Six major companies control 90% of box office takings:
- Paramount
- Universal
- 20th Century Fox
- Warner Bros Pictures
- Walt Disney
- Columbia Pictures
They are part of the vast conglomerates( a combination of multiple business entities operating in entirely different industries under on company and many subsidiaries.) that are both vertically and horizontally integrated.
Studios that work outside the major studio system are known as "independents" or "indies" such as:
- Summit Entertainment
- Film 4 Productions
- Icon Productions
Mini Majors:
Some of the leading "independents" studios have come to be known as "mini majors" this includes:
- Dreamworks
- Lionsgate Entertainment
- The Weinstein Company
Production: making the film
- figuring out the idea
- writing the script
- pitching it to a studio
- establishing a budget
- casting stars and hiring crew members
- filming
- editing
To start production, a film requires investors to provide the necessary funding. As box office success is never guaranteed, investors try to reduce the risk of losing money by becoming involved in important decisions.
Before a director can start filming the film has to be greenlit( funding has been made available by the investors) at that point the project will have the most important things such as:
- principle cast
- director
- cinematographer
- screenplay
It is the producer job to bring all these important things together.
Distribution:
In the film industry, the launch and maintenance of films is a highly competitive process. The time you decided to release your movie is imperative to how well it will sell. The film distributor has to establish how they will present the film to their intended audience. Distribution is a matter of trying to get the film out there and to the public. Things like publicity and marketing play and important role in doing so.
- deciding on a release date
- prints to produce and in which cinemas to screen them
- creating are work for advertisements
- organizing premiers and screenings
- press interviews
Marketing: a very important part of distributing film's and there are many different ways you can go about it such as:
- posters
- trailers
- online content
- special screening/premieres
- interviews/articles
- merchandising
- festivals/awards
Funding:
Film financing is a part of the filmmaking process that takes place before the pre-production and is focused on determining the potential worth of a project. Producing films can be quite expensive because of all the things that obviously require a lot of money. There are various ways to provide funding for films, for example:
Crowd Funding: asking the public to donate small amount of money
- The money would be distributed among a wide number of people in order to generate a large enough sum to support the film.
- This strategy is generally advertised via social media, as it reaches a big audience quickly and the word can be spread with a single click.
- This also helps bring more attention to the film itself
Charities: voluntarily giving money to those who need it
- Occasionally, charities will support a film, but only if the film will raise awareness of the topic for which the organization is raising funds.
International Documentary Association (IDA): supports nonfiction filmmaking and filmmakers
- provides production and development grants to documentary filmmakers and helps them gain scholarships to fundraise their project
