An independent film (or indie film) is a film initially produced without financing or distribution from a major movie studio. Often, films that receive less than 50% of their budget from major studio are also considered "independent". According to MPAA data, January through March 2005 showed approximately 15% of US domestic box office revenue was from independent or indie studios.
An independent film production can rival a mainstream film production if it has the necessary funding and distribution, like in the case of Paranormal Activity.
Case study: WARP FILMS
Origins: Based in the UK; started life as a record store.
Films include: Rubber Johnny, Dead Man's Shoes, This Is England, Donkey Punch, A Complete History of My Sexual Failures, Four Lions.
Warp Films has developed and has several projects currently in the works for the BBC, Channel 4 and Film4 (including one of their most popular creations, This Is England which has a sequel released due for release later this year).
One of the company's most recent productions, Tyrannosaur, received a grant of £206,540 from the National Lottery fund through the UK Film Council. The remainder of the film's budget was came from Warp X (part of the Warp Films company, typically funding films with budgets of £400,000 and £800,000), Inflammable Films, Film4, Screen Yorkshire, EM Media and Optimum Releasing (StudioCanal).
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Director Study: Nick Broomfield
Nick Broomfield (b. 1948) is an English documentary film maker.
Broomfield's style has evolved a number of times over his career.
His documentary films, such as Ghosts, tell and explain events from the point of view of the victim, so the audience grow and experience the character's emotional journey with them. He currently employs a technique he calls ‘Direct Cinema’ which uses non-actors to play themselves and helps capture the truth of his film’s subject matter. In Battle for Haditha, Broomfield worked with ex-Marines and Iraqi refugees, as well as known actors, shooting the film sequentially, enabling the cast to build their characters as the story progressed. It also used real locations and improvised dialogue was encouraged, despite working from a detailed script.
Previous work includes Kurt and Courtney, Sarah Palin: You Betcha! and Monster in a Box .
-Influenced by Colin Young.
-Mother was a czech refugee and father a photographer.
-Dislikes using big crews with expensive equiptment.
Ghosts
Broomfield's 2006 documentary of the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster Ghosts is generally accepted as an accurate telling of the circumstances leading up to the disaster.
Much of Ghosts is based on a series of daring investigative reports by the Taiwanese-born journalist Hsiao-Hung Pai, but the film also incorporates the experiences of its actors, themselves former illegal migrants.
Broomfield and his lead actress, Ai Qin, shot several scenes for the film undercover, working in a factory and picking spring onions, although ultimately these scenes were cut form the final version because it was "too much like a different film" (Broomfield).
"I remember picking spring onions for about eight hours", Broomfield recalled, "then getting three hours' sleep and then being hauled up to go and work in a book factory. I was always being fired because I was too slow, partly because I was filming as well. It was very, very tough."
Broomfield shot Ghosts using a five-man crew using a single hand-held HD camera on a tiny budget. The film picked up 1.15% of the audience viewing figures when aired (122,000 people), up on the average figures for the channel's viewing figures for that 10pm slot (which is typically 0.62%, or 72,000).
However, there are a few details that have been changed for the film:
-38 individuals, of whom 23 drowned, were involved in the disaster while the film depicts a much smaller group of people.
-The film itself is based heavily on undercover reports by Hsiao-Hung Pai. Because there is no real documentation of the characters in the film (due to them working illegally in the UK), the film reflects and is based on what Hsiao-Hung Pai experienced himself and also the experiences of both the cast and crew.
-Ghosts had no scripted dialogue only working from a written outline.
-Released on the 200th annerversary of the abolition of slavery.
-Originally intended as a drama, not a documentary.
The Wider Issue
The rules about immigration control (which are law) are complicated by the fact that they overlap with nationality law - that is, the law about who is or is not a British citizen, and the rights of the different types of British citizen.
The system of immigration control in the UK splits people into two broad categories: those who have 'right of abode' in the UK and who can live, work and move in and out of the country as they wish, and those who require permission in order to enter and remain here.
Broomfield's style has evolved a number of times over his career.
His documentary films, such as Ghosts, tell and explain events from the point of view of the victim, so the audience grow and experience the character's emotional journey with them. He currently employs a technique he calls ‘Direct Cinema’ which uses non-actors to play themselves and helps capture the truth of his film’s subject matter. In Battle for Haditha, Broomfield worked with ex-Marines and Iraqi refugees, as well as known actors, shooting the film sequentially, enabling the cast to build their characters as the story progressed. It also used real locations and improvised dialogue was encouraged, despite working from a detailed script.
Previous work includes Kurt and Courtney, Sarah Palin: You Betcha! and Monster in a Box .
-Influenced by Colin Young.
-Mother was a czech refugee and father a photographer.
-Dislikes using big crews with expensive equiptment.
Ghosts
Broomfield's 2006 documentary of the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster Ghosts is generally accepted as an accurate telling of the circumstances leading up to the disaster.
Much of Ghosts is based on a series of daring investigative reports by the Taiwanese-born journalist Hsiao-Hung Pai, but the film also incorporates the experiences of its actors, themselves former illegal migrants.
Broomfield and his lead actress, Ai Qin, shot several scenes for the film undercover, working in a factory and picking spring onions, although ultimately these scenes were cut form the final version because it was "too much like a different film" (Broomfield).
"I remember picking spring onions for about eight hours", Broomfield recalled, "then getting three hours' sleep and then being hauled up to go and work in a book factory. I was always being fired because I was too slow, partly because I was filming as well. It was very, very tough."
Broomfield shot Ghosts using a five-man crew using a single hand-held HD camera on a tiny budget. The film picked up 1.15% of the audience viewing figures when aired (122,000 people), up on the average figures for the channel's viewing figures for that 10pm slot (which is typically 0.62%, or 72,000).
However, there are a few details that have been changed for the film:
-38 individuals, of whom 23 drowned, were involved in the disaster while the film depicts a much smaller group of people.
-The film itself is based heavily on undercover reports by Hsiao-Hung Pai. Because there is no real documentation of the characters in the film (due to them working illegally in the UK), the film reflects and is based on what Hsiao-Hung Pai experienced himself and also the experiences of both the cast and crew.
-Ghosts had no scripted dialogue only working from a written outline.
-Released on the 200th annerversary of the abolition of slavery.
-Originally intended as a drama, not a documentary.
The Wider Issue
The rules about immigration control (which are law) are complicated by the fact that they overlap with nationality law - that is, the law about who is or is not a British citizen, and the rights of the different types of British citizen.
The system of immigration control in the UK splits people into two broad categories: those who have 'right of abode' in the UK and who can live, work and move in and out of the country as they wish, and those who require permission in order to enter and remain here.
Friday, 3 February 2012
Major Film Studios
A major film studio is a movie production and distribution company that releases a substantial number of films annually and consistently commands a significant share of box-office revenues in a given market.
The top 6 film distributors are these major film studios, called "The Majors," and they dominate the UK and US film market; these companies own over 80% of the film distribution market themselves. The top majors are Warner Bros (18.3% with 31 films released) and 20th Century Fox (15.9% with 28 films released).
CASE STUDY: Time Warner
First emerged: 1972
Share of the market: 18.3% in 2010 (The biggest share of all Majors in 2010)
As of mid-2010, it was the world's second largest entertainment conglomerate in terms of revenue (behind Disney), as well as the world's largest media conglomerate.
Competition: Box office receipts have been rising while the growth rate of DVD sales have recently been declining, which affects Warner Bros.' growth prospects and revenues.
2012 and upcoming films:
Already, Warner Bros. have had the 6th highest grossing film of 2012 so far (as of Feb. 2012)Joyful Noise.
More upcoming films are Wrath of the Titans, Bullet to the Head, The Lucky One, To The Arctic 3D, Dark Shadows, Magic Mike, The Apparition, Argo, Trouble with the Curve, The Gangster Squad, Gravity and The Great Gatsby.
But, probably the biggest release of the year for the studio is Christopher Nolan's third Batman installment, The Dark Knight Rises, In July.
Warner Bros. tend to do a wide range of films to appeal to multiple audiences; For instance, Project X is a comedy-drama while Journey 2 is a family-orientated film.
However, Warner Bros. do often favour production of sequels (Journey 2), films based on previous work such as books (i.e. The Dark Knight Rises and Bullet To The Head) (i.e. Sylvester Stallone in Bullet To The Head, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp in Dark Shadows).
Buisness Structure:
This is an example of Horizontal Intergration: This is absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in the same level of production and sharing resources at that level.
Vertical Intergration: The combination in one company of two or more stages of production normally operated by separate companies.
The top 6 film distributors are these major film studios, called "The Majors," and they dominate the UK and US film market; these companies own over 80% of the film distribution market themselves. The top majors are Warner Bros (18.3% with 31 films released) and 20th Century Fox (15.9% with 28 films released).
CASE STUDY: Time Warner
First emerged: 1972
Share of the market: 18.3% in 2010 (The biggest share of all Majors in 2010)
As of mid-2010, it was the world's second largest entertainment conglomerate in terms of revenue (behind Disney), as well as the world's largest media conglomerate.
Competition: Box office receipts have been rising while the growth rate of DVD sales have recently been declining, which affects Warner Bros.' growth prospects and revenues.
2012 and upcoming films:
Already, Warner Bros. have had the 6th highest grossing film of 2012 so far (as of Feb. 2012)Joyful Noise.
More upcoming films are Wrath of the Titans, Bullet to the Head, The Lucky One, To The Arctic 3D, Dark Shadows, Magic Mike, The Apparition, Argo, Trouble with the Curve, The Gangster Squad, Gravity and The Great Gatsby.
But, probably the biggest release of the year for the studio is Christopher Nolan's third Batman installment, The Dark Knight Rises, In July.
Warner Bros. tend to do a wide range of films to appeal to multiple audiences; For instance, Project X is a comedy-drama while Journey 2 is a family-orientated film.
However, Warner Bros. do often favour production of sequels (Journey 2), films based on previous work such as books (i.e. The Dark Knight Rises and Bullet To The Head) (i.e. Sylvester Stallone in Bullet To The Head, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp in Dark Shadows).
Buisness Structure:
This is an example of Horizontal Intergration: This is absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in the same level of production and sharing resources at that level.
Vertical Intergration: The combination in one company of two or more stages of production normally operated by separate companies.
Monday, 30 January 2012
3D and Film
In the late 1890s, British film pioneer William Friese-Greene filed a patent for a 3-D movie process.
Two 30-minute Nazi propaganda films shot in 3D in Germany in 1936 were found in Berlin’s Federal Archives in 2011. By 2004, 54% (133 theaters of 248) of the IMAX community was 3D-capable.
3D film has resurged a number of times over the past 100 years; in 1952–1955, 1960, 1985 and 2009.
2011 has shown a considerable decline in audience interest in 3-D presentation. For instance, only 45% of the premiere weekend box office earnings of Kung Fu Panda 2 came from screenings in the 3D presentation format as opposed to 60% for Shrek Forever After in 2010.
A major criticism of 3D is that many of the movies in the 21st century to date were not filmed in 3D, but converted after filming. Filmmakers who have criticized this process include James Cameron, whose film Avatar was created in 3D from the ground up and is largely credited with the revival of 3-D.
Director Christopher Nolan has criticised the notion that traditional film does not allow depth perception, saying "I think it's a misnomer to call it 3D versus 2D. The whole point of cinematic imagery is it's three dimensional... You know 95% of our depth cues come from occlusion, resolution, color and so forth, so the idea of calling a 2D movie a '2D movie' is a little misleading."
Some films, like "Piranha 3D" have been accused of being made specifically to cash in on the hype around 3D.
Four of the biggest box-office films (Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Titanic and Finding Nemo) will all be re-released in 3-D in 2012.
Two 30-minute Nazi propaganda films shot in 3D in Germany in 1936 were found in Berlin’s Federal Archives in 2011. By 2004, 54% (133 theaters of 248) of the IMAX community was 3D-capable.
3D film has resurged a number of times over the past 100 years; in 1952–1955, 1960, 1985 and 2009.
2011 has shown a considerable decline in audience interest in 3-D presentation. For instance, only 45% of the premiere weekend box office earnings of Kung Fu Panda 2 came from screenings in the 3D presentation format as opposed to 60% for Shrek Forever After in 2010.
A major criticism of 3D is that many of the movies in the 21st century to date were not filmed in 3D, but converted after filming. Filmmakers who have criticized this process include James Cameron, whose film Avatar was created in 3D from the ground up and is largely credited with the revival of 3-D.
Director Christopher Nolan has criticised the notion that traditional film does not allow depth perception, saying "I think it's a misnomer to call it 3D versus 2D. The whole point of cinematic imagery is it's three dimensional... You know 95% of our depth cues come from occlusion, resolution, color and so forth, so the idea of calling a 2D movie a '2D movie' is a little misleading."
Some films, like "Piranha 3D" have been accused of being made specifically to cash in on the hype around 3D.
Four of the biggest box-office films (Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Titanic and Finding Nemo) will all be re-released in 3-D in 2012.
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Film and Piracy
According to a report from the website TorrentFreak, 'Avatar' -- the highest grossing movie ever -- is the most pirated movie of all time. The film has been illegally downloaded 21 million times, two million more than runner-ups 'The Dark Knight' and 'Transformers.'
The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) has consistently tried to get The Pirate Bay closed down but has always being thwarted by fact that The Pirate Bay’s base of operations is in Sweden, out of the jurisdiction of U.S. copyright law.
CASE STUDY: The Dark Knight
Box office gross: Over $1 billion ($158.4 million in the first weekend). Also sold 3 million copies on DVD on its first day of release in the U.S., Canada, and the UK and managed record Blu-ray sales.
With 'The Dark Knight,' Warner Bros. devoted six months to an anti-piracy strategy that involved tracking the people who had a pre-release copy of the film at any one time. The film was always guaranteed to be a hit, but studio executives knew that an early leak of the film to online sources could prevent the record-breaking opening weekend that ended up becoming a reality. Shipping and delivery schedules were also staggered and spot checks were carried out both domestically and overseas to ensure illegal copying of the film was not taking place in cinemas. Despite all this, a pirated copy was released on the Web approximately 38 hours after the film's release. BitTorrent search engine The Pirate Bay taunted the movie industry over its ability to provide the movie free, replacing its logo with a taunting message.
However, Darcy Antonellis, president of Warner’s distribution and technical operations told the LA Times that the first weekend is important to ensure a film's success and the 38-hour delay between release and free pirated availiability was very important:
“One of the reasons why it’s so important to try to protect the first weekend is that it prevents the pirate supply chain from starting... A day or two becomes really, really significant. You’ve delayed disc manufacturing that then delays distribution, which then delays those discs from ending up on street corners for sale.”
(source: http://www.webtvwire.com/batman-the-dark-knight-movie-how-warner-bros-stopped-film-leaking-to-internet/ )
The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) has consistently tried to get The Pirate Bay closed down but has always being thwarted by fact that The Pirate Bay’s base of operations is in Sweden, out of the jurisdiction of U.S. copyright law.
CASE STUDY: The Dark Knight
Box office gross: Over $1 billion ($158.4 million in the first weekend). Also sold 3 million copies on DVD on its first day of release in the U.S., Canada, and the UK and managed record Blu-ray sales.
With 'The Dark Knight,' Warner Bros. devoted six months to an anti-piracy strategy that involved tracking the people who had a pre-release copy of the film at any one time. The film was always guaranteed to be a hit, but studio executives knew that an early leak of the film to online sources could prevent the record-breaking opening weekend that ended up becoming a reality. Shipping and delivery schedules were also staggered and spot checks were carried out both domestically and overseas to ensure illegal copying of the film was not taking place in cinemas. Despite all this, a pirated copy was released on the Web approximately 38 hours after the film's release. BitTorrent search engine The Pirate Bay taunted the movie industry over its ability to provide the movie free, replacing its logo with a taunting message.
However, Darcy Antonellis, president of Warner’s distribution and technical operations told the LA Times that the first weekend is important to ensure a film's success and the 38-hour delay between release and free pirated availiability was very important:
“One of the reasons why it’s so important to try to protect the first weekend is that it prevents the pirate supply chain from starting... A day or two becomes really, really significant. You’ve delayed disc manufacturing that then delays distribution, which then delays those discs from ending up on street corners for sale.”
(source: http://www.webtvwire.com/batman-the-dark-knight-movie-how-warner-bros-stopped-film-leaking-to-internet/ )
Friday, 27 January 2012
Media Technology and Film Research
1976 - Year VHS launched
1996 - DVD is launched in Japan, followed by USA release in 1997 and Europe release in 1998.
2006 - Blu-ray Disc launched
Home-entertainment Wars
Two major conflicts have arisen throughout the past 40 years over home entertainment between alternate formats and ways to watch film:
-Videotape format war (1970s-80s): Battle between Sony's Beta and JCV's VHS video cassette systems for who had dominat use over the market. Although higher quality, standard Betamax tapes recording span lasted 60 minutes— not long enough to record a movie. Conversely, the 3-hour VHS tapes were perfect for recording television programmes and movies. Sony adopted changes too late and thus lost the war. The issue of recording time is often cited as the most defining factor in the war.
Both Betamax and VHS were later rendered useless with digital technology such as DVD; VHS ceased to be a format for major film releases in 2006.
-HD DVD vs. Blu-ray (2006-8): Battle for HD home entertainment between HD DVD and Blu Ray (both launched in 2006). In 2008, major content manufacturers and key retailers began withdrawing their support for the format after the manufacture and devlopement of Blu Ray disks became cheaper and more efficent.
On-Demand Streaming and the Digital Revolution:
With the emergence of fast internet connection on a wide-access scale in the early to mid-2000s, video streaming websites like Youtube became popular for accessing and watching video clips.
Youtube was launched on February 14, 2005 and in October 2006, the website was purchased by media-giant Google for $1.65 billion. Despite asking users not to upload copyright material, Organizations including Viacom, Mediaset, and the English Premier League have filed lawsuits against YouTube for the upload of such material. Viacom, demanding $1 billion in damages, said that it had found more than 150,000 unauthorized clips of its material on YouTube that had been viewed "an astounding 1.5 billion times".
However, some companies, particually the music industry, have used this website to its advantage. Vevo offers music videos from three of the 'big four' major record labels: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and EMI and is part of the Youtube video website. There are more than 45,000 videos available on Vevo for viewing in most countries.
However, the film industry is yet to launch a similar format on Youtube for taking advantage of the Youtube audience, only really making money through uploading adverts on offical film trailer accounts.
Netflix is an example of an emerging film-streaming website. According to its offical website, Netflix more than 20 million streaming members at the end of September 2011.
What the website offers is a membership fee of £5.99 a month in exchange for unlimited film and TV show viewing. Initially, the feature offered subscribers one hour of media for approximately every dollar they spent on their subscription but this was lifted in January 2008.
In September 2006 iTunes progressed to selling full-length films, an alternate form of pay-for-viewing films from an online source. iTunes also gives the option of renting movies, which began in January 2008. Once a rental is downloaded the viewer has thirty days to watch the movie before it expires and once the viewer begins to watch the movie he/she has twenty-four hours to finish the movie before the file expires the useage period.
Alternatively, film-rental sites that send copies of the film physically via post or download, such as LoveFilm, are becoming popular. At the end of 2011, LoveFilm claimed to have over 1,500,000 members, over 70,000 titles, and over 4 million rentals per month across five countries. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, LoveFilm has, in a few years, become the leading online DVD rental outlet in the UK and across Europe.
Film rental has changed considerably over the past decade; Blockbuster (founded in 1985) has undergone significant revenue losses due to LoveFilm's popularity. On September 23, 2010, Blockbuster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to challenging losses, $900 million in debt, and strong competition from Netflix, Redbox, and video on-demand services.
Other physical suppliers of film have been facing difficulty for a number of reasons, including competition from online sources.
On Christmas Eve, 24 December 2008, the "Zavvi UK" group went into administration owing to the loss of its supplier, as the company was unable to source stock in its usual way. The visual media department primarily consisted of DVDs. By March 2008, with the demise of the HD DVD format, Zavvi stores only stocked the Blu-ray High-definition video format. The company has since reopened exclusively as a website at www.zavvi.com.
HMV, an entertainment retailer that supplies films on DVD and Blu Ray format. currently faces a £180m debt. HMV and Zavvi are two examples of a trend that has effected the entertainment-supplying market along with the highstreet as a whole; a recession-hit public has stopped buying as much lesuire products such as films to save money. As a result of this causing less profit, a rise in production prices and inflation, prices rise and thus fewer and fewer products are bought.
Such issues have claimed the lives of retailers Zavvi and Woolworths that both supplied films to the public.
Facts:
-In 2010, 80% of American Internet users had watched video online.
-142 paying VOD services were operational in Europe at the end of 2006 increasing to 650 by 2009.
-Movie piracy alone has cost the United States economy $20.5 billion per year in loss of business, jobs, wages and taxes, according to a recent market study.
-In the UK, Piracy generates £200m a year for criminals
1996 - DVD is launched in Japan, followed by USA release in 1997 and Europe release in 1998.
2006 - Blu-ray Disc launched
Home-entertainment Wars
Two major conflicts have arisen throughout the past 40 years over home entertainment between alternate formats and ways to watch film:
-Videotape format war (1970s-80s): Battle between Sony's Beta and JCV's VHS video cassette systems for who had dominat use over the market. Although higher quality, standard Betamax tapes recording span lasted 60 minutes— not long enough to record a movie. Conversely, the 3-hour VHS tapes were perfect for recording television programmes and movies. Sony adopted changes too late and thus lost the war. The issue of recording time is often cited as the most defining factor in the war.
Both Betamax and VHS were later rendered useless with digital technology such as DVD; VHS ceased to be a format for major film releases in 2006.
-HD DVD vs. Blu-ray (2006-8): Battle for HD home entertainment between HD DVD and Blu Ray (both launched in 2006). In 2008, major content manufacturers and key retailers began withdrawing their support for the format after the manufacture and devlopement of Blu Ray disks became cheaper and more efficent.
On-Demand Streaming and the Digital Revolution:
With the emergence of fast internet connection on a wide-access scale in the early to mid-2000s, video streaming websites like Youtube became popular for accessing and watching video clips.
Youtube was launched on February 14, 2005 and in October 2006, the website was purchased by media-giant Google for $1.65 billion. Despite asking users not to upload copyright material, Organizations including Viacom, Mediaset, and the English Premier League have filed lawsuits against YouTube for the upload of such material. Viacom, demanding $1 billion in damages, said that it had found more than 150,000 unauthorized clips of its material on YouTube that had been viewed "an astounding 1.5 billion times".
However, some companies, particually the music industry, have used this website to its advantage. Vevo offers music videos from three of the 'big four' major record labels: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and EMI and is part of the Youtube video website. There are more than 45,000 videos available on Vevo for viewing in most countries.
However, the film industry is yet to launch a similar format on Youtube for taking advantage of the Youtube audience, only really making money through uploading adverts on offical film trailer accounts.
Netflix is an example of an emerging film-streaming website. According to its offical website, Netflix more than 20 million streaming members at the end of September 2011.
What the website offers is a membership fee of £5.99 a month in exchange for unlimited film and TV show viewing. Initially, the feature offered subscribers one hour of media for approximately every dollar they spent on their subscription but this was lifted in January 2008.
In September 2006 iTunes progressed to selling full-length films, an alternate form of pay-for-viewing films from an online source. iTunes also gives the option of renting movies, which began in January 2008. Once a rental is downloaded the viewer has thirty days to watch the movie before it expires and once the viewer begins to watch the movie he/she has twenty-four hours to finish the movie before the file expires the useage period.
Alternatively, film-rental sites that send copies of the film physically via post or download, such as LoveFilm, are becoming popular. At the end of 2011, LoveFilm claimed to have over 1,500,000 members, over 70,000 titles, and over 4 million rentals per month across five countries. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, LoveFilm has, in a few years, become the leading online DVD rental outlet in the UK and across Europe.
Film rental has changed considerably over the past decade; Blockbuster (founded in 1985) has undergone significant revenue losses due to LoveFilm's popularity. On September 23, 2010, Blockbuster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to challenging losses, $900 million in debt, and strong competition from Netflix, Redbox, and video on-demand services.
Other physical suppliers of film have been facing difficulty for a number of reasons, including competition from online sources.
On Christmas Eve, 24 December 2008, the "Zavvi UK" group went into administration owing to the loss of its supplier, as the company was unable to source stock in its usual way. The visual media department primarily consisted of DVDs. By March 2008, with the demise of the HD DVD format, Zavvi stores only stocked the Blu-ray High-definition video format. The company has since reopened exclusively as a website at www.zavvi.com.
HMV, an entertainment retailer that supplies films on DVD and Blu Ray format. currently faces a £180m debt. HMV and Zavvi are two examples of a trend that has effected the entertainment-supplying market along with the highstreet as a whole; a recession-hit public has stopped buying as much lesuire products such as films to save money. As a result of this causing less profit, a rise in production prices and inflation, prices rise and thus fewer and fewer products are bought.
Such issues have claimed the lives of retailers Zavvi and Woolworths that both supplied films to the public.
Facts:
-In 2010, 80% of American Internet users had watched video online.
-142 paying VOD services were operational in Europe at the end of 2006 increasing to 650 by 2009.
-Movie piracy alone has cost the United States economy $20.5 billion per year in loss of business, jobs, wages and taxes, according to a recent market study.
-In the UK, Piracy generates £200m a year for criminals
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Film Distribution Example
INCEPTION
UK Distribution: Warner Bros. UK
Budget (Advertising): $100 Million
Notable cast/crew used for advertising (i.e. interviews): Christopher Nolan (Director), Leonardo DiCaprio
Press Agents: Eugénie Pont, Carole Chomand, Sabri Ammar, Caroline Marechal.
Trailers: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/inception/trailers/ (Includes teaser and several different standard trailer clips).
Sue Kroll, president of Warner's worldwide marketing, said the company believed Inception could gain awareness due to the strength of "Christopher Nolan as a brand".
After the revelation of the first teaser trailer in August 2009, the film's official website featured only an animation of Cobb's spinning top. In December, the top toppled over and the website opened the online game Mind Crime, which upon completion revealed Inception's poster.
More pieces of viral marketing began to surface before Inception's release, such as a manual filled with bizarre images and text sent to Wired magazine, and the online publication of posters, ads, phone applications, and strange websites all related to the film. Warner also released an online prequel comic, Inception: The Cobol Job.
The official trailer released on May 10, 2010 through Mind Game. On June 7, 2010, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the film was released in HD on Yahoo! Movies.
UK Distribution: Warner Bros. UK
Budget (Advertising): $100 Million
Notable cast/crew used for advertising (i.e. interviews): Christopher Nolan (Director), Leonardo DiCaprio
Press Agents: Eugénie Pont, Carole Chomand, Sabri Ammar, Caroline Marechal.
Trailers: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/inception/trailers/ (Includes teaser and several different standard trailer clips).
Sue Kroll, president of Warner's worldwide marketing, said the company believed Inception could gain awareness due to the strength of "Christopher Nolan as a brand".
After the revelation of the first teaser trailer in August 2009, the film's official website featured only an animation of Cobb's spinning top. In December, the top toppled over and the website opened the online game Mind Crime, which upon completion revealed Inception's poster.
More pieces of viral marketing began to surface before Inception's release, such as a manual filled with bizarre images and text sent to Wired magazine, and the online publication of posters, ads, phone applications, and strange websites all related to the film. Warner also released an online prequel comic, Inception: The Cobol Job.
The official trailer released on May 10, 2010 through Mind Game. On June 7, 2010, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the film was released in HD on Yahoo! Movies.
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