861
2021-06-28T03:07:35Z
2021-06-28T03:07:35Z
International franchises love filming in ‘Aussiewood’ — but the local industry is booming too
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408327/original/file-20210625-13-1iwc9c0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C3976%2C2413&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Dry/Roadshow Films</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian screen industry is booming. </p>
<p>Russell Crowe recently announced his support for a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/jun/16/russell-crowe-backs-400m-film-studio-for-coffs-harbour-pacific-bay-resort-studios-and-village">A$438 million film studio</a> — complete with accommodation — in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. </p>
<p>In the lead up to the state election, the Western Australian government announced their own <a href="https://www.if.com.au/wa-government-promises-studio-and-20-million-production-attraction-fund/">$100 million film studio</a> to be located in Fremantle. </p>
<p>This would be the first film studio in the state, and is intended to compete for Hollywood productions with existing major studios in Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast. </p>
<p>These existing studios have all been fully booked for some time, and film production in Australia shows no sign of slowing down. With effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic and government production incentives, Australian studios are an attractive location. </p>
<p>Indeed, global juggernaut Marvel Studios has relocated its productions to Sydney for the “<a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/marvel-movies-set-to-be-filmed-in-sydney-for-the-foreseeable-future/news-story/7c2f76c57ca3cc109185a2a3892cfe87">foreseeable future</a>”.</p>
<p>It may seem the current boom is led by the strong growth of “Aussiewood”, or locally-filmed international productions. But more than 80% of the productions currently being made in Australia are Australian.</p>
<h2>The rise of Australian cinema</h2>
<p>Arts policy expert Jo Caust <a href="https://theconversation.com/400-million-in-government-funding-for-hollywood-but-only-scraps-for-australian-film-142979">has cautioned</a> that, while the government’s $400 million production incentive is predicted to attract billions in foreign expenditure and create thousands of jobs, it is a fund for foreign filmmakers, not for Australian films. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/400-million-in-government-funding-for-hollywood-but-only-scraps-for-australian-film-142979">$400 million in government funding for Hollywood, but only scraps for Australian film</a>
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<p>There are currently <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/upcoming-productions/">more than 90</a> screen projects in pre-production, production or post-production in Australia. </p>
<p>These include international television productions, like Amazon’s Nine Perfect Strangers and blockbuster films like Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder. But more than 80% of current productions are Australian: films where the intellectual property is owned, or jointly owned, and controlled by an Australian production company.</p>
<p>And those Australian productions are increasingly focused on quirky, popular films, telling local stories in new ways.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A trailer for 2020 Australian sci-fi film, Occupation Rainfall.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Historically, Australian cinema was dominated by movies emphasising the representation of our cultural identity: Australia’s stories, history, characters and the unique landscape. </p>
<p>Government-funded Australian films were typically informed by a <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/52046/">national identity agenda</a>, which emphasised cultural prestige and middle-class respectability over commercialism or pure entertainment. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="My Brilliant Career screenshot" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408325/original/file-20210625-26-mbwyc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Australian New Wave films, like My Brilliant Career, were interested in representation of cultural identity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IMDB</span></span>
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<p>The films of the 1970s and 1980s’ “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41958833">New Wave</a>” are some of our most iconic. Think Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), My Brilliant Career (1979) and Breaker Morant (1980). </p>
<p>During this period, popular genres were often dismissed by the local industry and screen funders. Action, gangster films, fantasy, horror and science-fiction films were viewed as “<a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/202956/">too American</a>”. </p>
<p>In the 1990s, Australian cinema was dominated by art films, dramas and comedies. Many of these films followed quirky characters — think Muriel’s Wedding (1994) or Shine (1996) — that were difficult to compare to US films of the same period.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Muriel's Wedding screenshot" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408326/original/file-20210625-27-ytcmzy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian films of the 1990s, like Muriel’s Wedding, were unlike anything coming out of Hollywood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IMDB</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These trends of both the New Wave and the 1990s reflected attempts by government funding agencies to prioritise “Australian” content in a global and national market dominated by Hollywood. </p>
<p>But since the 2008 founding of Screen Australia and its explicit remit to <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/last-chance-to-see-20091129-ge87fg.html">prioritise audiences and commercial filmmaking</a>, we are seeing a much <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/production-trends/feature-production/australian-feature-films/genres-produced">broader range</a> of films being made.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/netflix-is-opening-its-first-australian-hq-what-does-this-mean-for-the-local-screen-industry-118903">Netflix is opening its first Australian HQ. What does this mean for the local screen industry?</a>
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<p>In the last decade, we have seen action films like Occupation Rainfall (2020), musicals like The Sapphires (2012), Westerns like Mystery Road (2013), horror films like The Babadook (2014) and sci-fi films like I Am Mother (2019).</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N5BKctcZxrM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>And audiences are also responding to these popular genre films: crime drama The Dry (2021) made <a href="https://www.flicks.com.au/news/record-breaking-australian-film-the-dry-reaches-a-fantastic-20-million-at-the-box-office/">over $20 million</a> at the local box-office.</p>
<p>There are no signs that demand for Australian films is slowing down: the Mad Max prequel, Furiosa, is “<a href="https://www.create.nsw.gov.au/news-and-publications/news/mad-max-prequel-furiosa-to-be-filmed-in-nsw-2/">expected to become the biggest film ever to be made in Australia</a>”, with filming scheduled to begin next year. </p>
<h2>Traversing the pandemic</h2>
<p>The boom in both international and local productions, however, creates competition for scarce resources.</p>
<p>Large film productions typically need studio space, but the major studios have been solidly booked for some time. The new proposals in Coffs Harbour and Fremantle will go some way to remedy these issues, but there are associated issues, such as the limited pool of film crews for the increasing number of productions.</p>
<p>It is also a tricky time for the industry to forward plan.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7X7KkP68RZE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>While Australia could be expected to maintain its pull as an attractive production destination because of world-class facilities, locations and competitive financial incentives, the pandemic-advantage is dissipating. </p>
<p>After being an early leader in COVID management, Australia’s vaccine rollout now lags woefully behind the United States. How long will Hollywood studios continue to privilege Australia? </p>
<p>An increasing focus on popular films also raises potential issues for the local industry. Many of these films require substantial special effects and large crews, so remain considerably more expensive to produce. </p>
<p>In order to continue this boom time, Australian film makers must be supported to sustain production and supported in accessing larger international markets, to justify these additional expenses. </p>
<p>These are arguably good problems to have, but they are ones we’ll need to address if the current upswings in both Aussiewood and Australian popular films are to continue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162861/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark David Ryan has in the past received Australian Research Council funding to research Australian screen media and Australian Film Institute Research Collection funding to research Australian horror movies in 2018. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelly McWilliam has received past Australian Research Council funding to research screen media.</span></em></p>
Studios like Marvel may be grabbing the headlines — but it is also an exciting time for Australian stories on screen.
Mark David Ryan, Associate Professor Film, Screen, Animation, Queensland University of Technology
Kelly McWilliam, Associate Professor of Communication and Media, University of Southern Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160649
2021-05-17T15:47:02Z
2021-05-17T15:47:02Z
South Africa sets out to protect cast and crew involved in nudity and sex scenes
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400344/original/file-20210512-15-18wwdr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Roketclips Inc/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>A new set of guidelines for handling intimate scenes in film and television shoots was recently released in South Africa. Similar to those adopted in other countries, the <a href="https://intimacysouthafrica.org.za/_files/200000019-3524035243/Protocols%20for%20Intimate%20Content%20in%20TV,%20Film%20and%20Associated%20Media%20South%20Africa%20V3.pdf">protocols</a> were compiled in consultation with the country’s major bodies for industry workers and producers. They provide guidance on how to make cast and crew safe, especially from sexual harassment and assault. Performer and academic Fiona Ramsay asked <a href="https://www.ssintimacycoordinators.com/kate-lush/">Kate Lush</a>, a co-creator of the new protocols, why they matter.</em></p>
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<h2>Why are the protocols needed?</h2>
<p>Historically, actors and students actors were groomed to believe that if they didn’t say yes to whatever the director or lecturer asked, someone else would; this was a side to the industry they’d just have to accept. Actors were rarely asked to interrogate their personal boundaries or comfort levels. As a result sexual harassment, bullying and coercion were rife in all areas of the entertainment industry and throughout academic institutions.</p>
<p>When I talk to people about what my role as an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/oct/06/safe-sex-on-screen-intimacy-coordinators">intimacy coordinator</a> actually involves, the first question is usually, ‘What did people do before?’. It seems astonishing to think that there was no clear methodology attached to scenes that had intimate content. Directors often didn’t know how to talk about or direct these scenes. Actors were repeatedly told to just work it out for themselves or improvise. Often they were made to rehearse and perform kisses, simulated sex and nudity in front of entire casts and crews. Needless to say, this often created scenes that didn’t serve the story or left actors feeling embarrassed, ashamed or violated.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sexual-misconduct-in-film-and-tv-how-intimacy-coordination-can-help-to-address-the-historic-issue-160489">Sexual misconduct in film and TV: how intimacy coordination can help to address the historic issue</a>
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<p>So, around the world, various production companies and unions have adopted similar guidelines. This was spurred by the revelations of sexual abuse by Hollywood producers that led to the <a href="https://metoomvmt.org">#MeToo</a> movement.</p>
<h2>What do the protocols propose?</h2>
<p>Since the beginning of 2020, the South African film industry has been in conversation with <a href="https://www.intimacysouthafrica.org.za">Intimacy Practitioners South Africa</a> to create protocols that outline what best practice looks like. (Intimacy Practitioners SA follows similar organisations in the US and UK. It was set up to advocate for and support <a href="https://theconversation.com/sexual-misconduct-in-film-and-tv-how-intimacy-coordination-can-help-to-address-the-historic-issue-160489">intimacy coordinators</a> and cast and crew working on intimate scenes on sets in South Africa.)</p>
<p>By following the protocols, producers and directors are encouraged to look at intimate content in a professional way. The protocols outline what considerations need to be put in place from pre-production, during production and into post-production. They talk about consent and agreements that must be put in place. About the right environment to hold auditions and what is the safest way to navigate scenes with intimacy, kissing, nudity and simulated sex. </p>
<p>They’re also framed with an anti-sexual harassment ethos that should be embedded into the culture of each set and a link to a code of good practice. </p>
<p>Actors, for example, are required always to work with a third person, to discuss the story and character arcs as a way of keeping the personal and professional in perspective. Actors are encouraged to have autonomy over their bodies. Equally they provide guidelines that encourage creativity and resourcefulness; they invite discussion and collaboration. </p>
<p>The protocols also highlight the scenes that present significant risk to the cast and encourage the use of an intimacy coordinator. This person would work with the directors, showrunners, producers and writers to facilitate their vision, while communicating the comfort levels and personal boundaries of the actors. </p>
<h2>Is #MeToo part of the historical impetus?</h2>
<p>The #MeToo movement was initiated in 2006 by the sexual harassment survivor and activist Tarana Burke. It was during the same year that the movement director Tonia Sena, co-founder of Intimacy Directors International (now <a href="https://www.idcprofessionals.com">Intimacy Directors and Coordinators</a>), wrote her Master of Fine Arts in theatre pedagogy <a href="https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2070&context=etd">thesis</a>, <em>Intimate Encounters; Staging Intimacy and Sensuality</em>. It was in response to the work she was undertaking while assisting on the choreography of intimate content in student dance productions. </p>
<p>But it wasn’t until #MeToo in 2017 that producers began to <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/lets-talk-about-simulated-sex-intimacy-coordinators-two-years-on-4101799/">realise</a> that they needed to do something proactive to keep their actors safe and to reduce the risk of litigation and bad press. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The South African campaign #ThatsNotOK released videos based on true stories.</span></figcaption>
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<p>It was during 2017/18 that the intimacy coordinators Alicia Rodis (US) and Ita O'Brien (UK) were invited on to set, employed specifically as intimacy coordinators, for the HBO show <em>The Deuce</em> and the Netflix show <em>Sex Education</em>. </p>
<p>Here, in South Africa, also in 2017, the organisation <a href="http://www.swiftsa.org.za">Sisters Working in Film and Television</a> conducted and published a <a href="http://www.swiftsa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/SWIFT_ReportBook_007FIN_singlepage-1.pdf">survey</a> on sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault and violence in the South African film and TV industry. They followed this by creating the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Swift+%23ThatsNotOk">#ThatsNotOK</a> campaign. </p>
<h2>The protocols can’t be policed, though?</h2>
<p>By working with the whole industry we’re hoping that their use will be organic. There is not a single voice instructing their use, there are many voices encouraging their use. </p>
<h2>Some might argue this muzzles creative work</h2>
<p>We have to assume that everyone always wants to do their best work. We have to also assume that producers want sets that are productive and respectful environments in which to work. Using the protocols, especially when in conjunction with an intimacy coordinator, brings professionalism and clarity to a process that has been historically muddy. </p>
<p>The guidelines never look to censor the work of any production, but to ask questions of the directors and the actors as to the story they’re trying to tell in each intimate moment. They support story explorations and can offer creative solutions. Challenging stories do need to be told, but when pushing the envelope of what has been, or is deemed, to be acceptable, film makers need to take responsibility for their productions and the people working on them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160649/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona Ramsay does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Spurred by the impetus of the #MeToo movement, South Africa’s is the latest film and TV industry to introduce intimacy protocols to guide how intimate scenes are conceived and executed.
Fiona Ramsay, Head of Department of Theatre and Performance and PhD candidate, University of the Witwatersrand
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/159255
2021-05-02T07:49:34Z
2021-05-02T07:49:34Z
South Africa’s romcom revolution and how it reimagines Joburg
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397868/original/file-20210429-13-1a9om3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Detail from a poster for the romantic comedy Happiness is a Four-Letter Word.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> © Junaid Ahmed/Happiness is a Four-Letter Word</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Netflix went <a href="https://www.news24.com/fin24/tech/news/breaking-netflix-goes-live-in-south-africa-20160106">live</a> in South Africa on 6 January 2016. The arrival of the subscription-based content streaming service was a game changer for the country’s film and television industry, as it had been for other countries.</p>
<p>At about the same time – in 2015 and 2016 – there was another turning point for South Africa’s film industry: the arrival of a new, commercially successful genre, the black romantic comedy. </p>
<p>For the first time, the country’s black filmmakers were able to make an impact at the box office – and go on to licence their films to streaming platforms.</p>
<p>In South Africa, Netflix signalled the turn to streaming for watching films and television series. Despite a recent slowing of subscriber growth, Netflix has over <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/20/netflix-q1-2021/">200 million</a> paid subscribers worldwide. These numbers – and the way streaming services are reshaping content production, distribution and consumption – represent the most radical change in the film industry in recent years. </p>
<p>On the African continent, this expansion has had to face the challenges of lack of affordability, uneven connectivity and the cost of data. These keep Netflix beyond the reach of the majority of the population. According to <a href="https://business.inquirer.net/309352/netflix-doubles-down-on-efforts-to-tap-african-market">data</a>, in 2020 Netflix still had only 1.4 million subscribers across the continent. Still, in a growing number of African countries, content acquisition and production for online streaming is a <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/netflix-ups-the-ante-in-africa-11608744867416.html">fast growing</a> industry. </p>
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<p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/0dsaIxssh1iJryuh18vjvg?si=lvBzkeC9QgGz003KkiNx2A&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A14O3EsEGWQ4mK3XpKzsncP&t=1520"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403157/original/file-20210527-17-uj70mp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=1" alt="Promotional image for podcast" width="100%"></a>
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<em>Find other ways to listen to <a href="https://theconversation.com/growing-human-embryos-in-the-lab-and-why-scientists-just-tweaked-the-rules-podcast-161611">The Conversation Weekly podcast</a> here.</em></p>
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<p>And it’s not just about Netflix. South Africa-based Multichoice – owner of digital satellite television service DStv and online subscription video on demand service Showmax – has put up an effective fight for this market. Before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, Multichoice was planning to produce 52 local movies and 29 dramas in 2020. </p>
<p>The company claimed that DStv and Showmax doubled South African users between 2018 and 2019 and are now locally <a href="https://www.businessinsider.co.za/multichoice-netflix-showmax-dstv-dtsv-now-local-movies-streaming-service-naspers-2019-6">bigger</a> than Netflix – though it did not disclose the exact numbers. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The 2015 romcom Tell Me Sweet Something was a breakthrough.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The African romcom seems a perfect fit for the streaming market. Versions of it are still being produced and made accessible via streaming platforms today. South African romcoms <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5702884/"><em>Mrs Right Guy</em></a> (2016), <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5827360/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1"><em>Catching Feelings</em></a> (2017) and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11010144/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1"><em>Seriously Single</em></a> (2020) are currently available on Netflix. They rub shoulders with a selection of Nollywood takes on the genre, including hits like <em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5978822/">The Wedding Party</a></em> (2016). </p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02533952.2021.1899734">recent article</a> on this genre explores what some of these popular films reveal about urban middle and upper-class lifestyles and aspirations. It also considers how they reimagine Johannesburg, the city where most black South African romcoms are set. </p>
<h2>The romcom revolution</h2>
<p>In 2016, the highest grossing local film was Jaco Smit’s Afrikaans-language romantic drama, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4768926/"><em>Vir Altyd</em></a> (Forever), which made over R15 million (over a million USD) at local theatres. It was followed by Thabang Moleya’s Johannesburg northern suburbs’ bling-saturated romcom <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5174974/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1"><em>Happiness Is a Four-Letter Word</em></a>. This made an impressive <a href="https://www.nfvf.co.za/home/22/files/2017%20files/Box%20office%20report%202016%20reviewed%202.pdf">R13.2 million</a> in a box office previously dominated by Afrikaans films and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0776856/">Leon Schuster’s slapstick</a> comedies. In fourth place was Adze Ugah’s <em>Mrs Right Guy</em>, which took in over R4 million by rehearsing one of the genre’s standard plots.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Happiness is a Four-Letter Word passed R13 million at the South African box office in 2016.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The year before, Akin Omotoso had directed <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4573706/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1"><em>Tell Me Sweet Something</em></a>, a romantic comedy set in Johannesburg’s downtown hipster hangout <a href="https://mabonengprecinct.com">Maboneng</a>. It was one of the few black South African films since 1994 to <a href="https://www.nfvf.co.za/home/22/files/2016%20Files%20Folders%20etc/South%20Africa%20Box%20Office%20Report_Final%202015.pdf">gross</a> almost R3 million. South African audiences, commentators concluded, had had enough of highbrow, socially engaged films and were turning to genre flicks. In the words of journalist Lindiwe Sithole, “It seems that South Africans are leaning towards the lighter offerings.”</p>
<p>To understand their appeal, it is worth asking what these films say about the time and place where they are set.</p>
<h2>The end of the rainbow</h2>
<p>South Africa’s black romcoms break with the tales of racial reconciliation and the rainbow intimacies of a prior generation of English-language romantic comedies. Think of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1213929/"><em>White Wedding</em></a> (2009), where Elvis and Ayanda’s interracial wedding in Gugulethu is joined by right wing Afrikaners ready to embrace racial diversity. Or <em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1683879/">I Now Pronounce You Black and White</a></em> (2010), where a groom and bride transcend the conflict between their Jewish and Zulu parents – or <em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2181941/">Fanie Fourie’s Lobola</a></em> (2013) where a couple must also overcome their families’ cultural differences.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Most black South African romcoms, like Catching Feelings, are set in Johannesburg.</span></figcaption>
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<p>By contrast, <em>Tell Me Sweet Something</em>, <em>Mrs Right Guy</em> and <em>Happiness Is a Four-Letter Word</em> are conspicuously “black” films. In contrast to the previous generation of English-language romcoms, they all have black directors (a sign that the South African film industry is slowly transforming). </p>
<p>Set in Johannesburg’s middle and upper-class cityscapes, they portray mostly young, hip, affluent, good-looking, heterosexual black characters falling in love with each other – with the occasional split and disappointment to add spice to the quest for happiness, real passion and true love.</p>
<h2>Joburg as glamorous global city</h2>
<p>The emergence and mainstreaming of the black South African romcom is also part of a broader trend in the cinema of the global south, where the appropriation of western commercial genres is accompanied by images of the “global city”.</p>
<p><em>Tell Me Sweet Something</em>, <em>Mrs Right Guy</em> and <em>Happiness Is a Four-Letter Word</em> reimagine Johannesburg by <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02533952.2021.1899734">aligning it</a> with an imagery of global urbanism that is associated with visual and narrative repertoires of contemporary African cinemas, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-nollywood-to-new-nollywood-the-story-of-nigerias-runaway-success-47959">New Nollywood</a> comedies in Nigeria. This challenges discourses and stereotypes of “African backwardness” and is often captured in aerial or high angle shots of skylines made up of tall buildings, or through images of glossy, gentrified and glitzy urban landscapes. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The 2016 romcom Mrs Right Guy came fourth at the South African box office.</span></figcaption>
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<p>But there is more to this, I argue. By representing a globalised version of Johannesburg, these films are throwing up their own contradictions. They cash in on the aesthetic of an African global city even as they unavoidably continue to remind us of the city’s social conflicts and socioeconomic inequalities. They do this in their storylines as well as their images.</p>
<p>All three films repeatedly reference a more authentic version of the city as an object of love and desire. This is evoked not only through the high angle shots of some of Johannesburg’s most densely populated urban areas, but also through images of some of its newly gentrified downtown neighbourhoods and via their characters’ desire for loving, inhabiting and being part of “the city”.</p>
<p>These films are not simply a celebration of consumerist lifestyles. They also represent the tensions and dislocations that accompany the black majority’s occupation of affluent urban spaces and its embrace of the consumptive practices from which it had so long been excluded. It is no surprise they have turned out to be popular, boosted by the demand for streamed content.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159255/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pier Paolo Frassinelli receives funding from University of Johannesburg University Research Council for a project on African Cinemas.</span></em></p>
The rise of the black romantic comedy in South Africa dovetailed perfectly with the advent of streaming services - creating a box office phenomenon.
Pier Paolo Frassinelli, Professor, Communication and Media Studies, University of Johannesburg
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160035
2021-04-29T14:29:35Z
2021-04-29T14:29:35Z
An Oscar for My Octopus Teacher is a boost for South African film. But …
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397835/original/file-20210429-13-19h4vtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tom Foster/Netflix</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Best Documentary Feature <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/2021-04-26-watch-the-emotional-moment-sas-my-octopus-teacher-wins-an-oscar/">gong</a> for <em>My Octopus Teacher</em> at this year’s Academy Awards has been seen by many critics as the type of underdog story Oscar <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/live/2021/apr/25/oscars-2021-the-dresses-the-winners-the-weird-semi-masked-ceremony-in-a-train-station-live?page=with:block-60861a488f08505668d9b508">loves</a>. The <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12888462/">film</a>, directed by Pippa Erlich and James Reed, was – like the other South African-themed documentary to wow the Oscars, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125608/"><em>Searching for Sugarman</em></a> – the feel-good choice. </p>
<p>The story of a man and his relationship with an octopus in the cold, cold water off Cape Town’s peninsula triumphed over a number of <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/feature/oscars-2021-best-documentary-predictions-1234574977/">heavy hitters</a>. These included an exposé of hospital deaths caused by corruption in the Romanian government (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/nov/19/collective-review-alexander-nanau-catalin-tolontan"><em>Collective</em></a>) and the Obama-produced story of the battle for disability rights in the US (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/movies/crip-camp-review.html"><em>Crip Camp</em></a>).</p>
<p>So what carried the underdog to victory? And what does this mean for film-making in South Africa? Will this sensational viral hit spawn “<a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/reviews/my-octopus-teacher-review-an-eight-legged-freak-becomes-a-friend-in-netflixs-gorgeous-hit-nature-doc-1234874255/">a trail of comparable works in its wake</a>?”</p>
<p>The answer to why it won lies in a series of interconnected factors: the <a href="https://variety.com/2021/awards/news/netflix-oscars-most-wins-1234959949/">power of Netflix</a>; the zeitgeist of the global COVID-19 lockdown; the Academy’s idiosyncratic nature when it comes to voting; and the power of a well-made film with a simple and life-affirming story.</p>
<p>The answer to what impact it will have is more complicated: we think it could lead to wonderfully positive outcomes. But only if marginalised South Africans have agency and power in front of and behind the cameras.</p>
<h2>A tide of ‘the feels’</h2>
<p><em>My Octopus Teacher</em> follows documentary <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0287741/">film-maker</a> <a href="https://time.com/5909291/my-octopus-teacher-craig-foster-interview/">Craig Foster</a> as he dives in the ocean near his home on the southern shores of the Cape Peninsula to observe, document, touch and be touched by a common octopus (<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/tantalising-tentacles-octopus-could-be-the-next-big-thing-in-aquaculture-30743">Octopus vulgaris</a></em>). Foster is on a sabbatical from documentary film-making after suffering from burnout on his previous production. While freediving he “meets” an octopus, and returns to her every day, documenting most of her life cycle, which spans about a year. He forms a strong emotional attachment to her, and relates the healing effect it has on him.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.alternateending.com/2021/04/my-octopus-teacher-2020.html">critical viewer</a> can object to the <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2015/04/monkey-kingdom-and-how-nature-and-wildlife-documentaries-use-anthropomorphism-to-create-empathy-and-shape-stories.html">anthropomorphising</a> of the octopus – the applying of human attributes to an animal. And for following the well-trodden path of privileged white males documenting and representing the exotic other. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Even the surliest of critics were touched by the story of man and octopus.</span></figcaption>
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<p>But as it shot up the rankings on Netflix, it became clear that these flaws were not an obstacle to millions of viewers around the world who embraced the film wholeheartedly. Indeed, while the film’s unabashed sentimentalism and Foster’s somewhat self-indulgent narration invited both <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwS4e1P1yF4">parody</a> and <a href="https://news.avclub.com/today-in-angry-people-on-twitter-my-octopus-teacher-an-1845154230">critique</a>, even the surliest of critics was <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_octopus_teacher">carried away</a> on a tide of “the feels”.</p>
<h2>Secrets of success</h2>
<p>Key to the film’s success has been its word-of-mouth emergence during lockdown in 2020. It was the very definition of a viral sensation, the perfect film for Netflix’s audience, which spiked sharply because of COVID-19 restrictions in many countries.</p>
<p>The film’s introspective and understated approach is also an important factor. Foster’s short walk to the cold-water <a href="https://seachangeproject.com/great-african-seaforest/">kelp forests</a> is the antithesis of <em><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mywy">Planet Earth</a></em>’s globe-trotting aesthetic, where each exotic, remote location reveals the natural world at its most dramatic and spectacular. <em>My Octopus Teacher</em> shows viewers that meaningful engagements with the natural world can happen right outside your door. </p>
<p>And, as the title proclaims, you don’t have to be an expert to gain something wonderful from the flora and fauna that you see every day, if you look a little closer.</p>
<p>In terms of the Oscar documentary outcome this year, there was a perfect meeting point of Netflix’s penchant for producing cinematic and sensational documentaries, pandemic audiences’ appetite for small, solitary stories of individuals overcoming obstacles, and the Academy’s preference for entertaining, escapist documentaries. Think no further than previous winners <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/30/twenty-feet-from-stardom-review-entertaining"><em>20 Feet from Stardom</em></a>, <em><a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/searching-for-sugar-man-2012">Searching for Sugarman</a></em> or <em><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/dec/13/free-solo-review-alex-honnold-el-capitan-yosemite">Free Solo</a></em>.</p>
<h2>What it means for the industry</h2>
<p>There is an argument to be made that the documentary’s win is important for film in South Africa because it has focused attention on a local story and the quality of local productions. It demonstrates that it’s possible – working from home with a relatively low budget and a small crew – to reach a massive global audience from the tip of Africa and win one of the most influential awards in the film world. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397834/original/file-20210429-20-1gabllf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An overhead image of a blue ocean, seaweed forming tufts of forest under the water; a man swims on the surface of the water." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397834/original/file-20210429-20-1gabllf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397834/original/file-20210429-20-1gabllf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397834/original/file-20210429-20-1gabllf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397834/original/file-20210429-20-1gabllf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397834/original/file-20210429-20-1gabllf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397834/original/file-20210429-20-1gabllf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397834/original/file-20210429-20-1gabllf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A drone shot of Craig Foster swimming above the kelp forest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tom Foster/Netflix</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But there’s also a counter point to this: that the film was only possible because Foster is a well-established and well-resourced film-maker living on a particularly scenic part of the South African coast. </p>
<p>To say that <em>My Octopus Teacher</em> is a model for all film-makers in South Africa would ignore the situation of emerging film-makers living in very different circumstances. This includes, for example, black female film-makers living far from the film-making centres in South Africa. They might have brilliant stories to tell and amazing access to the people and places involved. But they are unlikely to have access to a digital cinema camera. Or the time to devote exclusively to a project of this kind.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, there are likely to be positive spinoffs from the win. For one, streaming platforms’ interest in local documentary is increasing. </p>
<p>And interest from international platforms and distributors in African film will undoubtedly spike in the coming months. </p>
<p>The hope is that this leads to more international co-production treaties being signed. There are <a href="https://www.nfvf.co.za/home/index.php?ipkContentID=43">currently</a> only eight with South Africa – with three more in the works – that allow two production companies to claim tax rebates for work done in their respective home countries, making international co-productions more desirable and profitable for both parties. </p>
<p>And the benefits could extend to under-resourced and emerging film-makers, for whom an international co-producer could foot the bill for that expensive camera, and their time.</p>
<h2>What needs to happen</h2>
<p>There are dangers too.</p>
<p>There’s a risk that an increased international desire to see South African stories will result in what is being called <a href="https://www.documentary.org/feature/whose-story-five-doc-makers-avoiding-extractive-filmmaking">extractive film-making</a> – when international production companies come in to film the country’s stories, bypassing its local storytellers. </p>
<p>What South Africa needs more than anything in the film and television industries are stories told by South Africans, not about them; told by film-makers coming from inside communities, events and experiences, not by outsiders. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/empathy-in-conservation-is-hotly-debated-still-the-world-needs-more-stories-like-my-octopus-teacher-149975">Empathy in conservation is hotly debated. Still, the world needs more stories like My Octopus Teacher</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>My Octopus Teacher</em> centres on a white male experience. But the story is told from the inside, by the very person it’s about. At a time in global film-making history when “nothing about us without us” is both a rallying cry and a commissioning brief, one hopes that this will not be the only personal story from South Africa that makes it big on a global stage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160035/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liani Maasdorp is affiliated with Documentary Filmmakers Association. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A tide of ‘the feels’ buoyed the underdog documentary to an Oscar win – but the local industry will need to focus on where international gains are most needed.
Liani Maasdorp, Senior lecturer in Screen Production and Film and Television Studies, University of Cape Town
Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk, Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Studies, University of Cape Town
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/157277
2021-03-23T17:20:47Z
2021-03-23T17:20:47Z
The ‘Oscar Halo’ – how awards and nominations direct where money goes in the film industry
<p>Film awards are more than shiny trophies on a shelf representing the recognition of hard work and talent from fellow professionals. They can have a huge impact on which films gets financed, how much actors and directors get paid for subsequent projects, and can impact whole film industries in certain countries. Hence, it is sometimes <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/curtain-art-successful-oscar-campaign/story?id=45666466t">argued</a> that nominations matter as much as the awards, by creating extra buzz around films, directors and actors. </p>
<p>Nominations for the Oscars can add around <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oscars-academy-awards-rigged-best-picture-nominations-win-2019-2?r=US&IR=T">US$20 million</a> (£14 million) to the total income made by the film. Wins are even more lucrative. The King’s Speech (2010) was initially <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oscarnomics-2013-how-much-is-oscar-really-worth-2013-2?IR=T">projected to gross earnings just US$30 million</a>. But after its Oscar nomination and victory for best picture, it went on to make more than US$400 million at the box office. This is because nominations and awards give films extra publicity, which attracts <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oscars-academy-awards-rigged-best-picture-nominations-win-2019-2?r=US&IR=T">international distributors</a>. This effect is called the “Oscar halo”.</p>
<p>Awards and nominations can also increase the market value of directors and actors. Actors can get a <a href="https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2489885/do-actors-get-money-for-winning-an-oscar-are-they-paid-academy-award">20% boost</a> in pay for their next film if they win the award for best actor or actress. </p>
<h2>The cinematic map</h2>
<p>For films and filmmakers coming from non-western regions, such as Eastern Europe, South America and Asia, awards have an additional value in putting their country on the “cinematic map”. </p>
<p>Czechoslovakian film made it onto the map in the 1960s when it received two Oscars for The Shop on Main Street (1965) and Closely Observed Trains (1966). These wins attracted attention to the phenomenon of <a href="https://www.criterionchannel.com/czechoslovak-new-wave">Czechoslovak New Wave</a> and facilitated successful international careers of a few Czechoslovak directors. One such benefactor of this attention was <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001232/">Miloš Forman</a> who went on to direct One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), for which he won best director at the 1976 Oscars. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gvZE9Yuxkyg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Equally, the Oscar for South Korean film Parasite resulted in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/feb/13/classics-of-modern-south-korean-cinema-ranked">increased western media interest</a> in Korean films and a wider international audience. It also drove Netflix to invest <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/saramerican/2021/02/26/netflix-will-invest-500-million-in-korean-content-this-year/?sh=13cafaeb194b">$500 million</a> in South Korean cinema.</p>
<h2>Film festivals</h2>
<p>Outside of the big awards, winning and even showing at festivals also impacts the wider economics of film. <a href="https://www.raindance.org/importance-film-festivals/">Film festivals are a vital link</a> in the chain of global film culture – one that was missing last year due to the pandemic.</p>
<p>Getting on the festival circuit is important to the success of films, and the future careers of directors and actors. They offer international outreach for smaller or lesser-known films, distribution deal opportunities, reviews in the press and audience attention ahead of big awards.</p>
<p>Awards at festivals add prestige to the presented films and filmmakers and are a means to finance their projects. Festivals are attended by distributors, producers and executives. Distributors are responsible for the marketing of a film. The buzz created around a film at a festival can determine whether a distributor picks it up for a wider public release, often in several countries. This can put it firmly on the radar of awards season. </p>
<p>Of course, not all festivals have the same importance. In Europe, the most prestigious are Venice, Cannes and Berlin. In the US, the best known is the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/apr/19/film-festivals-which-is-top-dog">Sundance Film Festival</a>. There is a close link observed between <a href="https://www.screendaily.com/features/which-film-festivals-are-the-most-successful-for-launching-an-oscar-hopeful/5137166.article">receiving an Oscar nomination and debuting at Venice</a> or Cannes. It is widely believed that Parasite winning the top prize at Cannes in 2019 set it on a path to win the best picture Oscar nine months later.</p>
<p>Last year, however, due to the pandemic, festivals weren’t able to go ahead. Instead, 21 festivals, including Cannes, Venice and Berlin, came together to put on <a href="http://www.weareoneglobalfestival.com/">We are One</a>. Streaming for free, in return for an optional donation to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 fund, it was not quite the same. Awards weren’t given, and few filmmakers, understandably, chose to debut at it. Thankfully, this year festivals seem to be back on for now. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/luX4OJOyfEU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Festivals matter because they help filmmakers to network, get funding and further their career. Films awarded at prestigious festivals have a better chance to get Academy nominations and awards. Cumulatively, festival awards and Oscars practically guarantee a worldwide financial and critical success. </p>
<p>Even during COVID, when global cinema suffered due to a drop in film production, a crisis of theatre distribution and cancellation or changing format of many festivals, the 93rd Academy Awards, to take place on 25 April, will still carry their usual prestige. It can be even expected that the lack of pomp and glitz at European film festivals will make these awards particularly attractive to a hungry audience, who will be paying closer attention than ever to see what they should watch, whether by streaming or when cinemas reopen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ewa Mazierska does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
From festivals to awards, generating buzz can increase the gross earnings of a film and even increase investment in a country’s film industry.
Ewa Mazierska, Professor of Film Studies, University of Central Lancashire
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/154622
2021-02-26T17:04:36Z
2021-02-26T17:04:36Z
Film and TV diversity behind the camera is getting much worse
<p>Talk of the lack of diversity in the film and TV industries starts to bubble up around awards season every year. This year is no different with the Golden Globes notably snubbing one of the most critically acclaimed shows of 2020, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/feb/03/emily-in-paris-writer-on-i-may-destroy-you-snub-golden-globes">I May Destroy You</a>, and its young, black female creator, Michaela Cole.</p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/film-and-tv-apprenticeships-launched-as-new-charter-pledges-greater-diversity-in-creative-industries">repeated</a> <a href="https://www.indiependent.co.uk/bafta-pledges-diversity-and-inclusion-changes-with-new-report/">pledges</a> to improve diversity it seems the situation isn’t getting any better. In fact, <a href="https://creativediversitynetwork.com/diamond/diamond-reports/the-fourth-cut/">recently published data</a> from the Creative Diversity Network found that diversity behind the camera is getting worse over time. </p>
<p>The report found that positions such as directors, producers and camera operators are being filled less and less by those who identify as black, Asian or minority ethnic, disabled, transgender or the over-50s.</p>
<p>In drama, perhaps the most high-prestige genre of all, the data revealed that behind the camera contributions by black, Asian and minority ethnic people had fallen from 8.6% in 2018-19 to 5.9% in 2019-20. Also, there has been a decrease in the contributions from women in senior roles.</p>
<p>My research adds a human element to such inequalities. In 2020, I collaborated with the Leeds production company <a href="https://candour.tv/">Candour</a> and screen industry professionals to create a research-led film series called <a href="https://screen-network.org.uk/videos/">Industry Voices</a>. We sought to document the testimonies of those with experience of inequality, looking at the sectors of television, film and games. </p>
<h2>Industry Voices</h2>
<p>Presenter and comedian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/aug/08/bbc-presenter-quits-in-protest-after-n-word-allegedly-used-in-attack-repeated-on-air">Sideman</a> resigned from the BBC last year after the corporation initially defended the use the N-word by a white presenter in a television news broadcast. He told us there was a need for change in the make-up of regulatory bodies, noting that it’s crucial to have people of colour included in decisions that affect them. Sideman’s comments are particularly prescient in relation to the <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/how-ofcom-is-run/ofcom-board">all-white Ofcom</a> board, who received <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53676557">384</a> complaints regarding the use of the racial slur that caused him to resign.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman in a blue top with long hair." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386670/original/file-20210226-17-pe32o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386670/original/file-20210226-17-pe32o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386670/original/file-20210226-17-pe32o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386670/original/file-20210226-17-pe32o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386670/original/file-20210226-17-pe32o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386670/original/file-20210226-17-pe32o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386670/original/file-20210226-17-pe32o8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fozia Khan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Industry Voices</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Drawing out this focus on power and the fact that inclusion is critical to democracy, the study explored processes of hiring and progression in the screen industries. </p>
<p>Speaking about her experiences of both getting in and getting on in the screen industries, Channel 4 commissioning editor, <a href="https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/channel-4/fozia-khan-joins-c4-docs-team/5130760.article?adredir=1&adredir=1">Fozia Khan</a> noted how her gender held her back when it came to moving from the role of producer to director. </p>
<p>Fozia’s sentiments were bolstered by Welsh documentary producer and director, <a href="https://www.thetalentmanager.com/talent/19358/liana-stewart">Liana Stewart</a>, who noted:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When you’re a female, and then you’re Black on top of it, and then you’re working class, there’s not many reference points, there’s not many people you can see who are [producers or directors]. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In line with this, screenwriter and chair of the Writers’ Guild, <a href="https://writersguild.org.uk/wggbteam/lisa-holdsworth-2/">Lisa Holdsworth</a> criticised the “trickle-up effect” that occurs when many companies only have diversity hiring policies when it comes to entry-level positions, such as runners. For instance, the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/whoweare/bbcboard">BBC’s board</a> only has one black, Asian or minority ethnic member while <a href="https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/who-we-are/board">Channel 4’s has two</a> members. To make things worse, the BBC’s news board recently let go of its only non-white member, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/feb/10/bbc-makes-editorial-director-kamal-ahmed-redundant-in-restructure">Kamal Ahmed</a>.</p>
<p>Broadly, our contributors pointed to the problematic and nepotistic nature of hiring practices in the screen industries, and the fact that these processes are often undertaken on a “nod and a wink”. It is, ultimately, still about who you know, rather than what you know. </p>
<p>In project-based industries like film and TV, processes of hiring and progression are far from transparent, and questions of who has power are central to understanding the inequality in the sectors. One of the key findings of our research was not only that inequality needs to be tackled by those at the top but also that the configuration of those who make up the top needs to be decisively reconfigured.</p>
<h2>Class and location</h2>
<p>Other outcomes related to the barriers associated with social class and region. While broadcasters have begun collecting data about the class make-up of their workforce, it can often be a facet of equality that is overlooked. Meanwhile, our research indicated that power in the UK TV industry is still situated in London and regional work is often not considered “real” work. </p>
<p>Northern and Midlands accents are still felt to be locked out of networks by powerful gatekeepers, and middle-class cultural reference points are treated as the expected ‘norm’. These were seen as barriers to opportunity by our contributors.</p>
<figure>
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</figure>
<p>In an era when many broadcasters and production companies speak about the desire for colleagues to bring their “whole selves to work”, it’s clear that the work of genuinely addressing inequalities and levelling up must think across these layered identities, and recognise the inherent value of diverse voices and experiences.</p>
<p>Industry change is urgent, and the impacts of COVID are likely to exacerbate existing inequalities, moving from an equality, diversity and inclusion crisis to a full-blown emergency. For the film and TV sectors to move forward, those with experience of inequality must be listened to – and really heard. As so many of our contributors say, change could happen tomorrow. It should.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154622/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beth Johnson receives funding from Research England, UKRI. </span></em></p>
Despite repeated pledges to improve diversity, data and industry testimony shows that there are fewer people from minority backgrounds getting jobs in the film and TV industries.
Beth Johnson, Professor of Television & Media Studies; Deputy Head of School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/147535
2020-10-06T12:18:11Z
2020-10-06T12:18:11Z
Regal Cinemas’ decision to close its theaters is the latest blow to a film industry on life support
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361720/original/file-20201005-18-1e1i67g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C106%2C5494%2C3707&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most people are avoiding movie theaters, even as restrictions have eased.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXVirusOutbreakCalifornia/50bf49f19c274c71855daadc572a32e4/photo?Query=regal%20AND%20cinemas&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=11215&currentItemNo=2">AP Photo/Jae C. Hong</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A film industry <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/mar/19/loss-of-jobs-income-film-industry-hollywood-coronavirus-pandemic-covid-19">in free fall</a> just suffered its latest blow. </p>
<p>Cineworld Group, the owner of Regal Cinemas, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/04/business/regal-cinemas-theater-shutdown/index.html">announced that it would suspend operations</a> at all of its locations in the U.S. and U.K. as crowded theaters continue to be seen as petri dishes for a virus that shows no sign of abating. </p>
<p>Studios are in no better shape. Familiar blockbuster franchises that Hollywood banks on to balance ledgers have been delayed, including the 25th James Bond film, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2382320/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">No Time to Die</a>,” “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9603212/">Mission: Impossible 7</a>,” and Marvel Universe’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3480822/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Black Widow</a>” and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7126948/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Wonder Woman 1984</a>.” The billions of dollars invested in producing and marketing these films alone are sums that could make or break the studios.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Apple TV <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-53637305">have capitalized</a> on the trend of people’s <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/4/6/coronavirus-how-much-more-time-are-people-spending-at-home">spending more time in their homes</a>. </p>
<p>The motion picture industry has endured pandemics and the threat of home viewing before. But in each instance, the existing way of doing things was upended.</p>
<p>During the current crisis, it seems that shifts in the industry that have been going on for some time are accelerating. While the movie theater will likely survive, moviegoers can expect a change in what they can see on the big screen. </p>
<h2>The first time ‘flu bans’ upended the industry</h2>
<p>Before World War I, the American motion picture industry was a loose collection of independent film producers, distributors and approximately 20,000 theater owners. In the fall of 1918, <a href="https://deadline.com/2020/04/hollywood-coronavirus-impact-spanish-flu-history-lessons-william-mann-interview-1202899630/">the industry was rocked</a> by the emergence of the Spanish flu. As wave after wave of influenza deaths spread across the country, between 80% and 90% of theaters were closed off and on for months by public health decrees, described across the country as “flu bans.”</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A 1918 edition of the Motion Picture News announces the lifting of a 'flu ban.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=829&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=829&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=829&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1042&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1042&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1042&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Theaters were forced to close off and on for months because of public health decrees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Internet Archive</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Theaters that needed ticket sales to recoup advanced rental fees fought to stay open <a href="http://www.jstor.com/stable/3815547">using strategies</a> that are eerily familiar to our COVID-19 moment. Industry leaders lobbied governments to let them reopen. Theater owners denounced “flu hysteria” and handed out gauze masks to patrons. Some ejected sneezers or used staggered seating to socially distance audiences. The industry ran national public relations campaigns promoting hygiene and promising theater cleanings and new ventilation systems to help calm patrons’ fears of sitting shoulder to shoulder with someone who might cough. Even after “flu bans” were lifted, it took about a year and a half for skittish audiences to venture back. </p>
<p>As the pandemic ravaged the country, consolidation fever consumed the industry. Opportunists took advantage of the real victims of the flu bans: independent theaters. The big chains, armed with capital, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-1918-flu-halted-hollywood-1286640">bought out their hobbled competitors</a> while bigger distribution companies gobbled up smaller ones. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A cartoon from the Exhibitor's Herald depicts Adolph Zukor assuming control over independent theater owners." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adolph Zukor and his Wall Street backers sought to monopolize access to audiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald10exhi_0/page/n1251/mode/2up">Internet Archive</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A new Hollywood studio system dominated by money and profits slowly started to take shape. Trailblazer <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pickford-adolph-zukor-1873-1976/">Adolph Zukor</a> used Wall Street financing to take control of the reeling Famous Players-Lasky company and merged it with Paramount distribution, creating a studio that cranked out films with Ford-like efficiency. With its soaring profits, it continued turning independent theaters into exclusive Paramount exhibitors across the country to monopolize access to audiences.</p>
<p>Other companies followed suit. Loews theaters, Metro pictures and Goldwyn distribution consolidated into MGM. Industry players desperate to recoup their pandemic losses traded their independence to be a part of the post-pandemic Hollywood, an <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015062577690">oligopoly of vertically integrated companies that only distributed and screened the films they produced</a>. </p>
<p>Audiences previously comfortable watching all variety of shorts quickly developed a taste for the studio system’s expensive, feature-length formulaic films. </p>
<h2>TV threatens the oligopoly</h2>
<p>In the 1950s, Hollywood faced a second destructive event of the 21st century: television, a new technology that could broadcast content directly into American homes. </p>
<p>On the television, the motion picture form shifted from standard feature-length films to serialized content similar to what people listened to on the radio.</p>
<p>The studio system felt the crunch. People who once went out to the movies multiple times a week now stayed home to watch TV. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Transforming_the_Screen_1950_1959/TEGl2Ele_XoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=television+in+the+1950s&pg=PA127&printsec=frontcover">By 1954, there were 233 commercial stations and 26 million homes with TVs</a>, and studio profits <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1224894?seq=1">dramatically declined</a>.</p>
<p>Yet Hollywood was able to adapt. The industry responded to the small-screen home viewing threat by going big. Aspect ratios jumped from 1.34:1 to a wider 1.85:1 or 2.25:1, and film studios added Technicolor and high-fidelity directional audio to their sensational features. </p>
<p>Big-budget epics like MGM’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043949/">Quo Vadis</a>,” musicals like 20th Century Fox’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042200/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Annie Get Your Gun</a>” and animated spectacles like Disney’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048280/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3">Lady and the Tramp</a>” ensured that theaters could provide an unrivaled experience, one that made watching TV seemed paltry by comparison.</p>
<p>In the end, home viewing and theatrical release managed to coexist.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>The worst of times, the best of times</h2>
<p>In many ways, the current pandemic has been a tale of two movie industries. With theaters closed, streaming services have been cashing in. </p>
<p>Netflix, which has been laying <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-movie-studios-be-worried-about-netflixs-first-feature-film-47076">the groundwork for a direct-to-streaming world since 2015</a>, has added <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/16/netflix-subscriber-results-q2/">more than 10 million subscribers since March</a>. </p>
<p>Alarmed by the billions of dollars stuck in pandemic purgatory, some studios have started to change tacks. Tom Hanks’ new submarine film, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6048922/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Greyhound</a>,” steered its US$50 million budget directly to port on Apple TV+. Apple let financial markets know that the film’s opening, in terms of the number of people who watched, rivaled <a href="https://deadline.com/2020/07/tom-hanks-greyhound-apple-tv-opening-weekend-record-breaker-1202985492/">the best opening weekends</a>. Thirty percent of those viewers were new subscribers.</p>
<p>Yet rather than being extinguished, the theater model will likely continue to evolve. There is simply too much potential for return on investment in past, present and future blockbusters, and studios see the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/movies-used-to-be-an-escape-now-theyre-a-risk-reward-calculation/2020/05/12/858319fa-9151-11ea-a9c0-73b93422d691_story.html">risk-reward ratio of theatrical release as a way to attract shareholders and keep them happy</a>. Audiences will still go out to be thrilled by big, CGI-driven spectacles with gut-rumbling surround sound. They’ve got a taste for it.</p>
<p>At the same time, major studios will likely continue to use their economic leverage to push into streaming in an attempt to maximize their potential for profit and control both modes of distribution. </p>
<p>It’s also possible that – with the winds of <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2020/07/zephyr-teachout-book-antitrust-monopolies-big-tech-facebook-amazon-google.html">antitrust sentiment starting to blow</a> – the industry will return to a theatrical distribution model more akin to the pre-Spanish flu era, when independent theaters could make deals with different distributors to show more than just blockbusters and use this flexibility to cultivate new or niche audiences. </p>
<p>If the lessons of the post-pandemic 1920s prove prophetic, we could be gearing up for a roaring decade with a rich diversity of films – in form, style and content – emerging to fit different modes of distribution. Think new series formats or even mini “<a href="https://medium.com/lightspeed-venture-partners/how-to-build-a-character-universe-15256046d289">character universes</a>” that rival Marvel’s on the small screen.</p>
<p>Seen this way, the 2020s could be a glorious period of experimentation and innovation.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of <a href="https://theconversation.com/movie-theaters-are-on-life-support-how-will-the-film-industry-adapt-143877">an article</a> originally published on Aug. 12, 2020.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147535/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Jordan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The motion picture industry has endured a pandemic before. But the coronavirus may completely upend the old way of doing business.
Matthew Jordan, Associate Professor of Media Studies, Penn State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/143377
2020-08-20T14:45:46Z
2020-08-20T14:45:46Z
Enter the micro-budget film: lockdown amplifies South African cinema trends
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353638/original/file-20200819-42893-l5b2uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A still from High Fantasy by Jenna Cato Bass.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Proper Films/Big World Cinema</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa’s film industry is the oldest in Africa and one of the oldest in the world, having started in <a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.za/node/16156">1896</a>, soon after the Lumiere brothers’ famous first commercial film screening in <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-commercial-movie-screened">1895</a>. The industry is one of the more established and commercially viable on the continent. </p>
<p>It doesn’t produce as many films as Nigeria’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-nollywood-to-new-nollywood-the-story-of-nigerias-runaway-success-47959">bustling industry</a>, but offers a steady trickle of crowd pleasers (with box office records held by the comedies of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0776856/">Leon Shuster</a>) and international award winners like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468565/"><em>Tsotsi</em></a> (2006) and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1922721/awards"><em>Skoonheid</em></a> (<em>Beauty</em>, 2011). There remains an existing, loyal, cinema-going audience for Afrikaans productions, but films in other local languages, even critically acclaimed ones with high production values, have not been very profitable. </p>
<p>The industry is normally worth around <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/cape-town-film-industry-gets-its-cameras-rollings-during-covid-19-pandemic-50149417">R3.5 billion</a> to the economy annually. In 2019, 22 South African films received a local cinema release, claiming only <a href="https://www.nfvf.co.za/home/22/files/2020/Research/NFVF%20Annual%20Box%20Office%20Report_2019.pdf">R60 million</a> of the R1.2 billion taken at a local box office dominated by Hollywood fare.</p>
<p>The most lucrative form of production in post-apartheid South Africa has been what’s called facilitation. Many South African producers specialise in hosting international film and TV productions by providing crews, finding locations and casting extras for clients. The film <a href="http://www.thedtic.gov.za/financial-and-non-financial-support/incentives/film-incentive/">incentives</a> offered by the Department of Trade and Industry allow visiting productions to claim money back for working in the country and have helped make it one of the more attractive film destinations globally.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has, of course, put a halt to this. As in other countries, the pandemic has hurt the industry. Just because lockdown regulations were relaxed for film and television production in April doesn’t mean it’s been back to business as usual. There are strict operating <a href="https://www.capetown.gov.za/City-Connect/Apply/Licences-and-permits/Filming-and-events/Apply-for-a-film-permit">directives</a> and only 50 individuals are allowed on set or location at a time, limiting the size and complexity of productions that can be completed. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353631/original/file-20200819-42876-jqe2ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two young women on a horse riding away from a small South African town." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353631/original/file-20200819-42876-jqe2ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353631/original/file-20200819-42876-jqe2ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353631/original/file-20200819-42876-jqe2ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353631/original/file-20200819-42876-jqe2ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353631/original/file-20200819-42876-jqe2ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353631/original/file-20200819-42876-jqe2ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353631/original/file-20200819-42876-jqe2ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The stars of Flatland, a feminist road movie that was a festival hit, created by Jenna Cato Bass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But there are several dynamics that had already begun prior to the lockdown that have been brought to the fore by the radical reduction in production. These include micro-budget filmmaking, alternative distribution methods and collaborative film projects. They could be among the keys to unlocking further growth in the industry in the future.</p>
<h2>High value from low budgets</h2>
<p>Enter the micro-budget film. Cape Town-based writer-director-cinematographer <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3689536/">Jenna Cato Bass</a> is a pioneer in this area. At 34, she has already directed three features – urban romance drama <em><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/love-one-you-love-busan-741990">Love the One You Love</a></em> (2014), “body-swap satire” <a href="https://superbalist.com/thewayofus/2018/11/29/high-fantasy-jenna-bass-interview/13998"><em>High Fantasy</em></a> (2017) and “feminist western” <a href="https://variety.com/2019/film/uncategorized/berlin-film-festival-director-jenna-bass-corrals-modern-female-take-on-the-western-at-berlin-festival-1203132889/"><em>Flatland</em></a> (2019). In a recent <a href="http://www.8-mezzo.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/8mezzo_46.pdf">interview</a> she told me she wants to “make a career making films and would like to make many of them”. </p>
<p>Her films are made by small crews on tight budgets. They don’t feel like, or compete with, slick big budget Hollywood films. Yet, they have a niche following, consistently premiere at top <a href="https://tiff.net/events/flatland">international</a> <a href="https://www.berlinale.de/en/archive/jahresarchive/2019/02_programm_2019/02_filmdatenblatt_2019_201914295.html#tab=filmStills">festivals</a> and she keeps getting funding to make more of them. </p>
<p>Though she had to postpone shooting her fourth feature film due to the lockdown, she says she will recover. Because her production costs are low, she can postpone her shoot. And because her crews are small, she can start shooting while personal distancing restrictions gradually lift. This puts her at a distinct advantage over multi-million dollar productions.</p>
<h2>Lockdown breeds collaboration</h2>
<p>Another trend has been the production of content remotely. Several collaborative productions were initiated almost immediately after the country’s lockdown started. These included the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1922887/">Tim Greene</a>-led production <em><a href="https://www.news24.com/channel/movies/news/watch-south-african-movie-cabin-fever-filmed-during-lockdown-20200521-2#:%7E:text=Safta%20award%2Dwinning%20director%20Tim,using%20only%20phones%20and%20laptops.">Cabin Fever</a></em>. For this co-authored fiction film, actors performed scenes at home, filming themselves on whatever camera or device they had access to. The footage was then uploaded for editors, also working from home, and director viewings are done remotely using platforms like the now ubiquitous Zoom.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353662/original/file-20200819-42893-n4ju79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Film poster showing seven characters, each isolated at home." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353662/original/file-20200819-42893-n4ju79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353662/original/file-20200819-42893-n4ju79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=824&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353662/original/file-20200819-42893-n4ju79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=824&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353662/original/file-20200819-42893-n4ju79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=824&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353662/original/file-20200819-42893-n4ju79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1035&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353662/original/file-20200819-42893-n4ju79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1035&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353662/original/file-20200819-42893-n4ju79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1035&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tripfliex</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Remote filmmaking makes it possible to keep producing films by optimising on a collective of different creatives’ skills, equipment and software. It also capitalises on creative collaboration – which had already been a feature of local production, especially documentaries – and reduces the notoriously large carbon footprint of filmmaking.</p>
<h2>Online distribution</h2>
<p>Most of Bass’s films are available on streaming service <a href="https://www.showmax.com/eng/home">Showmax</a> from local satellite entertainment giant MultiChoice. Showmax seems to be prioritising acquiring local content – licensing as many as they can, as quickly as they can. These include acclaimed features <em>Five Fingers for Marseilles</em> (2017), <em>Inxeba</em> (<em>The Wound</em>, 2017), <em>Kanarie</em> (2018) and <em>Sew the Winter to My Skin</em> (2018). </p>
<p>But Showmax is not the only way to get a film into people’s homes. South African filmmakers have been exploring independent distribution models for a while. The latest film from the critically acclaimed <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3564996/">Oliver Hermanus</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/film-review-moffie-is-a-harrowing-meditation-on-white-masculinity-133182">Moffie</a></em> (2019), was scheduled for cinema release just as the lockdown started and public screening venues shut down. The film premiered in <a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2019/orizzonti/moffie">Venice</a> in 2019 and the producers understandably did not want to delay until 2021 to get it to local audiences. It’s now streaming <a href="https://www.moffiefilm.com/home">directly</a> from their own website on a pay-per-view basis, using their own platform and ticketing service, OneTix. They felt it “made more financial sense” Hermanus told me.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353667/original/file-20200819-42823-1x2v0q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Soldiers stand in formation, holding out their rifles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353667/original/file-20200819-42823-1x2v0q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353667/original/file-20200819-42823-1x2v0q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353667/original/file-20200819-42823-1x2v0q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353667/original/file-20200819-42823-1x2v0q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353667/original/file-20200819-42823-1x2v0q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353667/original/file-20200819-42823-1x2v0q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353667/original/file-20200819-42823-1x2v0q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Moffie by Oliver Hermanus tells the story of gay love during apartheid military conscription.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Manners/Moffie</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Reportedly Showmax offers around $5 000 for a non-exclusive 18 month license for a feature film, so it’s understandable that filmmakers would use independent platforms to connect films to viewers directly. But by mid-2018 Showmax had almost 600,000 subscribers, <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/media/297640/showmax-subscribers-vs-netflix-in-south-africa/">outperforming</a> global giant Netflix’s local offering. A bespoke platform would struggle to reach that number of viewers without an extensive and well-resourced marketing campaign. </p>
<p>Making and distributing films in new ways, that are also <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279216497_Green_Shoots_Environmental_Sustainability_and_Contemporary_Film_Production">cognisant</a> of the global climate emergency, is going to become a growing trend not just in South Africa, but around the world. As we recover from the impacts of the pandemic, we will also take stock of the positive effects #stayhome has had. In South Africa that includes inspiring or enhancing innovative ways of creating and sharing films.</p>
<p><em>This article is an expanded version of a story that first appeared in <a href="http://www.8-mezzo.it">8 ½</a>, an Italian film magazine published by Istituto Luce</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143377/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liani Maasdorp does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Micro-budgets, alternative distribution and collaboration have been fast-tracked by the coronavirus crisis.
Liani Maasdorp, Senior lecturer in Screen Production and Film and Television Studies, University of Cape Town
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/143877
2020-08-12T11:59:17Z
2020-08-12T11:59:17Z
Movie theaters are on life support – how will the film industry adapt?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352301/original/file-20200811-24-1r1ogh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C5137%2C3391&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A movie theater in Brea, Calif., has shuttered its doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Virus-Outbreak-California/1c5dca1d95774b11936539bf0e20f569/40/0">AP Photo/Jae C. Hong</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the start of the pandemic, the film industry has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/mar/19/loss-of-jobs-income-film-industry-hollywood-coronavirus-pandemic-covid-19">in free fall</a>.</p>
<p>As deaths have continued to climb, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-loses-nearly-5-billion-as-pandemic-slams-theme-parks-11596573570">so have studio losses</a>, with crowded theaters – once a source of collective entertainment and escapism – now seen as petri dishes for the virus. </p>
<p>Familiar blockbuster franchises whose summer releases studios banked on to balance bleeding ledgers have been barred from shuttered theaters. The 25th James Bond film, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2382320/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">No Time to Die</a>,” the 7th “Mission Impossible,” Marvel Universe’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3480822/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Black Widow</a>,” “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7126948/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Wonderwoman 1984</a>” and Spider Man’s latest iteration, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6320628/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Far From Home</a>,” have all been delayed. The billions of dollars invested in producing and marketing these films alone are sums that could make or break the studios.</p>
<p>Desperate to survive, AMC – <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/188565/north-american-movie-theater-circuits-by-number-of-screens/">the biggest of the three mega-chains of theaters</a> – and movie studio Universal recently agreed to cut the exclusive <a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/universal-amc-theatres-deal-1234719703/">theatrical release time down from 90 to 17 days</a> before films could be streamed. Huge opening releases <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Release-date-almost-as-important-as-good-film-3209001.php">have long been crucial</a> for both theater chains and studios, so AMC giving up its biggest source of revenue for a small cut of Universal’s profits can be seen as a sign of desperation.</p>
<p>The motion picture industry has endured pandemics and the threat of home viewing before. But in each instance, the existing way of doing things was upended.</p>
<p>During the current crisis, it seems that shifts in the industry that have been going on for some time are accelerating. While the movie theater will likely survive, moviegoers can expect a change in what they can see on the big screen. </p>
<h2>The first time ‘flu bans’ upended the industry</h2>
<p>Before World War I, the American motion picture industry was a loose collection of independent film producers, distributors and approximately 20,000 theater owners. In the fall of 1918, <a href="https://deadline.com/2020/04/hollywood-coronavirus-impact-spanish-flu-history-lessons-william-mann-interview-1202899630/">the industry was rocked</a> by the emergence of the Spanish flu. As wave after wave of influenza deaths spread across the country, between 80% and 90% of theaters were closed off-and-on for months by public health decrees, described across the country as “flu bans.”</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A 1918 edition of the Motion Picture News announces the lifting of a 'flu ban.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=829&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=829&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=829&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1042&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1042&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351406/original/file-20200805-493-16eryxz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1042&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Theaters were forced to close off-and-on for months due to public health decrees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Internet Archive</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Theaters that needed ticket sales to recoup advanced rental fees fought to stay open <a href="http://www.jstor.com/stable/3815547">using strategies</a> that are eerily familiar to our COVID-19 moment. Industry leaders lobbied governments to let them reopen. Theater owners denounced “flu hysteria” and handed out gauze masks to patrons. Some ejected sneezers or used staggered seating to socially distance audiences. The industry ran national public relations campaigns promoting hygiene and promising theater cleanings and new ventilation systems to help calm patrons’ fear of sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with someone who might cough. Even after “flu bans” were lifted, it took about a year and a half for skittish audiences to venture back. </p>
<p>As the pandemic ravaged the country, consolidation fever consumed the industry. Opportunists took advantage of the real victims of the flu bans: independent theaters. The big chains, armed with capital, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-1918-flu-halted-hollywood-1286640">bought out their hobbled competitors</a>, while bigger distribution companies gobbled up smaller ones. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A cartoon from the Exhibitor's Herald depicts Adolph Zukor assuming control over independent theather owners." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352357/original/file-20200811-16-1s8ccs1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adolph Zukor and his Wall Street backers sought to monopolize access to audiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald10exhi_0/page/n1251/mode/2up">Internet Archive</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A new Hollywood studio system dominated by money and profits slowly started to take shape. Trailblazer <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pickford-adolph-zukor-1873-1976/">Adolph Zukor</a> used Wall Street financing to take control of the reeling Famous Players-Lasky company and merged it with Paramount distribution, creating a studio that cranked out films with Ford-like efficiency. With its soaring profits, it continued turning independent theaters into exclusive Paramount exhibitors across the country to monopolize access to audiences.</p>
<p>Others companies followed suit. Loews theaters, Metro pictures and Goldwyn distribution consolidated into MGM. Industry players desperate to recoup their pandemic losses traded their independence to be a part of the post-pandemic Hollywood, an <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015062577690">oligopoly of vertically integrated companies that only distributed and screened the films they produced</a>. </p>
<p>Audiences previously comfortable watching all variety of shorts quickly developed a taste for the studio system’s expensive, feature-length, formulaic films. </p>
<h2>TV threatens the oligopoly</h2>
<p>In the 1950s, Hollywood faced a second destructive event of the 21st century: television, a new technology that could broadcast content directly into American homes. </p>
<p>On the television, the motion picture form shifted from standard, feature-length films to serialized content similar to what people listened to on the radio.</p>
<p>The studio system felt the crunch. People who once went out to the movies multiple times a week now stayed home to watch TV. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Transforming_the_Screen_1950_1959/TEGl2Ele_XoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=television+in+the+1950s&pg=PA127&printsec=frontcover">By 1954, there were 233 commercial stations and 26 million homes with TVs</a>, and studio profits <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1224894?seq=1">dramatically declined</a>.</p>
<p>Yet Hollywood was able to adapt. The industry responded to the small screen home viewing threat by going big. Aspect ratios jumped from 1.34:1 to a wider 1.85:1 or 2.25:1, and they added Technicolor and high-fidelity directional audio to their sensational features. </p>
<p>Big budget epics like MGM’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043949/">Quo Vadis</a>,” musicals like 20th Century Fox’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042200/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Annie Get Your Gun</a>” and animated spectacles like Disney’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048280/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3">Lady and the Tramp</a>” ensured that theaters could provide an unrivaled experience, one that made watching TV seemed paltry by comparison.</p>
<p>In the end, home viewing and theatrical release managed to coexist.</p>
<h2>The worst of times, the best of times</h2>
<p>In many ways, the current pandemic has been a tale of two movie industries. With theaters closed, streaming services have been cashing in. </p>
<p>Netflix, which has been laying <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-movie-studios-be-worried-about-netflixs-first-feature-film-47076">the grounds for a direct-to-streaming world since 2015</a>, has added a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/16/netflix-subscriber-results-q2/">whopping 10.1 million subscribers since March</a>. </p>
<p>Alarmed by the billions of dollars stuck in pandemic purgatory, some studios have started to change tacks. Tom Hank’s new submarine film, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6048922/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Greyhound</a>,” steered its US$50 million budget directly to port on Apple TV+. Apple let financial markets know that the flim’s opening, in terms of the number of people who watched, rivaled <a href="https://deadline.com/2020/07/tom-hanks-greyhound-apple-tv-opening-weekend-record-breaker-1202985492/">the best opening weekends</a>. Thirty percent of those viewers were new subscribers.</p>
<p>Seen in this light, the AMC and Universal deal shows the old distribution model, already battered by streaming services, taking on water fast. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Yet rather than being extinguished, the theater model will likely continue to evolve. There is simply too much potential for return on investment in past, present and future blockbusters, and studios see the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/movies-used-to-be-an-escape-now-theyre-a-risk-reward-calculation/2020/05/12/858319fa-9151-11ea-a9c0-73b93422d691_story.html">risk-reward ratio of theatrical release as a way to attract shareholders and keep them happy</a>. Audiences will still go out to be thrilled by big, CGI-driven spectacles with gut-rumbling surround sound. They’ve got a taste for it.</p>
<p>At the same time, major studios will likely continue to use their economic leverage to push into streaming in an attempt to maximize their potential for profit and control both modes of distribution. </p>
<p>It’s also possible that – with the winds of <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2020/07/zephyr-teachout-book-antitrust-monopolies-big-tech-facebook-amazon-google.html">antitrust sentiment starting to blow</a> – the industry will return to a theatrical distribution model more akin to the pre-Spanish Flu era, when independent theaters could make deals with different distributors to show more than just blockbusters, and use this flexibility to cultivate new or niche audiences. </p>
<p>If the lessons of the post-pandemic 1920s prove prophetic, we could be gearing up for a roaring decade where a rich diversity of films – in form, style and content – emerge to fit different modes of distribution. Think new series formats, or even mini “<a href="https://medium.com/lightspeed-venture-partners/how-to-build-a-character-universe-15256046d289">character universes</a>” that rival Marvel’s on the small screen.</p>
<p>Seen this way, the 2020s could be a glorious period of experimentation and innovation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143877/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Jordan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Studios have endured pandemics and the threat of home viewing before. Will the current crisis lead to disaster or opportunity?
Matthew Jordan, Associate Professor of Media Studies, Penn State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/139438
2020-06-03T12:03:58Z
2020-06-03T12:03:58Z
A love letter to cinema – and how films help us get through difficult times
<p>Have you ever turned to your favourite film when you felt sad or upset?
<a href="https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/movie-therapy">Movie therapy</a> has shown to <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0225040">boost positive feelings</a> and make us feel more hopeful. </p>
<p>Indeed, stories have been with us since the beginning of time, and there is no doubt about their <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/news/2020/jan/why-watching-movie-could-improve-wellbeing">beneficial effects</a>. They help with loneliness, they lift our mood, they provide a great background for social bonding, and they are great entertainment. </p>
<p>As a healthy form of escapism, films provide temporary relief from daily problems and worries – film-making and digital storytelling can even be used as a form of <a href="https://namp.americansforthearts.org/sites/default/files/VideoFilmasPsychotherapy.pdf">psychotherapy</a> to treat people suffering from trauma and abuse. </p>
<p>But finding your way in the abundance of content provided by multiple platforms can sometimes prove difficult. And even though video on demand offers a very relaxed way of enjoying your favourite films from the comfort of your home, film-watching is a very social activity. </p>
<h2>The home cinema experience</h2>
<p>There is something special about “going to the cinema” and the collective <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/15/together-in-the-dark-what-we-miss-about-going-to-the-movies">experience of watching a film</a>. The mass intimacy and authorised voyeurism that comes with communal screams and laughter cannot be easily replicated. </p>
<p>The unexpected pandemic and the global lockdown that followed has meant a big change for the film industry. All physical film production initially stopped and all cinemas closed. Film premieres have been postponed or delivered via demand streaming services earlier than expected - as was the case with Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker, the French film, <a href="https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/reviews-recommendations/portrait-lady-fire-celine-sciamma-adele-haenel-period-romance-female-liberated-portrait">Portrait of a Lady on Fire</a>, and the Chilean film, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/02/ema-review-pablo-larrain-mariana-di-girolamo-gael-garcia-bernal">Ema</a></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sdOVxka8CO8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Ema by Pablo Larraín.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The same strategy has also been applied to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/mar/19/cannes-film-festival-postpones-2020-edition-over-coronavirus-restrictions">film festivals</a> and resulted in the creation of brand-new formats, such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/WeAreOne">We Are One</a>: a global film festival running from-May 20 until June 7 via YouTube. This virtual festival is showcasing a selection of feature films, shorts, documentaries, music, comedy and panel discussions from the greatest film festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Toronto International, Berlin and Venice. </p>
<p>Curzon Home Cinema started its <a href="https://www.live.curzonhomecinema.com">live streaming events</a> series, and even the Oscars and other awards have had to change their rules to <a href="https://www.oscars.org/news/awards-rules-and-campaign-regulations-approved-93rd-oscarsr">adapt to the new status quo</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.newspostleader.co.uk/read-this/all-2020-films-being-released-online-cinemas-stay-closed-during-lockdown-and-how-watch-them-2842810">New regulations</a> for the industry have also come in place, including new filming protocols and insurance issues. And there have been multiple funds and initiatives setup to boost the industry at this time, including the <a href="https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/covid-19-film-tv-emergency-relief-fund">BFI Film and TV Emergency Fund</a>. </p>
<h2>Drive-in cinema</h2>
<p>There has been much speculation as to the future of cinema post-lockdown. From <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/apr/29/bbc-could-quarantine-actors-and-crews-on-dramas-to-aid-filming">group quarantine for entire film crews</a>, through to heavier <a href="https://www.voice-online.co.uk/entertainment/film/2020/04/12/film-industry-turns-to-vfx-and-cgi-to-overcome-travel-ban/">reliance on visual effects and animation</a>, to fully <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/this-is-how-the-film-industry-is-fighting-lockdown/">virtual productions</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338299/original/file-20200528-51445-1f9r6rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338299/original/file-20200528-51445-1f9r6rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338299/original/file-20200528-51445-1f9r6rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338299/original/file-20200528-51445-1f9r6rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338299/original/file-20200528-51445-1f9r6rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338299/original/file-20200528-51445-1f9r6rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338299/original/file-20200528-51445-1f9r6rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Virtual film production.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/solrogers/2020/01/29/virtual-production-and-the-future-of-filmmakingan-interview-with-ben-grossman-magnopus/#5fc7056675d4">Virtual Production</a> allows film crews to create scenes that are made up of a combination of the physical world and the digital world while still on set. These can then be changed and adjusted in real time. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-movie-industry-is-fighting-lockdown-139149">How the movie industry is fighting lockdown</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For cinemagoers though, perhaps the most <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2020/may/05/social-distance-cinema-drive-in-theatres-boom-coronavirus-in-pictures">exciting</a> news is the renaissance of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/29/us-drive-in-cinemas-coronavirus-boom">drive-in cinema</a>. This summer will be marked by the brand new <a href="https://www.atthedrive.in">@TheDriveIn festival</a>, a drive-in movie tour will take place across 12 locations including London, Manchester and Glasgow, running from July 2 to September 27. It will feature eighties’ classics and blockbuster films preceded by a range of entertainment including stand-up comedy, bingo or silent car discos. </p>
<p>A food delivery app will allow guests to order Americana-inspired food delivered straight to each car in special boxes via roller waiters. Similar initiatives have emerged globally, and they seem to be gaining significant popularity. </p>
<h2>Thrilling and fascinating</h2>
<p>If the current situation is anything to go by then, it’s clear the need for entertainment and cinematic experiences is not going anywhere. Indeed, if the number of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/apr/21/netflix-new-subscribers-covid-19-lockdown">new subscriptions to streaming services</a> tells us anything, it’s that even at the most difficult of times, films still play an important role in people’s lives.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338931/original/file-20200601-95049-1e6o4x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338931/original/file-20200601-95049-1e6o4x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338931/original/file-20200601-95049-1e6o4x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338931/original/file-20200601-95049-1e6o4x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338931/original/file-20200601-95049-1e6o4x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338931/original/file-20200601-95049-1e6o4x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338931/original/file-20200601-95049-1e6o4x0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At the drive-in.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But to compete with on demand streaming, cinemas have to offer different, better experiences – such as sharper sound and 3D screenings. Newer technologies such as <a href="https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2019/04/cineworld-4dx/">4DX</a> can also tune into all five senses – stimulating effects like water, wind, scent and strobe lighting – thrilling you in your moving seat to provide a more immersive event. </p>
<p>There is no doubt that films can make challenging times somehow more bearable. The way <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1225392?seq=1">we watch films</a> might keep evolving with technological advancements and changing social contexts, but if there is one thing I am sure of, it’s that films and film screenings will always be there to make our lives better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139438/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Agata Lulkowska does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
There’s something special about “going to the cinema” and the collective experience of watching a film.
Agata Lulkowska, Lecturer in Film Production, Staffordshire University, Staffordshire University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/139149
2020-05-22T15:21:34Z
2020-05-22T15:21:34Z
How the movie industry is fighting lockdown
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337003/original/file-20200522-124851-643h4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1533%2C919&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Quick on the uptake: Corona is one of a number of new films reacting to the pandemic.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grandmuse Pictures</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s a tough time for the global film industry, for which the pandemic represents a disruption of seismic proportions. All movie production spaces have been officially “locked down” and all talent – whether in front of or behind the camera – has been quarantined. Film festivals have all been cancelled or moved online and cinemas are closed and the industry faces an uncertain economic future.</p>
<p>Yet it hasn’t taken some movie makers long to adjust. We’re already hearing of films whose storylines revolve around the coronavirus pandemic. Corona is the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11766262/">first feature film on the topic</a> – a low-budget, single-camera film shot in one take inside a broken down elevator.</p>
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<p>Another film now in production is likely to be of considerable significance. <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2020/05/michael-bay-produced-songbird-could-be-the-first-coronavirus-era-film-shot-in-los-angeles-1202232341/">Songbird</a> is set two years in a future where the pandemic is ongoing and lockdowns are still in place. All major studios will be watching this production as it will be the first to deploy new health and safety protocols in all elements of the production process. </p>
<p>Beyond these productions, we’re seeing other green shoots starting to appear. There are plans to restart halted films such as <a href="https://deadline.com/2020/05/avatar-2-jon-landau-returning-to-new-zealand-production-coronavirus-1202941404/">Avatar 2</a> and, at the same time, studios are starting to prepare for new socially distanced productions. The <a href="https://variety.com/2020/biz/features/restarting-production-coronavirus-pandemic-hollywood-1234611125/">Pinewood Atlanta Studios</a> have reportedly already invested $1 million (£810,000) in safety and security measures to reduce the risk of infection for everyone working there. This is all very well for the big Hollywood outfits, but what about smaller studios and independent productions? </p>
<h2>New normal</h2>
<p>So how will the movie industry adapt? The challenges that face the industry should not be underestimated. Film studios and locations sets are spaces filled with people and frenetic activity. Crew and performers tend to work in close proximity and in frequent close physical contact – think of make-up, hair and costume departments and all the equipment that is routinely handled and passed between crew members.</p>
<p>Although it was published just days before the current UK lockdown, and written in a pre-COVID world, the <a href="https://www.futureoffilm.live/page/report">Future of Film report</a> offers some useful thoughts on how to address the current challenges using innovative “virtual techniques”. </p>
<p>The report sets out a vision of the future of film that is “inclusive, sustainable and rewards innovation and creativity”. But its argument that virtual production techniques are key to achieving this aim is highly prescient. </p>
<p>The findings of the report provide a vivid template for the industry to respond to the extraordinary challenges posed by the pandemic. As we write, it looks as if all film productions stalled by the pandemic will have to engage in virtual production techniques if they want to get made entirely under social distancing measures. </p>
<p>Since digital technologies were introduced into film production, one of their primary benefits has been to make economic savings such as reducing the need for expensive international travel. So, for example, “automatic dialogue replacement” is one of the final post-production processes where actors can record replacement dialogue remotely in one studio which can be dubbed over the live action footage in another.</p>
<p>Such virtual post-production solutions are now set to be integrated into all aspects of production, from the initial planning and scripting stages. A process known as “pre-viz” – the pre-visualation of a film’s narrative world so that a director can make creative choices and producers logistical plans – has already radically altered the traditional film production cycle that has been in place since the birth of cinema. It means that post-production processes start at the beginning of the creative cycle as opposed to being at the end and some films can now be made entirely in pre-visualised virtual environments.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0MxulhivCvI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Take the recent <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6105098/">Lion King</a> remake, for example, which was made using an entirely virtual set. A virtual set enables a range of creative production personnel, including directors and performers, to see the composition of photorealistic computer-animated imagery on screens around them. Actors are able to perform live within the digital environment. </p>
<h2>Creative distancing</h2>
<p>In the Oscar-winning film Gravity, the only real live action were the faces of the principle actors – everything else was computer generated. Virtual production also means that the production team don’t have to be in the same physical space. Creative teams can continue to collaborate despite being in different places.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-harry-potter-magic-turned-gravity-into-oscar-gold-23941">How Harry Potter magic turned Gravity into Oscar gold</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This is all made possible using computer game technology, in particular “<a href="https://variety.com/2019/biz/features/video-game-engines-visual-effects-real-time-1203214992/">realtime game engines</a>” such as Unity and Unreal Engine, which enable the real-time generation of graphics and visual effects. These are routinely used in big-budget special effects productions such as <a href="https://variety.com/2019/biz/features/video-game-engines-visual-effects-real-time-1203214992/">Solo: A Star Wars Story</a>, but also enable independent filmmakers to create films entirely in game environments. Live action is completely eradicated and replaced by simulated versions of the real world. Neill Blomkamp’s acclaimed Adam series of short films were made entirely in Unity.</p>
<figure>
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</figure>
<p>There are some early indicators that these are the types of films that might characterise the post-coronavirus filmscape. There may also be a proliferation of what are becoming known as “<a href="https://screenlifer.com/en/category/trends/">screenlife</a>” films where all filming takes place through social media accounts and webcams. Examples include <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3713166/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Unfriended</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7826276/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Profile</a>.</p>
<figure>
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</figure>
<p>There is fevered debate about how the film industry will emerge from this crisis in terms of new business models, aesthetic practices and technical infrastructures. What is certain is that these virtual production technologies that were largely seen as emerging and somewhat niche future opportunities have become the new creative and economic necessities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139149/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Atkinson has received funding from AHRC/EPSRC, Innovate UK and SSHRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen W. Kennedy has received funding from AHRC/EPSRC, Innovate UK, Arts Council England , Creative Europe and SSHRCC.</span></em></p>
COVID-19 has hit the film industry hard, but some enterprising film-makers are already plotting ways to cope with the ‘new normal’.
Sarah Atkinson, Professor of Screen Media, King's College London
Helen W. Kennedy, Professor of Creative and Cultural Industries, University of Nottingham
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/123358
2019-10-28T03:20:25Z
2019-10-28T03:20:25Z
Long days, heavy loads: what the best boy does on a film set
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294264/original/file-20190926-51414-l1anbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5472%2C3071&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A best boy does more than heavy lifting. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/1128561155?src=XXNJ1h73b8_x_q-_j2Ig8w-1-29&size=huge_jpg">www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recalling his early days in television as a “best boy” on <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075281/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Sullivans</a> (1976-1983), Adelaide-based Richard Rees-Jones remembers a time when lighting departments were teams of just two. At Crawford Productions, two gaffer/best boy teams would work either in the studio, shooting videotape, or on location, shooting film.</p>
<p>Rees-Jones, now a sought-after gaffer of vast experience (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1680114/mediaindex?ref_=tt_pv_mi_sm">Snowtown</a> in 2011, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5461944/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1">Hotel Mumbai</a> in 2018) whose son has grown up in the family business, explains the origins of the term: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The gaffer got his name from the long, hooked pole he carried, like a fisherman’s gaff. Early on, in the theatre, they used gaffs to adjust lights suspended from rigs above the stage.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Continuing the seafaring theme, Rees-Jones describes the best boy as “like the gaffer’s first mate”. </p>
<h2>Agile and quick</h2>
<p>When a gaffer needed help, Rees-Jones explains, he might say “send me your best boy”. Such a boy would need to be strong, agile, and quick; unafraid of heights, and accustomed to heavy work. He would have to work in cramped conditions with dangerous equipment, control crude lanterns, and be immediately responsive to instruction. </p>
<p>The role and its responsibilities grew with the advent of film, alongside fast developing technology. While not necessarily electricians, best boys require a detailed working knowledge of electricity, calling in qualified electricians as required. The skill set may extend further, to colour theory, the use of natural light, and divining the movement of clouds. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294262/original/file-20190926-51452-67vina.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C27%2C4552%2C2559&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294262/original/file-20190926-51452-67vina.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C27%2C4552%2C2559&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294262/original/file-20190926-51452-67vina.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294262/original/file-20190926-51452-67vina.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294262/original/file-20190926-51452-67vina.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294262/original/file-20190926-51452-67vina.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294262/original/file-20190926-51452-67vina.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294262/original/file-20190926-51452-67vina.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A best boy may be skilled in colour theory and divining the movement of clouds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/behind-scenes-video-shooting-production-crew-1017804247">www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By the time I, as a young actor, understood the role, best boys were multi-skilled, and indispensable. They drove heavy vehicles, carried 30 kilogram coils of cables without effort, and led other men in muscling into place lamps weighing twice as much. They could supervise or run generator trucks, and trim fiercely burning arc lamps that turned night into day. They murmured quietly into radios in a sovereign language that spoke of “brute-arcs”, “HMIs” and “Molebeams”.</p>
<p>At the end of a 12-hour day, they could pack four tonnes of equipment into trucks in 30 minutes. Such men were often rewarded with slabs of beer - wrap drinks - before their long drive to motel beds bereft of springs, the alarm before dawn, and the chance to do it all again.</p>
<h2>Best men, sometimes women</h2>
<p>While many go on to become gaffers or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_boy">key grips</a>, best boys can forge long careers in film and television. </p>
<p>Alan Dunstan’s career began on <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076767/?ref_=nv_sr_2?ref_=nv_sr_2">Storm Boy</a> (1976) as an electrician. He was still working as a best boy on The Matrix Trilogy (1999-2003). From Melbourne, Peter Moloney’s career spanned <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076079/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1">The Getting of Wisdom</a> (1977), <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110598/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1">Muriel’s Wedding</a> (1997), and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266949/?ref_=nv_sr_2?ref_=nv_sr_2">The Secret Life of Us</a> (2001). Sydney-based Grant Wilson’s credits reveal a start as technician on the miniatures unit of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203009/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1">Moulin Rouge</a> (2001); last year he was best boy on <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6684884/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1">Ladies in Black</a> (2018). </p>
<p>Best boys work in environments with clear hierarchies. This does not preclude women. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_boy">Some sources refer to best girls</a> but the term “best boy” may be used for both genders on set. Some women enter film via concert lighting. More recent and specialised technical roles may see more women in electrics; currently they are better represented in camera and other departments.</p>
<h2>Not just muscle</h2>
<p>On big budget films especially, large lighting crews require efficient management. When the gaffer appoints a best boy, it might not be because he is the most expert in a particular skill, but because he is an effective manager. </p>
<p>The management function may even be divided, and two best boys appointed. The term best boy grip is also frequently used but relates another department. </p>
<p>Best boys are alert to the balance of personalities, to the challenges of life on the road, and the physical demands of taxing work. Almost invisibly to other film crew, members of a lighting department might be spelled for an hour, given lighter duties, as the best boy ensures that the heavy lifting is shared.</p>
<h2>A sweaty ballet</h2>
<p>There is a point in the filmmaking process when the best boy’s role and personal qualities are most easily observed. Rehearsing film and television is a brief and structured process. Quiet is called. After an initial “line-run” between actors, a “block-through” determines their movement within the set or location. </p>
<p>Camera angles are discussed, agreed, and announced, whereupon the first assistant director declares “a lighting set”. At this point, actors are invited to relax (code for “get off the set, you’re in the way”). Now, the best boy marshals the lighting build, work that must be done quickly, but which cannot be rushed. It is a period of high activity, of the movement of unwieldy objects in confined spaces. It has often seemed to me vaguely balletic, if sweat, balance and lifts are measures. </p>
<p>The lighting set offers a brief window on film’s intersection between manufacturing and art, for with the best boy’s cry of “coming up!” switches are thrown, lights glow, and that window suddenly warms like Vermeer’s, or Hopper’s, or those of our childhood. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ASlJqIk1-pk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Conflict resolution is sometimes part of the best boy’s remit.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With LED lighting replacing older style lamps, film sets are much cooler places than they once were. But best boys have always been cool. </p>
<p>In my experience, the commonly recited answer to the question “why are you called the best boy?” has always been the same. With studied nonchalance, shrugging under the weight of something preposterously heavy, the best boy grins.</p>
<p>“Because I’m very, very good.”</p>
<p>And so he is.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123358/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lewis Fitz-Gerald does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
If you have ever watched a film’s closing credits and wondered what a “best boy” does, asking a gaffer is a good place to start.
Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Lecturer, University of New England
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/121842
2019-08-13T14:43:14Z
2019-08-13T14:43:14Z
Dinard: a very British film festival on the coast of France – so what happens after Brexit?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287870/original/file-20190813-9429-1j9qmxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=104%2C87%2C5637%2C6656&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Poster for the 2019 Dinard Film Festival.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dinard Film Festival</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The French seaside town of Dinard, which sits on the Brittany coast in north-western France, is known as the “<a href="https://www.brittanytourism.com/destinations/the-10-destinations/cap-frehel-saint-malo-mont-saint-michel-bay/dinard-saint-briac-and-saint-lunaire/">most British</a>” of French resorts. Over the years it has attracted the likes of Winston Churchill, who holidayed there several times, as well as Oscar Wilde, who wrote of the town in De Profundis, his prison lament. Lawrence of Arabia lived there as a child. But, for the past 30 years, the town has also hosted an annual film festival devoted exclusively to British movies.</p>
<p>The remit of the <a href="https://www.dinardfilmfestival.fr/en/historical/">Dinard Film Festival</a> is simple: to celebrate British cinema past and present – and to provide a shop window for new films. </p>
<p>Recently, these have tended to be independent British films rarely seen in their country of origin. Even the most critically lauded of recent Dinard winners, 2017’s <a href="https://www.screendaily.com/news/gods-own-country-daphne-win-top-prizes-in-dinard-/5122876.article">God’s Own Country</a>, took no more than a million pounds at the UK box-office – and many films arrive in Dinard with no distribution deal at all. Dinard has therefore become a unique space of British cultural visibility and exchange – even if you have to go to the French coast to find it.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287860/original/file-20190813-9415-1v1bguw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C506%2C3188%2C4278&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287860/original/file-20190813-9415-1v1bguw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C506%2C3188%2C4278&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287860/original/file-20190813-9415-1v1bguw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287860/original/file-20190813-9415-1v1bguw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287860/original/file-20190813-9415-1v1bguw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287860/original/file-20190813-9415-1v1bguw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287860/original/file-20190813-9415-1v1bguw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287860/original/file-20190813-9415-1v1bguw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The master: statue of Alfred Hitchcock in Dinard.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">jeanshoot / Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As founder Thierry de la Fournière explained to me during 2018’s festival, the event was created to form a “cinematic bridge” between the British industry and French producers. But Dinard is also testament to the way many French film-goers value cinema as a cultural good, and are also more receptive to foreign films. And with Brexit looming, Dinard has taken on a new dimension: a symbol of solidarity across the imposition of political barriers.</p>
<p>As a commercial product, of course, film will be hit by any economic and logistical impacts of Brexit. Dinard’s artistic director, Hussam Hindi, explained to me that a no-deal Brexit could mean “total war” for British cinema. Leaving the EU, he suggested, may mean losing film finance support systems <a href="https://www.bfi.org.uk/about-bfi/policy-strategy/policy-statements/brexit-answering-questions-screen-sectors">such as Creative Europe</a>, and reduce mobility of key personnel. It could also mean forgoing EU distribution networks, which fund cinemas across EU countries to screen non-national EU films. This could entail a prohibitive tax on UK films and DVDs distributed throughout the continent. </p>
<h2>Cross-border collaboration</h2>
<p>This is bad news for what remains a significant British export. As a recent <a href="https://rm.coe.int/brexit-in-context/16808b868c">Council of Europe report highlights</a>, the UK is, along with France, the main exporter of cinema across EU countries. This indicates the appeal of Britain’s films abroad, which are often more appreciated on the mainland than in the UK itself. Films by Ken Loach, for instance, such as I, Daniel Blake – which <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36355313">won the Palme D'Or at Cannes</a> in 2016 – are shown on more screens, and seen by more people, in France or Italy <a href="https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/319313/">than they are in the UK</a>.</p>
<p>The irony here, in the contexts of Brexit, is that films such as I, Daniel Blake are actually <a href="http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/101716/1/Author_accepted_manuscript.pdf">co-productions with other EU countries</a>. This isn’t just the case for “auteur” films. One of the most successful “British” movies of recent years, Paddington (2014), was <a href="http://www.studiocanal.com/en/news/latest-news/4900/studiocanal-and-nickelodeon-announce-global-deal-for-all-new-paddington-television-series">produced by StudioCanal</a> – a French company. British films benefit, economically as well as culturally, from cross-border collaboration.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287872/original/file-20190813-9415-etfdcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287872/original/file-20190813-9415-etfdcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287872/original/file-20190813-9415-etfdcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287872/original/file-20190813-9415-etfdcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287872/original/file-20190813-9415-etfdcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287872/original/file-20190813-9415-etfdcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287872/original/file-20190813-9415-etfdcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Crowning glory: the 2018 Dinard Film Fetival poster.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dinard Film Festival</span></span>
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<p>If the UK left the EU, a <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmcumeds/365/365.pdf">2017 report on Brexit’s impact</a> predicted, British cinema would be likely to rely more on inward investment – meaning big money coming in from Hollywood studios. In fact, <a href="https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/highest-grossing-films-uk-box-office-2016">this is already the case.</a> And, as the same report suggested, reliance on such investment leaves the British industry <a href="https://deadline.com/2016/10/brexit-warning-british-indies-danny-perkins-studiocanal-vivendi-1201835141/">vulnerable to fluctuations</a> in economic markets and dependent on a weaker currency value to attract investors. Not to mention almost wholly dependent on US producers.</p>
<p>Any benefits could also be offset by economic and cultural drawbacks, especially for independent productions. As noted above, most successful British movies are transnational. Biopics such as <a href="http://www.focusfeatures.com/news/darkesthour_start_of_production">Darkest Hour</a> (2017) or <a href="https://www.universalpictures.co.uk/micro/mary-queen-of-scots">Mary Queen of Scots</a> (2018) might be British cinema’s current coin of the realm – yet these are all transatlantic ventures (between Working Title and its US parent company Universal). British films without these kinds of deals – and without obvious networks for distribution – struggle for production funds and audiences. A no-deal Brexit would probably make this worse.</p>
<h2>Springboard for success</h2>
<p>In this regard, Dinard is more than just a port in a storm. Most of the six films shown annually in competition have no distribution deal in either the UK or France. This is appealing to French companies who attend the festival to buy films, as well as to British producers using Dinard to push their films – both in Europe and back home. But the intimate, local and personal feel of many competition films also fulfils Dinard’s artistic agenda, valuing film as culture over commodity.</p>
<p>“We’re looking to make discoveries”, said Dinard’s head of programming, Fanny Popieul, in conversation at last year’s festival. “We can act as the springboard for these films.”</p>
<p>Last year’s winning film, Jellyfish, is a case in point. An unsettling yet affecting coming-of-age tale set in Margate, Jellyfish, as its young director James Gardner explained at a festival Q&A, was a challenge merely to complete. But after its win, the film secured <a href="https://www.filmoria.co.uk/jellyfish-will-be-released-in-cinemas-in-the-uk-on-15-february-previews-from-8-february-2019/">distribution back in the UK</a>.</p>
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<p>Selecting films without distribution deals is not just important cultural work. As Hindi told me, it may also have Brexit-era benefits – since the festival doesn’t have to pay for films that have not yet acquired a legal status. There’s a piratical aspect, then, to this otherwise genteel bit of Brittany.</p>
<p>“We’re like cinematic smugglers”, concludes Popieul. However it might do it, the cultural and economic lease of life provided by Dinard, and its emphasis on cross-Channel cooperation, offers a persuasive and optimistic message in our otherwise isolated times.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121842/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil Archer receives funding from the British Academy </span></em></p>
British cinema has close ties to European cinema, as festivals such as Dinard suggest. Brexit will put them under strain.
Neil Archer, Lecturer in Film Studies, Keele University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.