ICT role in 21st century education and it's challenges.
US Film Industry
1.
2. Major studio (subsidiary) Big conglomerate (parent)
Warner Bros. Pictures Time Warner
20th Century Fox News Corporation
Walt Disney Pictures/Touchstone Pictures The Walt Disney Company
Universal Studios General Electric/Comcast
Columbia Pictures Sony
Paramount Pictures Viacom
3. US Film Industry is controlled by the Big Six; this is an oligopoly which has
many subsidiaries.
The effect of this is that there is plenty of room for big companies to
develop expensive film. This however, means that smaller companies
often struggle in the market.
Disadvantages:
- No drive to improve products
- The Big Six make the rules
- Pricing might be disadvantageous for the consumer.
4. As a result of this oligopoly, the Big Six control the US Film Industry and are able
to have higher budget and can afford the latest technological advances, such
as CGI. For example, The Walt Disney Company and their major studio Walt
Disney Pictures have several divisions throughout the company, one of which,
Disney Consumer Products, creates and sells Disney merchandise. This is done
through the use of synergy in order to maximise their profits.
Disney – as an example – is such a large conglomerate (like all of the Big Six)
that it can afford to produce products such as films, soundtracks and
merchandise, with a high budget so are not limited at all.
5. The Big Six are so important in the global film industry as they
dominate most of it, in particular they dominate the UK Film Industry.
They do this because they are able to; the Big Six have such high
budgets that they can afford more distribution of their products and
so the product is widely available. For example, the Big Six account
for between 70-75% of the UK Box Office takings.
The Big Six are global institutions because they are big subsidiaries of
major global conglomerates. As a result of this, the Big Six aim their
products at a much bigger audience – a mass audience. Also, many
British films are generally aimed at much more niche audiences
because they try to reflect British culture and only some forms of British
culture are appealing to the US, for example The Kings Speech, which
is why these films appear to do much better then This Is England, for
example.
