Disney considers several key factors before making a film to ensure it will be profitable and attract audiences. These include whether the film will make a profit, whether it will appeal to audiences, and how audiences may react to and engage with the film. Disney analyzes audience expectations, knowledge, identification, and placement to predict audience response. Disney also uses various strategies like franchises, remakes, and synergy between its divisions to guarantee revenue from new films.

1. The Film Industry
Today we are:
Learning and understanding the processes that are
taken in order for a film to be shown to the public
Learning the key terms for Institutions and
Audiences at every stage of the creation of a film

2. Scenario: Disney are looking to
release a film in 2021. You have
been asked to be part of the
production team
Task: What are the key things you will need
to consider before making the film?

3. What Do Film Producers Have To
Consider Before Making A Film?
• Will it make a profit?
• Will it attract Audiences?

4. MEDIA TRIANGLES
Institution
Target
Audience
Media
Text
Who has produced the
media text
What they have
produced
Who it is produced for.

5. What is Audience?
• Mainstream and Niche
• In this case it is the relationship between the
audience and the institution.
• Audience = the ways in which people engage with
media.
• Institutions are no longer interested in keeping the
audience together but in ‘triggering engagement’ in
people.

6. What is Audience?
• Media is changing what is known as the audience
• Shift from PUSH media (where producers push media at us
and we receive and consume it) to PULL media (where we
decide what we want to do with the media and access it in
ways that suit us.)
• People are now making and distributing their own videos
much more – gone from a VALUE CHAIN (products are made
an distributed to audiences) to SOCIAL NETWORK (Complex
system where producers and consumers are mixed up)
• HOW IS THIS A PROBLEM FOR FILM PRODUCERS?

7. Audiences
• Media Producers also consider very carefully how that audience
might react to, or engage with, their text. The following are all
factors in analysing or predicting this reaction.
• AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
• This describes how an audience interacts with a media text.
Different people react in different ways to the same text.
• AUDIENCE EXPECTATIONS
• These are the advance ideas an audience may have about a
text. This particularly applies to genre pieces. Don't forget that
producers often play with or deliberately shatter audience
expectations.
• AUDIENCE FOREKNOWLEDGE
• This is the definite information (rather than the vague
expectations) which an audience brings to a media product.

8. Audience and Media
Producers
• AUDIENCE IDENTIFICATION
• This is the way in which audiences feel themselves connected
to a particular media text, in that they feel it directly expresses
their attitude or lifestyle.
• AUDIENCE PLACEMENT
• This is the range of strategies media producers use to
directly target a particular audience and make them feel that the
media text is specially 'for them'.
• AUDIENCE RESEARCH
• Measuring an audience is very important to all media
institutions. Research is done at all stages of production of a media
text, and, once produced, audience will be continually monitored.
• Audience reaction to early versions of a media text is closely
watched. Hollywood studios routinely show a pre-release version of
every movie they make to a test audience, and will often make
changes to the movie that are requested by that audience.

9. Counting Audiences
• Different types of media texts measure their audiences in different
ways.
• Film Figures are based on box office receipts and cinema takings,
rather than the number of people who have actually seen the movie.
• Subtract the production costs of a movie from the box office receipts
to find out how much money it made, and therefore how successful it
has been in the profit-driven movie business.
• Be aware that a film which does not cost much to make (eg The Blair
Witch Project) and takes even a modest amount at the box office can
be considered a greater success than a big action movie which cost
more, has a bigger set of box office receipts (i.e. lots more people
went to see it) but has a smaller profit margin.

10. The Jungle Book
How does Disney use its advertising & marketing
for the Jungle Book to:
• Engage the audience
• How does the audience identify with the film?
• What expectations would the audience have?

11. The Disney Company
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXV8xf
KGpiQ
• Watch the Video
• Discuss the growth of Walt Disney and how it
may benefit a films release – make notes in
your exam book on the video and this
question

12. The Disney Company
• What type of company is Disney?
- Vertically integrated
- Horizontally integrated

13. Disney - conglomerate that owns companies across the supply chain (production,
distribution, publishing). Also works in different sectors (Broadcast, print, digital,
merchandise)

14. How Do Disney Guarantee Money
Coming In?
• Franchises – groups of films that will promote
one another – Pirates of the Caribbean, Star
Wars
• Re-makes – if the formula works, then re-
make it!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9bbLJ9uHaI

15. How Do Disney Guarantee Money
Coming In?
• Franchises – groups of films that will promote
one another – Pirates of the Caribbean, Star
Wars
• Re-makes – if the formula works, then re-
make it!
Why does Disney do this? What are the advantages?

16. Synergy
• Synergy is when the interaction of two or more forces working together
creates a greater effect than the sum of their individual efforts.
• Media synergy is the way in which different elements of a media
conglomerate work together to promote linked products across different
media.
• Synergy works when different elements within a media conglomerate
promote (e.g. film studio, record label, video game division) create linked
products (e.g. film, soundtrack, video game).
• Each distinct element promotes the others.

17. Disney Synergy
The film of ‘High School Musical’ promotes the DVD which promotes
the soundtrack which promotes the advent calendar which promotes
the doll which promotes the sequel which promotes the Disney Store
which promotes the film…

18. An example of synergy from Disney
CD
Game
DVD
Outlets

19. Homework….
• Answer the following questions:
• What re-makes have Disney made?
• Which live action re-make is the most successful so far?
• How much money did the most successful re-make get at the
box office?
• What brands do Disney own? Find an image to back up your
points on this