Conglomerates vs. Independent

Studios- THE CONTEMPORARY FILM INDUSTRY

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Why is part of a media conglomerate?

Media Ownership

• In discussing media ownership we should be aware of the impact that Disney’s takeover, and consequent injection of cash, had on Marvel Studios.

• However we also need to be aware of the wider issues relating to ownership in Hollywood.

• We also have looked at the Big Six, and how they dominate the industry through vertical integration.

Independent Cinema

• Often referred to as ‘art house’ cinema.

• Has a different set of conventions to the Hollywood style which we are all very familiar with.

• Many consider it to have more artistic integrity than Hollywood films, which are driven by profits and mass market success.

EXAMPLE: Drive (2011)

• Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling.• It was produced by Bold Films and distributed by FilmDistrict, both

independent institutions with no major studio affiliation.

• However it still needed Universal Studios to finance and support the production. What does this tell us?

• Drive received great critical success. Praised by critics and audiences, it made $76 million worldwide. More than five times its $15 million budget.

EXAMPLE: Drive (2011)

• Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling.• It was produced by Bold Films and distributed by FilmDistrict, both

independent institutions with no major studio affiliation.

• However it still needed Universal Studios to finance and support the production. What does this tell us?

• Drive received great critical success. Critics and audiences liked it. It made $76 million worldwide. More than five times its $15 million budget.

Although it is one of the

most successful

independent films of the

decade, its takings still

pale in comparison to

the mega blockbusters

which dominate the

industry.

EXAMPLE: Drive (2011)

A British example: The Imitation Game (2014)

A British example:The Imitation Game (2014)

•Some production history…

•Written by Graham Moore, The Imitation Game made Hollywood’s 2011 Black List, which is a list of the best unproduced scripts.

A British example:The Imitation Game (2014)

• Its producers spent many years struggling to find finance.

• The script was sold to Warner Bros for a “seven-figure sum” after Leonardo DiCaprio expressed an interest in playing Alan Turing. Warner Bros rights to the script eventually expired.

A British example:The Imitation Game (2014)

•Harvey Weinstein eventually bought the script for $7 million.

•With his hugely influential Weinstein Company distributing and promoting the film, it made a whopping $215 million worldwide. Budget $14 million.

Harvey Weinstein

•Considered by many to be the most powerful man in Hollywood.

•He is a producer and executive of The Weinstein Company.

• This essentially means that he finances, distributes and promotes films made by others.

Harvey Weinstein

• He has been praised for making the independent film market “financially viable”.

• His support of films such as The Imitation Game shows that there is a market for less mainstream/conventional films.

• However usually only when there is heavy investment in the distribution and marketing.