Research : Industry

 In this blog it contains my research into the film industry 

    In this project me and my group decided to go for thriller as our genre for the project, we decided it would be thriller because we wanted to experience to make a movie of a genre that would be more challenging and we could also learn new things from this project. For this project we want to make our film to be niche / independent because of our limited access to our filming equipment. For the genre thriller there are many company that has produce this genre in the real world; in the group of mainstream industry there are companies such as Warner Bros, Hammer Film Productions, Dimension Film and many more. For the independent companies there are a few such as Lionsgate Film, IFC Films, Sonny Pictures Classic and etc. 

Netflix

What is Netflix?

Netflix is a subscription-based streaming service that allows their audience to watch TV shows and movies on an internet-connected device. Not only is Netflix a streaming service, but they also make series and movies in different genres which includes the thriller genre.

What other content do they produce?

Not only do they have TV shows, theses movies and series are all in different genres for example on of the content they have produce is Stranger Things which is an original series that Netflix, this series is a combination of the adventure and mystery genre with addition the horror and fantasy genre. Not only do they have TV shows, movies and series; but they also have documentaries, animated series, reality tv and game shows and many more. 

Who is their typical audience?

As Netflix has a variety of content, where this is allows Netflix to gain many audiences on different kind of aspect. The kind of audience that they might be targeting are niche audience, as they have movies, animated series and etc in each genre to which audience who are very interested in a specific genre would want to watch from Netflix instead. Other than them making niche audience they also target audience who enjoys watching older films / classic films as Netflix also has movies in the late 2000s, this allows audience to experience many different kind of movies even the old one to feel nostalgia when they watch it again. But Netflix typical audiences are young adults and teens, as most of the time these audiences are very active in watching movies and other kind of content. Other than just they are very active in watching movies but young adults and teens nowadays are very interested in watching movies, series and etc as they would binge-watch their series. Netflix also is starting to add more family movie content as they have added more animated series and movies which attracts audience in a younger age. 

How big is the company? How long has it existed?

Before Netflix was a streaming service company, it all started in 1997 as a DVD rental company to where they allow audience to purchase DVD's online for them to watch and they will receive them by mail. Which then Netflix changed into a subscription based streaming service where audience will need to pay for a specific subscription they want in order to watch the films. With this subscription, audience was able to watch many movies that was in there and it wasn't just a specific genre. Because of this, it attracts many people to be interested and Netflix started to gain popularity. This made Netflix to take the chance in making original contents and expanding the company to over 190 countries. They then buy movies in order to be able to be added in the streaming service which now can be use in many different platforms. 

What is their most successful product? 

Netflix has made many original movies and documentaries, but on of its most successful product is their famous series Stranger Things. The series Stranger Things has become one of the most viewed series with the newest release of the season, when the newest season 4 it became Netflix’s most-watched English-language season at the time, amassing over 1.35 billion hours viewed within the first 28 days of release. With how much of success this series has made for Netflix, it gains popularity in other different social media platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram and Twitter. In the series Stranger Things they added many songs as background music in the series which this has impact in the songs becoming more popular again. 

Magnolia Pictures

What is Magnolia Pictures?

Magnolia Pictures is an independent distribution company where they distribute and produce a wide range of well known film across various genres, including documentaries, foreign films, and feature films.

What other content do they produce?

Magnolia Pictures may just be an independent distribution company but they also produce their own independent film, documentaries, genre film, foreign language films and many more. Magnolia pictures have certain genre that they usually do which is drama, documentaries, thriller, comedy and many other more. The genre that they usually produce their content is in a very large range, for example the film that they have produce in the thriller genre is Snowpiercer (2013) while in the drama genre is I Am Love (2009). 

Who is their typical audience?

As Magnolia Pictures have made a very large range of different content, but they mostly do the movies in the drama, thriller and horror genre. As these types of genre are what they usually and mostly produce this shows how they are targeting audience who are genre fans where they are interested in specific genres. They can be also called as a thriller enthusiast and many more. Not only do they target and attract audience from just the genre, but the audience demographic is in the age range of 18-45. The audience that would usually watch their content would be above 18 as most of the contents are adult / mature contents to which this would not be suitable for children, some teens may watch but it may be too much for them. 

How big is the company? How long has it existed?

Magnolia pictures was found in 2001, even tho Magnolia Pictures is an independent distribution company but they are also apart of the 180 studios umbrella which this also includes other independent film company such as IFC Films, Sundance Selects, and Rotten Tomatoes. The founder of Magnolia Pictures are Bill and Ted Mundy where both of them are also known for their work at the IFC Films division. 

What is their most successful product? 

Magnolia Pictures have produce a lot of content but one of their most successful one is The hurt locker (2008), this film has received six Academy Awards which includes in Best Picture, Best Director receive by Kathryn Bigelow, and Best Original Screenplay. It grossed over $49 million worldwide on a relatively small budget. With this recognition and being able to receive awards made Magnolia Pictures to become more visible int he mainstream market. Other than The hurt locker (2008) another film that was successful is Man on Wire (2008), this documentary won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and grossed over $22 million worldwide. 

Lionsgate 

What is Lionsgate?

Lionsgate is a Canadian-American entertainment company that does production and distribution in film. Lionsgate is also trying to be expose which their content includes in feature films, television shows, and digital content 

What other content do they produce?

Lionsgate is both a production and distribution film company where they usually make independent film but also blockbusters. For blockbuster they produce film in a wide range of genre; but mostly they make the genre in action, horror, fantasy and drama. For their independent film, they make documentaries which this also become one of the key part in selling for their company. They also make television shows which is in the genre of reality tv shows and drama & crime. 

Who is their typical audience?

Lionsgate targets audience who are young adults and teenagers, as their content fits their age range and there aren't much mature content. Not only does it targets young adults but as the change in the world which then Lionsgate has increasingly produced and distributed content that appeals to LGBTQ+ audiences. The films that are in the LGBTQ+ films are Love, Simon and The Girl King, this have catered to the growing demand for LGBTQ+ stories in mainstream cinema. 

How big is the company? How long has it existed?

Lionsgate was founded in 1997 which was established by Frank Giustra in Canada, at first their main focus was in distributing independent films. But then they wanted to expand their possibilities in new operations, where they began producing its own content. Which now Lionsgate has become a global entertainment company; in film production, television production, streaming, and distribution. 

What is their most successful product? 

Lionsgate most successful product is the The Hunger Games Franchise, which grossed over $2.9 billion worldwide. The published of the 4 film series became very popular where the film received multiple nominations and awards that includes Academy Award nominations for Best Actress received by Jennifer Lawrence and Best Visual Effects.

Self Reflection: This research on the film industry was a bit complicated for me to do, as there was some information that was hard to get.  Overall this research gave me more information about the movie company and how most of the film company has been trying to be expand its business to become more easy for audience to get their content.