THE FILM INDUSTRY

In the American film industry there are six main film studios, these are: Warner Brothers (owned by Time Warner), Paramount (owned by Viacom), 20th Century Fox (owned by News Corp), Walt Disney Pictures (owned by The Walt Disney Company), Columbia Pictures (owned by Song Corporation) and Universal Pictures (owned by GE). These six studios dominate the film industry and it is hard for less recognised film studios to produce successful films. These big 6 studios produce better films than other film companies as they have more money and are more recognised so they can take more risks. Each off these studios are owned by a conglomerate which is a huge media company that owns lots of other smaller companies known as subsidiaries (smaller arms connected to the conglomerate). When the market is dominated by just a few companies this is known as Oligopoly. The film industry in UK is totally different to America. There are very few big studios which means they cant take as many risks as American film studios do, due to budgets etc. Most of the time UK film studios can't afford to make the film a success so they tend to join with one of the big 6 studios to get there film to be successful. America own 75% of the UK box office. Here are the main British film studios: Big Talk Pictures (produced Paul, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), Working Title Films (produced Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Boat that Rocked, About a Boy), Film4 (owned by television company Channel 4 produced This is England, Fever Pitch), BBC films (owned by the BBC produced The boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Miss Potter), Ecosse Films (produced Mrs Brown, Charlotte grey, Nowhere Boy) and UK Film Council (owned by the Government funded by the lottery and government produced The Women in Black, Kidulthood, Adulthood, We need to talk to Kevin).

Key Words:

• Convergence - Two or more types of media coming together.
• Synergy - Different elements of a company working together to promote related products.
• Concentration of media ownership - The process by which an increasingly smaller number of companies own the majority of media outlets.
• Conglomerate - The company that owns a range of smaller companies.
• Subsidiary - Smaller arms that come from a bigger company.
• Oligopoly - When the market is dominated by a small number of companies.
• Cross media ownership - When a company owns lots off different types of media.