Warner Bros. is a global entertainment company founded in the early 1900s by four brothers who began as travelling exhibitors. They grew to produce many famous franchises and have a parent company in Warner Media. Belstone Pictures is a smaller, independent British film company founded more recently by Finn Bruce who has experience in the film industry. Both companies were discussed in detail through their histories, productions, successes and failures. Warner Bros' biggest hit is The Dark Knight while some of its biggest losses came from films like Pluto Nash. Belstone's main released film so far is the low-budget thriller Tank 432.

1. CASE STUDY PRESENTATION
THE HISTORY OF WARNER BROS. AND BELSTONE PICTURES

2. WARNER BROS. :
GENERAL INFO
• It is the global leader in all
entertainment forms and media
platforms.
• They produced many famous
franchises such as the Harry Potter
series and the DC Universe.
• Planning to have released 22 films by
the end of 2018

3. WARNER BROS. : COMPANY HISTORY
• Founded by the real 4 Warner Brothers: Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack who began as travelling
exhibitors with a portable projector.
• In 1907, they were exhibiting in a converted store called the Cascade Theatre with each family
member filling in a different role such as ticket sellers, intermission entertainment or projector
operator.
• By 1908, they opened two more theatres similar in the same area of Pennsylvania and were able
to distribute 200 films in the west of the state.
• They then opened more theatres in Virginia and Georgia but decided to move to California after
realizing that production of movies would earn them more than just exhibiting and distributing.
• The first full-scale picture that they created was called My Four Years in Germany which was based
on the book by Kaiser Wilhelm. The movie premiered in 1918 and grossed $1.5 million which was
a large about for that time.
• Later in 1918, they bought a property on Sunset Boulevard where they opened Warner Bros. West
Coast Studios.

4. • Even though they were growing quickly, each brother still had their role: Harry was president, Albert was treasurer and Sam
and Jack were in production.
• The studio began releasing many films and even recruited a young F. Scott Fitzgerald to adapt his novel into a movie but they
struggled to be successful in Hollywood as they didn’t own enough theatres to show their work.
• After overhearing about “talking pictures” in May 1925, Sam recognized the technology and installed the equipment into one
of their studios in New York.
• On the 6th October 1927, The Jazz Singer was released as Warner Bros. Pictures’ first talking pictures film which made them
popular in the film industry and even one an Academy Award for technical achievement. However, Sam died of exhaustion
the day before the movie was released.
• Warner Bros. then released the first all talking movie called The Lights of New York.
• Warner Bros. bought The Stanley Company of America so it could claim their theatre chain. This also meant that they owned
one third of First National Pictures only only to purchase the rest of it later that year and claiming its new studio in Burbank.
• They then developed their studios into the finest studios in the world and carried on to release successful films ever since.
WARNER BROS. : COMPANY HISTORY
All info from warnerbros.com

5. WARNER BROS. :
PARENT COMPANY
• The Warner Bros. parent company is
Warner Media (formerly Time
Warner)
• Well known subsidiaries: CW, CNN,
HBO, New Line Cinema and cartoon
network.
• Warner Media is currently planning
on releasing a TV streaming service
that will be sold to their customers. It
is planned to be released at the end
of 2019. (info from edition.cnn.com)

6. WARNER BROS. : TOP GROSSING:
• The highest grossing film currently released by Warner Bros. is
The Dark Knight with a cumulative worldwide gross of
$1,004,558,444
• It was released in 2008 and starred Christian Bale and Heath
Ledger and the iconic hero and villain of the franchise.
• Its budget was an estimated $185 million
• It earned $158,411,483 in its opening weekend in the US
(all info from imdb.com)

7. WARNER BROS. :
BIGGEST FAILURES: PLUTO NASH
• Adventures of Pluto Nash: Released 2002 and starred Eddie
Murphy.
• Budget: $100 million
• Worldwide Gross: $7.1 million
• Total Loss (inflation adjusted)(measure of return that takes
into account the time period's inflation rate): $131 million
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 4%
All info on failures from filmsite.org

8. WARNER BROS. :
BIGGEST FAILURES: PAN
• Pan: Released 2015 and starred Hugh Jackman
• Budget: $150 million
• Worldwide Gross: $128.4 million
• Total Loss (inflation adjusted) : $89-155 million
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 27%
All info on failures from filmsite.org

9. WARNER BROS. :
BIGGEST FAILURES: KING ARTHUR
• King Arthur: Legend of the Sword: Released 2017 and starred
Charlie Hunnam
• Budget: $175 million
• Worldwide Gross: $148.7 million
• Total Loss (inflation adjusted) : $150 million
• Rotten Tomatoes rating: 31%
All info on failures from filmsite.org

10. WARNER BROS. : WONDER
WOMAN: GENERAL
• Directed by Patty Jenkins (who is also directing the sequel)
• Produced by Warner Bros. but individually by Jon Berg and
Wesley Coller (executive producers)
• It was released on 25th May 2017 in the US and 1st June 2017 in
the UK
• It had an estimated budget of $149 million and spent $3 million
on advertising.
• It has a cumulative worldwide gross of $821,763,408

11. WARNER BROS. :
WONDER WOMAN: PRODUCTION
• Director: Patty Jenkins
• Starring: Gal Gadot, Israeli actress famous for the Fast and Furious series
and Chris Pine, LA actor famous for the recent Star Trek series
• The cameras used were mainly Arri Alexa cameras with Panavision Primo
Lenses
• The sound mix was done with Dolby Atmos and 12-Track Digital sound as
well as various surround sound and imax sound technologies.
• They mainly filmed in the UK and Italy with the opening few shots of
Diana in present day shot in France
• Some visual effects include CGI, enhanced backgrounds and greenscreen
creations. The special effects were done by Double Negative and Moving
Picture Company (MPC)
• The film is part of the DC universe (owned by Warner Bros.) and the
character itself is a member of the Justice League franchise. However, the
sequel to this film (Wonder Woman 1984) is currently in the making.

12. WARNER BROS. :
WONDER WOMAN: DISTRIBUTION
AND MARKETING
• Warner Bros. distributed the film across most of the world including the UK and US
with Warner Home Video distributing the Blu-ray and DVD in the UK.
• Warner Bros. were accused of under-promoting the film in comparison to their other
recent films but they mainly marketed using the internet and social media.
• Filters were created to market the film on Snapchat and Facebook as well as Gadot
providing behind the scenes clips on Twitter.
• Merchandise was also produced to market and earn money out of the movie prior to
release and were predicted to earn as much as $1 billion from it. (info from
marketingdive.com)
• As well as being released in normal cinema format, it was also released in Imax in major
cinemas across the world. It was then later released on Blu-ray and DVD for home
viewing.
• In the Blu-ray Combo Pack, viewers also got a series of “A Director’s Vision”
documentaries as well as behind the scenes and concept videos and a short film by the
film’s director.
• The film was banned in Tunisia where 70% of the female population have or are
currently suffering from gender based violence. (info from independent.co.uk)

13. BELSTONE PICTURES: GENERAL INFO
• Belstone is an independent British film company that develops,
produces and finances its own films.
• Their aim is to “always push the boundaries whilst communicating
and sharing inspirational and spellbinding stories”
• They currently have 2 film released, 1 films in post production and
13 films in development.
• Their most recent film “Tucked” has already won 3 awards from
film festivals including L.A. Outfest

14. BELSTONE PICTURES: COMPANY
HISTORY
• The founder, Finn Bruce, trained at Hurtwood House in the
Film Academy and then went onto experiencing the behind
the scenes of films and TV shows such as the X Factor before
working for Blink TV, Mario Testino, MPC and Sky News.
• He then moved to Los Angeles where we worked as Shaun
Redick’s Executive Assistant who was an independent expert
in the media industry and then worked as an associate for
Nicola Horlick who is a film financer to help with investment
and development of her two film funds.
• During this, he acquired the IP rights to several books, projects
and screenplays on Belstone Pictures’ behalf that are in
different stages of development to this day.
• Belstone runs as an independent film company so doesn’t
have a parent company.

15. BELSTONE PICTURES: TANK 432:
GENERAL
• Director/Writer: Nick Gillespie
• Produced by Belstone Pictures but individually by Finn and
Peveril Bruce (executive producers) along with Jennifer
Handorf, Cosmo Jackson, Minna Mills and Ben Wheatley.
• It was first released for the Film4 FrightFest in the UK on the
24th October 2015 and released on DVD on the 22nd August
2016. It was released in the US on the 25th November 2016. It
was then released on UK TV on the 26th October 2017.
• The budget for the film was an estimated £1 million

16. BELSTONE PICTURES: TANK 432:
PRODUCTION
• Starring: Rupert Evans (Man in the High Castle, Hellboy and
the Boy), Steve Garry (the Butterfly Tattoo) and Deirdre
Mullins (Vikings).
• The film was originally supposed to be called “Belly of the
Bulldog” since the tank is an old British FV432 Mk.3 Bulldog
Armored Personnel Carrier.
• All of the movie was filmed and produced in UK locations.
• A lot of the film is set in a very small space which means that
there probably weren’t high location costs because there
wasn’t a necessity to move too much for each scene.

17. BELSTONE PICTURES: TANK 432: DISTRIBUTION AND
MARKETING
• It was distributed in the UK by a company called Kaleidoscope and in the US by Scream
Factory.
• The film has been released on DVD and Blu-ray in many countries across the world as well as
being shown on TV across the UK.
• The film can now be viewed on Youtube (for £2.49) as well as Google Play (for the same price)
• The film only has a rating of 14% on Rotten Tomatoes and 3.4/10 on IMDb.

18. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING
MY PRESENTATION