1. +
Issued raised by media
ownership
Ill Manors and SkyFall

2. +
Issued raised by media ownership
 Debate and Explore the advantages and disadvantages of large conglomerates and
smaller independent companies.
 For example: Film London Microwave, Film London's Micro-budget feature film & BBC Film
produced Ill Manors (All independent companies). Whereas Sony & MGM produced
Skyfall(Both large international conglomerate companies).

3. +
Major Companies
Production
 Will be able to take risks when making
the film
 Wont need to collaborate to secure
funding
 Can be more ambitious with the film for
example have bigger stars, more special
effects and travels to better locations
Distribution
 More money therefore they have better
links to other companies
 They can use synergy and cross media
convergence to promote the film for
example games, music and toys
Exhibition
 The film has to do well as the companies
involved would have spent a lot of money
and they need to get the money back
from consumers of the film
Advantages Disadvantages

4. +
Independent Company
Production and Exhibition
 They are able to take risks due to the
fact that there is less money involved
within the making of the film
Production
 Smaller budget so the film will be less
ambitious
 Often has to secure the extra funding
and finance
Distribution
 Has to be targeted as there is less
money to spend on marketing the film
 The film is expected to make less
revenue at the Box Office
 Cant withstand losses with Box Office
returns
Advantages Disadvantages

5. +
Skyfall
 The success of Skyfall was ensured when the film achieved
critical acclaim, since it had backing of a company that was
able to use cross media convergence as it owns companies
within a range of industries.
 For Sony’s Skyfall it resulted in a huge amount of ‘word-of-
mouth’ for a big budget film and helped the film become a
blockbuster. Such are the benefits of cross media ownership by
these giant institutions.

6. +
Ill Manors
 There are difficulties faced by smaller companies with relatively
small marketing budgets and few easy opportunities for synergy
 Ill Manors has received largely positive reviews from critics
 Its budget was £100,000 and it was able to make £453,570 at the
UK Box Office
 Ill Manors is an example of a film that tried to push the boundaries
through and received a relative success compared to it budget.
 Due to it not being part of a conglomerate it was able to take more
risks in terms of subject matter. A bigger company would not be
able to do this.

7. +
How do independent companies
compete with major companies?
 Viral marketing helped Ill Manors make money whilst
overcoming the mass American film industry. For example their
website gave the audience easy access to information about
the film, video clips, trailers, pictures and downloads which
make the audience feel more involved.
 The downloads were a way of free advertising for example of
someone has the background on their phone or a ringtone,
their friends may ask where it was from and it would help
spread information about the film through word-of-mouth.

8. +
Ill Manors and Media Ownership
 The challenge was to attract a core niche audience, with a low
budget, unknown cast and low production values
 It is not a conglomerate so it cannot withstand losses
 It had to be financed by ‘Film London’, ‘BBC Films’ and was
supported by ‘Skillset’, ‘ UK Film Council’ and the Mayor of
London
 Its advertising campaign had to be targeted at a specific
audience.

9. +
Skyfall and Media Ownership
 Sony and MGM produced Skyfall
 With distribution Sony is able to use it status as a
conglomerate. It had a very broad appeal and blanket
advertising and publicity were used.
 They have much more power than small independent
companies and it is able to use viral marketing in a bigger way.
For example they had their own website which contained story
plots, videos, extended clip, exclusive videos, wallpapers,
Facebook cover photos, Twitter skins and stills from the film
which could be found in the gallery section of the website.