Film Industry Research Paper.

The Big Eight

The big eight refers to eight largest film studios which are: News, Corporation
(20th Century Fox), The Walt Disney Company (Buena Vista, Walt Disney Studios,
and they previously owned Miramax and Dimension films), Viacom (Paramount
Pictures), Sony (MGM and Sony Pictures), Time Warner (Warner Brothers and New
Line Cinema).
Ownership
Private Ownership
Private Ownership is when a company is owned by a single person or a group of
people without public shareholders. An example would be New Market an
independent but privately owned production and Distribution Company
responsible for Christopher Nolans 2000 film Memento.
Public Ownership
Public ownership is when the company is owned entirely or in part by
shareholders. Share Holders input money into the company and if the company
turns a profit they are entitled to some of that profit, if the company does not
turn a profit they the shareholders can lose the money they invested.
An example of this would be warner bros which is partially owned by the warner
bros themselves and shareholders.
Independents
Independent films are studio that produced feature films outside of the big 8
major film studios. However the distribution of these films is usually handled by
one the major groups, for example paranormal activity was produced on a
budget of 15000 dollars but was distributed through paramount pictures, which
globally grossed 193 million dollars.
Media Conglomerates
A media conglomerate is a company that owns various others companies within
itself. An example of this would be Walt Disney as seen in the diagram below. A
conglomerate acts as an umbrella of companies with a singular company at the
centre of everything with numerous other companys all doing different things
branching out beneath it.

Buena Vista Internet

Group:
ABC.com
ABCNews.com
Oscar.com
Disney.com
Family.Com
ESPN Internet Group
NFL.com
NBA.com
NASCAR.com
Soccernet.com (60%)
Production/Distribution
Walt Disney Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Hollywood Pictures
Caravan Pictures
Miramax Films
Buena Vista Home
Entertainment

Networks
ABC
The Disney Channel
SoapNet
ESPN (partial ownership with
Hearst)
A&E (partial ownership with
Hearst and GE)
The History Channel (partial
ownership with Hearst and GE)
Lifetime (partial ownership
with Hearst)
E! (partial ownership with
Comcast, MediaOne and
Liberty Media)
Television Stations 10
television stations
Television
Production/DistributionBue
na Vista Television Touchstone
Television Walt Disney
Television, Animation
Radio
ABC Radio Networks
Radio Disney
ESPN Radio
27 radio stations

Share of Ownership

Infoseek (43%)
Toysmart.com (majority
stake)

Books
Walt Disney Company Book
Publishing
Hyperion Books
Talk/Miramax Books
Magazines
Discover Magazine
Disney Magazine
ESPN Magazine
Talk
US Weekly (50% stake)
Daily Newspapers
County Press (Lapeer, MI)
Oakland Press and
Reminder (Pontiac, MI)
Narragansett Times
St. Louis Daily Record

Buena Vista Music Group

Hollywood Records
Lyric Street Records
Mammoth Records
Walt Disney Records

Sports
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Anaheim Angels (partial
ownership)
Theme Parks
Disneyland
Walt Disney World
Disney-MGM Studios
EuroDisney (partial
owner)
Disneyland Japan
Epcot
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's California
Adventure
Disney Cruise Line
Theater
Walt Disney Theatrical
Productions

Cross Media Ownership

Media cross ownership is when a person or company will won other companies
that distribute different media. An example of this would be News Corporation
which not only owns 20th century Fox but also runs various different newspapers
and broadcasting service.
Vertical and horizontal integration
Vertical integration is when a company has the means to produce distribute and
exhibit films all themselves. They do not need other companies. Horizontal
integration is when a company will work with or buy out another company to
expand, for example a production company might buy out a distribution
company. A difference between the two is that with vertical integration like 20 th
century fox they own the studios the cinemas the DVD rental shops they own
each leg of the chain so they make money at every step. Whereas with
Horizontal integration one company will own the studios the other the cinemas
the other the DVD shops and so on. Almost all media companies have some form
of horizontal integration as it is an effective way to expand and earn more
money. It is simpler to horizontally integrate as it involves taking over or buying
out the necessary companies in order to expand instead of having every step
controlled by a single entity, essentially with horizontal integration you let each
smaller company do its own thing whilst also working for you and being able to
use their skills instead of controlling everything small thing in its entirety in the
case of vertical integration.
Share of Ownership
Share of ownership is when a company will divide itself up into slices which can
be purchased by shareholders. In return for investing into the company they are
entitled to a slice of the profits. However if a company does not return a profit It
can cause the shareholders to lose money
Mergers and Takeovers
A merger and takeover is when a larger company will buy out another company
to eliminate competition. An example of this would again be Walt Disney who
bought out Disney Pixar in order to lock down the animation market. Especially
with their new developments in computer animation.
Cross media regulation
Cross media regulation stop media companies from forming a monopoly over the
industry. It limits how much control they are allowed, this is so the press remains
free which is important in a democracy.
Media is capped at 20 percent of total circulation
Sources of income
companies can make money by selling a variety of products:
sell a product in the film industrys case their movies.
Publicly selling shares to investors

Getting private funding from rich people

Getting government money the BFI
Voluntary donations like kickstarter ZACH BRAFF KICKSTARTER
Profitability of Product range.
This is all about how much money a company makes.
Product is unprofitable, BAD
Companies ell popular products so they can make money.
Small companies make indie films as they have nothing to lose.
Organisational objectives
Its the goals that a company sets itself
They are determined by the owner of the business.
They generally surround issues like growth and expansion. And business value.
Franchising are when someone can set up a business under a common name like
Disney across all of its stores, the investor can set up a shop that sells Disney
toys under the Disney name.
This can spread your brand awareness.
Licences and franchising
Franchising is a way to improve your profit by producing things based of a media
product. Disney often if not all ways franchises its movie which increases profit
produced by the movie, for example since Disney took over marvel before the
beginning of the Avengers series release franchising increased for action figures
and toys of the avengers.
Compeititors
a compeitior is someone who is out for the same goal as you are, in the media
industry this could be rival film companies. they compete for actors locations
every part of the productuion and distribution process, a popular example of
compeition is during the summer hwen film comapnies compete to have the best
movie of the summer.
Customers are the people who generate a profit for the fiom industry, it is up to
them to purchase the tickets and buy into the franchises laid out by the
companies or no money will be made Young children are an important client as
they have influence over their parents who have accsess to money.