Critics, cinephiles and gamblers will be closely following this weekend's Academy Awards. So will quite a few investors: the UK is home to an ensemble cast of companies that play leading roles in the film industry, ranging from production and distribution to special effects and cinemas. There's no Oscar for 'Best Supporting Shareholder', but backing the industry's stars can be rewarding nonetheless.
It's tempting to think that the rise of Netflix (US:NFLX) and other video-streaming sites - which offer monthly access to thousands of film and TV titles at the cost of a single cinema ticket - could herald the end of cinemas, if not the film industry. But the success of new media is actually fuelling the sector's growth: worldwide video-streaming revenues are set to grow by more than a third annually between 2013 and 2018, according to PwC, driving 4.5 per cent yearly growth in film industry spending to over £110bn. British filmmaking is especially strong: spending on domestic film production rose more than a third to a record £1.47bn in 2014, says the British Film Institute, driven by a 40 per cent surge in foreign investment.
