CMNS%20230%20Film

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CMNS 230Film

• Lecture Nov. 20 2006,
• David Newman

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In the beginning

• First Lumiere Brothers film screening in Paris,
  December 1895
• However, there were screenings prior to this
• Demonstrated very rapid diffusion of new
  technology

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Diffusion of motion pictures

Dec. 1895
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Diffusion of motion pictures




Dec. 1895
May 1895
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Diffusion of motion pictures

May 1896


June 1896



August 1896

Dec. 1895


May 1895

Feb. 1897
Jan. 1896
Oct. 1896



August 1896
Sept. 1896
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Todays lecture

• First half - historical overview
• Hollywood and non-Hollywood movies
• Canada, with New Zealand as a comparison
• Institutional structure and policy environment
  for the film industry
• Discussion of Assignment 3

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Origins of Hollywood

• Film industry in the USA began in New Jersey and
  around New York
• Motion Picture Patents Trust - 1908
• Edison
• Biograph
• Vitagraph

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Origins of Hollywood

• Problems for companies outside the Trust -
  harassment, legal threats
• Needed an alternative environment
• California came into the picture
• The first runaway productions and establishment
  of Hollywood as a production venue

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Origins of Hollywood

• Why California and Hollywood?
• Various theories
• Escape Motion Picture Patents Company
• Proximity to the Mexican border
• Physical environment / climate
• Later - distance from head office and the
  financiers

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Origins of Hollywood

• Development of 3 main sectors
• Production - manufacturing
• Distribution - wholesaling
• Exhibition - retailing
• Industrial terminology used initially along with
  attempts to make the process and studios as
  similar as possible to manufacturing in a factory

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Early Hollywood

• Post WWI
• The war had created a vacuum in European
  production
• Dominance of Hollywood globally
• Aided by US government
• Trade follows film
• Star system in place to provide branding

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Early Hollywood

• Scandals in early Hollywood
• Fear of government regulation at both Federal and
  State levels
• Politically, industry self-regulation preferred
  approach
• Will Hays and MPPDA (Motion Picture Producers
  and Distributors Association)

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Hollywood studio era

• Fordist approach to production
• Introduction of sound
• Decrease in importance of international markets

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Hollywood studio era

• The majors1926

• Paramount
• Warner Bros
• Fox
• Loews/MGM
• RKO
• Universal
• Columbia
• United Artists

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Hollywood studio era

• The majors1926 2006

• Paramount
• Warner Bros
• Fox
• Loews/MGM
• RKO
• Universal
• Columbia
• United Artists

• Paramount
• Warner Bros
• 20th Century Fox
• Universal
• Disney
• Columbia/Sony Pictures
• MGM/United Artists

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Hollywood studio era

• Source of Hollywoods strength?
• Finance capital v. industrial capital
• New York-based bankers

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Hollywood studio era

• 1948 Paramount case
• Television

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Rise of the independents

• Change in production style
• Move to post-Fordist approach
• Studios adapted - focused on distribution
• Runaway productions in Europe

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Rise of the blockbuster

• Jaws 1975 Steven Spielberg
• Star Wars 1977 George Lucas

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Blockbuster revenues

• Theatrical releases
• DVD / video releases
• Cable and broadcast TV rights
• Product placements
• Ancillary merchandise
• Musicals / theme park rides

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Directors of top-10 grossing filmsWorldwide

• James Cameron Canada
• Peter Jackson (2) New Zealand
• Gore Verbinski USA
• Chris Columbus (2) USA
• George Lucas USA
• Steven Spielberg USA
• Mike Newell England
• Andrew Adamson New Zealand

Source www.imdb.com
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Situation today

• Hollywood movies - continuing to dominate
• Independents and films from other countries
  obtaining about 10-15 of the North American box
  office

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Centre-Periphery model for Hollywood /
non-Hollywood industries
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Peter Jackson
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Canada New Zealand

• Both former British Dominions
• Both dominated by Hollywood productions
• Both with relatively small populations making it
  difficult for a domestic production industry to
  be commercially viable
• Population
• Canada 32 million
• New Zealand 4.1 million (excluding sheep)

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Canada

• Essentially two cinemas
• Quebec non-Quebec, or
• English-language French
• Quebec interesting exception
• An example of a regional, ethnic or sub-national
  cinema
• Success in recent years very different

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Canada institutions

• TeleFilm Canada
• National Film Board
• Provincial level agencies

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Telefilm mandate

• cultural investor supporting Canadas
  audiovisual industry to create cultural works
  that reflect and celebrate the diversity of
  Canada and are widely appreciated in Canada and
  abroad.

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Canada - policy tools

• Policy institutions
• Direct investment (Telefilm, NFB)
• Tax credits
• Co-production treaties
• Location support (at local/provincial level)

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New Zealand institutions

• New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
• Feature Film Fund
• New Zealand Screen Council
• New Zealand On Air
• Film New Zealand

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NZFC mandate

• To contribute to New Zealands cultural capital
  through the development, production, financing
  and marketing of audience-focused feature films
  and to grow the film sector within the larger
  screen production industry.

Source NZFC Fact Sheet 2005
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New Zealand - policy tools

• Policy institutions
• Investment (NZFC, FFF)
• State sales agency (NZFC)
• Co-productions
• Accelerated tax write-offs
• Large Budget Screen Production Grant
• Location support

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Culture v. economic

• Different policy goals
• Culture - national or ethnic identity
• Economic - economic activity and jobs

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Results
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New Zealand feature production
Excluding Peter Jackson productions
4.5m
Average budget excluding Peter Jackson
2.1m
1.5m
1.1m
1.3m
2.1m
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Canada feature production
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Feature production by million population
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Feature production expenditure per capita
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of local box office
7.9
2006 projection
4.8
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Telefilm budget for feature production by language
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Development expenditure per capita (US)
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Number of projects receiving development (per
capita)
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Avg. US development per project
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Box office for select top local films since 1999
(US)

• New Zealand
• Worlds Fastest Indian 4.74m
• Whale Rider 4.61m
• Siones Wedding 2.73m
• What Becomes of the Broken Hearted
  2.14m
• In My Fathers Den 1.20m
• Scarfies 840,000
• River Queen 670,000

• Canada - English
• Bon Cop/Bad Cop 1 10.4m
• Resident Evil Apocalypse 3.75m
• Mambo Italiano 3.69m
• Trailer Park Boys 1 3.2m
• White Noise 2.8m
• Men with Brooms 2.44m
• Bollywood/Hollywood 950,000

co-production 1 as of November 2, 2006
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New Telefilm policy -2007/08

• Asymmetrical model
• Instead of 5 overall target
• 2 for English language
• 20 for Quebec (significant that they are using
  the term Quebec rather than French-language
• Different policies for funding with lower box
  office targets for English-language films
• Still reviewing French-language funding problems
  as they have insufficient resources for the
  demand

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Service productions

• Also known as runaway productions
• Productions filmed in a different geographic
  location from the control and funding
• Worth C821m to British Columbia last year
  (feature films only)

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Coming to a nearby theatre soon (hopefully)
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References further reading

• Gomery, Douglas (2005), The Hollywood Studio
  System A History, BFI Publishing, London
• Miller, Toby, Nitin Govil, et. al., (2005),
  Global Hollywood 2, BFI Publishing, London
• Wasko, Janet (2003), How Hollywood Works, Sage
  Publications, London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi
• Wexman, Virginia Wright (2006), A History of
  Film, 6th ed., Pearson Allyn Bacon, Boston
• www.imdb.com
• New Zealand Film Commission Annual Reports
  website
• TeleFilm Canada Annual Reports website
• Movie posters from Wikipedia, www.imdb.com and
  NZFC

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Assignment 3

• Outline is (or will be) on the class website
• Due 3pm, December 8 at the main School of
  Communications office
• Will be graded by Professor Murray

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Assignment 3

• Select an existing cultural product or text,
  preferably Canadian in origin
• This might be a television series, film, book,
  magazine, CD or videogame
• Make sure you are familiar with it
• Talk to us if you want to do something outside of
  what is listed above

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Assignment 3

• Product pitch
• Create a brief description of the text in the
  form of a pitch or outline
• Maximum of 100 words
• Provide the essence of the story or format with
  something to grab or interest the audience
• This isnt as easy as it sounds. Give yourself
  plenty of time to develop this

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Assignment 3

• Target audience
• 1 paragraph outlining the specific audience or
  audiences along with their demographics that this
  text is targeted towards
• Be specific maybe compare with other cultural
  texts

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Assignment 3

• Funding
• Identify the sources of funding for the creation
  of the product and possible constraints
• Try to identify the likely cashflow (use Backend
  Money and The Movie Business (on Reserve) to help
  you
• What impact do funding constraints have on the
  creation of the product?

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Assignment 3

• Audience reception
• Evaluate the aesthetic and popular success of the
  text/product
• Do you think it is good?
• Do others think it is good?
• How has the audiences received it?
• What could be changed to enhance its market
  success nationally and internationally?

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Assignment 3

• Relationship to policy
• How has cultural policy made a difference to the
  production of the text?
• Has it impacted the content or meaning at all?

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Assignment 3

• Prose format using the headings listed as section
  headings
• This is intended to be a synthesis and
  application of what you have learned from this
  course. Think about the lessons learned and
  apply them.
• Be creative be original