Working title films British film

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Working title filmsBritish film

• Audiences and institutions
• Section B

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L.O-to understand working title films

• Starter- What British films have you seen
  recently?
• If yes how do you know it was a British film?
• Is there a British aesthetic (look/style)
• How does a British film reflect dominant
  ideologies and ideas?

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Key areas to understand

• Production is there synergy between the
  producer and distributor? Or is it produced and
  then a distributor needed. Where is the funding
  coming from? USA funding?
• Distribution- how effective is the distributors
  marketing campaign/ how much is being spent on
  distribution?
• Exhibition- release date/season/type of release-
  Main stream or independent/how long was the film
  on release
• Consumption- How was the film consumed in the UK?
  (Think opening weekend)
• Convergence and new media technologies what
  impact have they had on any of the above areas?
  Production, has it made it easier to film using
  new technologies? Editing makes production easier
  and more accessible to independent film
  companies, making it cheaper to film. Do they
  have an impact on they way they are distributed?
  What impact does that have on the marketing
  techniques and choices?

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Key terms

• Vertical integration- one business entity
  controls or owns all stages of the production and
  distribution of goods or services. Allows the
  business to collect profits from all aspects
  related to the media content
• Synergy- the promotion and sale of a product and
  all of its versions throughout the various
  subsidiaries of a media conglomerate. E.g Mickey
  Mouse, Spider man spin offs
• Technological convergence- different
  technological systems coming together e.g I phone

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What are the key issues for British cinema?

• Ownership- Conglomerates synergy
• Globalisation- Convergence and new technology
• Cultural imperialism- Dominance of Hollywood
  style and values
• Distribution, Exhibition, and digitalisation
• Competition with other forms (television/internet
  etc)
• Status of film in Britain as low/high

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Why is British film important?

• Economic- profit and re-investment employment
  expertise
• Cultural- engaging with issues and representing
  ourselves on screen British creative identity
• Why does British film struggle?

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Why Hollywood dominance?

• Investment from bankers in the US
• The large domestic market
• Vertical integration-production, distribution,
  exhibition followed by horizontal exhibition
  across industries
• Established Hollywood studio system
• Support from the American government
• Large distribution networks provide profit built
  on a large home market

• Low levels of investment
• Lack of government support
• Audiences not seeing film as an art form
  therefore not supporting it
• Lack of funding for distribution
• Controlling censorship
• Television with strong PSB- public service
  broadcasting- money goes into that

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Convergence of film companies

• Working title films-UK
• In 1999 signed a deal with universal studios
  meaning that had a budget of up to 35 m without
  consulting
• Links with Universal provides funding for the
  films that may have previously struggled with
  budget

• Universal studios USA
• Is the parent company of Working title film
• 20 Vivendi (French international conglomerate)
• 80 NBC (brought from Vivendi in 2004)
• Universal studies have access to several other
  companies through affiliations with companies
  such as NBC

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Working title films

• Four weddings and a funeral
• Bridget Jones
• Notting hill
• The boat that rocked

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How successful have they been?
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In terms of production

• A film like Bridget Jones had input from
• Miramax
• Universal
• Working titles
• Studio canal
• Therefore, this is a film that targets a British
  audience rather than a British film
• Financially it is therefore easier to produce and
  distribute if one of the companies has vertical
  integration

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• Slumdog millionaire- Film four Celador
• Distributors of Slumdog-Fox searchlight and Pathe
• Searchlight backed the film when it stumbled
  between production and distribution
• They searched for studio backing originally but
  it could not be found
• Fox searchlight then agreed to fund the
  distribution in the USA and pathe for the
  distribution in the Uk (Approx 8.5 M)

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Synergy -

• A number of processes working together within a
  system for greater benefit than they could
  achieve individually
• The benefit of synergy in the film industry is

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Homework-Due Thursday

• Research one film company either American or UK
• Think about how they deal with the key areas
• Who are their target audience/what films do they
  produce
• How are they funded
• Be prepared to share