Stephen Follows

No-one knows how much movies cost to make anymore The film industry has largely stopped sharing production budgets, leaving less than 4% of movies with any public data, and when tested, many of the figures we do have prove to be unreliable.

Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/no-one-knows-how-much-movies-cost

The most basic film statistic of how much a movie cost is disappearing, as budgets are now missing for over 95% of recent releases.

Are movies with fewer producers better? I crunched the data on 75,903 producing credits across 8,415 films in order to discover whether more producers lead to better movies or not.

The full breakdown is here: stephenfollows.com/p/are-movies-with-fewer-producers-better

There are nine producers on the average movie. Nine! But does all that producing power make the film any better?

Does thanking too many people in the credits indicate a movie is bad? A few years ago, David Wilkinson got in touch to ask for advice on his crowdfunding campaign. One of the topics he wanted to chat about was the ‘cost’ of offering a “Thanks” credit to his backers.

Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/does-thanking-too-many-people-mean-a-movie-is-bad

A while back, David Nicholas Wilkinson asked me whether offering “With Thanks” credits to crowdfunding backers could make a film look bad. To find out, I analysed 8,096 movies to see what the data said.

Do Standing Ovations at Film Festivals Mean Anything? The Town Investigates. Podcast Episode · The Town with Matthew Belloni · 23/10/2025 · 35m

Listen to The Town: podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/do-standing-ovations-at-film-festivals-mean-anything/id1612131897?i=1000733215450

What do film critics think of film festival standing ovations? I analysed 1,941 trade press articles and spoke to leading critics to uncover whether standing ovations actually mean anything.

Read the full article: stephenfollows.com/p/what-do-film-critics-think-of-film

Standing ovations are everywhere at festivals, but do they mean anything? I analysed the data, spoke with critics, and discussed it with @mattbelloni.bsky.social (@puck.news founding partner) on his awesome podcast, The Town.

Do Standing Ovations at Film Festivals Mean Anything? The Town Investigates.

New pod: Finally, some REAL DATA behind the insane rise in media coverage of film fest standing ovations. And does the applause eventually translate into dollars?? With researcher @stephenfollows.com. Listen! open.spotify.com/episode/1lKe...

Do most film festivals require premiere status? I studied the rules of 10,549 film festivals to see how many still insist on a premiere and how many don’t.

Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/do-most-film-festivals-require-premiere

Do most film festivals require premiere status? A question from MarBelle, the Editor-in-Chief of @directorsnotes.bsky.social, made me curious to find out.

I studied the rules of 10,549 film festivals to see how many still insist on a premiere and how many don’t.

What’s the biggest barrier to cinema-going? There is a hard truth about cinema-going that many in the exhibition sector don’t seem to want to admit.

Read the full story here: stephenfollows.com/p/whats-the-biggest-barrier-to-cinema-going

Cinema leaders have long argued that pricing doesn’t matter, yet almost all public polls say otherwise. I looked at what the data tells us, and talked with Vue International's Tim Richards, who has reversed his position after realising that pricing wasn’t a side issue, but the heart of the problem.

How is the horror genre changing? Horror is thriving in every corner of film, from IMAX blockbusters to micro-budget gems. Here’s how the genre is shifting, and what comes next.

Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/how-is-the-horror-genre-changing

Last Friday I joined Jason Blum and the @blumhouse.com team in New York for an event all about how we see and discuss horror, and why our thinking needs to evolve.

To prepare for the event, I took a look how what's changing in the horror genre, and what might be yet to come.

What patterns do profitable films share? I often get asked if there is formula for making money with movie.

Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/what-patterns-do-profitable-films-share

I looked at the financial performance of over 10,000 movies and millions of audience responses to find out which creative decisions tend to correlate with profitability.

Across genres, some creative signals show up again and again in films that succeed financially.

Do standing ovations at film festivals mean anything? I gathered over 500 reported standing ovations across five of the world’s biggest film festivals to see whether the length of applause tells us anything meaningful about a film’s future.

Full article ⤵️
stephenfollows.com/p/do-standing-ovations-at-film-festivals

I looked at 529 reported standing ovations across Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance to see if they predict anything meaningful.

How many Hollywood movies are made outside America? I crunched the data behind the state of "non-American" Hollywood movies, and considered how any system of American tariffs might work.

Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/how-many-hollywood-movies-are-made

When Trump first floated tariffs in May, I crunched the data. Now that he's renewed the threat, it’s worth looking at how many Hollywood movies are made outside America - and how any system of US tariffs might work.

Is 'Go Woke, Go Broke' true for movies? I studied the data behind 10,524 films and more than four million audience reviews to see whether conversations about woke-adjacent themes correlate with box office outcomes.

Full article is here: stephenfollows.com/p/is-go-woke-go-broke-true-for-movies

Today I had the privilege of sharing new research at the Zurich Film Summit part of the Zurich Film Festival: Is “Go Woke, Go Broke” true for movies?

The answer, based on 10,524 films and over 4 million audience reviews, is more complex than the slogan suggests.

How much is the average film festival submission fee? A deep dive into 4,631 festivals shows how routine submission fees have become, and how high some of them now run.

Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/how-much-is-the-average-film-festival-submission-fee

Not all festivals charge a submission fee but most do. And are priced at more than $100 per submission. I looked at the cost of entering 4,631 festivals to find the average.

How long is too long for a film festival film? I looked at 13,038 sets of festival regulations to uncover the official thresholds for short films and features, and the surprising places where eligibility drops away.

But how does that manifest itself in the official rules on running time? I looked at the eligibility rules of over 13,000 festivals to find out.

Full article here: stephenfollows.com/p/how-long-i...

How long is too long for a festival film?

When I interviewed 500+ film festival directors a few years back, the most consistent feedback was blunt: "Please, please, please make your films shorter."

Survey by @today.yougov.com ⤵️
ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/documents/Movies_and_Morals_poll_results.pdf

What are the most common moral lessons within movies? Very few movies don’t contain some kind of moral message designed to show us a better path, a better way of living, or to teach us how to be better people.

Article ⤵️
stephenfollows.com/p/what-are-the-most-common-moral-lessons-in-movies