1. Media Ownership
Steph Webb

2. Keywords:
• Media convergence – two of more types of
media coming together.
• Synergy – different elements of a company
working together to promote related products.
• Cross media ownership – company produces two
or more types of media.
• Oligopoly – market dominated by a small number
of companies.
• Subsidiary – smaller companies owned by a
parent company.

3. Oligopoly
• Dominated by major Hollywood studios:
- 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Paramount,
Columbia, Universal and Walk Disney studios.
• Major film studio – movie
production/distribution company releases a
number of films annually and commands a
significant share of box office revenue in a
market.

4. Advantages:
• Production:
- Take risks.
- No need to secure funding.
- Ambitious with stars, special effects, location etc.
• Distribution:
- More money and better links to related
companies.
- Can use synergy and cross promote via games,
music, etc.

5. Disadvantages
• Production/exhibition:
- Have to satisfy a mass market – creatively film
makers can’t take as many risks.
- Film has to do well at the Box Office.

6. Independent companies - advantages
and disadvantages
• Production:
- Less budget = less ambitious/smaller
cast/locations and special effects.
- Have to secure funding and finance.
• Distribution:
- Has to be targeted: less money to spend on
distribution.
- Expected to make less revenue at the Box Office.
- Can’t withstand losses with Box Office returns.

7. Ill Manors
• Largely positive reviews from critics and fans – 80% ‘fresh’
rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
• Budget: £100,000.
• Made: just over £450,000 at the UK Box Office.
• Example of film that tried to push the boundaries and
received relative success compared to it’s budget.
• Had to be financed by the film London, BBC Films etc.
• Niche audience: a small, select group of people that have a
very unique interest.

8. Sony and Skyfall
• Big company – viral advertising (digital marketing .
• Videos from trailers of the film.
• Extended film clips and exclusive video features:
movie’s plot and locations.
• Wallpapers, Facebook cover photos, Twitter skins.
• Gallery.
• Audience: primary male audience/secondary female
audience 15 – 55 across a broad demographic of class.
• Advertising and cross media promotion was used to
feature all partners to Skyfall.

9. Skyfall vs Ill Manors
• Bigger and better special effects within Skyfall compared to Ill Manors.
• More famous and well-known celebrities that starred in Skyfall compared
to Ill Manors.
• Bigger shots – Fox have enough money/control to use hundreds of people
in an certain space/area compared to the independent company that
produced Ill Manors.
• More locations seen within Skyfall as they had enough money to afford to
shoot in different locations.
• The company had enough money to block off certain areas in order to
shoot the film. They blocked off buildings, streets and tube stations like
Whitehall in order to film without disruption from the general public.
• Spent millions on the special effects within the film in order to make it as
action packed/interesting for the audience as possible. This couldn’t be
done with Ill Manors as the production company was independent and
didn’t have the money or huge success prior to the film compared to
Skyfall.