Part 5: Production

PART 5 – PRODUCTION:

Q1. Angelina Jolie established her fame in the successful Lara Croft: Tomb Raider series and a number of quality films, and coupled with a highly publicised and controversial personal life makes her an obvious choice for any large-scale film venture. Because of Jolie’s status, attention is guaranteed for any project she is involved with, thus making it easier for a producer to secure financial backing etc. Her loyal fans will provide at least some audience, therefore there will be a chance to pay back production costs and earn profit. Her star value alone is sometime enough to propel a film into commercial and critical interest, even if it’s other qualities are lacking.

Q2. Films like Les Miserables are made because there is a definite loyal fan base who will pay to go and see it, stemming from its success and popularity as a musical. Therefore producers can afford to lavishly spend on this project because it is guaranteed to be successful, at least financially. ‘Indie’ projects like Another Earth start off life at international film festivals, gaining critical praise there, and through word of mouth spread by film fanatics people become intrigued to see something that is considered ‘quirky’ or not just another Hollywood blockbuster saturating the market. There will always be people who enjoy watching films for their artistic value as opposed to bland mass entertainment.

Q3.

The Blair Witch Project:  Budget - $60,000  Box Office - $248,639,099 PROFIT: $248,579,099

Paranormal Activity: Budget - $15,000  Box Office - $196,681,656  PROFIT: $196,666,650

Avatar: Budget - $237,000,000 Box Office - $2,782,275,172  PROFIT: $2,545,225,172

Q4.          

Never Let Me Go – Budget: £15,000,000 Producer: Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Alex Garland et al.

The King’s Speech – Budget: £15,000,000 Producer: Paul Brett, Iain Canning, Charles Dorfman, Simon Egan, Mark Foligno, Gareth Unwin et al.

Skyfall – Budget: £200,000,000 Producer: Barbara Broccoli, Andrew Noakes, David Pope, Michael G Wilson

Film production has not really changed since the 90s, since many film projects still require the fusion of many producers and production companies, and varied methods of securing attention and audiences for their film, such as expensive marketing campaigns or encouraging word of mouth.

Q5. The Twilight Saga soundtracks were popular with the films’ teenage audiences because they featured already known and ‘cool’ bands writing songs especially for the film, and so in order to buy these ‘special’ and Twilight-personalised songs the consumer would purchase the whole album. Subsequently each new soundtrack became a marketing event in itself to accompany the film, instead of just a random selection of songs.

Q6. Lionsgate survived because it was able to have a large amount of variety and choice in an industry that is never static. It was able to initially rely on financially sound investments such as Horror franchises, which are notoriously critic proof and successful at the Box Office, and then being able to spread its repertoire to include indie/art house offerings that could appeal to entirely different audiences, gaining critical appreciation along the way. They could further extend their back catalogue with a new and diverse portfolio of TV shows and former productions after their acquisition of production companies such as Artisan, reaping the profits from merchandising etc without having had to produce the project in the first place. Their flexibility and constant independent entrepreneurial spirit now make them a high-powered global corporation with financial means and major studio affiliates to fall back on.