Independent Case Study - Media Magazine & Factsheet Research

MY CASE STUDY: Film Viewing/Distribution

TEXT/INSTITUTION: Lionsgate

MM45 - Big Screen, Little Screen, Reading Films Online (Page 20)

Roy Stafford considers contexts in which we watch films and the impact of NDM on the viewing process. 

Payment & Legitimacy

• Enormous selection of ways to watch films online for anyone with a fast broadband connection; including big brands such as iTunes, LoveFilm and Netflix with both fixed prices and subscription rates for rental or download  through to pirate operations that  offer bit torrent downloads which in the latter are of course illegal. 

MM56 (Page 50) - Roll Up! Roll Up! For The Hateful Eight Roadshow.

• "Digital projection is the death of cinema as I know it" - Quentin Tarantino

• James Cameron (Avatar and Titanic actor) and George Lucas (Star Wars) praise digital film - making especially when used alongside CGI (Computer Generated Imagery). They praise this format for its variety, immediacy and accessibility.

•  Film prints (Rush prints are one-light, contact-printed copies made from an unedited roll of original camera negative) over an extended period of time have been accepted to be a cheaper and more reliable to preserve than digital films.

• The roadshows of previous times are a cinematic experience which made going to the cinema an event to look forward to.

• Going to the cinema shouldn't just be an event in the calendar when the newest Star Wars film comes out it should be more regular event for us.  

• Hearing that 'a roadshow experience is the way to go' from the mouth of a filmmaker like Tarantino himself is pretty hard to avoid for particular audience members. The ability to have a seat for a 70mm (screen size) screening of a film before general release used to be considered as the 'hot ticket' in town. In a way, this can be seen as Tarantino's way of saying that the film industry needs to fight back against the big VoD giants out there? Netflix! LoveFilm! 

MM43 (Page 50) - Independent Hollywood

• How do we know if a film is independently produced? Is it the 'offbeat' narrative featuring quirky characters? Or maybe its the movie that pushes the boundaries? But the one thing they have in common is that they are not mainstream. E.g. Me and You and Everyone We Know

• The mainstream is exemplified by Hollywood, which aims for big audiences in order to maximize profitability.

• However, not all Hollywood productions target a mass audience, though many do. For example, the big budget 'family film' franchises such as Pirates of the Caribbean (2003).

• Hollywood is also happy to 'mop up' niche audiences via relatively cheaply made movies such as the American Pie (1999 - 2012) series aimed at young people. 

• Hollywood also produces 'prestige' product for the middlebrow audience that are designed to win awards e.g. Life of Pi (2012) but these films are not made by big studios they are made by quasi - indie subsidiaries.  

• 'Low budget does not necessarily mean low production values'

MM50 (Page 26) - Lionsgate - Can Katniss Everdeen Save It?

How can the producers of one of the biggest and most lucrative film franchises this century be at risk of financial meltdown?

• 2012 = Lionsgate was the 5th top distributor (based on box office gross) in North America. Putting it ahead of major studio rivals 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures. 

• 2013 = The biggest grossing film in North America was The Hunger Games: Catching Fire taking $425m at the box office. It was a typical Hollywood product featuring a big name star, conventional narrative etc but it wasn't strictly a Hollywood film... It was produced by the 'mini major'  Lionsgate a Canadian - American company that is trying to break Hollywood's domination of blockbuster movies.

• Began in 1997 as a Canadian distribution company based in Vancouver

• According to the-numbers.com Lionsgate has distributed 261 films since establishment. 

• Only 10 of the 261 films have exceeded $100m at the North American box office which is the cut off point for a film having blockbuster status. 

• Lionsgate does not actually produce many of the films it distributes as most of its 'slate' (films it distributes) are 'pick ups' (films made by other companies).

• Unlike major studios, Lionsgate isn't actually part of a major media conglomerate. For example The Walt Disney Company has five divisions that include a record label, television stations, video games as well as theme parks.

Walt Disney Divisions

• Lionsgate has four divisions across both TV & Music but it is still a small company despite owning 9 cable TV channels which occasionally play the company's films and TV programmes. 

• In regards, to size it cannot compare with established Hollywood. For example, Walt Disney's market capitalisation (at 25.08.14 calculated on number of shares x share price) was $155.33bn compared to Lionsgate $4.49bn. 

• Despite success of Hunger Games franchise Lionsgate is taking on a high risk strategy to try and compete with Hollywood head on because it isn't part of a major conglomerate. 

• Lionsgate brought Summit Entertainment  in early 2012 which was an independent producer. With this purchase they inherited the Twilight Franchise, but prior to the purchase Lionsgate had only released one $100m plus film - Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) with a film budget of $6m; typical of Lionsgate productions. 

• Lionsgate as an independent cannot afford the risk of making big budget movies - one flop could spell disaster. For example, Warner Bros spent around $100m producing The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) which only took just over $7m worldwide at the box office. If Warners' film division hadn't been part of AOL Time Warner that sort of return on investment  could have spelt bankruptcy.   

• Before buying Summit Lionsgate seemed to be set on distributing low-budget films that if popular became extremely profitable such as the SAW  franchise (2002), the first instalment cost $1.2m to produce.  

• Lionsgate has also distributed the highly successful Tyler Perry films such as Madea's Family Reunion (2006) taking $63m in North America from a $10m production budget (but only $51,000 internationally). 

• Lionsgate had not made a profit for 5 years prior to the first Hunger Games film being released. 

• Their response to this lack of profitability was to compete with major studios which is an interesting move given that Lionsgate is considered a "mini - major" studio. 

• Anita Elberse (2013) - "Blockbuster strategy is the only economically viable strategy in the film industry at the moment". It originated when Alan Horn at Warner Bros ' Chose to single out four or five so-called tent pole or event films ' - which were those thought to have broadcast appeal. 

• Unless you’re Disney and own Marvel Studios, one of the most difficult aspects of this tent-pole strategy is kickstarting a franchise; so Lionsgate took a massive risk with The Hunger Games. 

-- Fewer than 500,000 copies of the first Hunger Games book had sold in 2009 when Lionsgate reportedly paid author Suzanna Collins $200,000 for the rights to the trilogy. But by the time Jennifer Lawerence was being fitted for her costume nearly 10 million copies were in print. 

-- Lionsgate then increased the film budget to $80 million but was burdened by debt... but the end of 2011. However, Lionsgate had transformed from a small name hit or miss studio to the undervalued owner of Hollywood's next franchise.  

-- However, the blockbuster strategy has not been successful for all films. The attempt to launch an 'Enders Game' franchise (2013) failed. The first film grossed = $89m worldwide on a budget of $110m.  

• The Divergent (2014) film franchise might be able to fill the gap at least partly that will be left by the Hunger Games franchise when it ends next year, which is helpful as this blockbuster strategy can be incredibly risky particularly for Lionsgate who weren't making a profit for quite sometime before the Hunger Games took off. 

• Lionsgate profitability appears to rely upon the success of the Hunger Games franchise to succeed and with the Divergent franchise only being able to fill the gap partly the question of 'Can Katniss Everdeen save Lionsgate' on the top of this article can be answered as 'no' because the franchise isn't going to go on forever. 

Media Factsheet

100 - The British Film Industry

Problems faced by the British film Industry

• The British Film Industry has been production led rather than distribution led. Which means that many films are UK made, but filmmakers have had to sacrifice distribution rights by selling the film to a distribution company. Once sold all revenue from cinema screenings, DVD & Blu Ray sales plus sales to television companies are lost.  

• An example, would be Slumdog Millionaire despite being based on a novel by a Indian writer and telling a story set in Mumbai the film is classified as British since it was financed by two British companies Celador Films and Film 4 productions. 

• Slumdog Millionaire went on to make £235 million at world wide box office. 

• The approach to film-making of selling distribution rights has meant that the British Film Industry is often described as a 'cottage Industry' which suggests the film industry is small-scale and whilst making unique products can never really compete with Hollywood-based studios.  

Not just VoD that is making the film industry suffer? Other problems that they face are as follows:

1. American actors are seen as more glamorous than UK counterparts
2. Typically, in the UK theatre acting has more prominence that film acting.
3. Film has never really been seen as a worthy art form.
4. Despite Britain having many talented production personnel, better pay and conditions sees the British greats go to Hollywood. 
5. Britain shares a native language with America so its easy for American films to be exported to the UK. 

112- Netflix: An Internet Television Network

• Netflix is available across a range of devices: Smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, internet enabled television, computers etc. Netflix is an example of technological convergence - Two or more technologies combine into one new device/platform.

What makes Netflix different?

• Streaming market is increasingly competitive, technologies used to stream VoD become ubiquitous within society. 

• DVD rental shops have lost their market share, many went into administration some years ago...BlockBuster!

• VoD services aim to provide a wide range of films but personalized to the user. Rather than them having to wait for the right romantic comedy to be showing in the cinema coming every 2 months. 

• Netflix has a lead on VoD market of services offering original series and films for distribution. 

• Netflix are keen to make their own content rather than buying existing content in bulk. For example, 'Designated Survivor'  which is Netflix's own original show.