The stats showed that just 3.1% of films with budgets under £500,000 turned a profit. The numbers increase as budgets rise:
£0.5m-£2m: 4.1%
£2m-£5m: 4.6%
£5m-£10m: 12.1%
£10m+: 17.4%
£2m-£5m: 4.6%
£5m-£10m: 12.1%
£10m+: 17.4%
Ultra-low-budget films — those under £500,000 — did especially poorly; the report claims that only 3.1% of films in this category earned a profit.
Regardless, the central point of this report is one that has relevance to American indie producers. Were such a report to be generated here, I wouldn’t be surprised to see ultra-low-budget films also as the least profitable, despite their diminished costs. BFI acting head of research and statistics David Steele predicted at the conference that wide release films would increasingly dominate the theatrical landscape while independents would be consigned more and more to VOD. I don’t doubt that’s the case either; the challenge for indie producers in both U.K. and America will be to develop distribution plans and revenue models that market effectively — and profitably — in digital marketplaces.