Impact case study database

Franklin worked directly with national power holders to make recommendations and organise a shift in thinking that addresses the problematic imprecision and opacity regarding risk, and the correlative barriers to finance and company growth that also inhibit potential cultural benefits from film. Outcomes for industry practice from this change in awareness and understanding range from specific support mechanisms to a broader context of perceptive risk recognition with sector-wide benefits for businesses.

Inspiring UK film industry’s national support, funding, and advisory bodies

In 2018, Franklin convened a roundtable involving 26 professionals to examine his research-based recommendations [R1]. Stakeholders included film development and production representatives, [text removed for publication] [S3].

The engagement resulted in multiple citations in the British Film Institute Commission on UK Independent Film Report (2018) chaired by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Lionsgate - UK and Europe and in a statement that signals the status of Franklin’s research, the report states: “Our report sits alongside the 2017 Olsberg report for Pact, and the recent Michael Franklin research report…Examining the understanding and management of risk in the film industry ” [S2A p13]. Franklin’s research report was the sole academic study included by the Commission and is directly cited across policy, strategy and funding interventions. Specifically, Proposal 1 cites Franklin in advocating new coherent mechanisms for collecting, processing and disseminating industry data [R1, p3] proposing improvements to data sharing and “a better understanding of blockchain” with a view to achieving “a closer relationship between audiences and consumers” [R1, S2A p21-23]. Further, the Commission delineates multiple step-by-step policy recommendations for areas of risk management infrastructure highlighted by Franklin [see S2B]: from encouraging FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) companies’ involvement in development, where Franklin highlighted “unmediated risk often lies” and they tend not to invest [R1, p23; S2A, p30-31], to enterprise investment scheme (EIS) finance schemes (£20m fund), and support for domestic content to capitalise on the Tax Credit environment.

Additional to sector sustainability benefits derived from changed policy and funding contexts, the research drove industry action by the practitioner body BSF. Franklin was invited to present to members (c.55 leading companies including [text removed for publication] on using data effectively for the UK independent film industry, and was then awarded funding to collaboratively develop a Film Data Initiative proposal to directly benefit BSF’s membership of 70 leading players, as well as the wider industry [S10].

Improving government understanding of film industry risk to inform investment priorities in Westminster and Holyrood

Franklin’s recommendation that industry stakeholders should be convened by the DCMS film team was taken up later in 2018, with detailed advisory work continuing through to 2020 and informing responses to industry needs into 2021 [S1, S4, S10A]. The working group on film data and technology issues included: Franklin; the Head of, and Senior Film Policy Advisor at- Film, Media and Creative Industries, DCMS; the Head of Research and Statistics, BFI; and CEO, BSAC. The risk research successfully intervened in strategy, policy and funding [S1], including informing aspects of BFI proposals for DCMS budget allocation in the November 2020 spending review which included a Global Screen Fund, an initiative to link “data-driven research” with “production, promotion and distribution” to “mitigate market failures inherent in the independent film industry” and to “deliver global reach and impact”, with an Open Data Platform and [text removed for publication] feasibility work built into this perspective [S5].

A similar causal pattern is demonstrated in the development of Scotland’s new Screen Unit, leading to policy and funding priorities reflecting the importance of industry data to manage risk e.g. by helping to value IP and plot routes to market to sustain the sector. Research-based evidence including on business insight and data gathering was laid out in submissions, in-person testimony, and requested extended advice to the Scottish Parliament’s Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Relations Committee [S7], summarised in the report Making Scotland a Screen Leader [S6A, p23,75, 76, 77, 86].

Additionally, in 2017 at Creative Scotland’s request, Franklin advised EKOS Consulting on film finance and data [S6E], credited as having “highlighted the gaps in data and information about the industry” [S6B p24], that Screen Unit work led to “Creative Scotland estimates [that] around £1m p.a. extra investment is needed in additional staffing and around £250k to support the new data capacity” [S6A p72]. Explicit change is shown in the difference in the new Screen Unit approach: “New investment in data, insight and evaluation” [S6B p13]. Further investment was approved, forming part of an extra £10m in 2018 [S6G], and most recently the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre has been commissioned to work on the Screen Data Hub [S6F].

International Reach – sustaining and increasing collaborative financial, legal, and data infrastructure

Franklin’s research contributed to the European Parliament’s decision to preserve territorial exclusivity for the audio-visual industry. In 2017 Franklin was requested to provide written advice regarding copyright and digital policy for the drafting of legislative opinion to the European Commission by the Vice Chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (responsible for consumer rights and the Digital Single Market) of the European Parliament [S9]. Franklin’s advice prioritised the ability to sell IP geographically as a key risk management tool for filmmakers in financing each project. The proposed erosion of territoriality was estimated to have up to €9.3bn short-term welfare loss pa and €4.5bn pa medium-long term including to the thousands of producers, sales agents, and distributors working across Europe. This industry damage was avoided and territorial preservation upheld [S9].

During 2019-20 Franklin worked on the Research Committee partnership between the US National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the Sundance Institute. Initially focussed on sustainability of the documentary sector, the project widened to address the broader independent film sphere during the Covid-19 crisis. Through direct provision of research-based insight to Sundance and NEA, Franklin contributed to the project’s provision of: a centralized online resource that offers knowledge exchange and best practices; support to the field for activities that encourage cross-sector collaboration, and strategies to help others navigate and leverage additional funding opportunities [S8]. By delivering expertise on e.g. how data infrastructure can be leveraged, the international environment for filmmakers’ management of risk was improved.