European Live Action Childrens Films Origin Theatrical Circulation

European Live Action Children’s Films Origin, Theatrical Circulation and Performance Susan Newman Baudais Analyst – Film Industry European Audiovisual Observatory The Future of European Children’s Film - 1 st KIDS Regio Forum Erfurt, 24 June 2009

Sample analysis based on two building blocks 1 2 Data Sample of Observatory’s live action LUMIERE children‘s database on: films provided by the European Children’s Film Association + - Admissions 1 Where produced? 2 How do they travel? 3 How many admissions? 4 Role of non-national markets? 5 How do they compare to animation films? - Country of origin - Release year - Release markets - Distributors Reference period: 2000 to 2008

About the data sample… … No generally accepted definition of a ‘children’s film’ … need to work with a sample … Sample drawn up by KIDS Regio and based on … films collected by the European Children’s Film Association, and … films presented at selected festivals (Berlinale, Cinekid, etc. ) … 257 live action children’s films … features produced AND released between 2000 and 2008 … aimed at children up to 12 years … no animation films … theatrical results only

LUMIERE (www. lumiere. obs. coe. int) covers … … Annual admissions to films released on 32 European countries since 1996 … Member states of the European Audiovisual Observatory … Coverage rate varies significantly between markets and years … Overall coverage rate estimated at around 86% for the reference period … Coverage of distributors patchy for some territories

Sample films generated ~ 5% of admissions to European films Source: European Audiovisual Observatory 94. 7% Other European admissions 5. 3% Admissions to sample European live action children’s films US 64% 26. 2% Europe* 6. 6% EUR inc** Other; 2. 8% Cumulative results 2000 - 2008 * Europe refers to the 36 member states of the European Audiovisual Observatory for which data on film markets are collected. ** EUR inc refers to films produced in Europe with incoming investment from the US, e. g. Inkheart or Harry Potter.

Germany most prolific producer of live action children’s films Source: KIDS Regio, European Audiovisual Observatory Top 10 producing countries of sample live action children’s films 45 20% 35 29 14% 21 20 8% 17 13% 16 14 6% 11 11 6% 3% 2% 1% DE DK NL FR SE NO GB FI IT CZ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Number of live action children’s films produced 2000 - 2008 Percentage share of live action children’s films of estimated total fiction production activity 2000 - 2008

Scandinavia puts largest share of resources into live action children’s films Source: European Audiovisual Observatory Split by region of origin Live action children’s films as % of total fiction production estimated Central / Eastern Europe Scandinavia 8. 9% 94 12. 9% 86 54 33. 5% 5. 7% 36. 6% 2. 1% Big 5 21. 0% Scandinavia Western Europe Big 5 23 1. 7% Central / Eastern Europe Western Europe Percentage share of live action children’s films of estimated total fiction production activity 2000 - 2008 Number of live action children’s films produced 2000 - 2008

Independents distributed an estimated 75% of sample films Source: European Audiovisual Observatory Split by number of films e Split by admissions e Unknown 3% Unknown Total 257 films 8% Majors 17% Total 116 million Majors 41% 75% Independent distributors 57% Independent distributors

Films from Big 5 obtain release in more markets Source: European Audiovisual Observatory Mean release markets by region of origin 4. 8 3. 9 3. 4 2. 6 2. 4 1. 7 Total Europe Big 5 Overall mean release markets Western Europe 2. 3 1. 6 Scandinavia Mean non-national markets 1. 4 Central / Eastern Europe

Scandinavian sample films remain on release for longest time Source: European Audiovisual Observatory Mean release years by region of origin 84% 78% 77% 75% 71% 3. 6 3. 1 2. 9 Total Europe Mean release years Big 5 2. 9 2. 8 Western Europe Scandinavia Central / Eastern Europe Average % share of release years of potential maximum number of release years

Sample films generate high median admissions of 129 000 Source: European Audiovisual Observatory Median admissions by region of origin 280 763 146 653 129 041 83 573 Europe Total Big 5 Scandinavia Western Europe 199 340 167 517 Western Europe Scandinavia 41 496 Central / Eastern Europe Mean admissions by region of origin 942 996 450 658 Europe Total Big 5 87 246 Central / Eastern Europe

26% of sample films generates between 100 and 250 K admissions Source: European Audiovisual Observatory 66 25. 7% 52 20. 2% 36 Percentage of films 32 12. 5% Number / percentage of films falling into each admissions bandwidth 14. 0% 17 16 15 6. 6% 6 5. 8% 5 000 10 000 4 2. 7% 2. 3% 1 7 6. 2% 50 000 Admission bandwidths 100 000 250 000 500 000 1. 0 Mio 1. 5 Mio 1. 6% 2. 0 Mio 2 1 0. 8% 0. 4% 2. 5 Mio 3. 0 Mio 5. 0 Mio 15 Mio

Billy Elliot and Pinocchio sold largest number of tickets Source: KIDS Regio, European Audiovisual Observatory Film Country of Origin Year Admissions Release Markets 1 Billy Elliot GB / FR 2000 12 951 910 27 2 Pinocchio IT / FR / DE 2002 6 718 970 14 3 Peter Pan * US / GB 2003 5 918 061 26 4 Bend It Like Beckham GB / DE 2002 4 855 528 24 5 Die Wilden Kerle 4 DE 2007 2 773 197 4 6 The Little Vampire DE / NL / US 2000 2 650 193 11 7 Bibi Blocksberg DE 2002 2 402 795 4 8 Die Wilden Kerle 3 DE 2006 2 399 983 8 9 Hui Buh DE 2005 2 352 985 5 10 Das fliegende Klassenzimmer DE 2002 2 193 055 7 * Considered as GB / US for the purposes of this analysis

On average 71% of sample films obtain a non-national release Source: European Audiovisual Observatory Percentage of films with national and non-national release by region of origin 95% 100% 94% 91% 82% 71% 63% 52% Europe Big 5 National release Central / Eastern Europe Scandinavia Non-national release Western Europe

Scandinavian films and CEE films depend more on home market Source: European Audiovisual Observatory Share national and non-national admissions by region of origin 93% 82% 74% 76% 71% 29% 26% 24% 18% 7% Europe Big 5 National admissions Central / Eastern Europe Scandinavia Non-national admissions Western Europe

Co-productions account for majority of non-national admissions Source: KIDS Regio, European Audiovisual Observatory % share of non-national admissions Film Country of Origin Year Non-national admissions 1 Billy Elliot GB / FR 2000 9 058 503 70% 2 Peter Pan * US / GB* 2003 4 250 551 72% 3 Bend It Like Beckham GB / DE 2002 2 414 454 50% 4 The Little Vampire DE / NL / US 2000 1 805 964 68% 5 Le renard et l’enfant FR 2007 956 891 51% 6 Whale Rider** NZ / DE** 2002 779 689 60% 7 Pinocchio IT / FR / DE 2002 673 386 10% 8 Die Höhle des gelben Hundes*** MN / DE*** 2005 576 628 69% 9 Balzac et la petite tailleuse chinoise FR / CN 2002 497 66% 10 Kruistocht in spijkerbroek 2006 483 495 86% * Considered as GB / US for the purposes of the analysis ** Considered as DE / NZ for the purposes of the analysis BE / DE / GB / LU / NL ** Considered as DE / MN for the purposes of the analysis

Different traditions across Europe Source: KIDS Regio, European Audiovisual Observatory Top producing countries of children’s live action features and animation films 45 35 30 29 22 24 21 20 13 13 1 DE DK 1 2 NL 3 Number of live action children’s films produced 2000 - 2008 1 FR 4 SE ES 5 Number of animation films produced 2000 - 2008

Animation films get released on more markets … Source: European Audiovisual Observatory 4. 6 3. 7 3. 4 2. 4 European live action children’s films Overall mean release markets European animation films Mean non-national markets

Live action children’s films generated higher median admissions Source: European Audiovisual Observatory 450 658 464 380 129 041 99 205 European live action children’s films European animation films Median admissions Mean admissions

Animation films generate more admissions abroad Source: European Audiovisual Observatory Live action children’s films 26% Animation films Total sample: - 257 films - 144 films 116 mio admissions - 67 mio admissions 43% 57% 74% National admissions Non-national admissions

Key observations Origin … Big 5 and Scandinavian countries were the most productive regions … Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands were the most prolific countries … Scandinavia devotes most resources Circulation … 68% of the sample films were released in 2 or more European territories … Films from the Big 5 countries were released in more markets … Mean release years over the period was 3. 1 with above-average longevity for Scandinavian titles Performance … Films from the Big 5 and Scandinavian countries earned higher median admissions … 71% of sample films obtained a non-national release … 3/4 of total admissions were earned on national markets, 1/4 outside … Scandinavian and Central / Eastern European films more dependent on home markets Live action vs. Animation … Different regional traditions in terms of preference for one form or the other … Live action generated higher median admissions but animation earned more admissions abroad

The LUMIERE database is at http: //lumiere. obs. coe. int

BACKUP

31. 9% 22. 2% Percentage of films 13. 6% 9. 7% 8. 6% 4. 3% 1. 9% 1 2 3 4 Number of release markets 5 6 7 1. 6% 8 3. 1% 1. 2% 9 0. 8% 10 15 0. 4% 20 25 0. 8% 0. 0% 30

Percentage of European live action children’s films by number of release years NEW 23. 0% 22. 6% 18. 7% Percentage of films 78. 6% 86. 8% 93. 4% 96. 5% 98. 4% 100. 0% 1. 9% 1. 6% 8 9 64. 2% 14. 4% 45. 5% 8. 2% 6. 6% 23. 0% 1 3. 1% 2 Number of release years 3 4 5 6 7