ABSTRACT
This chapter unpacks the question area being investigated. This requires analysis of the very term and concept of risk itself, as well as examination and explanation of the specialised context of the film industry. The chapter provides insight into the reasons for a lack of broad and detailed understanding of risk in film as one of the creative industries, and then discusses the consequences of the organisation of independent film as a structural response to risk. It also explores the differences between risk and uncertainty and a variety of disciplinary approaches to each. This discussion involves considering instances of the conflation of the two, and linked subjective concepts connected to perception, trust, situations of ambiguity and relative reliance on data or rules. Having addressed existing literature on film risk, the chapter brings a wider knowledge base of risk theories to bear upon the sector, illuminating a path for more productive, detailed examinations of the subject from a variety of angles.
