HeyJaredStephenFollows.com - Using data to explain the film industry
I use data to understand how the film industry works and then share that to help filmmakers get their films funded, shot and seen.
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- Sep 30, 2026
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- Aug 19, 2026
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How long do film distributors last? (opens the original)
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A few days ago, a new UK film distributor, True Brit Entertainment, went into administration. It had been launched under three years ago, intending to co-finance $150m of British films. In the end, it released just seven films, two of which did reasonably well, and also had six more on its slate, some already finished, with no one to distribute them in the UK. <a class="im
Are claims of mid-budget movies disappearing true? (opens the original)
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On 21 September, Paramount Skydance settled an antitrust case with California and 11 other states and agreed to an unusual deal.After it merges with Warner Bros. Discovery, the combined company must release at least 30 films a year in US cinemas for two years, then 32 a year for three years after that.If they miss any release targets, they must pay a $30m fine per movie, mostly going toward union health and pension funds. Not only that, if they then don’t make up the shortfall wit
How many film festivals pay cash prizes? (opens the original)
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As with all the best questions I answer, this one came from Ted Hope. Ted sat on the Debut film jury at the recent Venice Film Festival and emailed to ask:I was surprised to learn that the Venice Debut Film Prize comes with a $100K split between the director and the producer team. Makes me wonder.... who else has a cash prize and how do they all fall in the year? Can you be eligible for more than one? Do they all require premieres?It’s a great question, and it got me digging. I started reading t
Why we stopped going to the movies (opens the original)
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Part of my long-term mission is to foster a broader culture of data-led, fact-based discussions of film. Daniel Parris does that so well through his Substack, Stat Significant. And he doesn’t just cover movies - he goes deep into TV, music and culture. Some of his stone-cold classics are:When Do We Stop Finding New Music? Who’s the Greatest Actor in Movie History? A Stati
Is the teal and orange look over in movies? (opens the original)
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I had the privilege of seeing Terminator 2 in the cinema a few weeks ago, in a 4K restoration released to celebrate its 35th anniversary. Beyond providing a terrifying context to the very real discussions of rampant AI in the news, it also made me think of the ‘Teal and Orange’ arguments of sixteen years ago.The hospital corridors were teal. The shopping mall was teal. The desert was teal. Then the finale arrived, all molten steel and fire, and the whole thing felt like a film graded last year r
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