"Media production is dominated by global institutions, which sell their services and products, to national audiences." To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Plan
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How organised

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Income

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Sequilisation and Domination 

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Indies

Essay
The media industry is largely dominated by the global institutions as they are more equipped to be successful then their smaller indie counterparts.  The particularly large media corporations are known as "The Big Six" the big six are made up of Sony pictures, Warner Brothers studios, Paramount, Walt Disney pictures, Universal studios and 20th Century Fox.  Smaller indie corporations include Lionsgate and BBC films these companies although equally well known are part of less developed corporations for example Walt Disney pictures and Universal studios also run theme parks and have extensive merchandise and marketing outlets leading to a higher level of publicity and there fore a more accessible audience from whom to extract profit from.

The big 6 are often organised using vertical integration meaning that they own each stage of the film process from development to distribution this model of integration is applicable to Walt Disney pictures whom have used this model of film to produce Tangled which was produced by Walt Disney pictures and Walt Disney animation studios, then distributed world wide by Walt Disney motion pictures, its sound track was then produced and marketed by Walt Disney records.  This internalised system of production and distribution allows for a dominating cost effective production and marketing campaign equating in vast box office success the revenue from this film was $200,821,936 at the box office.

Income from Big six companies can be vast due largely to their massive corporate bodies which stretch into various realms of media.  An example of this is the Walt Disney studios which have an annual revenue of approximately $45 billion 1/3 of which is as a direct result of the 11 Disney parks for example in 2014 Disney land Paris had an annual revenue of $85.7 million.  This extraordinary success is largely due to Disney's excellent merchandising campaigns which appeal to all ages due to their accessible products which are available both in the parks and outside of the parks at specifically dedicated Disney stores as well as at retailers.  A current popular merchandise trend are the Disney "Tsums Tsums" which are dominating the market as a result of a phone app the soft toys are now available in a variety of shops from Clintons cards to the Entertainer toy store and have developed a cult following due to their variety of cute recognisable characters in various sizes.

Another way in which the Big six are creating vast profit in the competitive market of film is their focus on the specific film format of sequels inside of their franchise.  An example of a highly successful film sequel series is that of the Iron Man trilogy which exists inside of the Marvel cinematic universe a franchise whom are owned by Disney.  Sequels are an important part of franchising as they provide franchises with a secure audience thanks to the dedicated fanbase which sequels tend to create.  A confirmed target audience allows companies to target their specific audience therefore having a more direct and cost effective path of marketing.

Alternatively Indie movies often have little marketing however those that do can be extremely successful due the fact that they often focus around edgier topics which a mainstream company may not want to discuss through fear of being seen as overly controversial and therefore tarnishing their name.  An example of an extremely controversial yet possibly controversial film would be "The Imitiation Game" which discusses the life and work of Allan Turing a revolutionary mind in computer science as well as a believer in female equality as well as a gay man in a time where both of these things were not the norm.  Although the film does not specifically dwell on either of these topics they are unreliable parts in Mr Turing's story and therefore cannot be denied in a film adaption of his life.  The film made $91,125,683 at the box office and was distributed by The Weinstein company this is extremely impressive when compared with the box office revenue of Tangled one of the most anticipated films of 2014 the fact that this indie film made just under half of the profit at box office is impressive considering it's less extensive marketing campaign.

To conclude the film market is dominated by the Big six however there are breakthrough cases where smaller Indie companies can go on and have comparatively successful films.  The giants continue to dominate the film market for now due to their highly successful sequel empire but could we see the rise of the Indie corporation when the public are in need of a breath of fresh air after seeing the umpteenth superhero film?  Ultimately only time will tell but the true test for global institutions and indie studios will be there abilities to react and evolve depending on the requirements of the public.