Film worth developing.

UNITED Kingdom; UNITED States

This article focuses on films making in Great Britain. No one would quibble that Great Britain boasts world-beating talent when it comes to films, or that the motion picture industry in Los Angeles, California, finds this talent irresistible. For a small country, with an even smaller film industry, one do awfully well at the Academy Awards. Actors are in demand, and directors such as Anthony Minghella and Sam Mendes, who recently won a Golden Globe for his latest film, "American Beauty" are producing some of the highest-quality films seen anywhere. Britain has also reinvented itself in recent years as a desirable place to film four of the six highest grossing films in the U.S. last year. George Lucas, producer of the "Star War" series, said that he had shot in London because the talent base is enormous, great acting talent, great crews and a lot of ability to do large-scale productions. Steve Norris, the British film commissioner, said last summer that the film industry must position itself alongside the U.S. industry and the rest of the world. But in order to do that it needs to firm up its foundations. INSET: What is British?.