Screen Daily: the global film trade publication

Overview

Screen Daily (screendaily.com) is the online arm of Screen International, the British trade journal covering the international film business — described by the Film Reference encyclopedia as the key surviving UK film-trade publication, begun in its current form in 1975 (Film Reference). It is published by Media Business Insight, which was sold in February 2015 by Top Right Group to a Mobeus Equity Partners-backed management buyout (InPublishing). The outlet independently reported both the BBFC’s October 2011 refusal of The Bunny Game — including Trinity’s Cannes acquisition of the film — and the Human Centipede 2 18-certificate outcome the same month (Screen Daily; Screen Daily).

From Screen International to Screen Daily

Screen International’s lineage runs through a chain of UK trade papers — Cinema TV Today (1971–1975), Today’s Cinema, The Daily Cinema and earlier titles — before the publication took its current form in 1975 (Film Reference). It serves the global film business across finance, production, distribution and sales, and its digital edition, Screen Daily, carries real-time industry news. The publisher, Media Business Insight, also published the UK television title Broadcast and brands including Shots, ALF and BRAD; at the time of the 2015 sale it reported £11 million in turnover and 70 staff across the two magazine titles and the other brands (InPublishing). The management buyout was led by existing directors Conor Dignam — a former Broadcast editor — and Alison Pitchford, with Mobeus providing debt and equity (InPublishing). The same month, Screen hired former Total Film editor Matt Mueller as its new editor, succeeding Wendy Mitchell (InPublishing). By its own advertising figures, the brand reaches 76,000 registered online users and an average print readership of 34,000 per issue (Screen Daily).

The festival dailies and the BBFC beat

Screen’s industry role is most visible at the major festivals, where it publishes daily editions. At Cannes it presents “its pre-eminent dailies” with festival and market news, reviews and screening information, alongside the monthly edition and daily updates on ScreenDaily.com — with its editorial and sales teams based at the Majestic hotel and events including the Marché du Film opening-night party (Screen Daily). That trade-press function is exactly what put Screen on the record in the 2011 censorship fights. On 13 October 2011 it reported that the BBFC had denied Adam Rehmeier’s The Bunny Game a DVD release — noting the film had been picked up by Trinity for its DVD genre label Trinity X in Cannes that year — and quoted Trinity co-director Mark Sandell saying the company had expected cuts but not an outright ban, and was “considering its options” (Screen Daily). Days earlier it had reported the contrast case: Eureka Entertainment’s Human Centipede 2 passing with an 18 certificate after cuts, with sales director Ian Sadler’s statement on the four-month negotiation (Screen Daily).

Screen at a glance

Fact	Detail	Source
Current form begins	1975, “the key surviving trade publication” in the UK	Film Reference (tier2)
Publisher	Media Business Insight	InPublishing (tier2)
2015 ownership	Mobeus-backed management buyout from Top Right Group; £11m turnover, 70 staff	InPublishing (tier2)
Online reach	76,000 registered users	Screen’s own ad figures
Print reach	34,000 average issue readership	Screen’s own ad figures
Festival footprint	Dailies at the Cannes Film Festival and Market	Screen’s own Cannes programme

Screen’s own figures — 76,000 registered online users against 34,000 average print readers per issue (Screen Daily) — imply a readership that skews digital-first, which fits a trade outlet whose value lies in real-time festival and market news.

Frequently asked questions

What is Screen Daily? Screen Daily (screendaily.com) is the website and digital news arm of Screen International, the British trade journal covering the international film business. The publication in its current form dates to 1975 and is published by Media Business Insight.

Who owns Screen International? Media Business Insight (MBI), a British B2B media company. In February 2015, Top Right Group sold MBI — publisher of Screen International and the TV title Broadcast — to a management buyout backed by the private equity firm Mobeus Equity Partners, in a deal believed to be worth more than £10 million.

What did Screen Daily report about The Bunny Game? On 13 October 2011, Screen Daily reported that the BBFC had refused Adam Rehmeier’s horror film a UK DVD release. Its report noted the film had been acquired by UK company Trinity for its Trinity X DVD genre label at Cannes that year, and quoted Trinity co-director Mark Sandell saying the company had expected possible cuts but not an outright ban.

What is Screen’s role at film festivals? Screen publishes daily editions at the Cannes Film Festival and Market — carrying deal news, reviews and screening information — alongside events and parties. Its Cannes operation runs from the Majestic hotel with dailies distributed at hotels and on the Croisette.

How big is Screen’s audience? By the publication’s own advertising figures: 76,000 registered online users and an average print readership of 34,000 per issue.

What this profile does not claim

• It does not assert the pre-1975 lineage beyond the chain confirmed by the film-reference source (Cinema TV Today → Today’s Cinema → The Daily Cinema); the claimed 1889 origin appears only in tertiary sources not read in full.
• It does not assert a launch year for screendaily.com itself.
• It does not claim current ownership, turnover or staffing beyond the 2015 reporting.
• It does not cover Broadcast or MBI’s other brands beyond noting their existence.
• The two 2011 BBFC articles are cited as evidence of Screen’s own reporting, not as independent verification of the BBFC’s decisions.

Timeline

• 1975 — Screen International begins in its current form (Film Reference).
• 2010-05 — Screen presents dailies and events at the Cannes Film Festival and Market (Screen Daily).
• 2011-10-06 — Screen Daily reports the Human Centipede 2 18 certificate (Screen Daily).
• 2011-10-13 — Screen Daily reports the BBFC’s Bunny Game refusal and Trinity’s Cannes acquisition (Screen Daily).
• 2015-02 — MBI sold to a Mobeus-backed management buyout; Matt Mueller succeeds Wendy Mitchell as editor (InPublishing).

What we could not verify

• The claimed 1889 origin (Optical Magic Lantern and Photographic Enlarger) — appears only in tertiary sources not read in full.
• The launch year of screendaily.com (tertiary sources say 2001; not verified from a full-read source).
• Whether Mobeus still backs MBI or the current turnover/staffing.
• Details of the Stars of Tomorrow talent programme — mentioned in Screen’s own subscribe copy but not verified from a full-read independent source, so not asserted.

Sources

• InPublishing — Broadcast and Screen International sold by Top Right Group (tier2; ownership and the 2015 sale)
• Film Reference — News weeklies, newspapers, and trade journals (tier2; the 1975 founding and lineage)
• Screen Daily — BBFC bans Adam Rehmeier’s The Bunny Game (tier2; the publication’s own 2011 reporting)
• Screen Daily — Human Centipede II gets 18 certificate in UK after cuts (tier2; the publication’s own 2011 reporting)
• Screen Daily — Screen lines up dailies and events schedule for Cannes (first-party; the Cannes dailies programme)
• Screen Daily — Screen International Advertising (first-party; audience figures)