Research on Film:

Film: Who are the biggest companies?

The Walt Disney Studios

Warner Bros. Entertainment (Time Warner)
Sony Pictures Motion Picture group (Sony Colombia Pictures)

What is vertical Integration?

Vertical Integration is when a company expands its business into areas
that are at different points on the same production path, such as when a
manufacturer owns its supplier and a distributor.
Examples:

Casino Royale was distributed by MGM and Columbia pictures which

are both owned by Sony.
Soundtrack was also produced by Sony.

What is Horizontal Integration?

Horizontal integration is when a company expands into other areas of one
industry. This means that the company can develop in a particular area of
production or they can buy out another company that deals with these
areas.
Examples:

Walt Disney Pictures has used Horizontal integration due to buying

out other companies that have similar goals as Disney. These
include Marvel (which was brought by the Walt Disney Company in
2009), Pixar and Touchstone. The advantage for the Walt Disney
Company of buying Pixar Animation is that theyre buying their
expertise in Digital Animation which helps them to develop as a
company and expand.

Private Ownership: Anything owned by a person or entity.

Example: Aardman is the perfect example for a private ownership
company who are known for films made using stop-motion clay animation
techniques, especially the plasticine characters, Wallace and Gromit. They
are a British animation studio based in Bristol.

Aardman is a British animation studio based in Bristol. It is known

for films made using stop-motion clay animation techniques,
especially those featuring Plasticine characters Wallace and Gromit.
After some experimental computer animated short films during the
late 1990s.

Multinational: An organization that owns or controls production of goods

or services in one or more countries other than their home country.
Example: Warner Bros. (Time Warner)

Warner Bros. (Time Warner) is an American entertainment company

that produces films, television and music entertainment. As it is one
of the major film studios, its a division of Time Warner. The
headquarters are located in Burbank, California. Warner Bros. has
several secondary companies, such as Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner
Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Castle Rock Entertainment,
and DC Entertainment. Warner Bros. also owns half of The CW
Television Network.

Independent: A film production resulting in a feature film that is

produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system, in
addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment
agencies.
Example: Warp Films

Warp Films is an independent film and TV production company

based in Sheffield and London, UK. They are currently involved in
the latest TV series of 2015, The Last Panthers.

Conglomerate: A company that owns large numbers of companies in

various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the
Internet.
Example: Viacom - http://elitedaily.com/money/the-worlds10-largest-media-conglomerates/

Viacom was founded by Luis Doma on January 3rd, 2006. It is the

world's sixth largest broadcasting and Cable Company in terms of
revenue after other production companies such as Walt Disney and
Comcast.

Cross-Media: A form of cross-promotion in which promotional companies

commit to surpassing traditional advertisement techniques and decide to
include extra appeals to the products they offer.
Example: 21st Century Fox.

21st Century Fox have their own News channel; this means that
when they have a new film coming out, they can advertise it across
to a wider audience. They have been involved in major productions
such as the first two Star Wars, Taken, Home Alone, etc. As well as
TV series such as The Simpsons and Malcom in the Middle.
Twentieth century Fox is one of the sixth major American film
studios.

Cross-media regulation: This is the control of mass media by

governments who intervene in preventing companies becoming too
powerful. It can have several goals, such as encouraging competition and
an effective media market. Walt Disney pictures is the perfect example
because they are such a big and well-known company that the regulations
make sure they dont become too powerful.
Example: Walt Disney

The Walt Disney Company owns a variety of other assets rather than
just Disney. They own assets such as Pixar Productions, Lucasfilms
and Marvel Studios.

Pixar Productions: Pixar Animation Studios, is an American

computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The
studio has earned twenty-six Academy Awards, seven Golden
Globes, and three Grammy Awards, along with many other awards
and acknowledgements.
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Pixar
Vertical and Horizontal Integration: Vertical Integration is an
arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is owned by that
company, whereas, Horizontal integration is a strategy where a company
creates or acquires production units for outputs which are alike - either
complementary or competitive.
Example:
Vertical Integration: Warner Bros

Warner bros. has a vertical integration, because of the further assets

they own in the same chain/ company. These include Warner Bros.
Pictures, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Castle
Rock Entertainment, and DC Entertainment. Warner Bros. also owns
half of The CW Television Network.
Horizontal Integration: Disney

Disney did a horizontal integration into live action films, e.g. pirates
of the Caribbean Series. By doing this the company managed to
reach new audiences and control a bigger share of the film industry.

Share of Ownership: The share of the sector, the market share, for
example, when people talk about television, the BBC owns about 35% of
television. Companies also have some companies may have shareholders
or partners and they may be public limited companies where they may be
on the stock exchange so people can buy shares in them.
Examples: Walter Elias Disney (Walt Disney) and Roy O. Disney.

When Walt Disney died, they had to out the company into shares to
get an income. The total number of holders of Walt Disney, currently
in 2015, are 1,818, and the total shares ever held is 1,026,420,366.

Mergers and takeovers: Are both aspects of strategic management,

corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling,
dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that
can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin or a
new location without creating a subsidiary.
Example: Takeovers: Walt Disney and Pixar

Walt Disney has agreed a $7.4bn (4.1) deal to buy Pixar, the
animation firm behind films including Toy Story and The Incredibles.
Pixars chief executive Steve Jobs join Disney's board of directors.

Pixar Animation Studios is an American computer animation film

studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio is best known for
its CGI-animated feature films.

Source of Income: Money coming in to the company.

Example: Universal

Universal studios is a great example as they have a lot of different

sources of income, such as through merchandise, Box office,
cinema, the Universal Studios theme park, etc. This way they can
come across to a much wider audience, especially through having a
theme park as this would reach out to the younger audiences and
families.

Product Diversity: Product diversity is a strategy that takes the

organization into both new markets and products or services.
Example: Disney

The Walt Disney Company has a diverse workforce, which is critical

to the business. When the employees reflect the diversity of the
communities they serve, it enhances the quality of the
entertainment and experiences. Theyre trying to encourage a broad
range of opinions, ideas and perspectives to help them drive
creativity and innovation across the company. The product diversity

of the company varies all from Films, to theme parks, such as

Disney Land or Disney World. Disney Land was first opened in
California, July 17th 1955, whereas Disney World was first opened in
October 1st 1971, in Orlando Florida.

Profitability of product range: Different variations of the same product

platform that can appeal to a variety of market sectors.
Example: Harry Potter Series

The creators and producers of Harry Potter produce many different

products to expand their franchise, widen their audience and gain a
bigger profit. Most of their profits came from other products and not
only the films. They have a huge variety of products that relate to
Harry Potter, such as video games, TV and synergy. Only 21% of
their $21 billion comes from the global box office whereas 33%
comes from merchandise. The merchandise includes wands, hats
and quidditch equipment, etc.

Organizational objectives: The general goal of a business and its

purpose that have been recognized by the management and
communicated to the employees.
Example: BAFTA

BAFTA is an independent charity that supports, develops and

promotes the art forms of the moving image film, TV and games. It
has an annual awards ceremony that allows everything from young
film makers and designers to actors and producers to become more
recognised in the business.

Licenses and franchises: A movie franchise is a chain of movies created

over a long period of time but may have used a different production
company each time. These include films such as Marvel Cinematic
Universe, Harry Potter or Star Wars.
Licenses in film is when you want to use a piece from a film or clip to use
for your own work, and you pay a certain fee so youre able to use it.
Example: A Franchise Star Wars

The first ever Star Wars movie was made in 1977, with the
production company, Lucasfilms. Lucasfilms and Twentieth century
fox were the two production companies that were working together
on the first ever Star Wars film. Since then Lucasfilms has been
involved in all Star wars, and since 2012 Walt Disney acquired
Lucasfilms at a valuation of $4.06 billion. One of the latest Star Wars
films, in 2015 has had Bad Robot Productions involved in the
production of the latest Star wars.

Competitors: Any person or company which is a rival against another.

Example: Universal and Warner Bros. are two film companies so
therefore are at competition with each other

Warner Bros. (Time warner) was founded around 25 years ago, in

1990. It is an American multinational media corporation. It is
currently the world's third largest television networks and filmed TV
& Entertainment Company in terms of revenue, and at one time was
the world's largest media conglomerate. Whereas; Universal is an
American film studio, owned by Comcast through its wholly owned
subsidiary NBC Universal, and is one of Hollywood's "Big Six" film
studios. Its production studios are at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive
in Universal City, California.

Customers: Anyone who would buy or use the product/ service, etc. Film
companies have to bring films out to bring in customers back to the
cinema to get an income.
Example: Children wanting to go to Disney land

Disney established itself as a leader in the American animation

industry before diversifying into live-action film production,
television, and theme parks. At first the Walt Disney Company only
produced movies in America, and when they started becoming more
known on a larger global scale, they started expanding their areas
of focus, such as, radio, music, theatre and theme parks, etc.

National and global competition and trends: Global Competition is

the existence of competing organizations that serve international
customers. Access to global customers has increased through enhanced
communications, improved shipping channels, reduction of barriers and
centralized finance authorities. National competition is the existence of
competing organizations that serve national customers in the country of
the organization.
Example: Disney and Time Warner are competing on a national and
global form. Trends are how the business has changed and
developed, such as Bollywood has become increasingly big over the
years. This is a trend.

The Walt Disney Company was founded on October 23rd, 1923, by

Walt Disney. It started off in America and throughout the years has
become more globally known. The company also operated under the
names The Walt Disney Studio, then Walt Disney Productions. Taking
on its current name in 1986, it expanded its existing operations and
also started divisions focused upon theater, radio, music, publishing,
and online media.
Warner Bros. (Time Warner) was founded in 1990, and is an
American multinational media corporation. It is currently the world's
third largest television networks and filmed TV & Entertainment

Company in terms of revenue, and at one time was the world's

largest media conglomerate.
The first Indian short film was screened in 1899, and Bollywood was
born. Just like in Hollywood, the films were silent at first, and then in
the 1930s they became talkies. Many Indians came to live and
work in Britain around 50 years ago, and they bought their culture
with them.