RSS Parrot

How much is the average film festival submission fee?

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

Published: September 22, 2025 14:06

A deep dive into 4,631 festivals shows how routine submission fees have become, and how high some of them now run.

How long is too long for a film festival film?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/how-long-is-too-long-for-a-film-festival-film

Published: September 19, 2025 09:20

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.

Which agencies represent the most in-demand directors?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/which-agencies-represent-the-most-directors

Published: September 10, 2025 10:34

I gathered data on a thousand directors and their agencies to understand how much control a handful of companies really have.

Are directors who went to film school more successful than those who didn’t?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/are-directors-who-went-to-film-school

Published: September 8, 2025 15:08

Studying 1,417 directing credits over the past 25 years reveals if there's a link between film school and success. Plus which film school has the most successful graduates - USC, CalArts, or Tisch?

What percentage of top film directors went to film school?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/what-percentage-of-film-directors-went-to-film-school

Published: September 3, 2025 09:27

I analysed the educational histories of 682 directors behind 1,250 top-grossing films since 2000 to reveal how many actually went to film school

How concentrated is agency power among top movie actors?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/how-concentrated-is-agency-power-among-top-movie-actors

Published: September 1, 2025 11:32

I gathered data on 2,000 of the most famous actors to track just how concentrated agency power is.

Which types of features films are called 'films', and which are called 'movies'?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/film-verses-movie

Published: August 28, 2025 12:32

I write a lot of about feature films and so I often have to pick between using ‘film’ or movie’.

Which films are slipping out of the canon of 'Best Movies Ever Made'?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/which-films-are-slipping-out-of-best-ever-canon

Published: August 26, 2025 12:28

I analysed 70 years of Sight & Sound poll data to see which once-celebrated classics are now slipping down the canon of ‘greatest films of all time’.

Which colours dominate movie posters and why?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/which-colours-dominate-movie-posters-and-why

Published: August 20, 2025 11:36

I analysed 58,687 movie posters from the past century to see which colours dominate, how their use has shifted over time and what each hue signals to audiences.

What are the most common moral lessons within movies?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/what-are-the-most-common-moral-lessons-in-movies

Published: August 18, 2025 10:24

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.

How often do movie posters put the names and faces in the wrong order?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/movie-posters-names-and-faces-in-wrong-order

Published: August 13, 2025 15:04

I suspect many people share a gripe I have about movie posters.

What types of films thrive on low budgets but struggle with more money?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/what-types-of-films-thrive-on-low-budgets-but-struggle-with-more-money

Published: August 11, 2025 08:53

Some films gain power from creative constraint and lose their impact when their budgets increase.

Are superhero movies really disappearing?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/are-superhero-movies-really-disappearing

Published: August 6, 2025 18:17

A reader asked if it’s true there are no superhero films for six months.

Which types of movies make money despite receiving bad reviews from critics?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/what-movies-make-money-despite-bad-reviews

Published: August 4, 2025 13:22

Some films make strong returns even when critics give them a kicking.

Netflix owns some pretty strange trademarks, and they reveal a lot about the company

https://stephenfollows.com/p/netflix-owns-some-pretty-strange-trademarks

Published: July 30, 2025 11:05

The company controls usages of the phrases "Strong black lead”, “What a Joke”, “Queue” and “Cheat”, but not "Netflix and Chill".

How far in advance are movie release dates announced?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/how-far-in-advance-are-movie-release-dates-announced

Published: July 28, 2025 08:40

Crunching the data on 11,560 movie release date announcements to see what’s normal.

Why studios cancel finished films, and who pays the price

https://stephenfollows.com/p/why-studios-cancel-finished-films

Published: July 23, 2025 12:27

Cancellations used to mean disaster on set but in the topsy-turvy world of Hollywood economics they now happen in boardrooms.

What is the busiest day of the year for film festivals?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/what-is-the-busiest-day-for-film-festivals

Published: July 21, 2025 09:13

I gathered data on the dates of the top 50 film festivals over the past 25 years to discover when is the busiest. And it was not what I expected.

Have movie trailers always been this long?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/have-movie-trailers-always-been-this-long

Published: July 17, 2025 13:13

I analysed 6,926 trailers from 4,004 top-grossing films to find out if modern trailers really are too long or if I’m just getting old.

Are movies with plot twists better than those without?

https://stephenfollows.com/p/are-movies-with-plot-twists-better-than-those-without

Published: July 11, 2025 08:52

I studied the plots of 26,710 movies to look at where plot twists work, where they don’t, and why genre matters.

What cinemas are demanding of the film industry

https://stephenfollows.com/p/what-cinemas-are-demanding-of-the-film-industry

Published: July 7, 2025 12:32

The unvarnished truth from 246 cinema executives working on the front line of moviegoing. This is exactly what the exhibition sector wants from both studios and independent filmmakers.

Why German films look so different at home and abroad

https://stephenfollows.com/p/why-german-films-look-so-different-at-home-and-abroad

Published: July 2, 2025 12:46

Last Friday I was in Munich to speak at the Creators Conference as part of the Munich Film Festival. It was a really fun project as the organisers gave me complete freedom to study any aspect of the German film industry I liked. They said: