British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry

The British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson

What Makes The British Film and TV Entertainment Industry So Uniquely Exceptional?  British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson Explains

As British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson says, perhaps it’s Britain’s long history of exceptional and diverse films that were just so uniquely British, made possible by British actors, directors, producers and musicians that make British films and TV series so exceptional. Films like The Bridge on the River Kwai (Alec Guinness), Lawrence of Arabia (Peter O’Toole), A Hard Days Night (the Beatles), Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers), The Pink Panther (Peter Sellers), Monty Python’s The Life of Brian (the Monty Python gang), A Fish Called Wanda (John Cleese), Four Weddings and a Funeral (Hugh Grant), the James Bond Films, the Harry Potter Films, Darkest Hour, and among other TV series, the Doctor Who long-running TV series, and Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch).  But British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson thinks it is more than that.  Much more.

When you look at this very small sample of some of Britain’s diverse films and television programs, you realize, there is an excellence and a uniquely British voice which comes through loud and strong in the acting, directing and production of British films and television programs.

British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson, The Right Choice

From Malibu to San Diego where California and UK Film and Television Attorney California entertainment attorney Sebastian Gibson graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law, to his current offices in the Palm Springs area and Newport Beach to London where he has practiced law extensively, British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is the right choice for all your entertainment film and television productions, projects in development and film and TV agreements for productions in the U.S., the UK and around the world.

With offices in the Palm Springs area where Live Nation will be opening a new arena in 2022 to Palm Desert to the eastern portion of the Coachella Valley where AEG subsidiary Goldenvoice produces the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Stagecoach Music Festival, British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is the Coachella Valley’s entertainment lawyer.

Choose British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson for Your Film Project

British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson not only has Southern California covered, from Palm Springs to Orange County, but we have the world covered as well from London where some of the finest films and television series continue to be produced.

For many years one of the world’s most iconic entertainment law firms for modeling and publishing, representing models and writers throughout the world, British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is on track to becoming one of the world’s leading law firms for music, film, television, theater and worldwide entertainment events in addition to its expertise in the fields of modeling and publishing.

Netflix in the UK

In July 2019, Netflix announced it has secured a permanent production base in the UK at Shepperton Studios whose parent company is Pinewood. The deal reportedly guarantees Netflix exclusive access to much of the facilities at Shepperton’s west London studios, including 14 sound stages at the studios. They had reportedly wanted to use Pinewood Studios but Disney already has a long term deal in place at Pinewood until 2029.

Netflix is significantly increasing its European production for 2019, with 221 projects, including 153 originals and a budget exceeding $1bn in Europe, and a budget of $13bn worldwide. With the agreement to use Shepperton Studios in place, it’s expected more of Netflix’s budget will be spent in the UK.

Streaming and UK Film Producers

The amount of content to satisfy the appetites of all the streaming services today and in the future means UK producers have never had more opportunity to produce projects in Britain.

However, what happens if the majority of UK producers are simply employed to spin out films for streaming platforms? What of the UK film industry if American streamers control the terms for the vast majority of original content being produced in Britain? Will it be possible for the UK film industry to maintain its high quality and still attract major talent?

British content has always been loved by theater audiences around the world. But today, that love for British cinema is greater than ever. The UK is a major film destination for productions and in the next decades it is expected to grow even more.

With the world’s love affair for British films, so too has the world fallen in love with London as a tourist destination. That symbiotic relationship can only grow stronger as more and more films are made in Britain. One can argue that will be the case whether the films are streamed on streaming platforms or shown in theaters.

But there is something special when a film made in Britain is shown on the big screen. London seems bigger, more romantic, more exciting, more everything. It’s the emotional connection that’s made when a person sees a film in a theater in which the story takes place in London.

Would audiences have fallen in love with the film, Love Actually, as much as they did, if the film had only been streamed? Would so many tourists go to Notting Hill, look for the Notting Hill film’s bookshop to take photos of Notting Hill had only been viewed on Netflix? How many of those theatergoers would have even seen those films if they had only been seen on HBO? There’s an emotional connection that’s made when a film is seen in a theater that simply isn’t as strong when a film is seen on a TV at home.

Problems With Streaming Platform Agreements

The trouble with granting global streaming rights to Netflix or other streamers while only retaining ownership rights to a project and then having to wait a certain amount of time before being allowed under the terms of their agreement to license the TV show elsewhere, is that Netflix is available in over 190 different countries. Other streamers will likely have similarly wide availability throughout the world.

Once a streaming service like Netflix has streamed the show all over the world, there aren’t many international networks left for a British production company to license the show or distributors or sales agents interested in the crumbs left for them to market. The situation will likely be the same or worse when the new HBO Max, Disney Plus and NBCUniversal streaming entities take flight as well.

As other streaming partners such as Disney Plus and NBCUniversal, as well as Warner Media’s HBO Max gear up to stream their own content globally, not only British production companies but American production companies as well who want to be able to prosper by licensing their productions (and reap the rewards) globally themselves are finding themselves increasingly stymied if they agree to such restrictions.

While there have been co-productions with British broadcasters by streaming services, some co-productions today require a British broadcaster to take secondary rights to show the program after its already been screened on streaming services. With that type of deal, besides being allowed to screen a series after it’s already been streamed in the U.S. or all across the world except for Britain, there isn’t much left for a co-producer to develop their other productions with in terms of additional licensing.

Concerns by British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson with Streaming Service Dominance in the UK

The competition with streamers today is one where Netflix and Amazon and the other streamers coming into birth can or will be able to afford higher budgets, pay talent higher fees and shoulder more costs than Britain’s broadcasters who have more limited funds, and who show the programs for the most part only on British TV or wherever else they are able to license the programs as opposed to streaming services all across the U.S. and in many foreign markets.

Some would argue that these deals with American streamers benefit the streamers more than they do British broadcasters and that British producers will eventually be simply cut out of deals with their partners in the future. Netflix’s counter-argument is that Netflix is providing a wider platform for British voices and talent. Netflix streams to 150 million people around the world. The population of Great Britain, not all of which watch TV, is only around 66 to 68 million people. On the other hand, Britain’s population includes a Queen, princes and princesses.

One of the positives spoken of with respect to working with Netflix is that they hire the people they think best for a project, and then leave them alone to make it with a hands-off approach, though even that isn’t always the case. And that’s not always been the case in the past with Hollywood studios and now that more Hollywood Studios are becoming streaming entities and filming in Britain, it will remain to be seen whether that practice continues.

Will Streaming Kill the UK Independent Film Industry?

It’s feared the increasing dominance of US streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney Plus and HBO Max will drive up costs further for UK production companies making British stars on whom they rely to attract important film financing less available.

As streaming entities battle it out and new ones from Apple and Facebook enter the fray as well, the UK film industry may thrive in the short run, but at what cost to the uniqueness of Britishness?

It’s certainly easy for British production companies to produce films and television for Netflix and other streamers, but it’s feared it will become even more difficult to find sufficient investment to fund truly British independent films and TV series on the level Britain and the rest of the world would like to see. And if that scenario comes true, these American streamer service studios will dominate the worldwide film and television industry.

Future generations may look back and realize how streaming destroyed the British independent film sector, depriving cinema audiences in Britain and throughout the world of these unique British films and television series in which the UK has enriched all of our lives.

Tax relief provides about 20% of a production budget if the entire film is made in the UK. British producers have in the past competed for public funds from the British Film Institute and BBC Films and for a UK distributor to provide them with a substantial guarantee against UK revenues.

But around 11 million pounds for BBC Films and about 15 million pounds for the BFI are pathetic amounts compared to the billions that Netflix and others can and do spend. While British productions have never needed Netflix sums of money to compete and make exceptional films, they still need funding. They also still need British casts and crews, but they can be difficult to find with British actors and casts tied up in streaming company productions. If the situation worsens, filmgoers in the future may well be deprived of truly independent British productions which are and have always been so unique, and brilliantly British.

The BBC and BFI, however, feel there will always be British actors available for independent British productions and they still see encouraging signs from the investment sector and the situation may in fact provide opportunities to a new crop of British actors and cast members. That should well be the case when one looks at the rich history and success of British film and television productions. The world hopes this will remain the case. The UK independent film industry is too valuable to disappear.

British TV and Film Producers

These are just a small sample of some of the British producers, financing entities, development and production companies involved with some of the finest television series programs and films coming out of the UK.

BBC America – Killing Eve, Dynasties

BBC Natural History Unit – Dynasties

BBC Studios – Dynasties, Doctor Who

BBC Wales – Sherlock

Carnival Films – Downton Abbey

Endeavor Content – Killing Eve

Mark Gatiss – Sherlock

Generator Entertainment – Game of Thrones

Sid Gentle Films (majority owned by BBC Studios) – Killing Eve

Hartswood Films – Sherlock

ITV Studios – Downton Abbey

Caryn Mandabach Productions – Peaky Blinders

Screen Yorkshire – Peaky Blinders

Steven Moffat – Sherlock

Sue Vertue – Sherlock

Television 360 – Game of Thrones

Tiger Aspect Productions – Peaky Blinders

Eon (Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson) – Skyfall (Home of the James Bond films)

Heyday (David Heyman) – Paddington, Paddington 2, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Scott Free (Ridley Scott, Jack Arbuthnott) – The Martian

Working Title (Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner) – Bridget Jones’ Diary, Love Actually, About Time, Darkest Hour, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill

A Few Last Thoughts About Streaming and The UK Film Industry

Some would say the UK film industry doesn’t need help. British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson strongly feels it will survive. It always has and always will.

On the other side of the coin, it can be argued that never before has there been such a change not just to the UK film industry but to the worldwide film industry as the change brought upon it by streaming platforms and their ever increasing control of what gets produced, where it gets produced and under what terms content is produced.

The U.S. film industry can withstand these changes brought on by streaming easier due to it’s mammoth size. Time will tell if the UK can withstand the changes brought on by streaming with the same aplomb. But the warning signs are there. Streaming is going to have wide spread effects. Some good, some bad. We can only hope the good outweighs the bad.

British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson: British Talent Is In Demand

Despite these concerns of dealing with the American streamers, the competition today is hot to secure the best talent in Great Britain. That, along with generous tax breaks and a high demand for television limited series programming all over the world is now creating highly fertile conditions for those involved in the British film industry which could last for some time.

Spending on high -quality TV productions in Britain is reaching greater heights than anyone would have believed given the size and power of the mammoth film industry in the U.S. But competition among streaming services and studios like HBO who, in the form of HBO Max, will soon be a streaming service as well, and the desire for more choice by arm-chair television viewers around the world, is driving the demand. And with those increased productions, a new crop of British talent is emerging.

Netflix and Amazon Prime utilize big-budget dramas and natural history programs as bait for acquiring and retaining subscribers. Now they need ever more bait in the form of big-budget new productions. With the loss of content that’s now being pulled off of Netflix to be streamed instead on Disney Plus, HBO Max and others, the demand for such programming will only increase as is indicated in Netflix’s ever increasing budget for original content.

With Britain’s recognized expertise in both dramas, and natural history programs, Britain’s film producers are in high demand. That, however, may still leave UK independent producers with British comedies, which American audiences may find too British or too quirky, despite the huge successes comedies such as those produced by Monty Python and movies such as Bean have found in America.

With their ever increasing need for high-quality dramas like those the British film industry excels in, at some point the British film industry may realize they have the upper hand with these new streaming entities in the world’s entertainment industry. When that happens, the British producers and broadcasters may be able to negotiate more favorable deals allowing them to retain more of the lucrative global sales rights, although what needs to be considered is whether a British streaming service collaboration between the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 wouldn’t be more advantageous to the British film industry than accepting the terms offered by American streaming services to British producers.

British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson, A California Entertainment Attorney

California entertainment attorney Sebastian Gibson has been called “Brilliant” and “A Legend” and is a cum laude graduate of UCLA. He has law degrees both from the University of San Diego School of Law and from Cardiff University in Wales where he graduated magna cum laude.

With these dual law degrees in the U.S. and Great Britain, and over 40 years of combined experience both in London and California, British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is the international entertainment law firm to turn to for music events, festivals and world tours, music, film, television, songwriting, film music licensing, film and TV production agreements, publishing, modeling, athlete representation, and other creative aspects of the entertainment industry in the U.S., the UK and around the world.

The Right Choice for Independent Production Companies Looking to the British Film Industry is British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson

Focused on bringing great film projects to UK film producers who recognize the unique voice of British actors, directors and crews and as a California entertainment powerhouse working with actors, musicians, songwriters, novelists, models and athletes from offices just near enough to Hollywood but far enough from the congestion of LA, British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is the right choice and the law firm to choose for all your entertainment endeavours from California to the UK and throughout the world.

British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has been named one of the 2022 Top Lawyers by the prestigious Palm Springs Life Magazine for the past 12 years in a row and is one of the most acclaimed lawyers in the Coachella Valley of California. He has written for the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal Newspapers, is a published novelist and wrote and recorded the music and lyrics for the musical, Shake in London. British Independent Film and TV Entertainment Industry Lawyer Sebastian Gibson also has a top rating of “Superb” by Avvo, their highest rating, which rates attorneys all across the U.S.