Sign in

Stephen Follows

@stephenfollows.com
74 followers 14 following 532 posts

I'm a film industry analyst, passionate about understanding how the industry works and sharing insights to help filmmakers get their projects funded, made, and seen. I consult for Guinness World Records on film-related records. stephenfollows.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 10/11/2025
Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/no-one-knows-how-much-movies-cost
stephenfollows.com
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.
011
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 10/11/2025
The most basic film statistic of how much a movie cost is disappearing, as budgets are now missing for over 95% of recent releases.
121
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 06/11/2025
The full breakdown is here: stephenfollows.com/p/are-movies-with-fewer-producers-better
stephenfollows.com
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.
000
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 06/11/2025
There are nine producers on the average movie. Nine! But does all that producing power make the film any better?
110
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 27/10/2025
Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/does-thanking-too-many-people-mean-a-movie-is-bad
stephenfollows.com
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.
000
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 27/10/2025
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.
210
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 24/10/2025
Listen to The Town: podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/do-standing-ovations-at-film-festivals-mean-anything/id1612131897?i=1000733215450
podcasts.apple.com
Do Standing Ovations at Film Festivals Mean Anything? The Town Investigates.
Podcast Episode · The Town with Matthew Belloni · 23/10/2025 · 35m
010
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 24/10/2025
Read the full article: stephenfollows.com/p/what-do-film-critics-think-of-film
stephenfollows.com
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.
110
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 24/10/2025
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.
121
Reposted by Stephen Follows
Matt Belloni @mattbelloni.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
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...
open.spotify.com
Do Standing Ovations at Film Festivals Mean Anything? The Town Investigates.
0134
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 20/10/2025
Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/do-most-film-festivals-require-premiere
stephenfollows.com
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.
010
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 20/10/2025
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.
120
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 15/10/2025
Read the full story here: stephenfollows.com/p/whats-the-biggest-barrier-to-cinema-going
stephenfollows.com
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.
000
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 15/10/2025
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.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 13/10/2025
Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/how-is-the-horror-genre-changing
stephenfollows.com
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.
000
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 13/10/2025
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.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 06/10/2025
Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/what-patterns-do-profitable-films-share
stephenfollows.com
What patterns do profitable films share?
I often get asked if there is formula for making money with movie.
000
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 06/10/2025
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.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 01/10/2025
Full article ⤵️ stephenfollows.com/p/do-standing-ovations-at-film-festivals
stephenfollows.com
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.
011
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 01/10/2025
I looked at 529 reported standing ovations across Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance to see if they predict anything meaningful.
110
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 29/09/2025
Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/how-many-hollywood-movies-are-made
stephenfollows.com
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.
000
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 29/09/2025
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.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 27/09/2025
Full article is here: stephenfollows.com/p/is-go-woke-go-broke-true-for-movies
stephenfollows.com
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.
000
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 27/09/2025
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.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 22/09/2025
Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/how-much-is-the-average-film-festival-submission-fee
stephenfollows.com
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.
010
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 22/09/2025
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.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 19/09/2025
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...
stephenfollows.com
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.
010
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 19/09/2025
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."
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 17/09/2025
Survey by @today.yougov.com ⤵️ ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/documents/Movies_and_Morals_poll_results.pdf
010
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 17/09/2025
Article ⤵️ stephenfollows.com/p/what-are-the-most-common-moral-lessons-in-movies
stephenfollows.com
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.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 17/09/2025
Acceptance and inclusivity have been declining in movies, and in the poll it was also the most divisive value. Only 46% called it very important, and enjoyment split sharply by political background.
110
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 17/09/2025
Teamwork is especially common in animation, but only about half of adults (52%) said it was “very important” in their own lives.
120
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 17/09/2025
Courage was the most common moral in films (40.6%) and was also one of the most enjoyed by audiences (80% said they’d like movies with that theme).
120
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 17/09/2025
YouGov turned my recent research on moral lessons in movies into a poll of US adults to see how those values land in real life. Some things that stood out to me... (Thread) @yougov.co.uk @today.yougov.com
141
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 10/09/2025
Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/which-agencies-represent-the-most-directors
stephenfollows.com
Which agencies represent the most in-demand directors?
I gathered data on a thousand directors and their agencies to understand how much control a handful of companies really have.
000
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 10/09/2025
How much control do a few major agencies really have over Hollywood’s directors? I tracked 1,000 top directors and linked each one to their current rep. The results are… lopsided.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 08/09/2025
Full article: stephenfollows.com/p/are-directors-who-went-to-film-school
stephenfollows.com
Are directors who went to film school more successful than those who didn’t?
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?
000
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 08/09/2025
Half of the directors behind the top 1,250 grossing films of the past 25 years went to film school and half did not. I looked at what happened next. Do film school graduates make better films? Are their films more profitable? Which schools have the most successful alumni?
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 03/09/2025
Full article and stats here: stephenfollows.com/p/what-percentage-of-film-directors-went-to-film-school
stephenfollows.com
What percentage of top film directors went to film school?
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
010
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 03/09/2025
I’ve just finished analysing the backgrounds of 682 directors behind 1,250 top-grossing films since 2000. What percentage do you think went to film school?
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 01/09/2025
But not all agencies are the same, and the data on their client base reveals something about each one. Full article here: stephenfollows.com/p/how-concentrated-is-agency-power-among-top-movie-actors
stephenfollows.com
How concentrated is agency power among top movie actors?
I gathered data on 2,000 of the most famous actors to track just how concentrated agency power is.
000
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 01/09/2025
I researched who represents the 2,000 most famous actors to see where the power lies. Four companies represent more than half of top actors: Creative Artists Agency, United Talent Agency, The Gersh Agency, and William Morris Endeavor... (1/2)
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 29/08/2025
Credits: Rose McKinley Celluloid and Silicon Ceilings: Underinvestment in Women Directors and Entrepreneurs Published in Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy, 2016 Link to the paper: scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1314&context=djglp
scholarship.law.duke.edu
000
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 29/08/2025
6. The history of enforcement shows short-lived gains after legal pressure, followed by stagnation once scrutiny ended. Stronger legal remedies, including leveraging “disparate impact” arguments under Title VII, are proposed as vehicles for change.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 29/08/2025
5. Self-regulation has been ineffective. Shadowing and mentoring programmes for women are often viewed as unpaid hoops that rarely lead to jobs.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 29/08/2025
4. Both industries are dominated by small, reputation-driven networks, highly subjective assessments, and a focus on risk minimisation. This environment may foster implicit bias and a cycle where women’s projects are persistently underestimated.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 29/08/2025
3. Industry ‘pipeline’ claims do not match reality. Women’s success in domains like Sundance rarely translates into studio opportunities, suggesting hiring barriers post-entry.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 29/08/2025
2. When women do direct, more women are employed in other key creative roles and more female characters appear on screen. Men dominate these roles when all-male directors are hired, limiting women’s visibility both in production and representation.
110
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 29/08/2025
1. At the time, just 9% of top films were directed by a woman, despite women making up a third of film school graduates and winning a significant share of indie film awards. Similarly, only 6% of VC partners were women, and fewer than 3% of CEOs receiving VC funding were women.
100
Stephen Follows @stephenfollows.com · 29/08/2025
Writing in 2016, Rose McKinley concluded that it came down to entrenched biases, reputation-based hiring, and subjective selection. Here are some key points from her research ⬇️
100