Financing the British Film Industry

James Chapman is Emeritus Professor of Film Studies at the University of Leicester. His previous books include Licence To Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films (3rd edition 2024) and The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985 (2022).

• List of AbbreviationsAcknowledgementsIntroduction1. Growing Pains2. Challenges of War3. The Road to Protection4. Capitalisation and Consolidation5. Quota Production in the Early 1930s6. Korda and the City7. Boom and Bust8. The Bank of England and the Film Industry9. Renewing the Quota10. Recovery and Revival11. The Film Bank12. Remittances and Quotas13. The Rank EmpireAppendix I: Statutory Costs of British Quota Films, 1 April 1932-31 March 1932Appendix II: Schedule of Bank Loans to Producers and RepaymentsAppendix III: Statutory Costs of British ‘Long’ Quota Films, 1 April 1938-30 November 1939BibliographyIndex

This indispensable history is packed with information about the financial underpinnings of the British film industry. Covering four key decades, it documents and explains how the fluctuations of an unstable fiscal environment influenced many classic and lesser-known British films. With compelling detail, inextricable connections between commerce and culture are proven.