Media ownership is something that massively dictates the success of independent companies and conglomerates. This issue can affect the market across production, distribution and exchange. Independent and conglomerates are affected in different ways by this.
Independent studios tend to have more freedom from partnering companies and product placement within their films. This freedom comes from self-funded films but at the same time, the film can suffer from a lack of a budget as a result. This can lead to smaller scale casts, locations and effects. Since an independent film is self-funded, extra funding and finance must be secured from multiple sources. Sometimes this can actually affect the freedom of production as the people funding the film will begin to have a larger say in how it is made. Independent films are being made less than films from large films from conglomerates such as Sony. This is due to the way that the market is owned by the larger companies and films, leaving independent films to be less successful as a result.
Large media conglomerates have the ability to use synergy while gaining funding and features for their films, a clear example of this would be Aston Martin and Spectre who created a car purely for the film and will be released post-release. These high budget films can afford better actors, locations and affects as a result. Since conglomerates such as Sony and Disney have the rights to massive franchises such as Star Wars and James Bond, they are able to take more risks and take more losses than an independent film because they are guaranteed a large gross at the box office. A downside of having large investors involved on a film is the fact that the film must be successful in the box office in order to guarantee a return on the investment. As a result the film must satisfy a broader audience and can go as far as to influence locations and writing of the film.
The distribution of an independent film is very different to the way a large-scale film would be distributed. An independent film must be targeted at a more specific audience as it doesn't have the budget for a distribution campaign. In an attempt to compensate for the low budget for a distribution campaign, films such as Ill Manors have used examples of cheap publicity. The film was able to achieve this through synergy of an album with the same name, social media pages, and film festivals. These marketing techniques become essential to an independent film as it cannot withstand a bad box office, so it must attempt to be as successful as possible. This can be a problem however, as smaller, independent films are usually dominated by large franchises and conglomerates.
Media conglomerates such as Sony and Disney have the ability to use different methods of distribution due to their higher budget. Warner Brothers and EA used synergy in order to create a Harry Potter video game. This promotes the film to a wider audience while the franchise helps EA to make money off of the success of the brand name. Since large conglomerates have such a large budget and brand names, they can advertise in more ways than an independent company can. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 was advertised through a series of billboards that did not even feature the name of the film. This shows an example of how conglomerates such as Warner can afford to let the brand name speak for itself as they are guaranteed an extremely successful box office.
An independent film tends to be exhibited in very different ways to a big-budget film. An independent film is less likely to be shown in the cinema and may instead go straight to DVD as it cannot afford a bad box office. Independent films have been able to utilise alternatives such as Netflix in order to gain more money and publicity for their film. Independent films going straight to DVD has become an increasingly common situation as the market is dictated by conglomerates and franchises.
A film produced by a conglomerate is guaranteed a large box-office and rarely goes straight to DVD. These films have more options to show their films in different ways. Synergy can be used between films and IMAX. A successful film is shown in IMAX which encourages the audiences to pay a higher price in order to experience the new technology. This results in more money being made for IMAX and conglomerates. Big franchise films such as Star Wars can also be released in a number of different ways, such as Blu-ray, Directors/Extended cut, combo packs and limited edition. These choices would not be available to a smaller, independent film and more money is made by the conglomerates as a result of these options.
In conclusion, conglomerates such as Disney and Sony have made it increasingly more difficult for self-funded, independent films to be successful in today's market. Less independent films are being made and large franchises such as Star Wars and The Avengers are taking over the box office. As synergy between large companies continue to make the conglomerates more money, the more they begin to rule over the industry.
