Paramount Pictures is an American film studio founded in 1916 that has become one of the largest studios in the world. It helped pioneer the concept of marketing films nationally and internationally. Some of Paramount's most successful films include The Firm from 1993, Marathon Man from 1976, and The Godfather from 1972, which was one of the studio's greatest achievements and highest grossing films. The production process at Paramount follows standard steps - pre-production, filming, post-production, distribution, and marketing. Paramount and other studios must also adhere to regulations from classification boards like the BBFC that assign age ratings to films.

1. Industry study-
Paramount Pictures
By Alex Senior

2. History
Paramount Pictures is an American film and television production
company, the company has been ranked the fourth oldest production
company in existence. Initially founded in 1916 by Adolph Zukor and
Jesse L. Lasky; both of these men were fellow film enthusiasts and
amateur film producers. After the founding of Paramount Pictures the
company quickly established itself as a key player in progressing market,
which was just beginning to make its mark on the world. Before the
creation of paramount the film production market was very mundane,
films were only distributed within the same states. Hardly ever crossing
borders into new territories, after the creation of paramount pictures this
principle was soon destroyed. Paramount became the first production
company to market and produce films for entire nations, this proved to be
a revolutionary factor which changed the way the business worked. Since
its formation Paramount Pictures has become one of the biggest film
production companies in the world, it has manufactured a global
conglomerate which includes the animation company: DreamWorks. So
far Paramount has produced $1.2 billion (£ 74,229,8400.00) in revenue,
showing the scale it has achieved.

3. Existing products-The Firm
Year of production: 1993
Cast: Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, Jeanne Tripplehorn
Certificate: 15
Synopsis: a young Harvard law graduate is pursued by his employers when he
discovers the truth about them. Gradually he begins to uncover a web of lies
and deceit, this begins a race against time to avoid capture and reveal the
truth.
Director: Sydney Pollack
Run time: 154 minutes

4. Existing products-Marathon man
Year of production:1976
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider
Certificate:18
Synopsis: a university students who is training to run a marathon becomes
tangled in his FBI brother’s case, he is pursued by a surviving Nazi who is
trying to survive in America without revealing his true identity and sell his
diamonds.
Director: John Schlesinger
Run time: 125 minutes

5. Industry regulation-BBFC
A film production company has to meet regulations outlined by various
agency, to ensure that the public remain safe and comfortable when
watching films. One of these regulation bodies is the BBFC (British Board
of Film Classification), the BBFC is responsible for ensuring that all of the
films broadcasted in the UK meet the age certificate requirements they
formulated. Age certificates tell consumers who the film is appropriate
for, and therefore parents are very unlikely to show a 5 year old a film
with an 18 certificate. There a 6 age certificates which govern the age
group that the film is appropriate for, the certificates are:
•U
•PG
•12
•12A
•15
•18

6. Production process
Every production company has to follow a ritualistic process when they
produce a film, time is factor that governs how they work therefore using
a certified process is a very attractive concept. The Production process
consists of a number of steps, these steps are:
•Pre-production-a story board, which is basically a plan of how the events
are going to occur is produced. The script which has been created at an
earlier stage will be given to the cast and crew members, and the casting
process begins. The production designer will be given the task of
planning the sets which need to be created for filming stage. If the film
incorporates any specialised shots which include special effects, the
special effects department will have to plan these shots. Finally an advert
is planned and formulated, to start the marketing process and gather
public attention.
•Filming stage-the shooting of the film begins, the lighting, sound and
make up departments are activated. The various actors involved with the
project begin to perform their role, the meticulously planned special
effects are created by the special effects department. Furthermore while
these processes are being performed the producers will keep a close eye
on the events from the background.

7. Production process continued
Post-production-the editors responsible for formulating the narrative
create the narrative sequence, the sound department is given the task of
editing the sound. The titles and credits which will be used at the start
and end of the film are created, the main colour scheme and appearance
of the film is decided and edited. The final sound checks are performed,
and finally the director is allowed to create their own personal cut
(director’s cut).

8. Distribution process
The distribution process is a crucial part of a film production company’s
role, they have to ensure that the film is distributed correctly and to the
appropriate distributers. This process is carried out in a number of steps,
these steps are:
•The production company will be to communicate with a distributor
about potential deals.
•If this is successful the distributor will negotiate with the production
company and decide how many units they would like to distribute.
•Next potential cinema owners and exhibitionists are given a chance to
watch the film and provide the distributor with their opinion as to
whether or not the film will be successful.
•If the buyers like to the film they will arrange a deal with the distributor
about showcasing the movie.
•After the launch of the film the cinemas and exhibitionists will send their
copies of the film back to distributor and provide them with payment for
having the ability to showcase the film.

9. Marketing
Marketing is a process which every film production company has to
perform, marketing gathers publicity for the project which will eventually
lead to ticket sales and successful deals with distributors. There are a
number of steps which have to be performed in order to complete this
process, for example:
•Hiring a sales agent.
•Showing ‘test screenings’ to the public, this allows the production
company to make alterations if there any of the film which aren’t popular.
• Releasing posters, trailers and marketing devices the public to generate
interest in the film. This will make some members of the public decide
that they would like to see the film when it is released.
•Utilizing ‘word of mouth’, a free type of marketing which is very in
influential in social scenarios and can help to generate lots of extra profit.
On the other hand it can ruin a films reputation.
• Using internet marketing to appeal to a larger audience, creates a larger
marketing campaign. Successful viral campaigns could be formed as a
result of this technique.

10. Established examples-The Godfather
The Godfather is one of the greatest films ever made, since its release in
1972 it has amassed a huge following and won a collection of awards
(including 3 Oscars). The godfather can be described as one of
paramount’s greatest ever achievements, this showcases what this
company is capable of when it performs at its optimum level. The film
generated $246, 066, 411 in profit (£151, 332, 319.16).
Year of production: 1972
Cast: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan
Certificate:15
Director: Francis Ford Copolla
Run time:175

11. Bibliography
Websites used for research:
•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramount_Pictures
•http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0106918/?ref_=sr_1 (basic information
used)
•http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0074860/ (basic information used)
•‘The business-understanding film making’ sheet
•http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-distribution.htm
•http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/ (basic information used)
•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Board_of_Film_Classification
Pictures:
•Image 1-http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-
movie-just-movie-31/paramounts-transformers-4-logo-revealed-during-
a-special-presentation-176141/
•Image 2-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Firm_(1993_film)
•Image 3- http://shop.silverdisc.com/index.php?p=404
•Image 4- http://entrepreneurialambitions.com/2012/03/14/lessons-
learned-from-the-godfather/
•http://kelly-rowlands.blogspot.co.uk/2010_11_01_archive.html
•http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiedosto:BBFC_logo.png