Planning and Research - Film Institutions

Film Institutions

 

Film institutions are fundamental as they provide the money for films to be made, and without them, no one would ever get enough money to make a film decent with the available budget. These companies, also own studios, are useful as they are reusable and efficient, and are dedicated to film making. The major problem with film institutions funding a film is that they like to have complete control over the project, and this reduces the amount of creative input. They are all about making money, and this stops film advancing as an art form. The Big Six consist of 20^th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures, Columbia, Universal and Walt Disney. They are all based in or around Hollywood and are also all centred in film studios which were active during Hollywood’s Golden Age in the 1930s and 40s.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. was founded in 1903 by Albert, Sam, Harry and Jack Warner – the four Warner brothers, and are an American motion picture studio that introduced the first genuine talking picture in 1927. The brothers began their careers showing moving pictures in Ohio and Pennsylvania on a travelling basis. In 1903, they began acquiring movie theatres and then moved into film distribution. Over the years, Warner Bros. have supported and distributed many world renowned films, such as Harry Potter, The Exorcist and Looney Tunes.Warner Bros don't really have a speciality in regard to what they do; they have a very wide range of films. They tend to make high budget movies that get a lot of money, which are released around the world. Figures from 2007 show that Warner Bros. comprise a massive 19.7% of the US/Canadian market share, and is the biggest player in the film industry due to the secured rights to so many popular films, making them the No. 1 name in the business.

Paramount Pictures Corporation

Paramount Pictures Corporation (commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount) is a film and television production/distribution studio, consistently ranked as one of the largest (top-grossing) film studios. It is a subsidiary of U.S. media conglomerate Viacom, and is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Founded in 1912 as the Famous Players Film Company, it is the fifth oldest surviving film company. Paramount Pictures is famous for its distribution of successful film series, such as Star Trek, Transformers and Paranormal Activity. Paramount has 15.5% percent of the US/Canadian market share and continues to be one of the most successful film production companies in the world.

Walt Disney

The Walt Disney Company started in 1923 in the rear of a small office occupied by Holly-Vermont Realty in Los Angeles. It was there that Walt Disney, and his brother Roy, produced a series of short live-action/animated films collectively called the ALICE COMEDIES. The rent was a mere $10 a month. Within four months, the ever-growing staff moved next door to larger facilities, where the sign on the window read "Disney Bros. Studio." Walt Disney traditionally specialises in family movies and animation, but in recent years it has been expanding more into live action. They also own an incredible amount of film institutions: Touchstone Pictures, Pixar, Marvel, and most recently Lucasfilm. Disney specialises on making films for the art from, rather than the money, and they don't make films as often, making every film special. Their films are enjoyable for both children and their parents, giving them an enormous turnover. They are one of the most renowned film production companies in the history of the business; Walt Disney now holds 15.3 percent of the US/Canadian market share. With highly successful movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure, Meet the Robinsons and Enchanted, there's no doubt that Disney will continue to play a key role in the industry for years to come.

Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. (CPII) is an American film production and distribution studio that is part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film studios in the world, a member of the so-called Big Six. It was one of the so-called Little Three among the eight major film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. It was founded in 1918 as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and Joe Brandt, released its first feature film in August 1922. It adopted the Columbia Pictures name in 1924 and went public two years later. The name is derived from "Columbia”, a national personification of the United States, which is used as the company's logo. They have a good partnership with Steven Spielberg - the leading film director in Hollywood, and this is a major reason for their success. They are consistently ranked as one of the highest-grossing film studios in the world. As with Warner Bros, they make a very wide range of films, and will make anything that will sell. It comprises 12.9% of the US/Canadian market share but still remains a big player in the business. Some of this company's recent successes include Casino Royale, The Da Vinci Code, the Spider-Man series and Step Brothers.

Universal

Universal Pictures is another of the very well-known film institution, mainly due to the fact that they have a big theme park in America. They were founded in 1912 by by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, and Jules Brulatour and were one of the first film institutions. It seems that only the film institutions that were around at the genesis of film making have made it to being the most successful, which makes sense as they've had time to grow. They make very high-budget movies, and have been highly successful across the years. They also own Illumination Films and Working Title films, which are key companies in their film making machine. Working Title acts as Universal's attempt to get money out of the British, by giving them about $40-$50m to make a high quality product. This has worked well over the years, producing classics such as 'Love Actually' and 'Notting Hill'. The films tend to include a mostly British cast, but with a few American actors in, in order to appeal more widely to an American audience. Steven Spielberg also uses Universal a lot. 12.2 % of the US/Canadian market share belongs to Universal Studios, which continues to make millions for the film industry. With major hits like the Bourne series (Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum), The American Pie series, Knocked Up, American Gangster and The Incredible Hulk, it's very clear that Universal Studios knows what it takes to make money in this industry.

20^th Century Fox

The company was founded on May 31^st, 1935, as the result of the merge of Fox Film Corporation, founded by William Fox in 1915, and Twentieth Century Pictures, founded in 1933 by Darryl F. Zanuck and Joseph M. Schenck. 20^th Century Fox has distributed various commercially successful film series, including Star Wars, Ice Age, X-men, Die Hard, Planet of the Apes and Fantastic Four. Television series produced by Fox include The Simpsons, M*A*S*H, The X-files, Family Guy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, How I Met Your Mother, Glee, Modern Family and 24. Among the famous actresses to come out of this studio were Shirley Temple, who was the their first film star, Betty Grable, Gene Tierney, Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. The studio is also contracted the first African-American cinema star, Dorothy Dandridge. 20^th Century Fox is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPAA) and is owned by News Corporation as they also own the Fox Television channel. It is a highly successful film company which makes up 11.9% of the US/Canadian market share.