Essay: Media Ownership in the Film Industry

Discuss the issues raised by media ownership in the production,
distribution, marketing and exhibition/exchange of media texts in
your chosen media area:

Media Ownership has changed dramatically over the last 100 years, from the end of the Hollywood system to the advancement of new technologies like Web 2.0 that have allowed audiences to consume films in new ways. The different ownership models in Hollywood and the UK affect the films they produce, as smaller British films have to compete against Hollywood blockbuster, with smaller institutions competing against huge media conglomerates.

The budget sources and profits hugely differ in Hollywood and the UK, but both use their profit to reinvest in future films, though it does affect the types of films the different industries are able to make. The 6 major studios in Hollywood makes 90% of box office revenues across the global market, hence being able to invest huge amounts into action adventure blockbusters like 'Avengers Assemble' which had a budget of $220 million. Compared to the budget for smaller British films like the period drama 'The King's Speech' (which had a budget of $15 million) it is easy to see why Hollywood films take such big revenues as they can spend more on all areas of production, especially marketing. Hollywood's huge profits mean that they are able to invest in expensive high concept films and new technology like CGI, which the UK film industry does not have the investment to develop. 'The King's Speech', like most British independent films, was unable to get finance from just one company, instead a range of investors such as the Aegis film fund, The Weinstein Company and the UK film council contributed. This does however, gives production crews greater creative control, allowing Tom Hooper - The King's Speech's director - to keep a swearing scene in the film and appeal the rating where a Hollywood studio would have cut it, Indeed, 'Avenger's Assemble' had to recast the role of the Hulk as it was felt that the actor who had previously portrayed him, Edward Norton, was not young or relevant enough to match the international appeal of the film's other stars, like Robert Downey Jr or Scarlet Johannson.

Another difference between the Hollywood and UK film industries is their ownership models. Media conglomerates like The Walt Disney Company who produced 'Avengers Assemble' are both horizontally and vertically integrated, so can handle every aspect of the production under one roof, owning production companies like Marvel, post production houses like Disney Digital Studio Services and even home entertainment companies like Buena Vista Home Entertainment. This means that they can easily market and distribute their films, however, as UK films are co-productions they also have the nessesscary expertise to needed to help a film do well in the box office, just as 'The King's speech did, making $414 million worldwide. 'The King's Speech' benefited from the expertise of its different distributors, including The Weinstein Company, Momentum Pictures and Transmission Films. In fact, Transmission films is the sister company of See-saw films, one of the production companies involved, who made sure that Transmission Films got the rights to distribute the film in Australia and New Zealand as they knew the market well and had a vested interest in the film. The film's distributors enabled it to become the box office success that it was, which shows that British films can compete with high concept Hollywood films despite a lack of integration.

Another area in which Hollywood institutions benefit from their dominance of the market place is marketing, as they are able to afford huge 360 degree marketing campaigns whereas British films usually have to rely on traditional marketing and word of mouth. For instance, 'Avenger's Assemble's marketing budget was $150 million allowing it to invest in things like a highly interactive website with flash animation and music. It also benefited from being part of a long term synergistic campaign. Before watching 'Avenger's Assemble' I, and countless others had already been introduced to  many of the characters, themes and narratives by watching other films in the Marvel canon like 'Thor' and 'Iron Man'. This meant that the 'Avengers Assemble' characters had a pre-established fan base, though this could not have happened if Disney had not bought Marvel so they owned all the rights to the characters. Indeed, the reason that Spiderman was not in the film despite featuring in the comic book series is because the rights to his character belong to Sony. British independent films like 'The King's Speech', don't benefit from being part of a long term synergistic campaign like 'Avenger's Assemble', instead drawing from a tradition of previous British films and as well as new media which encouraged the spread of word of mouth. 'The King's Speech' was able to use the success of previous British period dramas which had already established an international market through poster and trailer campaigns. Also, famous British stereotypes and iconography were central to its international marketing campaign, with the American trailer featuring not only frequent mentions of the monarchy, but the stiff upper lip. These globally recognisable British stereotypes appealed to a wide audience who relish the individuality of British film, allowing 'The King's Speech' to compete with blockbusters like 'Avenger's Assemble'.

A big issue that both the Hollywood and UK audiences face is that of piracy. Illegal downloading films has been on the rise, with audiences gaining easy access to them online. An early copy of 'Avenger's Assemble' was leaked online, and became the most torrented film in history. However, audiences still flocked to the cinema to see it because of it's excellent use of 3D technology that they could not experience online, and the revenue lost from illegal downloads only accounts for 0.5% of its revenue. Media Conglomerates are still trying to crack down on piracy though, putting pressure on the UK government to introduce protective measures such as the Digital Protection Act. Piracy also affects UK films, and 'The King's Speech was illegally downloaded 6.25 million times, but this might have helped the film reach a wider audience who then, impressed by the quality of the film, might buy the DVD or see it at the cinema, or at least spread word of mouth about it, encouraging others to go and see it. Piracy is a big loss for institutions of all sizes but 'Avenger's Assemble' and 'The King's Speech's box office success shows that audiences will still pay to see high quality films.

In conclusion, ownership affects the markets that Hollywood and Uk films reach as well as affecting the way they are produced. Both industries however can and have made high quality successful films like 'Avenger's Assemble' and 'The King's Speech' despite their relative creative freedom and budgets that have been huge box office successes. This shows that ultimately making a good film is what will make profit despite differences in ownership model they are produced under, though Hollywood's dominance of the market place does limit British film's ability to compete.