Section b key information

Vs. and

Unit G322:Key Concepts –

Section B Film Industry

• Know your case studies• Know your statistics• Know how to make them relevant to the Question

Make COMPARISONS

and highlight DIFFERENCES

Vs. and

Case Studies

‘Taken 2’Production Cost: $45mDate: 2012Producer: Europacorp (France)Distributor: 20th Century Fox

• “Big 6” Studio• 1 of 6 studios that control 70% of

the distribution of film in the UK• Part of the multi-media

conglomerate:

‘Man of Steel’Production Cost: $225mDate: 2013Producer:Legendary Pictures Distributor:

Warner Bros

• “Big 6” Studio• Part of a successful co-production

deal that conforms to the “patch work quilt” view of the film industry being sewed together to help PDME a film

• A ‘High Concept’ (Wyatt – 1994) film that was heavily marketed by Warner Bros

UK Box-Office• Both films are examples of Blockbusters with mass appeal and were highly anticipated• Both films were Distributed to cinema screens through a blanket release approach• The Oligopoly of the ‘Big 6’ meant Both these films were going to be hugely successful,

especially when it comes to Distribution and Marketing• Both are examples of Franchise movies – in 2012 – 2013, 60% of the Top 10 films were

either Franchise films, sequels or Action movies• Both films were certified as 12A to increase the likelihood of “bums-on-seats” at the

box-office.

UK Box-Office:$37.8m – 11th (2012)

UK Box-Office:$46m – 9th (2013)

Distribution

$27m (US) and $18.9m internationally, for a worldwide total of $45.9m

Only $668m Worldwide (disappointing considering the production budget and marketing costs) Possibly because: “Man of Steel” is a very good superhero movie, but it’s not necessarily a fun superhero movie. And that may prove to be its biggest weakness among the summer tent poles“.

Exclusive VOD tie-in

Released in 3,661 Theatres in the US alone!

Grossed $50 million in it’s opening weekend at the box office in the US alone

‘Taken’ – $25m Budget‘Taken 2 – ′ $45m Budget

$30m in sales – 68% of the Production budget

$97m in sales – 43% of the Production budget

Marketing

Above the Line –

• Posters, Trailers, Billboards and TV Slots (Adverts)

Below the Line –

• Cross Media Convergence/Technological Convergence –

• Synergy with Nokia – Nokia reportedly paid $30m to appear in the movie and use the Superman “Brand” to promote their products.

• Synergy with Microsoft X-BOX– A film related game, as well as other licensing products such as Toys, were one of many exclusive tie-ins.

30m + hits

100 deals have seen the film earn around three quarters of the £225m production budget.

75th Anniversary Viral Campaign

2.5m + hits

Above the Line –

• Posters, Trailers, Billboards and TV Slots (Adverts)

Below the Line –

Case Studies

‘The Angels Share’Production Cost: UnknownDate: 2012Producer: Sixteen FilmsDistributor:

Why Not/Entertainment One

‘A Field in England’Production Cost: £300kDate: 2013Producer: Film FourDistributor: Film Four

• An example of Vertical Integration, whereby Film Four was in control of ALL stages of PDME

• Released through a “multi-platform day-and-date release” method on 5th July 2013 in the UK

• Film Four is known to specialize in the production of low-budget film – therefore this is an Indie film.

• Directed by the “Agent of defiance” Ken Loach.

• Produced using traditional 35mm cameras.

• Received a Limited release as a result.• Marketed as being a potential cross-

over hit like ‘The Full Monty’ (1997 - $257m gross Worldwide)

Shoestring Films

UK Box-Office

UK Box-Office:$3m – 100th (2012)

UK Box-Office:$64k – 309th (2013)

• Both films were were Art House releases and were therefore given limited exposure at the UK Box-Office – for example ‘A Field in England’ = 17 screens

• Both films received very little publicity in light of competing against Hollywood Blockbuster releases such as ‘Despicable Me 2’ (2013 – Universal - $72m – 1st)

• In order to overcome this dominance, ‘A Field in England’ resorted to cross-media convergence in the form of releasing the film on other formats such as VOD (1,200 transactions – iTunes & 4-OD)

The Box-Office share for British Independent Films in the UK was just 9% of the £1.1 Billion generated at the Box-Office.

Distribution

and

• Both are examples of specialist “World Cinema” VOD services.

• However, IFC Films is in synergy with a multi-national VOD service in the form of

In 2012, US Produced films (Hollywood) controlled around 61.5% of the UK Box-Office share.

Convertent Technology

Limited Release

Due to being shot in 35mm, it was immediately marginalized as going to be available in 10% of the UK’s Cinema Screens as the other 90% are now Digital.

Convertent Technology

Limited Release

“multi-platform day-and-date release”5th July 2013

and = 1,200 Transactions

• 17 sites – generating $32,000

• 288,000 viewers

• 1,000 Units

10:45pm

Key: UK Film Industry has to resort to other methods of Distribution to capture an audience?

Marketing

The UK accounts for 7% of Global Film Revenues

USP (Unique Selling Point)

“multi-platform day-and-date release”5th July 2013

Above the Line –

• Minimal – TV Slots (Adverts) on Channel 4 and it’s sister channels

• Poster (See above) publicised the release pattern as unique and innovative

Below the Line –

• Social Media –

• Video Sharing -

Approx. £112k spent on P&A

12,000 followers on Twitter

333,665 views

Above the Line –

• Poster publicised the how the film was “Scotland's answer to ‘The Full Monty’”

• Marketed as a cross-over hit but…

Below the Line –

• Social Media –

• Video Sharing -

34 Screens in the US with a gross of $124k

‘Stalingrad’ (2013)

Marketing – Only received around 200k views on

Russian Film Industry –

11% growth in Russian Box-Office takings from 2012 - 2013

• USP – A Russian War/Action Movie that has been distributed in 2D, 3D and 3D IMAX

Budget:$30mWorld Box-Office:£67mUK Box-Office:$100k

Non-English European films ONLY accounted for 15% of releases in the UK between 2012 – 2013.

‘Star Appeal’ (Richard Dyer) ?

‘High Concept’ (Wyatt – 1994) ?

Still a highly requested rental.

Other Case Studies – Extras!

‘Gravity’ (2013 – Warner Bros)

‘Carrie’ (2013 – MGM) ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (2012 – Warner Bros/Legendary

Pictures)

‘Night Fishing’ (2011 – Park-Chan Wook)

• $130,000 budget• Production crew of just 80• They used 8 specially equipped iPhones to record the footage.

56.7m hits

#TheFireRises

• $100m - 3rd most popular IMAX DMR® film of all time worldwide

• Good example of Convergence (Coming together of technologies)

• Had an unusual release pattern of a re-release on IMAX-3D to coincide with it’s 10 Oscar nominations and massive “word of mouth” publicity.

Viral marketing to generate interest

Cartoon HD –A Free App available to download onto your Smartphone provides access to hundreds of the latest Blockbusters.

It is also an example of Convertent Technology, whereby this product works in synergy (Legally?) with Film Institutions to provide some form of Technologically Converging Film Experience.


Another example of a “Day-and-date” release in the UK –

• Released in 50 Public Cinemas (which Curzon control – there’s one in Richmond).Box-Office: £418k

• Available to view on CHC (Curzon Home Cinema)

• Also available on:Sky Store

‘A Late Quartet’ (2012 – Opening Night Productions)


UK Digital Screens – Facts!2002 – 4 Digital Screens

2012 – 3,538 Digital Screens

90% of the screens in the UK are Digital

44% are 3D Compatible

General Facts/Figures YOU MUST know

35 mm Projector - Problems

• Celluloid reels – Expensive! – Around £700 - £1,000 per. Reel!

• 90% of UK Cinemas are already digital.

• Distributing the reels also costs money.

• Man Power and Expertise is required.

• Hazardous.

• Does NOT project 3D Films.


DCP – DCP (Digital Cinema Package)

$1500-$3000 (depending on runtime and options), with additional copies running about $170-$300 each

Additional copies = more screens!


The Hollywood Majors control around 75% of the Film Market


• What year are most of the films released in?• What can you conclude from these statistics?• Who have Distributed these films? • What type of release pattern (e.g Blanket) do they follow?• What do you notice about the number of 3D screens over this period of time?



• £200m was spent in the UK alone on VOD Last year (2013)

• 2012 - The combined film on VOD revenues represents approximately 6% of the total UK filmed entertainment market, compared with 4% in 2011.


VOD – Case Study examples

• The combined value of the television-based and online VoD film market was £243

million in 2012, up from £55 million in 2011 (an increase of 123%).

• Subscription makes up around 31.5% of this:

Cinema

“He suggests that, at some point soon, a slew of these mega-productions will flop all at once and Hollywood will be forced into dramatic change. That change will include: movie-going becoming a rarer, more special and more expensive occasion; movies being released in all formats, everywhere, at the same time; and most "movies’" coming to us via online services. This, the pair suggest, will mean a bright future for movie-makers with a particular vision – they will be able to make a living out of globally aggregated niche audiences”.

Steven Spielberg

YOU SHOULD follow the PECA method of written Paragraphs/Analysis in the Exam.

For example:

Vs. and

‘The Angels Share’ (2012 – Sixteen Films) was produced using dated and expensive (£700 - £1,000 per. Reel) 35mm cameras, mainly because of Ken Loach’s (Director) traditional approach to film production and how he is in many respects an “agent of defiance”. This immediately meant that this shoe string film was going to receive a limited release at the UK box-office due to around 90% of the cinema screens in the UK being Digitally compatible, meaning the Hollywood majors, who control around 75% of the Film Market, can take on saturated release pattern of distribution. Despite this, ‘The Angels Share’ still managed a respectable $3m at the UK Box-Office (100th in 2012) despite competition from other Blockbusters such as ‘Ted’ (2012 – Universal).On the contrary, ‘Man of Steel’ (2013 – Warner Bros/Legendary Pictures) could use it’s co-produciton deal to ensure it was released in a variety of formats such as 2D, 3D and even 3D IMAX as 44% of the screens in the UK are now 3D compatible. This resulted in the film earning a vast $44m at the UK-Box-Office (9th in 2013) and – A = Anlaysis - Link back to the Question

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Education

Section b key information