Scott Adkins on the impact of piracy

Scott Adkins has spoken openly for many years about the impact of piracy on the action and martial arts film industry. While Scott has appeared in major Hollywood productions, much of his career has been built around action and martial arts films made on considerably smaller budgets. These films depend heavily on their audiences buying or renting them legally, and Scott has repeatedly explained why piracy can have consequences that go far beyond a single lost sale.

For Scott, piracy is not simply about downloading a movie without paying. He believes it can affect the budgets, production schedules and ultimately the future of the genre itself. Over the years, Scott has discussed the subject in a number of interviews and statements. The following are his own words on the subject.

Shorter shooting schedules

One of Scott’s biggest concerns is the increasingly short amount of time available to make lower-budget action films.

“When I started out, you would get six weeks, 30-36 days, to make a movie, and you could do a pretty good job. But now, primarily because of piracy – that’s the main reason – we’re now being given eighteen days to make the same kind of movies. Sometimes with certain movies or companies… like on Undisputed… we managed to get five weeks. It’s still difficult, but it can be done. I often turn down movies with a lot of these eighteen-day shoots because I worry that we aren’t going to be able to deliver on the project.”

For an action or martial arts production, a limited shooting schedule can be particularly challenging. Fight choreography, rehearsals, stunts and filming complex action sequences all require time. Scott has also explained why he believes smaller genre films are particularly vulnerable to piracy compared with major Hollywood productions

Why smaller action films are affected

`A big film comes out in the cinema and hopefully makes its money back, and then it earns revenue on the DVD release. Although, nothing compared to what they used to be now that people are downloading films for free. But then those bigger films make more money on television runs. But these and my genre movies that are made to go straight to DVD are hitting the marketplace, and they aren’t making any money because people are downloading them for free. And these movies don’t get a big bump on television either because the bigger films are getting priority. So these films are making just small amounts of money. And then the massive question becomes: ‘Are you going to finance this project?’ For instance, everyone loves Undisputed III. But it wasn’t a financial success. So anyone who wants to invest in Undisputed IV is going to think twice because the last one didn’t make a lot of money. I think people think it doesn’t affect films to pirate them. They think they are sticking it to the big Hollywood bosses sitting on millions. But that guy doesn’t get affected; it is the people like me and others in this genre… the crew and their families. Piracy ensures that someone like that isn’t making as much money as they used to. And there aren’t as many of these films being made anymore, and when they are, you have to make them in 2 weeks rather than 5 weeks, which isn’t what it should be. The piracy situation is disturbing and depressing.”

Scott’s comments highlight an important distinction between major studio productions and smaller action films. A lower-budget genre film often has fewer opportunities to generate revenue, meaning that its financial performance can have a direct effect on whether similar projects receive funding.

Close Range and the pressure on producers

Scott also discussed the issue while talking about Close Range. The film was largely set in one location, which helped make its limited production schedule more manageable. Even so, Scott described the broader situation as a growing concern.

“About Close Range – most of that film takes place in one location, so even with that limited schedule, I felt we could make it work. But at the same time, I’m an actor; this is my business. I have to make money, and there’s this increasing pressure from producers to do these films within these newer, shorter schedules. That’s not what I want to be doing. I want people to support my movies and the movies of other actors working in the same genre and budget range… the ones who care about the films. We need these films to make money, or we simply won’t be given the opportunity to make them anymore. And if people don’t stop pirating them and not paying for them, 1) the films will get worse – we will be given less time and money to make them, and 2) the films will end up not happening… and that’ll be that!”

For Scott, the issue therefore goes beyond the financial performance of an individual movie. He has described a possible chain reaction: less revenue can lead to less investment, shorter schedules and fewer opportunities to make action and martial arts films.

What about countries where films aren’t available?

Scott has also acknowledged that there are circumstances in which audiences may struggle to legally watch a movie. International release dates can differ significantly, and in some territories a film may not be available for months or even years. He has said that he understands the frustration this can cause, while still asking fans to support the films financially when they become legally available.

“I know that in some territories, they have to wait months or even years for a film to come out. So when the only way you can watch it is to download it from a torrent site, I can understand why people would do that. If it’s a choice between waiting a year to pay for a movie or watching it now for free, people will do that. But even if you do that, please, if it’s the sort of film you enjoy and especially if it’s a genre that is dying out, when it does reach your shores, pay it some money. Rent it even if you’ve seen it, or buy a copy, just make sure you support these films because they really are dying out. We have to make them in shorter and shorter lengths of time because of this problem. I just ask people to try and support these films if they like them, and we know there are a lot of people out there that do like them.”

This is also consistent with Scott’s public comments surrounding Boyka: Undisputed IV, when he specifically asked fans to support the movie through official channels rather than illegal downloads because its financial performance would influence the possibility of another sequel.

“I’ll download the movie, and if it’s good, then I’ll buy the movie”

Scott has also addressed another common argument surrounding piracy: downloading a film first and only paying for it afterwards if the viewer enjoys it.
His response was clear:

“I can’t agree with the ‘I’ll download the movie, and if it’s good, then I’ll buy the movie.’ That’s just not the way of the world, is it? If I go to a toy shop and want to buy a toy, I buy it, and if it turns out to not be as good as I expected, well, there you go! Even in a restaurant, you can’t keep going back to the same place and each time order food and then every time say ‘Oh, I didn’t like the food, I’m not gonna pay for that!’ Maybe you’ll get away with it once or twice, but pretty quickly you’ll find yourself being told not to come back, ‘You’re taking the piss…’ and yet that’s what people are doing when they download movies… they aren’t paying for them, they’re watching them for free, and unfortunately, it’s so easy and so many people are doing it! I wish the internet would make it harder to do it, harder than just typing in a movie name and torrent to find it online. People don’t seem to realize that they are killing the industry. The less money the producers make, the less money and time they give us to make a movie.”

Supporting the films

Scott’s comments provide a personal perspective from an actor who has spent much of his career working in action and martial arts cinema. His concern is not limited to the money earned from one particular movie. He has repeatedly connected the financial performance of these productions with the amount of time, money and resources available to make future films.

The official Scott Adkins website has also featured his comments about the future of straight-to-DVD action cinema and the effect of piracy, demonstrating that this has been a recurring subject throughout his career. For fans of action and martial arts movies, Scott’s message is ultimately about supporting the films they want to continue seeing.

If you love these films, support them through official channels.

Sources of the quotes

The quotes on this page have been gathered from numerous interviews with Scott Adkins and statements sourced from Scott’s official Facebook page.
Where possible, the wording has been retained exactly as originally presented in the source material.