The British film industry began in the late 19th century with filmmakers establishing small studios to produce short films for entertainment. By the early 20th century, more than 30 film studios were established in London. However, by the 1920s, British film production had declined significantly as American films gained popularity. In 1927, the British government intervened by passing the Cinematograph Films Act to encourage domestic production and protect the industry from American domination through quotas for British-made films.

2. EARLY HISTORY OF THE BRITISH FILM
INDUSTRY
The cinema as an entertainment industry began from a
series of innovations in the late nineteenth
century, mostly in the United Kingdom, the United States
and France.
Filmmakers in the UK establishes small studios to make
short films for use by travelling showmen in music halls.
More than 30 film studios were established in London in the
first decade of the twentieth century.

3. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
By 1925, British film production had declined where fewer
than 40 feature films a year were being made, compared
with over 150 in 1920. At this point however a majority of
films shown were American.
Lord Newton raised an issue in May 1925 hat citing
‘industrial, commercial, educational and imperial interests’
involved and calling for a Committee of inquiry.
In 1927, the Government recognized the importance of film
production to the British economy and its role in
stimulating exports of other goods and services and acted
to protect the home market from American domination by
means of the Cinematograph Films Act 1927. The Act
recognized the interdependency of production, distribution
and exhibition, and sought to encourage home production
by setting quotas for British-made films[6] to be met by
both distributors and exhibitors.

4. CHALLENGE OF AMERICAN FILMS
While the Government was quick to recognize the domestic
importance of the film industry, and particularly film
production, the American authorities were even quicker
to recognize its importance as an export industry.
In 1926, congress gave 15 thousand dollars to set up the
Motion Picture Section within the Bureau of Foreign and
Domestic Commerce of the Department of commerce.
The Hollywood studios generally broke even on the
American market and derived their profits from export
revenues.

5. EMERGENT BRITISH CINEMA 1880-1900
Modern Cinema is known as descending
from the work of the French Lumiere
brothers in 2892. Their first show came
to London in 2896, but the first moving
picture however was in Hyde park in
1889 by William Friese Greene and was
developed onto celluloid film.
William Friese Greene was a British
inventor who patented the process in
1890. The film is the first known
instance of a projected moving image.
The first people to build and run a working
camera in Britain were Robert W. Paul
and Birt Acres. They made the first
British film in 2895 called ‘Incident at
Clovelly Cottage’

6. EARLY BRITISH CINEMA 1900-1920
Another British man called George Albert Smith made the first colour
system names Kinemacolor in 1908. There was competiong at this point
because Gaumont and Pathe had both opened film companies by 1909
and there were films coming into England, from Europe.
<<<George Albert Smith
Plaza Piccadilly
Circus>>>

7. CLASSIFICATION
The British Board of Film Censors had been founded in 1912
primarily to keep the foreign imports ‘acceptable in terms
of content and to be able to control their numbers on the
pretext of unsuitability.
Home grown productions had an easier time passing the
censors.
It was now that the certificates U, for universal and A, for
Adult were introduced.

8. SOURCES
http://www.britishcinemagreats.com/cinema_history/pre_british/page_1.ht
m
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldselect/ldcomuni/37/370
5.htm
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldselect/ldcomuni/37/370
5.htm