Introduction to the Contemporary Film Industry

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OCT. 8, 2013

“Moviemaking is an inherently risky business…”

“Contrary to popular belief that moviemaking is always profitable, in actuality, only one in ten films ever

retrieves its investment from domestic exhibition…”

--MPAA

Really???Is this the full story?

“A Dearth of Data”“The lack of access to real numbers in this

industry is astounding and it’s getting worse all the time. We have no way to judge

Hollywood’s actual return on equity, nor can we accurately assess the year-to-year health

of the film business.”

Harold Vogel, Entertainment Industry Economics: A Guide for Financial Analysis

Average Costsfor Major Studio Films

Negative costs = development, pre-production, production, post-production, studio overhead, interest◦ Average = $65+ million in 2009

P&A (Prints and advertising) = advertising, promotions, prints distributed to theaters◦ Average = $37 million in 2009

Average film cost in 2009 = $102 million

(up from $87.9 million in 2008)

BIGGEST BUDGETSJohn Carter (2012) $300,000,000Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) $300,000,000The Hobbit: There and Back Again (2012) $270,000,000The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) $270,000,000Tangled (2010) $260,000,000Spider-Man 3 (2007) $258,000,000Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince (2009) $250,000,000The Dark Knight Rises (2012) $250,000,000Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

$250,000,000

Avatar (2009) $237,000,000

Source: the-numbers.com

Sony/Columbia; 16.6%

Warner Bros; 15.4%

Buena Vista; 14.3%

Universal; 12.2%

Lionsgate; 11.5%

20th Century Fox; 9.5%

Paramount; 8.4%

Weinstein Company; 2.4%

Relativity; 1.9%Focus Features

(Univ); 1.3%Other; 6.0%

Studio Market Share(Jan-Dec 2012)

Source: http://boxofficemojo.com/studio/

The Process of Making a (Hollywood) FilmDEVELOPMENT & FINANCING

Question:What kinds of movies are produced

and why?

For Hollywood studios?

For independents?

Development

2008 2009 20100

102030405060708090

100 88

6855

# of spec scripts bought by Hwd studios or prod

co’s

Genre What is “genre”?

Sickels: “genre as pastiche”

What model works best / most efficiently for Hollywood studios?

Studio Executives on Remakes

“For original movies, you need to advertise the idea, the story -- it's about convincing people that it's worth seeing...With something that is branded, no education is required.”

“If you're trying to get a movie made now, you can push the rock up a mountain or you can push it on flat ground...and most of us would rather push it on flat ground.”

Sequels / Prequels 2011 = 27 sequels = 1/5 of all major releases

2nd movie in series 3rd movie in series 4th movie in seriesCars 2 Alvin and the Chipmunks Mission Impossible: Ghost

Protocol

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

The Hangover 2 Madea’s Big Happy Family Scream 4

Sherlock Holmes 2 Paranormal Activity 3 Spy Kids 4

Hoodwinked Too! Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Twilight: Breaking Dawn (Part 1)

Johnny English Reborn

Kung Fu Panda 2

Sherlock Holmes 2

Piranha 3DD

5th movie in series 7th movie in series 8th movie in seriesFast Five The Muppets Harry Potter and the

Deathly Hallows: Part Two

Final Destination 5 Rise of the Apes

Puss in Boots

X-Men: First Class

Winnie the Pooh Plus:

New Year’s EveThe Thing

Remakes

“When I was a kid, I wanted nothing to do with my parents’ music or movies. I needed to carve out my own cultural identity. Today’s kids, thanks to the easy access to Netflix and YouTube, make far less of a distinction between what is old and what is new.”

--Patrick Goldstein, LA Times

Adaptations

Original Stories

“Development” ??

“I now sit down and scroll though IMDb looking for movies,

and I spend time researching rights to old TV shows...That's

where I spend more of my development time.”

Studio executive

Independent Film DevelopmentWHAT KINDS OF FILMS AND WHY?

Development Reasons for making film?

Business plan?

Film development programs

Content developed for multiple platforms

Other Models

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FZe-lwNe6A

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc98NW3kvHE• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrNzMwyJlfs• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv3fyMzuy1I

Why use these models?