The Issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practise

• What is media ownership?All media, whether it be film, music or print is owned by a company. This company then holds the rights to publish, distribute and manipulate their work. An example would be: Warner bros. own DC comics and therefore own the rights to all of the characters in the 'DC universe‘

• How does who owns a media company influence the type of film made and its potential success?

The owner of a media company could influence a films' success. If the owner of a media company has a certain preference of film than he could be more likely to give the go ahead and commission that film. For example, if the owner of the company is presented with two ideas for a film, one being a horror film and the other a comedy, if he/she prefers comedies, then that film will be shown clear bias. This could hinder the potential success of a movie because we know that certain genre's of film 'perform' better than others. In regards to 'The Grand Budapest Hotel', this is a cult film; a comedy/drama. This is by no means the most popular or successful genre of film and yet the media company owner has shown bravery to give it the go ahead. It was a big gamble in doing so but has proven an inspired one as the decision has been supported by the success of the film. Turning just under $173 million of profit from a $31 million budget. All these factors mean that the overall success of this movie is even more incredible

The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and

marketing• What is cross media convergence?Cross media convergence refers to companies coming together horizontally and/or vertically. The most famed example being 'Working title' making use of its parent companies in order to get access to bigger 'stars' and better distribution and marketing networks for their films.

• How can huge companies such as Disney use their size to promote and publicise a film?Giant companies such as 'Disney' only have to attach their name to a movie for it to receive great media attention. They can use their size to create the certainty of success for a film because of their ability to promote and publicize it. An advantage that 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' film held was that it was distributed by 'Fox searchlight pictures', who are attached to '20th century fox'; one of the biggest film corporations in the world. This was good for the film because it would have been able to take advantage of the vast distribution network available to 'Fox searchlight pictures' holding it in good stead once the distribution process began. • How can small companies work together to promote their business' when making and promoting a

film?'Smaller' companies will usually come together in order to achieve something they would not be able to do independently. This is useful because once partnered, they are able to combine resources in order to produce the highest quality product possible. Small companies will not have the ability to attract the biggest budgets as other companies do but will be able to combine with others in order to create a sufficient budget for a proposed film. A combination of companies will be able to use their own contacts and resources in order to attract 'movie stars' and other higher quality elements of film-making to their production, thus creating a higher quality movie. This was evident in the case of 'The grand Budapest hotel' where three production companies teamed together in the film making process: 'American empirical pictures', 'Indian paintbrush' and Babelsburg studio'

The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production,

distribution, marketing and exchange• New formats of advertising and marketing films have been introduced

and developed in recent years. Films are no longer solely advertised in cinemas prior to other films and displayed on huge billboards in city centres. Films can now be seen, heard, smelt you name it. It is unclear how much money was made available to market ‘The grand Budapest hotel’ but the budget for the production is usually a good indication, and with a budget of only $31 million, then we can assume the money made available for marketing was not the biggest. They displayed trailers in multiple cinemas all over the world. The huge advancement in smart phones meant that film-goers could see the trailer whilst on the move. The film was also given exclusive advertisement within other applications which meant people would see it as they were playing something else. This film did not have the biggest marketing campaign yet was still a good success which means this was down to other things such as: word of mouth and loyal fans of Wes Anderson.

The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and

audiences• How and why have film companies had to alter the way they work now everyone has web

enabled phones, PC's, consoles etc?In recent years, with more and more people possessing web enabled phones, PC's and consoles, the film industry have had to alter the way they work. This is because they have had to ensure their movies are compatible with these devices. There is more of a demand for movies in these formats and if a film company wish to make money they have to keep up with the new trends in the industry; especially concerning new technology.• How have audiences changed their viewing habits now we no longer need to go to the

cinema to watch a film?In the past, going to see a film was a big occasion; it would be booked days in advance and would be greatly anticipated. Things are now very different. With the great advancements in technology, watching a film has become something of low significance. Commuters on trains, planes and other transport are able to pull out their smartphone or tablet at a seconds notice and have hundreds of movies on demand from a variety of services. People can now watch multiple films in a day, whereas previously some would be lucky to see two a week. DVD's are also becoming less and less popular as there is no need for them anymore. It is possible to buy and keep a virtual copy of a movie via the 'Sky store' and on demand services such as 'Blinkbox' and 'Netflix' are helping DVD's become a thing of the past.