DISRUPTION MEETS DISTRIBUTION
Meet our Sales and Acquisition Director, Rajab Mahmood (RJ) who is paving the way for Young Filmmakers to be seen on the big screen. And also rewarding talent with a split of event profits - and rightfully so!
COMPANY OVERVIEW
In 2024, box office revenue in the United Kingdom for feature films was estimated at £978,100,000 and up to 91.5% of these profits leave the country and into the pockets of wealthy media conglomerates in the US. In 2020, five film distributors dominated Our box office gross; E-One, Sony, Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. Not a single British company could compete in the race.
Yet, in 2022, there were 18,000 companies in the UK dedicated to film production, video production or film/ video and television postproduction. In the same year there were 515 film and video distributors across the UK. How is it that not a single company out of the 515 could compete in it’s own domestic gross market?
Following our research, we discovered that there is a space for us in the market. Sure we’ll start very small, but doesn’t any other storm do so too? In 2022, there were 220 films produced in the UK and only 1% or less get seen theatrically by a British audience. At Twister Pictures we believe that to survive in this industry requires jungle toughness.
Based in Birmingham. Operating across two territories: Birmingham and Manchester. Both cities have a combined population of 4.56 million people. Our mission is to acquire British independently produced feature films and exhibit it across our territories through high quality and interpersonal marketing and event specialisation.
So far, we’ve had our first success event.
BRINGING EVENT CINEMA BACK
In 2024, the Average Movie Ticket Price was £7.73. For our first event in Birmingham we offered our audience an Event Cinema Spectacle combining Karaoke and Movie Night, all for £7.00
RAJAB MAHMOOD, FOUNDER
I have two years of professional experience working in the film industry. My first credit was as a Grips Trainee on Indiana Jones and Dial of Destiny and then it was as Junior Greensman for Barbie. It was at both Pinewood Studios and Leavesden where I felt I had attended my mecca. I had made my pilgrimage to the centre of filmmaking in the UK and it opened my eyes to the fact that none of these films were British. They were American Intellectual Property, associated to studios who were filming in England – taking advantage of tax breaks and domestic film investment.
After 2022, I made my journey back to Birmingham. Here, I faced a lot of adversity with failed ventures into opening my own film studio space called ‘The Dream Factory’, failed social enterprise and a production company that didn’t produce any revenue. I realised that I didn’t know anything about the business of film. Suddenly, I found myself looking into film distribution.
In Birmingham, there are many people that make films and lack the resources to showcase it to an audience. There was a huge gap in the market. Distribution is it’s own sector. Many filmmakers care about the production process and lack the knowledge about what happens when the edit is locked. From their perspective, its about film festivals and social platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. In my case it’s about making box office money. Since April 2025, we acquired the license to our first feature film and in two months had marketed our first exhibition event. The result was a success. Our bet’s paid off. In one event, we made a profit of 125%!
There is a UK market for British films and there is certainly a space for a British company in the leadership board for UK box office gross. The journey will be tough – but the company has me. And I will do everything to disrupt the distribution network in the UK.
