The document provides production information for the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens including the cast, director, production costs, filming locations, and financial information. It earned $1.8 billion in profit and $2 billion globally on a $200 million budget. Disney owns the Star Wars franchise and other major media companies. The document also provides background on the production of the independent film Ex Machina including its production companies, distributors, filming location, special effects companies involved, and how its distributor A24 promoted it using the dating app Tinder.

1. Star wars – The Force Awakens
production info

2. Cast
• Daisy Ridley – Ray
• John Boyega – Finn
• Harrison Ford – Han Solo
• Carrie Fisher – Princess Leia
• Adam driver – Kylo Ren
• Director – J.J.Abrams

3. Production cost
J.J.Abrams wanted to relate back to the old star
wars films on how they were made by using both
visual effects and CGI.
In one the scenes containing the storm troopers
was filmed in the underground. They used the lights
of the passing trains to be used as lighting for the
particular scene. This meant that they didn’t need
to buy extra lights to make an effect saving money
Film given 31.6 million by British government so
film would boost British culture and industry

4. Finance
In total it cost 200 million dollars to produce this film.
Sets - $26 million
Costumes – $21 million
Film licenses – $17 million
Equipment, film and catering, etc – $25 million
Directors, composers, consultants - $48 million
Insurance, miscellaneous – $23 million
Cast- $40 million
Gained 1.8 billion in profit
Made ore than 2 billion in gross world wide
In the opening week star wars made $529 million

5. All dessert scenes were filmed in Dubai
Disney own the franchise
Pre-production filming took place in Iceland
Filming also took place in England, Ireland,
Dubai, Iceland and Finland
Daniel Craig was a storm trooper in the film

6. • The film was released in cinema on 17th
December 2015

7. Advertising- distribution
• Since Disney now own the rights to star wars, before the film
came out they had already started producing and selling
merchandise from clothes to toys.
• In the first three weeks of December Star wars had been
mentioned 700,000 outpacing other Hollywood releases in
China
• There was 500 model Stromtroopers on the great wall

8. What does Disney own?
• Pixar
• Lucas Films
• Marvel Entertainment
• Touchstone Pictures
• The Muppets
• ABC
• Hollywood records
• ESPN
• A&E – real life drama
• Lifetime
• History
• Maker studios
• Theme parks
• Holiday resorts
• Dreamworks
• Shopping centres
• Water companies

9. • Disney are part of the big six – GE, News-Corp,
Viacom, Time warner, CBS
• Collectively they own 90% of the worlds
media
• The big six in 2010 earned $275.9 billion
• The CEO of Disney is Bob Iger (2005-present)

10. Ex Machina

11. Production Companies
• Film4 (British company) – owned by Channel 4
• DNA Films (British company)

12. Distributors
• Universal Pictures
• 4K London (digital imaging services)
• Audiolink Radio Communications (cell phone rentals)
• Audiolink Radio Communications (walkie talkies)
• Back Lot Music (soundtrack)
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment (camera dollies) (uncredited)
• Compuhire (computer playback)
• Film Finances (film completion guarantor)
• Fugitive Studios (end title animation)
• Helicopter Film Services (aerial filming and coordination)
• HireWorks (Avid Nitris DX rental)
• Mediacom 24-7 (travel agent)
• Molinare Studio (post-production)
• Panavision (anamorphic lenses)
• Pinewood Studios (digital production services)
• Propshop (prop makers)
• Sapex Scripts (post-production script services)
• Sapex Scripts (subtitles)
• Territory (graphic displays)
• 14 out of 16 companies are British

13. Link between Film4 and Universal
Pictures
• People who work at Universal have several
direct links with people who work with Film4

14. • The location of the film was based in the north
west of Norway
• The house where virtually all scenes were shot
in a juvet landscape hotel

15. DNA Films
• It was set up in 1997
• DNA films is run by Andrew Macdonald – he’s
Scottish and works with Danny Boyle
• His producing partner is Allan Reich
• They are partners with Fox Networks group who also
have links with National Geographic channels
• Meaning that DNA films had the opportunity to gain
the best location to use for Ex-Machina
• Alex Garland is know for Ex-Machina, 28 days later…
and Dredd.

16. Special effect companies
• Double negative: also been used when filming
Justice League, wonder woman and assassins
creed. They also won the best special effects
award at BFFs on a budget of 15 million
• Artem – responsible for the physical effects in
Ex-Machina
• Milk visual effects.

17. • The dating website Tinder had been used to
promote the independent film Ex-Machina by
A24
• People who had currently been on the
website had conversations with Ava- the
robot. They believed she was a real person.

18. • A24 films is an American independent
entertainment company founded on August
20th 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and
John Hodges.