Week 3- Chinese Films in the US: Not a full house

This article is about a phenomenon that has been happening for a while- Chinese films in the US are not fairing as well as they hoped. Ironically, one of the main problems is the audience- there aren't many westerners there, and it's causing ticket sales to suffer. According to the statistics from EntGroup, international revenue for Chinese films declined to about $170 million in 2012 from about $330 million in 2011. In the past, Chinese films were highly successful in the US market. Movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon dominated the box office, and made $128 million. 

I found this article to be extremely interesting, because one wouldn't usually think that the reason why Chinese films are failing in the box office is because of the Chinese audience itself. The main audiences of today's Chinese films in the US are mainly Chinese students. The Chinese films today are played only in a very limited number of theaters and last for a very short time, so that may also be one of the problems that they face.

The past successes of the Chinese films in the us market was surprising to me, for I had no idea about the scope of the success of certain movies. The decline, however, can be explained by Stanley Rosen, a professor at USC. "The genre of Chinese film being distributed in the US has also changed. The most successful Chinese films in the US market before 2006 were action movies or martial arts movies, and dramas directed by famous directors such as Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Wong Kar-wai. On the 2012 list of the most successfully distributed Chinese films in the US, the number of action movies or martial arts movies declined and romantic comedies increased." This change in genre vastly affects the sales of movies, and results in a ranking Chinese film industry.

Despite these hardships, distributors in china still remain hopeful. They believe the film industry is in a transition period, and that the digital platform is the future. Theaters may be for the big budget, but they will always have extremely profitable franchises to build upon. It will be an interesting and exciting journey to see where this film industry goes in the future. 

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2013-08/30/content_16932154.htm

Munoz, J. (2014, March 24). CinemaCon: Hollywood Tested By New Distribution Models. Retrieved December 12, 2014, from http://variety.com/2014/film/features/new-distribution-models-create-tug-of-war-between-studios-theaters-1201144965/ 

Week Two- Lions Gate and CBS Films Sign Movie Distribution Agreement

Recently, the Lions Gate Entertainment Corp acquired the distribution rights to all of CBS Films' releases. Starting with young adult comedy The Duff, which will be released in 2015, Lions Gate will arrange and organize all distribution of films produced by CBS Films on both domestic and international levels. Meanwhile, CBS Films will continue to produce movies, and plans on using the money saved on distribution to improve other aspects of production.

This is an extremely beneficial agreement to both sides, for CBS Films have now gained access to Lions Gate's extremely vast and powerful distribution network. Upon further investigation, I also found that Lions Gate's distribution of select films are under supervision of NBCUniversal Television Distribution under Universal Pictures. Lions Gate, on the other hand, now have access to a plethora of quality content.

Doing more research, I discovered that this is not the first merger Lions Gate has done recently. In Oct of 2014, they expanded the domestic home distribution agreement with Miramax, and claimed another 250 titles. Through Blu-Ray, DVD, EST, and Internet Video on Demand, the total number of Miramax titles now increased to well over 700. In addition to the Miramax titles, Lions Gate also had distribution deals with Sudiocanal and A&E. “Making movies is only half of the equation – today’s marketplace demands a strategic approach to marketing and distribution that is fluid and creative, and no company has demonstrated more vision and innovation than Lionsgate,” said CBS Films president Terry Press.

How will this affect Young Adult film's distribution? It may be surprising to hear, but Lions Gate is now a serious contender within the media circle against other huge distribution companies, like Comcast Corp and Walt Disney Co. Why? Thanks to the massive success of the young adult film franchise the Hunger Games. It is believed that the third installment, Mockingjay: Part 1, will take in as much as one billion dollars worldwide.

With this massive merger, we can expect many more of these symbiotic partnerships. Steve Beeks, the Lions Gate co-chief operating officer said that  their  partnership "unites two companies with powerful brands, complementary strengths and similar entrepreneurial cultures in a distribution agreement that extends the terrific Lionsgate/CBS relationship.” With the future of this company looking brighter than ever, it is clear that fire is catching within the distribution sector of film production. 

Article- http://variety.com/2014/film/news/lionsgate-to-take-over-distribution-of-cbs-films-wide-releases-exclusive-1201355190/ 

McNary, D. (2014, November 13). Lionsgate to Take Over Distribution of CBS Films’ Wide Releases. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://variety.com/2014/film/news/lionsgate-to-take-over-distribution-of-cbs-films-wide-releases-exclusive-1201355190/

Week One- Young-adult movie campaigns mine social media

This article was about the campaign and marketing strategy for most young adult films now, and how they have adapted and evolved with the times. Social media has exploded with users, most of them young adults, and the distributors of the film they are promoting are noticing and utilizing it to their advantage. With youth driven demographics come a certain type of promotion- "the trend is (toward) very visual and short," says digital-marketing strategist Ernest Barbaric. "This sort of microcontent is becoming a very interesting way to engage and really caters to the shortening attention span."

It is an incredibly interesting approach, and even I have noticed this trend. When I check Snapchat, I see promo for Ouija, a horror movie, and every time I log onto Twitter, there seems to be a new hashtag contest, with the prize being a chance to meet the director/actors of a certain film. These movie marketers are employing increasingly creative promo campaigns across all platforms of social media to appeal especially to young adult viewers, who are the most prominent demographic on social media websites.

If I Stay, a recent romance/drama film, opened at the box office to $16.3 million, an astonishing result that can probably be attributed to the contests and hashtags that their distributors work on Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. Because the fans felt "really involved in a meaningful way", they generated more revenue for the film all together. "You're always looking for places you can do something different and new," says Matt Gilhooley, CBS Films' vice president of interactive. This is prominent with the increasing number of many promotional accounts on social media. This all brings up the question- what happens when young adults attention span gets even shorter than it is already? What happens when young adults don't have any time for a 6-second video (Vine) or a 140-character post (Twitter)? Only time will tell.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/08/25/young-adult-movies-social-media-if-i-stay-what-if/14294735/
Citation:
Ryan, P. (2014, August 25). Young-adult movie campaigns mine social media. Retrieved November 29, 2014, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/08/25/young-adult-movies-social-media-if-i-stay-what-if/14294735/

Week One- Novelists will be the new movie stars?

This enlightening piece is part of a series of articles examining the future of film, and where the film industry is headed based on current trends. This article in particular focused on examining the rise of the "novel adaptation" film, such as The Fault in Our Stars, Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games. From the authors of these books, to their presence in social media, the successes of the films really depend on the fanbases of the novels. This article also includes an interesting aside- attempting to define the "Young Adult" demographic. 

"The Young Adult adaptation business is booming- much to the relief of publishers and filmmakers alike." Why is this? Recent trends in both the publishing and the film making industry are seeing both once invulnerable businesses threatened- in the publishing world by the successes of self-publishers and in the film industry, the failing ticket sales, the problem with piracy, and the competition from streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Prime. However, this new trifecta of writer, publisher, and film studios are helping each other out, and are making a LOT of money doing it. This revolution of YA novel-to-film adaptations started with the blockbuster series of Harry Potter, and continues to be incredibly successful in both box office and in bookstores. Essentially, the benefits can be summed up with a quote- "With the combined might of publishing house and studio in lockstep, each film or book essentially gets two marketing departments for the price of one." 

The fact that the marketing departments benefit both the film and the novel is, in my opinion, genius, and it also can almost guarantee that loyal readers will watch the film, and curious movie goers will read the book, a symbiotic relationship between the two. What makes this winning combination even more powerful? The third component- the Writer. The role of the writer is now more crucial than ever, and it is all thanks to social media. It seems strange until you examine the successes of recent adaptations, then it makes perfect sense. Take The Fault in our Stars for example. John Green is a powerhouse on social media, thanks to his Youtube channel VlogBrothers and his work with Mental Floss. His massive Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter (over three million!) followings along with his presence on social media has made him a force to be reckoned with, and a dream for publishers and film makers alike. "When the author of the source material is the biggest star of the movie, the book cannot help but stand out."

The last aspect is the one that is always given the least credit for the successes of these huge projects, and isn't even a part of the trifecta. However, the demographic of these films may be the most important factor to a movie/books success. Young Adults encompass the age group of 13-25, yet a recent study revealed that 55% of readers of Young Adult fiction are actually Regular Adults. Lionsgate Studios was even proud to announce that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire had an audience that was 50% over 25. In the end, the young adult demographic is hard to put a label on, but it can best be described as "largely a convenient catch-all term for stories with young protagonists, caught at an inherently dramatic moment in their lives, whether those are sci-fi, fantasy, or simple drama." 

http://www.empireonline.com/features/future-of-film-young-adul

Citation:

Plumb, A. (n.d.). NOVELISTS WILL BE THE NEW MOVIE STARS. Retrieved November 27, 2014, from http://www.empireonline.com/features/future-of-film-young-adult