Major New Olsberg•SPI Study Evidences the Importance of Screen Production to Global COVID-19 Economic Recovery
Olsberg•SPI today publishes Global Screen Production – The Impact of Film and Television Production on Economic Recovery from COVID-19.
The study provides new insights into the potency of the screen production sector in contributing to economic recovery from COVID-19, and examines the scale and economic impact of film and television production globally. The study finds that after several years of groundbreaking growth, spending on screen production reached $177 billion in 2019, driving total global economic impact of $414 billion. The study’s valuation of screen production focuses on scripted film and television and documentaries, but not sport, news or commercials. Screen production also drives employment across the screen value chain, with 14 million full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs created in 2019.
Another key finding is that global production flows mean that many regions attract expenditure that is significantly higher than the screen investment they generate themselves. For example, the UK is the source of 3% of global screen production spend but the recipient of 12% – a positive difference of nearly $16 billion. Latin America originates 2% of global spend, but receives 3% – a positive difference of over $1.6 billion. A number of film and television drama project budgets were analysed, with results demonstrating the rapid spending that production delivers. For example, analysis of a $220 million film shows that an average of $10 million per week was spent during its 16-week shoot. This spend has wide-ranging impacts across business sectors outside of screen production – including in sectors disrupted by COVID-19 such as travel, hospitality, and catering.
The study also finds that the impact of COVID-19 on production has led to a loss of $145 billion in economic impact over the first six months of 2020 and a loss of 10 million global screen sector value chain FTE jobs – though the impact is likely to be temporary as production resumes. The independent study was undertaken with the support of Media Business Insight, publisher of Screen International and Broadcast, and Netflix. It was endorsed by leading film commission associations and networks representing intergovernmental bodies around the world: Asian Film Commissions Network (AFCNet); Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI); European Film Commission Network (EUFCN); and Latin American Film Commission Network (LAFCN).