FILM: INSTITUTIONS AND AUDIENCESUnit G322, Section B

LO’S 18/03/2014

• Investigate media ownership in contemporary media practices.

•Considering the effect of piracy on ownership and the film industry.

What is media ownership?

• All “media” whether it is film, music, or print is owned by a company.

• They hold the “rights” to publish, distribute and manipulate their work.

• For example: Warner Bros own DC Comics and therefore own the “rights” to all of the characters in the “DC universe”.

Film Rights• When an existing story (book, play, comic) is made into a film the “rights”

have to be bought from the author – the product is their “intellectual property”.

• E.g. Warner Brothers bought the rights to make the first 4 Harry Potter for £1 million. (They bought the remaining 3 when the first had been a success).

• Film makers may “option” a script – meaning they only pay 10% of the fee and then pay the full amount if the project gets the “green light” (goes into production) .

• There is normally a time limit on an “option” – usual two or three years. If the film isn’t made in this time the rights can be re-sold.

Film Rights

• Establishing who has the “rights” to make a film offer results in long legal battles and the delay of a film being made.

• Case Study: Watchmen (2009).• http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=PVjA0y78_EQ

Watchmen Task:go to the following websites (also use search engines), and research the problems that were encountered when producing and distributing the watchmen film due to issues with the film rights. Write notes as questions will follow…

• http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/movies/20watc.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

• http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/16/business/fi-watchmen16

Watchmen (2009)• There have been numerous attempts to make a film version of Watchmen since 1986, when producers Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silver acquired film rights to the series for 20th Century Fox.

• In 1991, Fox put the project into “turnaround” and was moved to Warner Bros…

• A turnaround is an arrangement in the film industry, whereby the rights to a project one studio has developed are sold to another studio in

exchange for the cost of development.

• The director Terry Gilliam was set to make the film but later abandoned the project because he decided that Watchmen would have been un-filmable. Subsequently it was dropped by Warner Bros.

• In 2004 the film went to Paramount Pictures but again it was placed in turnaround when the lead director left to work on other projects.

• In 2005 Lawrence Gordon took the film back to Warner Bros where it was eventually brought to life.

• 20th Century Fox filed a lawsuit to block the film's release, stating that they still had the “rights” to the film and that Lawrence Gordon was supposed to resubmit Watchmen to Fox every time he came up with a changed element.

• Warner Bros fought this claim but eventually the studios eventually settled.

• Fox received an upfront payment and a percentage of the worldwide gross from the film and all sequels and spin-offs in return.

• The film was released to cinemas in March 2009 a year after the original release date.

Key Issues For a question on “issues raised by media ownership” you would be expected to primarily write about the following key areas: • Piracy.• The dominance of Hollywood over the industry and the UK Film Council in contrast.

Piracy

http://www.launchingfilms.com/who-gains

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/film-and-music-piracy

Look at the articles on the below websites and answer (write down ) the following questions…• What is film piracy and how is it committed?• Who are FACT? What does FACT stand for?• Who benefits from piracy?• Who loses out due to piracy? What are the figures?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25575298

http://www.fact-uk.org.uk/about/

Piracy and ownership http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVBHApQcknQ

Kermode Uncut: Online Movie Piracy (2009)