Hollywood has a large studio system that allows it to control all aspects of film production, marketing, and distribution. Major studios like Warner Bros. and Disney produce around 120 films per year with large budgets that allow for special effects, famous actors, and other elements that appeal to mass audiences. Hollywood carefully considers the target audience for each film and spends money accordingly. For example, Toy Story 3 had a $200 million budget to appeal to both new and returning audiences through advanced CGI. Hollywood also relies heavily on strategic marketing that builds hype online, like the viral marketing for Cloverfield. This level of production and promotion allows Hollywood films to be very profitable.

1. Sian Lynes
How does Hollywood produce, market and exhibit its films to ensure success? Refer closely to
example throughout
Hollywood is set up as a large studio system which enables them to control every aspect of their
own filmmaking including producing, marketing and exhibiting their films for their target audience.
Hollywood is ultimately comprised of 6 major conglomerates these are: Warner Bros., 20th Century
Fox, Paramount Pictures, Columbia, Universal, Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney. Every year,
Hollywood releases approximately 120 films in comparison to the British film industry’s measly
handful of films; without taking into account its success. This is because Hollywood film production
consists of having high production values which means that their budget for each film is a
substantially high amount resulting in a better quality outcome of a film. This large budget allows
them to invest in special effects such as CGI, more professional and well known actors, better script,
exotic locations and more advanced technology especially in camera equipment. High-concept films
can then be produced which have unique plot lines and allow more extravagant production; this
appeals to a mass audience which a majority of Blockbusters consist of.
The way Hollywood produce their films gives them a huge advantage against minority British film
producers and other national producers. The majority of large Hollywood companies are able to
produce almost every aspect of production from filming to special effects because they own other
subsidiary companies that specify in that field. When producing films Hollywood think specifically
about their target audience and where their budget should be spent to appeal to that audience.
Having this direct appeal to their target audience the film becomes more specific and thus
generating a large profit. For example, Inception targeted its audience at the intellectually
challenging and sceptical audience so it was important that they would not question the realism of
the film. Director of Inception, Christopher Nolan, wanted the amount of CGI to the minimum so the
realism of the dreams in the film were believable; this ended up with only 5% of total scenes in the
film using green screen and other percent being full constructed sets. In contrast, Toy Story 3 is
clearly bases its production on the use of computer generating imaging for the entire film as the
characters are brought to life. Pixar, the creators of Toy Story 3 had to think specifically to appeal
not only to its old audience that expected the same level of creativity and nostalgia from previous
films but to a new audience that had not experienced its franchise before. Their target audience is
respectively a larger one than other films of its sort, appealing to children but also attaining an
appeal to adults with its humour and plot. Toy Story 3 had an extraordinary budget of $200million,
the highest of Pixar film history, which was spent not only on above-the-line costs such as the voices
of previous actors of key characters such as Tom Hanks playing Woody but the below-the-line costs
of the development of new characters such as Lots-O. New development in technology allowed the
animators to create more in-depths detail such as the fur on Lots-O and more intricate movement
which was not possible for previous films which had previously consisted mainly of basic plastic
textures on old characters. This new level of production for CGI ensured that the quality of the film
appealed to its old and new audiences; this new in-depth dimension was not only enhanced in 2D
but in 3D. Rise of The Planet of the Apes was another film which delved into benefits on new
technology; and also had the trouble of appeal to past and present audiences to create a totally new
way of creating the apes. The Planet of the Apes before was a film franchise that would rely on
make-up and professionalism of actors to perform like apes themselves. However by using screen
performance capture technology they were able to capture the movements of human actors who

2. Sian Lynes
specialised in the behaviour of apes. This was this digitally enhanced by Weta Digital who created
the detail and realistic features of the apes; this appealed specifically to their target audience which
was past fans of the franchise who expected the ape-like quality but to a new and younger audience
which were so familiar with digitalisation of animals in films. Unlike Avatar’s use of performance
capture, Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the first to use this technology outside of constricted
space of ‘the volume’ where scenery would be adapted around the source but instead the source
could be placed into the scenery to avoid complex construction of CGI locations and also add to the
realistic context of the film. This integration of technology and real locations which were used, such
locations used were Vancouver to San Francisco in California allowed a more believable plot and
therefore a more successful film. So it is no doubt that Hollywood films have a great stake in the CGI
market as many Blockbusters contain some element of computer generated technology to provide
scenes and objects that are just not physically possible. Throughout the past years 3D has also been
a dominant force in film viewing. However, recent debates suggest that 3D is again on its way into its
own demise; the price of tickets in 3D is of course a majority higher than its 2D version which mainly
is the stimulus to which version an audience may chose to see. No doubt that recent surge in the
economy is contributing to these considerably differentiated prices but it may be the experience
that is also the cause of this fall in popularity. Wearing the 3D glasses may also alienate some people
and that a 2D experience is more comfortable and enjoyable. The quality of the 3D films is also
widely debated as many people argue it does not offer a substantial standard of quality in
comparison to its 2D competitor. These result in a recent downfall of 3D, but this may be perhaps
the majority of 3D films that have been released are family based films and simply is an unaffordable
price in comparison to normal 2D which offers the same cinema experience. Either way, 3D is
becoming a less appetising form of viewing and until the prices of 3D can become reasonable or
match the 2D price in the means of value and experience, Hollywood will continue to focus on the
2D experience as before.
To issue all this hard-work, Hollywood depend massively on the distribution of their films for it to
earn money and become successful. Without marketing, a film can sit literally untouched until word
and mouth spreads about its presence which lures their audience into buying tickets to see it thus
ensuring a profit for the film. Although today’s Hollywood industry also relies heavily on ‘distribution
windows’ where they take the branding of a film and insert it into different media such as:
merchandise, video games, internet downloads, DVD/Blueray formats etc. This allows Hollywood to
go beyond the publicity of the theatrical aspect of marketing but to extend the brand of the film and
create more revenue from a certified fan base. Hollywood can choose from a wide variety of
marketing strategies to aim directly at a specific target audience. Distributors of Cloverfield,
Paramount Pictures, aimed directly at the generation consumed with technology to create interest
about their film. The film produced an enigmatic teaser trailer, being filmed as if it was a real
person’s hand-held camera showing shocking scenes of New York City in destruction, to create buzz
on the internet and word of mouth about what it could be. Photos were then slowly released on an
website that used its url as its release date, these photos had dates and times of the destruction; this
encouraged discussion on online blogs and social networks so word and mouth was spread quicker
than ever before. Back stories were also created for characters in the films on blogs and social
networks so people could track their activity and build key narrative features that would later be
explained in the film. This maintained mystery behind these characters urged people to see the film
to construct this puzzle. This was majorly profitable as creating these online profiles and online buzz

3. Sian Lynes
was relatively cheap and did not require any major stunts to create media attention. Traditional
posters and the trailers were shown in TV adverts to reinforce the film’s mystery without giving
away too much detail so there was still a reason for the audience to see it. This specific targeting of
audiences was a major success because the budget for the film was $25million but in box office it
generated $170million. This was an astonishing profit and shows that a well defined marketing tactic
can ensure success of a film even if reviews might say otherwise because audiences are always in
need of fulfilling their curiosity. Inception is another example of specific targeting of their audience,
which was an audience who liked being challenged intellectually challenged. The complex plot of
Inception had to tie in with its audience; so the distributors, Warner Bros. did this by constructing
the “Mind Crime Game”. This allowed the audience to participate in playing games to construct
dreams/mazes to then unlock special movie posters. A site was set up called the “PasiDevice” which
was a key prop in the film was made available but its use was unknown at the time; a ‘user manual’
was sent to WIRED Magazine who published it online to ask readers to decipher its clues and
instructions it contained to use it. This created an online buzz as this challenging way of including the
audience into the film’s own plot and allowed an insight into the secretive plot. This was extended to
a larger audience into a downloadable app called “SCVNGR” [scavenger] where users could log into
locations all over the globe to unlock movie content and special badges. A certain amount of secrecy
was left behind the distribution of Inception to draw the audience to the cinemas; the teaser trailer
and theatrical trailer still did not reveal a definite plot line so this was important in encouraging their
audience to complete the puzzle of what their marketing subjected them to. The only insight into
plot was a 15-page preview comic with premiered exclusively on Yahoo! Movies which created an
online buzz and left many people speculating possible plot lines. This level of secrecy allowed
Inception to have edge over its summer film competitors that at the time relied mainly on previous
movies. Inception also took a typical route by holding a ‘press junket’ where the press where invited
by distributors to interview the director and stars of the film, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, about the
film; this is a good method of marketing as it is definite that the press attending will report their
findings and publish information from the press conference as well as show clips on TV or online
media. However, Hollywood can always rely on traditional marketing methods such as trailers and
posters in advertisement and interviews with cast members. In this case, Rise of the Planet of the
Apes took a more traditional route but took a twist onto its method to tie into the theme of the film.
A well-done teaser trailer was released of apes taking over their human counter parts which grabbed
the attention of a mass audience, as well as the fans from previous films and new ones. Typical
online methods were used, such as Twitter and Facebook to increase the film’s profile and generate
an audience as well as a fan base. However, six videos were also released which showed fake
footage of apes in research or acting like humans, one in particular showed an ape using a gun,
which creating a viral world wind. These not only gave a reinforced plot line but created a buzz and
insight into the film as the quality of these real-life but animated creatures gave the film already a
reputation for good CGI and special effects. These was successful as it appealed to their target
audience, as previously discussed, were old fans but also encouraged a new base of fans to see the
film. An iPhone app was also released which allowed users to test their knowledge against an apes,
of course with the apes almost certainly to win over the user, to encourage them to see the film as
to how the apes could be as intelligent as them. The poster for the film made sure it tied in with
these marketing strategies as well as the film, and had a dramatic poster with the slogan “Evolution
becomes Revolution” which created a lot of interest. Hollywood conglomerates also rely on synergy
to expand their film’s interest by using other sectors of their corporation such as a music company to

4. Sian Lynes
produce a soundtrack album to the film. By creating new products and services within the same
corporation costs can be cut than if another individual corporation charged them for their services.
For example, Columbia Pictures uses its lateral integration where the film studio differs into separate
companies to produce another product. Columbia Pictures is a part of the larger conglomerate Sony
Corporation of America who also own Sony Music Entertainment; so it would be easy to use this
company to produce a sound track album for example. Synergy will also create more interest in the
film and increase box office sales as well as other media sales such as DVD sales.
Hollywood also makes sure the exhibition of their films is done to make it as successful as possible.
The first thing to point out is that the main cinema chains of the UK, Vue, Cineworld UK, Odeon and
others total an around about total of 3,310 screens. Although these exhibitors are European or
British companies they still mainly show a majority of Hollywood films to appeal to the mass market
which now lies there. Although Showcase is the main American-owned exhibitor which an
approximate 250 screens all exhibitors are committed to showcasing the latest Hollywood films.
Most money earned comes through the theatrical exhibition via these multiplexes as they house a
large amount of screens in one building and can respond to demand more flexibly. These multiplexes
are more profitable because of this reason and can show a popular blockbuster film on several
screens more often. Typically, Hollywood blockbusters are given a wide release where a film is
release simultaneously across lots of cinema screens to meet its demand which has been produced
from its distribution. Mainly this is done with films that follow the ‘high concept’ guidelines and have
a larger, mass audience. But by using this wide release to book into as many cinema screens as
possible at the same time it increases revenue from the demand created by their distribution tactics.
Exhibition is also important as it relies on the wide release and first weekend takings to ensure a fast
and large amount of profit to outweigh investment put into producing and distributing the film.
After theatrical exhibition of the film, production of DVD and online format of the film are also
released this allows the audience to watch the film on demand in their own home. This technological
convergence of different formats from physical DVD to download allows Hollywood to earn more
profit as well as a reputation for their film. This constant need for seeing a film more than once
increases the success of a blockbuster. Most specifically, with the evolution of online viewing
Hollywood can expand even more on the brand of a film and the audience can access the film easily
without having to go to a store. This expansion of viewing shows that the viewing habits of
audiences have gone beyond the television, audiences can watch films from the palm of their hand
whenever they like, wherever they like; for Hollywood this is majorly beneficial as it increase
revenue beyond the physical DVD.
For me, viewing still remains at the forefront of the Cinema experience. That experience is
undeniably better for me than remaining at home. It also allows me to see the film before waiting
several months before I could watch it in the comfort of my own home. However, I do only by DVD’s
if the film is exceptionally good and most admittedly are Hollywood production. But I do not think
with the UK market of film industry can compete with the massive Hollywood conglomerates. The
mass audience now appeal more to lavish and big budget films that are produced by Hollywood.
Where UK films do not have this kind of budget and rely much more on realistic films mainly set
within the UK to appeal specifically to the UK market where the films are much more relatable. This
restricted audience for UK independent film makers does not usually allow them to exhibit them
beyond European borders at the least. Whereas Hollywood films have a less realistic scene which

5. Sian Lynes
appeals to a worldwide market and can also translate them and have a bigger total profit. It is here,
where the mass market has its edge over a more specific market. Thus, why I think that although
British Film makers can always continue to produce films specifically for the British market but
Hollywood’s big budget will always allow them to appeal to a vaster and more profitable audience.