COMPONENT 1 SECTION B:

1. COMPONENT 1 SECTION B: FILM INDUSTRY: Media Industries/Media Contexts

2. The basics…. • The first three things you will need to know about are: • Production • Distribution • Circulation • With your partner – discuss which aspects of the film industry you think these terms refer to.

3. The Chain

4. Production - The “Big Six” • These six “majors” command approximately 90% of box office takings: • Paramount Pictures • Universal • 20th Century Fox • Warner Bros. Pictures • Walt Disney • Columbia Pictures • They are part of vast conglomerates that are both vertically and horizontally integrated.

5. The “Indies” • Studios that work outside the major studio system are know as “independents” or “indies” • Summit Entertainment • Film 4 Productions • Icon Productions

6. The “mini-majors” • Some of the leading “independent” studios have come to be known as “mini-majors” these include studios such as: • DreamWorks • The Weinstein Company • Lions Gate Entertainment

7. Vertical/Horizontal Integration Horizontal Integration Vertical Integration

8. Production – Investors • For a film to go into production it needs investors to provide the necessary funding. • Box office is success is never certain and so investors try to reduce the risk of losing their money by becoming involved in important decisions

9. Production – Investors • Key questions that they will ask are: • Is the film’s storyline similar to other films that have made money recently? • Does it offer easy selling points? • Are there obvious marketing spin offs to give added publicity? • Is the star popular? • Had the director had previous successes?

10. Production – Risks : If the answer to any of theses questions is no then changes will be made to the “package” (the details of the film) to make sure all the answers are yes! Otherwise the investors will take their money else where.

11. Production - Greenlit • Before a director can start filming a film has to be “greenlit” – this meaning that funding has been made available by the investors • At this stage a project will have most of the key elements such as: • Principle cast, • Director • Cinematographer • Screenplay • It is the job of the producer to bring all of these elements together.

12. Film Rights • When an existing story (book, play, comic) is made into a film the “rights” have to be bought from the author – the product is their “intellectual property” • E.g. Warner Brothers bought the rights to make the first 4 Harry Potter for £ 1 million. (They bought the remaining 3 when the first had been a success.) • Film makes may “option” a script – meaning they only pay 10% of the fee and then pay the full amount if the project is“green lit” ( goes into production) . • There is normally a time limit on an “option” – usual two or three years. If the film isn’t made in this time the rights can be re-sold.

13. What is a non-digital film? • Traditionally films were made up images printed on to acetate negatives. • These are then “spliced” together to form a reel of film. • These are then fed through a projector at a constant speed of 24 frames a second which makes the pictures appear to be moving. • This is known as analogue

14. Digital Cinema – Production • Advantages of Digital Production • Digital camcorders using a high-definition format called HD-CAM are much cheaper than standard film cameras. • New digital camera technology rivals traditional film for quality • High quality film production is now far more accessible to film makers outside of the major studios.

15. Digital Cinema – Production • Digital technology can be stored, transmit and retrieve a huge amount of data exactly as it was originally recorded. • The quality of digital film does not deteriorate. • Analogue technology (film) loses information in transmission and generally degrades with each viewing

16. Digital Cinema – Production • Memory Cards can be re-used many times – unlike film • Footage can be viewed immediately on set • Production time is cut and so are costs • BY HOLLYWOOD STANDARDS DIGITAL VIDEO COSTS VIRTUALLY NOTHING

17. Digital Cinema – Production • Digital information is a lot more flexible than analogue information • A computer can manipulate bytes of data very easily • Virtually no processing necessary before the editing stage • E.g. ease of editing using a program such as Final Cut/AVID/Premiere • This saves time and therefore saves money.

18. Digital Cinema – Production • Example: • Attack of the Clones (The first digital film) $16,000 on 220 hours of digital tape • Would have spent: • $1.8million on 220 hours of film

19. Digital Cinema – Distribution • Advantages to Digital Distribution • Digital films are basically big computer files • Can be written to DVD-ROM • Sent via broadband • Transmitted via satellite • Virtually no shipping costs • Not much more expensive to show in 100 cinemas as 1

20. Digital Cinema – Distribution • Film prints are very expensive (£1500-£3000 per print) • Expensive to ship heavy reels of film and then to collect them when film finishes its run • Because of cost you have to very cautious about where films are played – unless it is a guaranteed hit it is a risk to send film to a lot of cinemas • Digital films can be opened simultaneously all over the world

21. Digitisation in UK 2000 - 2011

22. Digital Cinema – Exhibition • A good analogue film projector produces a clear, crisp vibrant image but every time the print is projected the film is damaged. • A digital projector produces a high quality image and sound every time. • The 1000th view is a good as the first! • A digital projector does not need a trained projectionist!

23. Digital Cinema – Exhibition • Advantages to Digital Exhibition • A digital projector does not need a trained projectionist! • With a film reel, once it begins playing it can not be stopped. If there is a problem with the print it is very problematic to re-start the screening. • Cinemas are looking to run from “hubs” meaning the projection for each screen is centralised.

24. Digital Cinema – Exhibition • Staff could be cut to a bare minimum. • According to Edward Fletcher (Soda Distribution): • ‘In place of the projectionist, you could have one person in a business park in Stevenage sat in front of a bank of screens. That person could programme their entire group of cinemas by doing some drag-and-drops on a laptop’

25. Distribution • The distribution phase of the film industry is a highly competitive business of launching and sustaining films in the “market place” • You must remember that the film industry is a business and the films are products to be marketed and sold. • Every film has its own distribution plan to ensure it reaches the right audiences. • Clip: Target Audience http://www.launchingfilms.tv/planning.php?video=2&autostart=1

26. Distribution Costs • The distribution of a film in the UK can cost any where between a few thousand pounds to 4 or 5 million! • Clip: P + A Budget http://www.launchingfilms.tv/planning.php?video=4&autostart=1

27. Release Date • Release timing is critical in the film industry • There is significant “seasonality” in box office figures. • Major holidays such as Christmas, New Year Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving (US) Independence Day (US), the school holidays all play a role in the success of a film. • Clip: Competition • http://www.launchingfilms.tv/planning.php?video=3&autostart=1

28. Release Date • Studios make and pre-announce the release date decisions on a weekly basis. • Film release dates can be announced years in advance. • Pre announcing dates in the film industry is a bit of a game played by the studios. • Dates will be announced and then shifted to reflect various new additions to the calendar. • Distributors have to position their films carefully to avoid disastrous clashes.

29. Release Strategies There are a number of different ways of releasing a film. Each has its pros and cons. Films are released in “release windows". This keeps different instances of a film from competing with each other.

30. Standard release In the standard release, a film is first released in the cinema (theatrical window), After approximately 16 and a half weeks, it is released to DVD (video window). After an additional number of months (different for each film) it is released to Pay TV and On Demand services and

31. Simultaneous release A simultaneous release takes place when a film is made available on many media (cinema, DVD, internet) at the same time or with very little difference in timing. What are the pros and cons of a simultaneous release? Consumers have more choice Producers only need one marketing campaign

32. Route Irish – Ken Loach • The film was released on multiple platforms on he 18th March 2011: • 20+Cinemas • Sky Movies Box Office • Curzon On Demand. • It was the fourth collaboration between Artificial Eye and Sky, with previous simultaneous releases including Edge of Heaven, Julia, and Life During Wartime.

33. Straight-to-video release A straight to video (DVD/BluRay) release occurs when a movie is released on home video formats without being released in cinemas first. STV releases used to be seen as a sign of poor quality Have become a more profitable option in recent years. Especially for independent moviemakers and companies.

34. Shrinking the theatrical window Originally a six months duration Today’s theatrical window is usually around four months. Studios have reportedly been pushing to shrink the duration of the theatrical window. Cinema owners have fought fiercely against this. Why do you think studios are in favour but cinema chains are against shrinking the theatrical window?

35. Shrinking the theatrical window Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland cause great controversy as Disney wanted to reduce the theatrical window to 12 weeks! Odeon and VUE threatened to boycott the film!

36. Distribution • In starting to plan a marketing campaign, the film distributor has to decide how it will present a film to a potential audience. • They need to decide what sets this film apart from all the other films that are released – they look for a film’s ‘unique selling point’ (USP). • If, for example, the distributor is handling an adventure film, they will need to look for aspects of the film which set it aside from the other action adventure films.

37. Distribution • After this they will look at such things as who stars in the film, are there new and spectacular special effects in the film and who is the director? • Taking all of these into consideration, the distributor will then decide which elements to stress in the marketing campaign (posters, trailers, etc.) i.e. how to position the film in the market place.

38. Star Trek Selling Points Completely new cast portraying much-loved characters Supreme production values The passion & vision of JJ Abrams “ A complete re-invention of an iconic property * Quote from Paramount Star Trek Roadshow, 2008

39. Building the audience IF this was just another Star Trek sequel, not the biggest blockbuster of the summer 25+ male sci-fi fans (Trekkies) Mean age = 42 ABC1 skew Married No children in household Love to buy new gadgets (199 index) Influenced by internet reviews (172 index) First place I look for info is internet (159 index) I am introverted (142 index) Know what the Kobayashi Maru is Speak fluent Klingon Cringe whenever a red shirt enters the screen NOT traditionally drivers of strong blockbuster performance

40. Making Star Trek the Biggest Blockbuster MINIMISE LEGACY (STAR TREK) CONTEXT (SCI FI) RETRO FEEL INSULARITY (TREKKIES) • MAXIMISE • NEW CAST • ACTION/VISUAL EFFECTS • CUTTING EDGE COOL • UBIQUITY SPECTACLE GEEK FEST JJ ABRAMS’ STAR TREK

42. Trailer Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHfbn8jtiBM

43. Marketing Independent FilmLOOKING FOR ERICA Case Study

44. STRENGTHS PEDIGREE OF DIRECTOR BRITISHNESS HUMOUR THE FILM ITSELF S.W.O.T • WEAKNESSES • GRITTY / LACK OF GLAMOUR • LOOKS LIKE A DOCUMENTARY? • WILL IT APPEAL TO WOMEN? • OPPORTUNITIES • ERIC CANTONA • MANCHESTER UNITED • CANNES FILM FESTIVAL • END OF FOOTBALL SEASON • GO WIDE • THREATS • TOO ASSOCIATED WITH FOOTBALL • ERIC CANTONA • COMPETITION – 44 INCH CHEST

45. Positioning. So, what is it? • A Ken Loach movie... • A football movie... • A romantic comedy... • Or a quirky British comedy...?

46. A Ken Loach film…

47. A football film…

48. A romantic comedy…

49. A quirky British comedy…

50. Final Posters