Television stations can also make good movies: British television vigorously supports film distribution, investment and dissemination

In 2016, in the first week of the new year, the latest issue of the BBC TV program "Sherlock: The Deadly Bride" was released in some theaters. The film has gained a lot in the China market. As one of the 34-part blockbusters, it grossed US$20.8 million in box office in one week. Such an achievement is very rare for a non-Hollywood film.

In 2016, in the first week of the new year, the latest issue of the British Broadcasting Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the BBC) TV program "Sherlock: The Deadly Bride" was released in some theaters. The film has gained a lot in the China market. As one of the 34-part blockbusters, it grossed US$20.8 million in box office in one week. Such an achievement is very rare for a non-Hollywood film.

How did British series make it to the big screen? Why is it popular around the world again? This article will take you to take a look at the complex and ambiguous relationship between the British television industry and movies.

Historical Perspective: The Relationship between British TV and Film Industry>>>

The relationship between British TV and Film Industry has always been intertwined and has no clear boundaries. Usually, a TV company will also get involved in film production, and film companies will also participate in the production of TV series; TV programs can be made into movies, and movies will also be distributed on TV stations.

This complex relationship comes from the special business nature of British television stations. In 1904, the British Radio Act was enacted, stipulating that anyone who wanted to broadcast or receive radio programs must obtain a license from the Post Office. After the establishment of the BBC, user connection charges became the main source of funding for the BBC. In 1971, the home radio reception license was cancelled, but individuals still had to pay to obtain a license to watch TV programs.

In the 1980s, the BBC's political neutrality policy was dissatisfied by both parties: the Conservative Party disliked it as being left and wanted to silence it through privatization to make it self-reliant; the Labour Party disliked it as being right and could not reflect the Labour Party's popular spirit and force it to follow the crowd.

Therefore, in 1977, the Annan Committee issued a report on the future development of the British radio and television industry, allowing the BBC to continue to rely on public television license fees to operate. However, in order to prevent the BBC from forming discourse hegemony, it required the establishment of Channel Four (hereinafter referred to as Channel 4) to broadcast voices different from the BBC, produce and broadcast high-quality and implementable programs for the elite and disadvantaged groups to enjoy, achieving the BBC's political balance.

The bill also mentions that television stations should use part of their license fee income to invest in films. Therefore, the Annan Commission's report on the future development of the British radio and television industry has had a very significant impact on the development of British films, and there is a tradition of television stations investing in film production.

After its establishment in 1980, Channel 4 also lived up to expectations and became an independent channel for the elite. It produced a large number of films with elegant taste and high quality, such as the famous "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Trainspotting".

British television's support for the film industry: distribution, investment and communication>>> The

British television industry provides solid financial support for the film industry. Over the past three decades, British Film 4 Films and BBC Films have been pioneers of this model of operation.

Initially, the British film industry was reluctant to get too involved in the booming television industry. After all, there was competition between the two due to overlapping audiences. Film makers have even formed groups like the Film Industry Defense Group, which aims to prevent TV companies from buying movies and airing them on TV channels. Although these organizations disbanded one after another, such competition still left many negative consequences, including a decline in the number of movie audiences and a decline in tax revenue from the film production industry, and a further reduction in the intention of cooperation between the two industries.

Television: An important distribution channel for films

In the 1980s, the situation changed completely: television gradually became an important projection platform for British films, and filmmakers finally opened their hearts to television and regarded it as a potential and important distribution channel for film works. Some scholars have pointed out that when an independent film appears on the TV screen, the number of viewers is 34 times that of traditional theaters. He explained: British films have always been criticized as declining, but in fact, the number of people watching movies is not much different from the "golden age" of British films, and sometimes even a little more.

Television industry's investment and promotion of films

a. Television industry's direct investment in films and director support

In 1981, Channel 4 began to provide huge capital to the British film industry? Support and long-term source of creativity. As a broadcast and television company, Channel 4 has always provided high-quality TV programs to viewers based on taste and interests. Not only is it happy to cater to the public? Taste is also an experimental and innovative TV channel.

At the same time, Channel 4 has shown obvious intention to support British independent films, because this emerging digital channel, like independent films, is still small in scale. The two uphold the same demands for spreading national culture and social thoughts, and are easier to cooperate with each other and form alliances. By 2000, Channel 4 had become the largest independent film market.

In addition to direct purchases, Channel 4 has produced and invested in a number of challenging independent films through its international film division, such as Stephen Frys 'Happy Laundry, in which Daniel Day-Lewis plays a racist who falls into homosexuality with his Asian employer while working in a laundry.

In addition, Channel 4 also produced classic films that were familiar to audiences in the 1990s, such as "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Train Spotting". Scholar Giles pointed out: "The involvement of television influenced many British films during this period from an aesthetic perspective."

At the same time, Channel 4 and the BBC have launched a new director support program to cultivate and support creative newcomers, contributing £ 12 million (about 8-12 films) to the film industry every year-although, but this investment? The income is only four-thousandths of the BBC public license fee. In this regard, BBC director Mark Thompson explained that this ratio was comparable to the investment of the Film Commission and Film4 in the film industry at the time (Film4's investment in the film industry accounted for 1.8% of its commercial revenue). Mark Thompson believes that the international brand and reputation of BBC films symbolize the high quality and high returns to investors that are obvious to all.

b. Use the influence of television to promote movies

In addition, Mark Thompson also pointed out that television makes great contributions to the spread of 8-12 BBC films every year, and a large number of British people watch BBC films through TV (The BBC As an important investor in these films, it also shares considerable income from television broadcasts). It can be seen that as an important broadcast platform for movies, television plays a crucial role. This once again proves to us the important relationship between two-way flows between the two industries.

According to estimates by the British Film Institute (BFI), in 2011, films created a value of £ 1.4 billion for the British television industry, of which £ 308 million came directly from the core of the British film industry.

Similarly, Andy Duncan, CEO of Channel 4 at the time, believed that this number was not just about commercial value, but also had important cultural and social significance. He believes that these industry benefits will benefit the entire British film environment and is very proud of it.

Judging from the films invested by the BBC and Channel 4, Andy. Duncan's claim is indeed reasonable: these films have achieved universal fame and success around the world. In the past five years, the BBC has invested in films including the Oscar-nominated films "Philomena" and "Mr. Banks", as well as "Jane Eyre" and a large number of commercial films, such as "Dance Down 2" and "Captain Sally". The 2014 Academy Award for Best Picture "Twelve Years a Slave" came from Film4 Films. The films "Mr. Turner" and "Carol", also from Film4, were also nominated for Oscars. In addition, there were also commercial films "Black Sea Gold" and "Mechanical Girl".

As an international radio and television company, Channel 4 has made outstanding achievements in recent years. It will undoubtedly continue to attract a steady stream of funds and will continue to gain the favor of international film festivals. As independent film production companies, they also perfectly interpret the concept of "small is big", which has gradually become very important in Hollywood operations in the past three decades.

As confirmed by Miramax Films in the United States, these medium-invested films can meet the quality needs of the general audience and can also accurately target the film festival trophy. The concept of investing in medium-sized films has now become the most important production strategy for Hollywood films after top blockbusters.

The influence of the British TV industry on movies: remake classics and breed movie stars>>>

Successful remake movies

In recent years, many successful British films have been adapted from TV series, and the style of series has also greatly influenced the production of films. The spy films "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "MI5: Conflict of Interests" are both adapted from BBC TV series. The crime film "Eliminate Violence and Peace" is adapted from the British Independent Television (iTV) TV series in the 1970s. This TV series was first moved to the big screen in 1977.

The children's animated films "Paddington Bear" and "Uncle Postman" are also remakes of BBC series. These BBC-style TV series also influenced the style of British films, and the two formed a certain degree of synchronization.

In the field of animation, the BBC TV animated series "Walking with Dinosaurs" has not only been a great success in the UK, but is also internationally renowned. The 3D movie "Walking with Dinosaurs" born here was produced by BBC Universal in partnership with Evergreen Films and grossed US$90 million in global box office. There are also "The Fantastic Pirate" and "Sean the Sheep", both very successful remakes.

The ultra-high quality of British TV series and cartoons has also enabled remake films to maintain the same high level. They not only maintain the original British style, but also enjoy an international reputation.

Television series have produced a large number of movie stars

. In a broader sense, British television programs have also produced many very successful international stars in recent years: Martin Freeman is the best example. Martin Freeman plays Sherlock's assistant Watson in the British drama "Sherlock". He is also the well-known Bilbo Baggins in the movie "The Hobbit" and enjoys international reputation. There is also Sasha Byron Cohen, David. Williams and others are all big stars who have stood out from the British TV screen and successfully entered the international film screen.

These examples perfectly illustrate the inseparable and mutually beneficial relationship between the television and film industries today. Although these British films rely on large international companies for their global dissemination, they still retain their rich "British qualities", especially British humor, and British characteristics in terms of vision, sound and performance.

Tim Davey, chairman of the BBC's Global division, said: The transformation of space can make something more outstanding. Although "Doctor Who" and "Sherlock" traveled across the ocean, every detail about them was "British". They transcend national borders.

Conclusion

If we describe the picture of British films today as: British films imitate television in terms of model, style, content and customs-it does seem sloppy. For 21st century British film, its nature is extensive, diverse and constantly innovative. Its relationship with the television industry cannot be simply viewed. In fact, the British film industry is a panoramic stage with many types of films.

As this article details, the television and film industries support each other in many ways, maintaining a circular relationship in terms of funding, talent, content and aesthetic qualities. Together with broadcasting and photography, they form the second-largest creative export industry after information technology and services, creating £ 4.6 billion in GDP for the UK, a figure even larger than fund management companies or pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Not only that, they together represent the current prosperous British cultural and artistic achievements. They combine vision and hearing and can be said to be the crystallization of contemporary performing arts and literary heritage.

Just as Sherlock Holmes is a classic novel character created by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, in 2016, with the film "Sherlock: The Deadly Bride", his charm swept the world again. From the 19th century, when Sherlock and Watson were born, to the 21st century today, their figures are ubiquitous in British theaters, television and movies. This film, with the BBC as the main investor, may be like a capsule that can seal these precious British cultural heritage inside. In the endless time and space in the future, these cultural heritage will continue to ferment and grow, providing nourishment for the development of British films.

Editor: Nancy