FilF

Film Institutions

Lions Gate Entertainment

Lionsgate is a Canadian- American entertainment company founded in 1997. From

November 2013, it is the most commercially successful mini major film and television

distribut ion company in North America and the 7th most profitable movie studio. Their

name refers to the Vancouver landmark, the Lions Gate Bridge. Its first major box office

success was American Psycho in 2000, which began a trend of producing and

distribut ing films too controversial for the major American studios.

Other notable films include Saw, Fahrenheit 9/11, Afflict ion which had been the highest

grossing films unt il the release of the Hunger games in 2012. The Hunger games grossed

$68.3 million when it premiered at the US box office.

On May 3rd 2012, Lionsgate films pacted with CodeBlack enterprises which created

CodeBlack films, which will be based at lionsgate headquarters.

Lionsgate deals with many sectors of the media industry, as they possess its own record

label and music publishing company, Lionsgate music and publishing. Lionsgate also

established a joint venture with music publishing company Sony music Australia.

Other platforms include television where they produce series such as Nashville, House of

Payne, The dead zone and the Emmy-award winning Mad Men as they also co-own Pop

with CBS Corporation.

Lionsgate has only had successful horror films in the last 5 years, in which they have not

produced many. After researching horror films from Lionsgate, I discovered that horror

was not one of their st rongest points when making or distrubting. The reason for this is the

information needed and decididing whether they are situtable for my horror t railer.

Universal Studios Inc.

Universal studios inc. is also known as universal pictures, is an American film studio,

owned by Comcast through its owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. It is one of Hollywood’s

‘Big Six’ film studios. It was founded in 1912 by the German Carl Larmmle making it the

world’s third oldest major film studio. Three of universal Studio’s films, Jaws, E.T and

Jurassic Park achieved box office records and each became the highest grossing film

ever at the t ime of init ial release.

In 1928, Laemmle, made his son, Carl Jr head of universal pictures as a 21st birthday

present, in which he persuaded his father to bring universal up to date. He bought and

built theatres and made several foray into high-quality production.

Laemmle Jr also created a niche for the studio, beginning a series of horror films which

extended into the 1940s, making universal Horror. Among them Frankenstein was

produced (1931), Dracula (1931), The mummy (1932) and the invisible man (1933).

Universal also has a music company, called Universal Music Group (UMG Recordings)

and is the largest music corporation in the world. An American-based but French owned

mult inational music corporation, currently operates as a subsidiary of Paris-based media

conglomerate Vivendi. UMG also owned Universal music publishing group which is the

second largest music publishing company in the world.

Art ists that are managed by UMG include, Elton John, Kayne West, Taylor swift and Lady

Gaga.

As you can see from my research on horror films that Universal Pictures created, the result

is not as promising as the Lionsgate and other inst itutions that will follow. For example the

amount of films they have created and also the experience they had on the horror films,

is not as big compared to other inst itutions.

Walt Disney Pictures

The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney is an American diversified

mult inational mass media corporation headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in

California.

It is the world’s second largest broadcast ing and Cable Company in terms of revenue.

Disney was founded on October 16th 1923 establishing itself as a leader in the animation

industry before diversifying into lice action film, production and television.

Their highest grossing films include: Toy Story, Frozen, Iron Man, The Avengers and Lion

King. Walt Disney Pictures offer different types of films that would appeal to a variety of

people. However, it is mainly targeted towards those who have a family and children.

Walt Disney has not produced a horror film specifically due to their target audience and

how they would appeal these types to films to them. However, the films that they have

produced do include horror and violent elements. This shows that they do have some

experience in producing and creating horror moments, but not enough that would focus

on the genre itself.

With this in mind, I think that Disney is a major film inst itution that would do well in the

advert ising and promotion of my horror t railer. With the use of graphic content in them I

could create a scary trailer aimed at children. Yet, my target audience is those 15 and

above who would not find these elements scary enough. Other film inst itutions would be

able to create this better, and they have the relevant experience from their own horror

movies they have produced.

Warner Bros is another one of the main film studios based in California and New York.

Warner Bros is a global leader in the creation, production, distribut ion and marketing of

all forms of the creative content across the current and emerging media platforms.

Most of the most popular films created by Warner Bros Fox are harry potter, Valentine’s

Day, Sex and the city, The Hangover, The Dark Knight and Slumdog Millionaire. All of

these films show a variety in terms of their genres, in which Warner Bros like to produce

and distribute so that they can reach a wider audience. For example, Comedy,

Romance, Fantasy, Adventure, Action and Horror. In this case, one of my favourite films

has been created by Warner Bros.

After researching on the horror movies that warner bros have been involved in producing

and distribut ing. I not iced that Warner brothers have produced more well-known and

successful horror films over the years. Some of these best horror films that they have

created are as follows: Friday the 13th, Orphan, Sweeney Todd, House of wax and One

missed call.

I think that warner bros have produced and distributed many popular horror films. This

means they would be best suited for my horror t railer as they have experience within the

genre and how to make a good success of it . This then can increase its popularity for my

target audience.

Warner Bro’s

20th Century Fox

20th century fox is a film corporation which is one of the six major American film Studios.

The organisat ion was founded in 1935 and has become one of the most recognised film

inst itution in the world. The studio is a subsidiary of News Corporation, The media

conglomerate owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Some of the most successful films created by 20th century are: Avatar, Star Wars and The

chronicles of Narnia. These popular films that they have created are mainly comedy and

family orientated such as Alvin and the Chipmunks, Night at the museum and Diary of a

Wimpy Kid.

I am producing a horror t railer, and therefore based on this research that they would not

be a suitable inst itution to produce my trailer with as they do not produce films of the

horror genre.

Although 20th century fox prefer to make comedy/fantasy films they are seen to be the

most profitable. Therefore, I would prefer them to distribute my horror t railer rather than

produce it .

20th century fox do however create horror film but those on a smaller scale. For example,

Alien, The Omen, Jennifers Body, Shutter and the haunting of Molly Hart ley. These films

are not as popular and do not include a major scary element which will be included in

the production of my trailer.

Paramount

Paramount pictures is an American film and television production company, in which

has been rankled the fourth oldest in existence. It was originally founded in 1916 by

Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky. Both of these men were fellow film enthusiasts and

amateur film producers. After the founding of Paramount pictures the company quickly

established itself as a key player in a progressing market.

Since its formation Paramount Pictures has become one of the biggest film production

companies in the world. It has manufactured a global conglomerate which includes its

own animation company; Dreamworks.

It is a subsidiary company of US media conglomerate Viacom. And is a member of the

motion picture associat ion of America. It has distributed many successful film series such

as; Transformers, Mission: Impossible, Indiana Jones, The Godfather, Star Trek, Jackass.

Alike Warner Bros, Paramount offer a variety of different film genres. And although this

enables them to appeal to a wider market, I think that this would not benefit the

production and distribut ion of my horror t railer.

However, Paramount have created many popular horror films themselves. For example,

Ghost and The paranormal activity series. This could be relevant to my own production

as I want to create a trailer in the sub-genre of Paranormal disturbances. Therefore, they

would have the experience in creating this type of film and appeal to a worldwide

audience.