Film Power 100: the thinking behind the list
Let's start with the basics: what do you have to do to get into the ­inaugural Film Power 100? It's not a guide to the richest people in film, or the ones with the greatest green-lighting power, or the most prolific. It's Film&Music's ­attempt to determine who wields the greatest influence on which films you get to see when you go to the cinema on a Saturday evening, or turn on the TV to catch a movie. Our definition of power is this: the ability to shape the exper­ience of film viewing in the UK. That means it's not just a list of British film figures. Nor is it a run-through of Hollywood moguls: everyone on our list has to have demonstrable influence within the UK.
We had help drawing up our 100: a group of British film-industry experts wrangled long and hard over which names merited ­inclusion. We discussed actors and writers, directors and distributors, agents and exhibitors, studio bosses and festival programmers, ­critics and bloggers – because our idea of power isn't just dependent on the ability to get something done, it includes the power to shape tastes, and one person with a computer and a broadband connection can sometimes do that more forcefully than a mogul with a billion-dollar budget.
Our list is just a starting point, of course. It's not definitive. There'll be people we've missed, people we've rated too high, ­people we've rated too low.
Who were the panel?
Colin Vaines
An experienced studio executive and film producer, he has worked for Harvey Weinstein and Graham King, and is currently producing Madonna's directorial debut, WE
Mike Goodridge
Editor of the UK's film industry trade magazine, Screen International
Kate Gerova
Head of distribution at Soda Pictures – an independent outlet that specialises in foreign language and cult films
Kate Lee
Head of film, Freud Communications – one of the UK's leading PR specialists
Hannah McGill
Former artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival
Peter Buckingham
Head of distribution and exhibition at the UK Film Council, an authority on the UK film audience and cinema viewing habits
Andrew Pulver
Film editor of the Guardian
Catherine Shoard
Editor of theguardian.com/film
 Still not convinced? Have your say.