Transcript
BEN ROBERTS
It won't surprise you that we are constantly measuring ourselves. So we measure ourselves in lots of different ways. I'd say we do measure ourselves on people enjoying the films that we're involved in making, because obviously no one is making anything to exist in a vacuum.
So we do up so we can measure it on the positive responses to the work, and that could be a very positive critical response, positive response from film festivals, and ultimately we want to see some of the films that we're investing in define the odds if you like, in terms of the creative risks that they've taken and finding an audience anyway, because that's very satisfying when you- that's proof of concept if you like, that you can take risks, and people will respond to the fact that you've taken risks. So that's absolutely a measure of success.
I'd say another one is just people having careers, because there's quite a steep drop off from film-makers who make their first film to those who make their second. I mean statistically it's very high. It's in the sort of 70 percent, 80 percent range of people who go from making their first to having an opportunity to making their second. So for us, a big measure of success is those film-makers who we've supported on the debut film coming back around, and making a second, and hopefully a third and then a fourth. And that's again, where we sort see our support really helping people correct mistakes from their first film, and staying with them a little bit longer. So that's a measure of success.
And then we have a very personal response to the film that we're involved in as well. Do we just- have they made good on their promise? This is the brilliant thing about film-making, that you- on paper anything is possible. You imagine your own version of what that film is going to be, and between that script stage and seeing the film a million things could, and probably will get in the way of that perfect version of the film being delivered. So a big measure success for us is sitting back, watching the film at a completed stage, and it bearing some positive resemblance to what we all hoped it would be.