The two companies involved in this procedure are Marvel entertainment and Walt Disney, as Disney is a parent company it is in the position of owning many small Disney like Disney Pixar, Disneynature and so on as well as making producing material form these companies it also helps bring other companies together to produce a successful company and build an audience. Marvel before being brought by Disney had one parent company which was Marvel entertainment and now that they have been brought for $4bn (£2.5bn) also have Walt Disney as a parent company. Marvel is a subsidiary company as they have less power than the main company similar to the other companies which are run by Disney like Disney Pixar and the Muppets.

Both companies are very famous and well known for what they produce. For example Marvel is famous for its super hero characters and comics for example Captain America, Spider-Man, X men and many more the characters have become very successful and been made into feature films with A-list stars for example The Amazing Spider-Man staring and Andrew Garfield. With most of their audience being teenage boys and young men on the other hand Walt Disney is know for its family friendly creations with characters ranging from Little Mermaid to Lion King and Hannah Montana etc. with their product appealing to a female audience

1.What companies were involved? What is the ownership information for the companies involved

2.What are the companies involved famous for? i.e what are their biggest grossing films or why would people know who they are?

3.Why did the deal take place?Marvel which is known worldwide for its comic books and range of superhero characters in 1996 Marvel came close to bankruptcy and as a result suffered from a downfall of sales in 1998 this lead to trouble in the company and as a result which then lead to the selling if Marvel the buyout was completed in 2009

4.How has the deal increased the power or influence of the company within the film industry – is there any evidence of a monopoly or oligopoly – if so please explain?Before Disney buying Marvel they’re target audience was mostly young females because of their well-known characters for example the Disney princesses and shows like Hannah Montana when combining Disney and marvel they were able to form a production that would be suited for both sexes and a wider audience breaking the barrier of the type of viewers which then resulted to a larger income and profit for the company in all sections of business including merchandise and theme parks as their audience has now grown in size. Disney is a Monopoly company as they are a parent company which then helps run and has ownership of several others companies’ one example of this is marvel

5.What do you think the impact will be on the other major film companies?As a result of two mainstream and very popular companies merging together there would be a great impact on other major film companies as Disney will now be able to create something that can appeal do a range of different age groups as well as be attractive for both genders as a result of this there will be a higher income and profit for Disney and this can be very negative for other companies as they could then lose interest

6.What are the key issues with this ownership deal find at least 3 issues- this will require you to research.Some of the key issues that still need to be resolved with Disney having ownership of Marvel are firstly any production that had begun to be produced for example sequels and films for awaiting marvel superhero fans may be slowed down or put to a stop all together which could be very disappointing for fans and could result to a loss in viewers. As well as this an obvious change could occur is scripts and comics can result to not being the same standard as the original marvel products this would be because of new writers being hired by Disney that may not be as used to writing in the style of marvel and lastly although Disney has ownership of iron man they do not own many huge characters from the Marvel company for example fantastic 4, spider man, x men and several more.

7.Summarise what you have learnt about how ownership practices work within the film industry.I have learnt that the more ownership a company has of other companies the more popularity they gain as well as the more income the industry gains because of attention and interest from the public as well as to companies merging resulting to building a company that is even greater and can produce products for an even greater range of viewers that would not be possible with just the one company as they are able to put together their different characters and types of production. This means a company growing in all areas not just film but also theme parks and merchandise.

8.What are the different ways in which the FILM industry makes money from audiences – create a mind map – include the words below – for a distinction try to find some of your own.

•product placement•Sponsorship•private investment•development funds•corporate investment

How do films make

money?

Product placement: this is when a company pays a feature film money to advertise their product in their film. They chose the film which they know will be viewed by a large range of people and have popular A-list celebrities. One of the biggest examples of product placement would be in transformers where a company called GM donated $1m worth of vehicles to the production of the film this then benefits both the car company as they get recognition from the public and also the film company as they do not need to spend the film funds on props

Sponsorship: to sponsor is to support an organization, event or person financially or through products and services. on television before a show starts there is often an advert that appears before and after each break and this is as a result of sponsoring, the company that is sponsoring the show gives funding to help in production and return they are able to advertise their product for example TV show made in Chelsea is sponsored by Rimmel London which is a make up brand aimed at young females in their teens and older the target audience for this program is also aimed at a similar audience of young females and so the audience is being shown the different Rimmel products in the hopes that it will inspire people to go and buy them

http://www.channel4sales.com/advertising/sponsorship/current_sponsorshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponsor_(commercial) http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2011/02/product-placement-on-tv/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/pictures/the-most-egregious-product-placements-in-movie-tv-history-20130604

Private investment: this is when a company gives funding for a production of a film not for the benefit of the sales of their product or for the publics amusement but to get a message across and educate viewers by sharing their message and beliefs which will be presented in the film that they are helping to produce.

Development funds: this funding means hands on help from the fellow company which is funding giving writers, directors and producers who are yet to make their first feature film with potential a chance to develop their skills with hands on help from experienced people in the business. The BFI does this for both film makers with and without a precious feature film depending on their position

Corporate investment: this is when a company or Organization invest in the company to help with production of the film, they may be involved with partnership of the film and are also involved in the making of merchandise to make money after the film is produced

http://www.bfi.org.uk/film-industry/lottery-funding-development-production

8) What is meant by product placement – what famous examples are there of films that have used product placement.Product placement is when a company pays a film to feature there product in their film for advertisement this usually occurs with films which are expected to be viewed by a wide range of people. another aspect that is looked at is if the companies target audience for that product is fitting to the audience of the film. Converse had an appearance in the film I, robot in 2004 they had the film makers put in a scene where the star Will smith put their classic trainer on, another good example of this form of advertisement being used in film is in Happy Gilmore where the star takes part in staring in an advert for subway this is not a very conventional way of product placement but also very cleaver as it makes it fitting with the story.

9) How does product placement help films to make money (explore a big blockbuster film)?

Ray- ban were able to get a-list actor Tom Cruise to wear their famours Wayfarers sunglasses in Top gun after this they were able to report a 40% increase in sales this shows just how much this type of advertisement can be beneficial for companies as this product then became a trend and this would not have been possible without having someone that people look up to and take inspiration from. This helps films make money as they are able to make a large amount of money from the company that wants to be featured in scene depending on the amount of people that will be viewing their film.

10) Where do Independent film companies get their funding – explore development funds, film funding schemes etc. Explain how development funds and film funding schemes work. (Look at examples like Film four, BBC films, Revolver)

Being an Independent film company means that you must find a way of funding from a company, organization or group of people which are willing to help one way in which many film makers with and without previous films are able to get funding is from ‘kickstarter’ this is an online website which allows filmmakers to build an audience as well as get the funding they need to make a film all in one platform. ‘London microwave’ funding which is in partnership with the BBC allows film makers to improve on skills as they are given training and mentoring and Professional development as well as funding rot their film this is a great chance to build up on upcoming talent and is a huge deal for an independent film maker, thirdly the BFI also has many chances for upcoming film makers and independent film makers with experience they have a range of different funding programs form Documentary production funding to First feature production funding making it possible for anyone with great potential to make a film