British Film Institute

The BFI is the lead body for film in the UK, with the ambition to create a flourishing film environment in which innovation, opportunity and creativity can thrive by:Connecting audiences to the widest choice of British and world cinemaPreserving and restoring the most significant film collection in the world for today and future generationsChampioning emerging and world class filmmakers in the UKInvesting in creative, distinctive and entertaining workPromoting British film and talent to the worldGrowing the next generation of filmmakers and audiences

The BFI operates with three sources of income:

1. The largest is public money allocated through the UK Film Council from the funds given to it by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. In 2007, this funding amounted to approximately £16m.

2. The second largest source is commercial activity such as receipts from ticket sales at BFI Southbank or the BFI London Imax (2007, £5m), sales of DVDs, etc.

3. Thirdly, grants and sponsorship of around £5m are obtained from various sources, including National Lottery funding grants, private sponsors and through donations (J. Paul Getty, Jr. donated around £1m in his will following his death in 2003).

The BFI also devotes a large amount of its time to the preservation and study of British television programming and its history. In 2000, it published a high-profile list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, as voted for by a range of industry figures.

VenuesBFI Southbank (previously the National Film Theatre) screens over 1,000 films a year. The BFI IMAX on London's South Bank has the largest cinema screen in the UK. FestivalsThe bfi runs the annual London Film Festival as well as the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.ReleasesThe bfi releases films in cinemas across the UK, bringing classic titles to a new generation of film-lovers.ToursHighlights from the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival and curated collections from the BFI National Archive on tour around the UK.

Exhibition + Distribution

Publishing and productsSight & SoundThe BFI publishes the monthly film magazine Sight & Sound, which features commentary and analysis, in-depth reviews and full credits for all new releases. BooksThe BFI publishes a wide range of books on film and television, including criticism, theory and history as well as popular companions to individual film titles.DVD and Blu-rayThe BFI releases a range of films on DVD and Blu-ray, including world, silent and documentary cinema and archive television.

DistributionDistribution, the third part of the film supply chain, is often referred to as 'the invisible art', a process known only to those within the industry, barely written about and almost imperceptible to everyone else.Yet arguably, distribution is the most important part of the film industry, where completed films are brought to life and connected with an audience.So what is involved in this invisible process? Distribution is about releasing and sustaining films in the market place. In the practice of Hollywood and other forms of industrial cinema, the phases of production, distribution and exhibition operate most effectively when 'vertically integrated', where the three stages are seen as part of the same larger process, under the control of one company. In the UK, distribution is very much focused on marketing and sustaining a global product in local markets. In the independent film sector, vertical integration does not operate so commonly. Producers tend not to have long-term economic links with distributors, who likewise have no formal connections with exhibitors. Here, as the pig-in-the-middle, distribution is necessarily a collaborative process, requiring the materials and rights of the producer and the cooperation of the exhibitor to promote and show the film in the best way possible. In this sector, distribution can be divided into three stages - licensing, marketing and logistics.

Policy & strategyScreen Heritage UK

In October 2007 the DCMS announced a £25 million investment in support of the Strategy for UK Screen Heritage. The Strategy was drawn up by the UK Film Heritage Group in consultation with a wide group of stakeholders. It is now being taken forward as a programme of projects under the title 'Screen Heritage UK'.The BFI has established a Programme Office to deliver Screen Heritage UK on behalf of the UK Film Council. The vision of this £25m initiative is that:"The public are entitled to access, learn about and enjoy their rich screen heritage wherever they live and wherever the materials are held."The Strategy has four key investment aims in relation to screen heritage:•Identification •Preservation •Access •Understanding This is being delivered through four main programme strands:Securing the National CollectionCapital works to extend and improve BFI storage facilities with appropriate conditions to safeguard the collection.Revitalising the RegionsNomination of key collections in the English Regions, leading to improved plans for their preservation and access.Delivering Digital AccessExtending online access to the Nation’s screen heritage, through collection cross-searching and digitisation.Demonstrating Educational ValueIdentifying, developing and evaluating effective use of screen heritage material within learning environments.

Selling to the BFIA guide for businesses & other organisationsBFI procures Goods, Works and Services totalling £15 million a year from the private, public and voluntary sectors to meet charitable objectives and to provide high quality and cost effective services.The BFI is committed to working effectively with its suppliers and promoting opportunities for organisations from all sectors to work with the BFI. The information on this page is designed to help organisations understand how the BFI does business and the opportunities which are currently available.BFI as a Charity/Public Sector Body has to abide by various statutory regulations and internal requirements. To help suppliers we have published various documents, guidelines and/or regulations.This guide aims to help potential suppliers understand how we do business and what opportunities are available to work with us.How the BFI buysThere are three main areas of procurement:GoodsServices (including Consultancy)Works (including Property Maintenance & Construction)

Vertically integrated process: Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or (market-specific) service, and the products combine to satisfy a common need.Contrary to horizontal integration, which is a consolidation of many firms that

handle the same part of the production process, vertical integration is typified by one firm engaged in different parts of productionThere are three varieties: backward (upstream) vertical integration, forward (downstream) vertical integration, and balanced (both upstream and downstream) vertical integration.A company exhibits backward vertical integration when it controls subsidiaries that produce some of the inputs used in the production of its products. For example, an automobile company may own a tire company, a glass company, and a metal company. Control of these three subsidiaries is intended to create a stable supply of inputs and ensure a consistent quality in their final product. It was the main business approach of Ford and other car companies in the 1920s, who sought to minimize costs by centralizing the production of cars and car parts.A company tends toward forward vertical integration when it controls distribution centers and retailers where its products are sold.Balanced vertical integration means a firm controls all of these components, from raw materials to final delivery.

A diagram illustrating vertical integration and contrasting it with horizontal integration.

Problems and benefitsThere are internal and external (e.g. society-wide) gains and losses due to vertical integration. They will differ according to the state of technology in the industries involved, roughly corresponding to the stages of the industry lifecycle.Static technologyThis is the simplest case, where the gains and losses have been studied extensively.Internal gains:Lower transaction costsSynchronization of supply and demand along the chain of productsLower uncertainty and higher investment

1920s -1950s, the American motion picture industry was led by five vertically integrated studios--Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, and RKO. The studios were responsible for showing films in a large network of theatres that they controlled. The issue of vertical integration (also known as common ownership) has been a main focus of policy makers because of the possibility of anti-competitive behaviours affiliated with market influence.

For example, in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., the five vertically integrated studios were ordered to sell off their theatre chains, more so their exhibition stage from vertical integration production and distribution stages. (United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 1948).The prevalence of vertical integration wholly redetermined the relationships between both studios and networks and modified criterion in financing. Networks began arranging content initiated by commonly owned studios and stipulated a portion of the syndication revenues in order for a show to gain a spot on the schedule if it was produced by a studio without common ownership.

Problems and benefitsThere are internal and external (e.g. society-wide) gains and losses due to vertical integration. They will differ according to the state of technology in the industries involved, roughly corresponding to the stages of the industry lifecycle.Static technologyThis is the simplest case, where the gains and losses have been studied extensively.Internal gains:Lower transaction costsSynchronization of supply and demand along the chain of productsLower uncertainty and higher investment