YouTube

Link

Emma Lux

Source: YouTube, YouTube logo [1]

HISTORY

YouTube is a video streaming company that was launched in May of 2005 [2]. The company is a website that allows people all around the world to watch and share videos. They have sports videos, music videos, gaming videos, live streaming, and so much more [3]. YouTube has been utilized by individuals and by large companies as a platform to distribute content. YouTube currently has more than 1 billion users and 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Until recently, YouTube made a majority of its money through advertising before and during the videos on the site. In 2006, Google bought YouTube for 1.65 billion dollars [4]. Under the deal, YouTube was able to remain an independently operated entity and a separate brand. The original founders of YouTube were Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim who were all early employees of PayPal [2]. The current CEO of YouTube is Susan Wojcicki, but Chad Hurley, one of the original founders, still serves as an advisor [5]. YouTube has opened up channels of communication and allowed for an easier way to distribute media more directly to the public.

KEY EXECUTIVES

Source: Susan Wojcicki Twitter, Susan Wojcicki – CEO, YouTube [6]

Source: Robert Kyncl Twitter, Robert Kyncl – Chief Business Officer, YouTube [7]

Source: Politic365, Chad Hurley – Founder and Advisor, YouTube [8]

FINANCIALS

Source: Behance, Google Logo 2015 [11]

As a company, YouTube’s financials have been protected by their parent company, Google. There has been wide speculation about whether YouTube actually makes a profit. In 2014 an anonymous Wall Street Journal source reported YouTube’s revenue for the year at roughly $4 billion and profit at break even [9]. YouTube was a large investment for Google. It has been estimated that it won’t be long before YouTube makes up to 10% of Google’s total revenues [10]. During Google’s Q2 2015 conference call, the new CFO, Ruth Porat, was evasive regarding questions to clarify YouTube’s financials. Porat did not share YouTube’s financials because she felt it could put the company at a competitive disadvantage. Colin Gillis, an analyst for BGC Partners, believes that Google is now in the stages of refining and preparing YouTube’s financial performance so when they do finally reveal those numbers, Wall Street will be pleasantly surprised [9].

YOUTUBE RED

Source: The Wrap, YouTube Red Logo [13]

On October 28th, 2015 YouTube launched its long-discussed paid subscription service, YouTube Red. The service will cost $9.99 a month and have ad-free versions of YouTube videos. There has been speculation about a service like this coming for a long time because of the financial issues that YouTube is faced with. YouTube has all the factors for success, but reportedly only breaks even with their revenue. This new service will allow subscribers of YouTube Red to save YouTube videos for offline play, listen to videos in the background while browsing other mobile apps and watch all YouTube videos without ads. YouTube stars like PewDiePie, Lilly Singh and the Fine Brothers will be creating videos that are exclusive to this new program. Music is also a large component of YouTube Red.

Source: Connect Socialyte, Collage of YouTube’s Top Creators [14]

The service will be providing access to Google Play Music and a new app called YouTube Music, which offers a personalized playlist based on a starting song or artist, this style is very similar to Pandora. YouTube Red is charging prices very similar to potential competitors like Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video and Hulu [12]. YouTube also announced that they would be shutting down their Music Key beta, just a year after launching. Music Key was YouTube’s first attempt at a subscription service and offered users full album streams and offline listening for $7.99 a month. The service also included access to Google Play Music. Music Key was not successful, and never made its way out of beta. YouTube Red is the company’s second attempt to overcome the issues that were evident in Music Key’s model and break through any streaming service barriers [15].

Source: TechCrunch, ESPN Pulling Videos From YouTube due to Red [16]

YouTube Red contains a large amount of promise to fix YouTube’s financial woes, but there has been controversy over how YouTube has gotten creators to agree to be a part of the service. YouTube has stated that 99% of creators have signed on with the Red deal but has also been accused of giving creators no choice, either getting on board with the service or having their videos removed from the site. ESPN has had the most public battle with YouTube over the service. With rights issues surrounding their content, ESPN had to pull almost all of their videos from YouTube. Eleven of ESPN’s thirteen YouTube Channels were impacted and had their content pulled from the site [16].

YOUTUBE’S MOMENTUM & FUTURE

Even with the issues facing YouTube and the fallout coming from YouTube Red, the company’s future seems bright. YouTube now reaches more 18-49 year olds than any

Source: BN1 Magazine, Vevo Logo 2015 [18]

single U.S. cable network and the average YouTube mobile session is 40 minutes. The number of hours people spend watching videos is also up 60%, which the fastest growth YouTube has experienced in 2 years [17]. Ever since YouTube officially became “mainstream” in 2009 with Congress and The Vatican launching their respective YouTube channels, the momentum in pop culture has only increased. YouTube launched Vevo, a music video channel, then announced that movies could be rented from YouTube starting in January 2010. As YouTube gained notoriety projects were launched on the site such as the It Gets Better project and Kony 2012. YouTube has pushed the importance of

Source: It Gets Better Project, It Gets Better Project Logo [19]

original content and been revolutionary in the likes of live-streaming. YouTube was the first company to show a live-stream of the 2012 Olympics. YouTube has pushed the boundaries and the strides can only point to a successful future [2]. YouTube has big plans to stay ahead of everyone else in the field, and to turn their large audience numbers into real, tangible profit i.e. YouTube Red. One of YouTube’s other big projects for the future is to provide YouTube access to anyone, anywhere. No matter what kind of connection, they want YouTube and its content to be streamed everywhere. YouTube has worked very hard to improve their tech. To continue improving it, YouTube has built new codecs, participated in developing new versions of HTML, and

Source: Buzzfeed, YouTube Rainbow Logo Celebrating Marriage Equality [20]

worked narrowly and closely with internet providers to make sure people are getting the best picture possible. These upgrades will never stop for YouTube, because this is what it takes to stay ahead and that has always been one of their biggest priorities. One of YouTube’s other resolutions as it moves to the future is a greater focus on “creators” rather than the one hit viral wonders that helped give YouTube its notoriety. These creators have built large fan bases and are in large part to thank for the increased viewership and subscriptions which is what is making YouTube so successful. These creators are also crucial to make sure that YouTube Red is successful, exclusive content on the service from these creators will only draw more fans to pay for the service [21].

SOURCES

[1] YouTube Logo. YouTube. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[2] Dickey, Megan. (February 15th, 2013). The 22 Key Turning Points In The History Of YouTube. Business Insider. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[3] YouTube Channels. YouTube. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[4] La Monica, Paul. (October 9th 2006). Google to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion. CNN Money. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[5] Kioskea. (October 29th 2010). Hurley stepping down as YouTube chief executive. CCM. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[6] Susan Wojcicki. Twitter. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[7] Robert Kyncl. Twitter. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[8] Barnette, E.R. (2015). Chad Hurley. Politic365. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[9] Oreskovic, Alexei. (July 16th 2015). How much money does YouTube make? Don’t ask the new CFO. Business Insider. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[10] Brugger, Tim. (September 9th 2014). Alright Google, Inc, What’s YouTube Really Worth? The Motley Fool. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[11] Google Logo. Google. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[12] Luckerson, Victor. (October 21st 2015). You Can Now Pay to Watch YouTube Without Ads. Time. Retrieved: October 25th 2015.

[13] YouTube Red Logo. The Wrap. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[14] YouTube Creator Collage. Connect Socialyte. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[15] Connolly, Amanda. (October 24th 2015). YouTube’s Music Key beta will end next month, leaving non-US users in the lurch. The Next Web. Retrieved: October 25th 2015.

[16] Perez, Sarah. (October 23rd 2015). YouTube Red Deal Forces ESPN To Pull Its Videos From YouTube. TechCrunch. Retrieved: October 25th 2015.

[17] YouTube Statistics. YouTube. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[18] Vevo Logo. BN1 Magazine. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[19] It Gets Better Project Logo. It Gets Better. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[20] YouTube Rainbow Logo. BuzzFeed. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[21] Pierce, David. (May 12th 2015). YouTube’s Plans for 10 More Years of Video Domination. Wired. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

Yahoo!

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Rebecca Baruch

Rebecca Baruch

: Source: Bizjournals, Yahoo! Logo [20]

“We make the
world’s daily habits inspiring
and entertaining”

– Yahoo! Inc. [26]

Source: Yahoo!, CEO, Marissa Mayer [21]

YAHOO! INC.~ WHO WE ARE

Yahoo! Inc. is a technology company that provides a variety of services for its online users. It was founded by Stanford University graduates and classmates, Jerry Yang and David Filo in 1994. It became incorporated later in 1995. A year later, in April 1996, it became a publicly traded company [1]. Since then Filo has stayed on as one of the company’s key executives, returning to its Board of Directors in 2014 [2].

Its current CEO, Marissa Mayer, who stepped into the position in 2012, worked previously at Google as one of its executives and helped develop many of its popular services like Google Maps and Gmail. She is the sixth person to take over the position of Yahoo! Inc.’s CEO since 2007 [3].

A majority of Yahoo! Inc.’s profits are gained not through subscriptions or payments from its users but rather through selling advertisement space on its various websites [4].

Source: Youtube, Yahoo! Commercial [29]

Yahoo! Inc.’s international presence reaches users in over fifty countries worldwide. Some of their main services include Yahoo! Search, an Internet search engine to help navigate users through online data and websites. It also has original and partnered content on services like Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance and Yahoo! TV [5].

Source: Flickr, Flickr Logo [22] Source: Tumblr, Tumblr Logo [23]

It also acquires smaller online enterprises in order to boost their research and reach on the ever-growing web. Back in June 2013 the company bought the popular blog website, Tumblr for $1.1 billion [6]. Yahoo! Inc. also has had, Flickr, the popular photo-managing site since 2005 [7]. These types of acquisitions were not only meant to increase profits, but to also understand the mindset and lifestyle of their users [6].

YAHOO! INC.~ Financials

This past third-quarter revealed that Yahoo! Inc.’s revenue was $1.23 billion. Last year’s quarter the company accumulated $1.15 billion in revenue [8]. Despite the increase in revenue, the company did not reach expected targets as they were predicted to make $1.26 billion in revenue this quarter. As well, rather than reaching $0.17 per share, the company ended up being valued at less than $0.10 per share. Yahoo! Inc.’s underperformance this quarter is disappointing to its potential investors and current stakeholders [9].

Source: Alibaba, Alibaba Logo [24]

Yahoo! Inc. holds a 15% stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which is an e-commerce company that provides services such as an online shopping search engine and electronic payments for businesses and customers. Alilbaba Group Holding Ltd.’s stock value has dropped 38.7% this past year. Yahoo! Inc. came up with a recovery plan to sell shares from their investment, but that will unlikely be implemented. Recently, the IRS rejected a deal Yahoo! Inc. was planning on making that would spin-off 384 million shares [10].

Source: Google, Google Logo [25]

Yahoo! Inc. struck up a deal with Google this past October that will last until 2018. Google will be providing Yahoo! Inc. with search advertisements. Google will then give Yahoo! Inc. a percentage of the revenue earned. Google will also disclose web search results and other data from users to Yahoo! Inc. to benefit its market research [11]. This information can be accessed from a variety of devices including, but not limited to, tablets, laptops and desktop computers. This non-exclusive deal still allows Yahoo! Inc. to work with other companies such as Microsoft, who they have worked with in the past. This deal will hopefully boost the company’s profits and help it have a greater understanding of its users [12].

YAHOO! INC.~ Leadership

Source: Business Insider, Marissa Mayer [27]

Much of Yahoo! Inc.’s financial difficulties have been attributed to the leadership style of the company. Its latest CEO, Marissa Mayer, has been suffering from a lot of criticism. This new CEO came aboard, knowing that she would have to fix a company that was dealing with a problematic system. She is seen as an inspirational figure for women in a predominately male dominated industry [13]. Over the years Mayer has come under fire for controversial policies and personal decisions. Overall, she uses her knowledge of the business, is the youngest CEO in history to run a Fortune 500 company and has a youthful perspective she uses to try and turn around Yahoo! Inc. in all of its failing sectors [14].

Source: CNN, Marissa Mayer [14]

Mayer’s decisions have not benefited Yahoo! Inc. in the way that she intentioned them to. With Tumblr, Flicker and other acquisitions not making the promising profits that they were thought to have and the Alibaba deal being halted by the IRS, bringing Yahoo! Inc. out from its financial distress, does not seem to be a reality [15].

Although the deal with Google has potential to bring both greater profits and user data to Yahoo! Inc. the benefits of that deal will not be seen for many years to come. Investors are asking for Mayer to either resign or to be ousted from the company altogether. In her near four years as CEO, Mayer has spent around $7 billion in acquisitions and has been unable to turn a profit from those investments. For this reason and others many question her leadership skills and whether she can bring the company together. Mayer may soon be fired by Yahoo! Inc.’s Board of Directors [15].

Mayer herself disagrees with the investors’ and the public’s view of a failing company. Mayer believes that the new initiatives she has put in place will soon pay off and bring the company back to its original days of success. Mayer is only one of half a dozen CEOs who have come and gone in the past decade at Yahoo! Inc. [15]. The company has also had executives leave as well, like the loss of their Marketing Chief to STX Entertainment, so it would be no surprise to see Mayer take her exit [16]. This type of shake up in the hierarchal system may be one of the reasons that Yahoo! Inc. is having issues with its services and ability to make a profit, because of its lack of strong and consistent leadership.

YAHOO! INC.~ The future

Source: Vserv, Yahoo! Logo [28]

Overall, Yahoo! Inc. has gone from a search engine focused company to one focusing on its media presence. This has been done unsuccessfully and for this reason its board will be meeting several times the first week of December of 2015 in order to make some executive decisions about leadership and what the future of Yahoo! Inc. looks like as a company [17].

Yahoo! Inc.’s constant replacement of CEOs has rocked the company’s structure and efficiency. It needs a new strategic business plan in order to stay competitive in its markets. Since the Alibaba deal went south, there is going to be a last effort to boost stock value of Yahoo! Inc. by potentially selling the company’s core assets. Considering that Yahoo! Inc. shares have gone down 35%, this seems like a strategically intelligent move [18].

After rumors of this potential sale circulated through investors and outside parties, Yahoo! Inc.’s stock value boosted by 5.6%, showing that the public views this sale as a potential solution to the company’s problems [19].

The future of Yahoo! Inc. is unclear, both in leadership and in its financial state. Despite this, it is not a lost cause, it has the potential for growth and greater success.

Sources

[1] Yahoo! Inc. Success Story. Success Story. Retrieved: November 28th 2015.

[2] Musil, Steven. (April 16th 2014). Yahoo co-founder David Filo nominated to return to board. CNET. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[3] Efrati, Amir & Letzing John. (July 17th 2012). Google’s Mayer Takes Over as Yahoo Chief. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved: November 28th 2015.

[4] Peterson, Tim. (October 21st 2014). Yahoo Now Makes More Money From Search Ads Than Banners. Adage. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[5] Products and Services. Yahoo!. Retrieved: November 12th 2015.

[6] Isidore, Chris. (May 20th 2013). Yahoo buys Tumblr, promises to not ‘screw it up’. CNN Money. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[7] Geron, Tomio. (August 2013). A Look Back At Yahoo’s Flickr Acquisition For Lessons Today. Tech Crunch. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[8] (October 20th 2015). Investor Relations. Yahoo!. Retrieved: October 22nd 2015.

[9] Pramuk, Jacob. (October 20th 2015). Yahoo cuts Q4 guidance after earnings miss. CNBC. Retrieved: October 22nd 2015.

[10] Cornell, Joe. (October 1st 2015). Yahoo’s Alibaba Spin-Off On Track. Forbes. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[11] Riley, Duncan. (October 21st 2015). Back to the future: Yahoo returns to Google’s loving embrace with new search and ad deal. Silicon Angle. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[12] Rosoff, Matt. (October 20th 2015). Yahoo has signed a deal with Google to provide search ads. Business Insider. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[13] Gustin, Sam. (July 18th 2012). The Ten Most Influential Women in Technology. Time. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[14] La Monica, Paul R. (October 21st 2015). Marissa Mayer STILL hasn’t fixed Yahoo. CNN Money. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[15] (November 27th 2015). For Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, the clock is ticking. CBS Money Watch. Retrieved: November 28th 2015.

[16] Jones, Dow. (September 11 2015). Yahoo Marketing Chief to Join STX Entertainment. Nasdaq. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[17] Poletti, Therese. (December 1st 2015). Selling Yahoo’s core business would be complicated. Market Watch. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[18] Goldman, David. (December 1st 2015). Yahoo could be looking for a buyer. CNN Money. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[19] (December 1st 2015). Yahoo shares spike on report company may sell core assets. CNBC. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[20] Yahoo! Logo. Biz Journal. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[21] Yahoo! Executive Team. Yahoo!. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[22] Flickr Logo. Flickr. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[23] Tumblr Logo. Tumblr. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[24] Alibaba Logo. Alibaba. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[25] Google Logo. Google. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[26] Yahoo! Quote. Yahoo!. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[27] Marissa Mayer Photo. Business Insider. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[28] Yahoo! Logo. Vserv. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[29] Yahoo! Commercial. Youtube. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

Netflix

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Matthew Schiff

Matthew Schiff

Netflix Logo, Courtesy of Netflix (1)

Corporate Headquarters (2)

100 Winchester Circle

Los Gatos, California 95032

(408) 540-3700

http://netflix.com/

Executives (3)

Reed Hastings, Founder and CEO (3)

Kelly Bennett, Chief Marketing Officer (3)

Jonathan Friedland, Chief Communications Officer (3)

David Wells, Chief Financial Officer (3)

Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer (3)

Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer (3)

History (4)

Original form of Netflix distribution (5)

Original form of Netflix distribution, Courtesy of CNN (5)

Netflix streaming on devices besides computers, Courtesy of CNN (5)

In 1997, Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, two software engineers, created the company Netflix. At first, the company offered online movie rentals and then moved to a subscription based service, offering unlimited movie rentals for a monthly fee. In 2002, Netflix became a publicly traded company on Nasdaq under “NFLX.” By 2005, the number of Netflix subscribers rose to 4.2 million. With this large increase, Netflix became even more high tech and started offering instant streaming for subscribers to watch movies and shows instantly on their computers. By the end of 2010, Netflix partnered with electronic companies such as Xbox 360, Apple and Blue-ray players to bring streaming to other internet connected devices.
In 2011, Netflix started to launch streaming in other countries such as Canada, Latin America and parts of Europe. Netflix started to produce original content in 2013 and within a year was nominated for 31 Primetime Emmys, winning seven. The shows that captured the nominations for Netflix were “House of Cards,” “Orange Is the New Black” and “The Square.” Netflix is now viewable in over 60 countries with over 69 million subscribers watching over 100 million hours of video content (6).

Financial (7)

Netflix Streaming Subscribers (Millions), Courtesy of The Motley Fool (10)

Netflix Stock over 3 Months, Courtesy of Google Finance (12)

Over the past year, Netflix’s operating income has been up and down but ended this quarter (Q3) at $74 million. This is much lower than their previous year ending at $110 million with a forecast of $81 million for next year. Global membership increased by 3.62 million users with now 69.17 million online users. Netflix’s over-forecast for the amount of domestic new users was partially due to the high involuntary churn. They believe this was driven by the transition to chip-based debit and credit cards. At the rate new users are subscribing, this will be Netflix’s fourth consecutive year adding 6 million users in the US. Internationally, Netflix has added 2.74 million new users this quarter, up 700,000 from the previous year (9). Most recently, Netflix has increased their prices in the US which will help improve their ability to create and offer high quality content. Their pricing plans are now offered in 3 different options: Standard-definition, 1 screen sharing for $7.99 which was their original pricing. The second option is high-definition, 2 screen sharing for $9.99 which is $1 from the previous price. The final option is an ultra-high definition, 4 screen sharing for $11.99. To date, Netflix’s total streaming revenue is $1.581 billion and projected to be at $1.667 billion by the end of 2015. Most recently, Netflix’s stock has split, closing at $702.60 a share. Shareholders got an additional 6 shares, making the new shares starting to trade at $100.37. Since then, their stock has rose $25 to date. With 51% of all internet users subscribed to Netflix, this stock price is expected to increase and will not slow down (11).

Distribution

Map of countries with Netflix, Courtesy of Netflix (14)

In 2010, Netflix finally went “global” and started streaming in Canada. Within the next two years, Netflix launched throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and some parts of Europe such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Nordic Countries. As of October 22, 2015, Netflix became available in Italy, Portugal, and Spain (13). By 2017, Netflix will have produced their first original Italian series, Suburra (15). To date, Netflix is now available in over 60 countries and continues to grow with plans to take over Asia by 2016 (6).

Courtesy of Virgin America (17)

Aside from your classic viewing platforms such as iPads, TV’s and laptops, Netflix is now available 35,000 feet in the air. On September 29, 2015, Netflix and Virgin America, a “low-fare, upscale airline known for offering next generation entertainment and connectivity,” came together and now offer guests the ability to stream their favorite Netflix content, free of charge (16).

Content (9)

Narcos, Courtesy of Netflix (18)

As cord cutting becomes a major issue in the television industry, Netflix has no worries with losing subscribers. With over 69 million subscribers and more than 50% of internet users subscribed to Netflix, they have nothing to worry about. These high numbers are mostly due to their wide variety of media and their original content. In 2013, Netflix produced their two most successful shows, “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black.” Within a year, these two shows scored Netflix 7 Primetime Emmys. Now in 2015, Netflix is hopeful of another award, but this time, with their first original feature film. “Beasts of No Nation,” debuted on October 16th, 2015, is a “hold onto your seat” war drama starring Idris Elba and Abraham Attah. It is worldwide critically acclaimed and an early Oscar hopeful for Netflix. “Narcos” is Netflix’s latest original series and is taking the world by storm. The series is global in nature with a US and Latin American cast, Brazilian director and shot in Columbia. Besides original content, Netflix users come for the wide array of other movies and series. Within the past two months, Netflix has acquired the rights to four highly-rated major series; “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Colony,” “Zoo,” and “Jane the Virgin.”

Competitors

Netflix’s 2 big competitors, Amazon Prime and Hulu, Courtesy of Live For Films (22)

With Netflix becoming a household name and bringing in over $1 billion annually, it’s no surprise others want to jump onboard this online streaming bandwagon. Competitors like Amazon, Hulu and Time Warner are slowly catching up to Netflix’s speed. For $99 a year, Amazon subscribers can access over 40,000 titles for streaming in addition to the free two-day shipping, Prime Music and Kindle’s Lending Library. Amazon is also dipping into original programming with success from their show “Transparent.” Hulu has now offered commercial-free streaming for $11.99, the same price as Netflix’s highest quality streaming plan (9). In addition to Amazon and Hulu, Netflix believes their biggest competitor is Time Warner’s HBO. Their newest service, HBO Now, is a direct streaming service that houses solely all of HBO’s content for $14.99 a month. HBO has now expanded into Latin America, showing their serious efforts to become recognizable on a global scale (19).

Disney Life, Courtesy of Disney (23)

Smaller, yet steady competitors have also made a dent in the online streaming world. Disney has created a subscription based service aimed at kids. This streaming service, DisneyLife, is only available in the United Kingdom so far but seems to be slowly winning kids over across the pond (20). Nasper’s Showmax is also taking a stab in the race of online streaming. The African based company has started to go global with the help of Samsung Electronics whose agreed to feature Showmax on all of its Smart TVs (21). Luckily, good content is what controls this industry, and Netflix knows what the customers want. Their original content provides customer satisfaction and competitive differentiation. They also are competitively priced with the lowest monthly premium at $8.99.

Overview

Netflix has shown that they are not to be messed with and are here to stay. With their wild success from original shows like “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black,” Emmy nominations and wins, and now potential Oscar nominees with “Beasts of No Nation,” Netflix is not slowing down. With their subscriber count reaching over 69 million and finances looking to be going nowhere but up, Netflix has one of the brightest futures for streaming services.

Still not part of the Netflix experience? Start you subscription today!

Sources

(1) Logo, Netflix Media Center, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(2) Netflix Headquarters Information, Headquarters Info, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(3) Officers & Directors, Netflix, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(4) History Timeline, Netflix Media Center, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(5) History of Netflix, CNN, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(6) Company Profile, Netflix, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(7) Financial Statements, Netflix, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(8) Stock Split, Netflix Shares at $100, USA Today Money, Retrieved: November 28, 2015

(9) Shareholders Report, Netflix, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(10) 3 Reasons I Own Netflix Stock, The Motley Fool, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(11) More than half of Americans watch Netflix, Quartz, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(12) Netflix Stock, Google Finance, Retrieved: November 29, 2015

(13) Press Releases, Netflix Media, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(14) Netflix Available in other countries, Netflix Help, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(15) Suburra, Netflix Media, Retrieved: November 29, 2015

(16) Virgin America Now Streaming Netflix, Virgin America, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(17) Virigin America Plane, Variety, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(18) Narcos, Netflix, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(19) 3 Reasons I Own Netflix Stock, The Motley Fool, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(20) DisneyLife Taking over Netflix, The Motley Fool, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(21) Naspers Showmax, Business Finance News, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(22) Netflix Competitors, Live for Films, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

(23) DisneyLIfe, Disney, Retrieved: November 30, 2015

Hulu #1

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Hannah Mesches

Hannah Mesches

Hulu logo (1) source: Hulu

Company

Hulu is a premium streaming service that offers subscribers hours of content- both television programming and movies- with limited commercials for $7.99 a month or no commercials for $11.99 a month. Launched in 2008, Hulu has remained a leader in redefining how TV and how it is consumed by loyal viewers. The company boasts nearly 9 million subscribers, over 500 content partners, and 2,000 advertising partners. (2) Hulu recently reached a milestone of 700 million hours of content streamed by subscribers.

CEO Mike Hopkins (3) source: Hulu

Senior Vice President, Head of Content Craig Erwich (3) source: Hulu

Senior Vice President, Head of Distribution Tim Connolly (3) source: Hulu

Financials

Hulu is not a publicly traded company, thus the company’s financial profile is not available in the same detail as that of a company with quarterly SEC filings. Despite this, on October 6th 2015, Hulu published the news that it and Viacom expanded their content partnership in a new multi-year agreement. (4) With this deal, Hulu became the exclusive subscription video on demand (SVOD) home to full seasons of popular series from Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV such as Inside Amy Schumer, Broad City and Finding Carter. These programs are highly popular with adults 18-34 and will attract cord cutters with the accessibility the company provides through online streaming. (5)

The deal also expands Hulu’s catalog of children’s programming. Full older seasons of Nickelodeon shows that have never been available for online streaming on the site are now exclusive to the service. In addition to this, all episodes of 90’s and 00’s era programs like The Wild Thornberrys, Drake and Josh, Hey Arnold and Ren & Stimpy will be available for the first time ever on Hulu. The renewal and expansion of this deal will allow the company to acquire programs that audiences who are ditching cable will be looking to watch elsewhere due to their popularity.

Newly Released Content

To compete with Netflix, Hulu released two original series, Casual and RocketJump: The Show in Q4 of 2015 (6), and brought back cancelled program The Mindy Project. On October 21st, 2015, Casual, which stars Michaela Watkins, Tommy Dewey and Tara Lynne Barr, was renewed for a second season due to the success of Producer Jason Reitman’s dysfunctional family comedy. (7) The release date of RocketJump, a documentary series about Youtube filmmaker Freddie Wong and the creation of his action-comedy short films, was delayed until December 2nd, 2015. (8) The original series will still likely draw a substantial audience as name recognition will play a large role.

The Mindy Project (9) source: Geekynews

Hulu also revived cult favorite The Mindy Project starring Mindy Kaling, Chris Messina and Ike Barinholtz exclusively for its streaming service when it was cancelled by Fox. The company signed on for 26 episodes of the program for its fourth season. With more creative freedom given by Hulu, the show has involved more mature themes and plots, and thus has attracted a wider audience. (10) A.V. Club reviewed the Hulu season premiere entitled “While I Was Sleeping” as an A on its scale, calling the episode “an amazing season opener, her best-ever.” (11)

Earlier this year, Hulu premiered the show Difficult People on August 5th, 2015. The series was created by Julie Klausner who stars alongside Billy Eichner. Eichner’s performance immediately garnered positive attention from critics and the show was given an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 76 on Metacritic. (12) After landing a role on Parks and Recreation due to the success of his popular Youtube series Billy on the Street, the actor’s high energy style became in demand as he was cast on several hit programs, but found the most success with Hulu.

Future Content

On February 15th, 2016, Hulu will release its highly anticipated series 11/22/63 based on the 2011 best selling novel written by Stephen King and published by Scribner. (13) The thriller, starring James Franco tells the story of a high school english teacher who travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President. John F. Kennedy. The mission is threatened by Lee Harvey Oswald, a love interest, and the past’s unwillingness to change itself. (14)

11/22/63 (15) source: Entertainment Weekly

Offline, Hulu will be bringing a popular fan experience to Los Angeles this winter. After its success in New York City, Hulu is resurrecting the Seinfeld: The Apartment exhibit for the show’s L.A. fans. (16) The pop up installation features a replica of Jerry Seinfeld’s Upper West Side apartment, and full gallery experience, as well as new items from the series. The exhibit will be located on 8445 Melrose Ave. and will be open from December 16th- 20th. The popularity of both the installation and the series as a whole is imperative for Hulu’s success in streaming Seinfeld in its entirety on the site. A whole new audience is reached as a result, and old fans are able to relive the series in a new way. (17)

Showtime

In addition to the new commercial free subscription that Hulu offers, customers are now able to pay an additional fee to get Showtime as a premium add on for $8.99 a month. Now viewers are able to watch award winning programs such as Homeland, The Affair, Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex and Episodes through the streaming service. (18)

Showtime on Hulu (19) source: Hulu

Although this service comes at an extra cost, it will attract millennial viewers as they stray away from more expensive cable packages and move to exclusively online sites such as Hulu and its competitors Netflix and Amazon. (20) Subscribers will be able to take Showtime programs on the go as it is available on Apple devices, Android phones and tablets, Playstation, Wii, and Xbox One.

Overview

Overall, Hulu has had a productive year. From introducing a new subscription free of commercials, to receiving rave reviews for its original series, to expanding its agreement with Viacom and partnering with Showtime, the company is quickly amassing both content and loyal subscribers. Unlike Netflix, the site is able to make content available the day after it airs on live television, which attracts cord cutting fans as the service is less expensive and available on more interfaces. With a highly anticipated release coming in the first quarter of the 2016 fiscal year, Hulu is releasing content at a steady stream that keeps customers invested.

Sources

(1) Hulu – Watch TV, Originals, and Hit Movies.” Hulu. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(2) “About Hulu.” About Hulu. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(3) “Executives.” Executives. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(4) “Hulu and Viacom Expand Content Partnership In Robust, New Multi-Year Agreement.” News. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(5) “Cord Cutters News – All the News Cord Cutters Need about Cord Cutting! Covering, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Netflix, Hulu, & More!”Cord Cutters News. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(6) “Hulu Originals Premiere Dates.” Premiere Dates. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(7) “Jason Reitman’s ‘Casual’ Gets Season 2 on Hulu.” Variety. N.p., 21 Oct. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(8) “‘RocketJump: The Show’ Premiere on Hulu Pushed Back to December.”Variety. N.p., 09 Oct. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(9) “First Look: Lee Pace in The Mindy Project.” GeekyNews. N.p., 06 Jan. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(10) “The Mindy Project Isn’t Cancelled After All, Here’s What’s Happening.”CINEMABLEND. N.p., 15 May 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(11) “The Mindy Project:.” “While I Was Sleeping” · The Mindy Project · TV Review “While I Was Sleeping” · TV Club · The A.V. Club. N.p., 15 Sept. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(12) “‘Difficult People’ on Hulu: Will Critics’ Raves Lead to Awards for Julie Klausner, Billy Eichner?” GoldDerby. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(13) “11.22.63.” Hulu Press. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(14) “11.22.63.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(15) “First Look: See James Franco in Stephen King’s Time-travel JFK Assassination Thriller 11/22/63.” Entertainment Weekly. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(16) “Inside the ‘Seinfeld’ Apartment Pop-Up in New York.” The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(17) “Hulu to Bring SEINFELD: THE APARTMENT Fan Experience to LA This December.” Broadway World. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(18) “Hulu with Showtime.” Hulu. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

(19) “What Is SHOWTIME® on Hulu?” Hulu. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

AOL

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Laura Sanfilippo

Laura Sanfilippo

Source: AOL [20]

770 Broadway

New York, NY

10003

212-206-4400

KEY EXECUTIVES

CEO Tim Armstrong Source: corp.aol.com/leader/tim-armstrong

CEO Tim Armstrong
Source: Corp AOL [1]

President AOL Inc. and Executive VP Bob Lord Source: corp.aol.com/leader/bob-lord

President AOL Inc. and Executive VP Bob Lord
Source: AOL [3]

CFO and Executive VP Holly Hess Source: corp.aol.com/leader/holly-hess

CFO and Executive VP Holly Hess
Source: AOL [2]

Overview

America Online started out as an Internet service provider and has since become a multifaceted Internet giant. America Online is probably most known for its iconic “You’ve got mail” and for its email and instant messaging services, but it is so much more. Not only does AOL provide these more well known services, but it also produces original content, creates apps and continues to grow. The AOL Huffington Post Media Group (AOL HPMG) has over 350 million monthly consumers and consists of 56 sites, including The Huffington Post, Cambio, Moviefone, Mapquest, Engadget, and TechCrunch that lead in news, entertainment, digital, and community content [4]. The AOL HPMG has over 9,000 bloggers including celebrities and politicians, like Aaron Sorkin and Neil Young, who discuss topics making headlines today. The sites combine journalism, technology, engagement and video across all platforms[4]. Today the AOL HPMG is owned by Verizon with whom they continue to grow[4].

History

Source: Science Borealis [21]

America Online is an online platform that offers many different services, such as email, apps, video, and blogs that serves millions of people and has continued to grow since its origin. America Online was founded originally in 1985 with the name Quantum Computer Services by Steve Case [5]. It’s name was officially changed to America Online (AOL) in 1991[4]. Soon after, an instant messaging service and AOL’s classic “You’ve got mail” notification were launched [6]. In 1994 AOL hit one million users and began using advertisements within its service. No more than two years later it hit five million subscribers [7]. In 2011 AOL purchased the Huffington Post to form the AOL Huffington Post Media Group and it has continued to grow, buying services like Moviefone and Netscape, and Mapquest [4]. In early 2015 AOL was acquired by Verizon in an over four billion dollar acquisition [8].

AOL Originals

Citizen Mars Source: Engadget [22]

Making A Scene Source: Deadline [23]

Park Bench Source: AOL Advertising [24]

In addition to providing various online services, AOL also produces original content from some of the biggest names in Hollywood. AOL’s originals appeal to a wide variety of users because there is something for everyone. Currently in AOL’s library of originals are reality series spanning from #Candidly Nicole, a series following Nicole Richie, based off her Twitter feed, Citizen Mars, a series that follows the finalists for the one way mission to mars, and True Trans which follows trans musician Laura Jane Grace and other members of the trans community [9]. Also in their catalog are series from James Franco and Steve Buscemi. James Franco’s series “Making a Scene” is in it second season where Franco and his team take famous movies, and scenes and recreate them through Franco’s imagination [9]. Steve Buscemi’s acclaimed series “Park Bench With Steve Buscemi,” is a non fiction series hosted by, you guessed it, Steve Buscemi. He sits on a park bench and talks to a wide variety of guests including, Kenan Thompson, and Gilbert Gottfried [10]. The series was nominated for an Emmy in 2014 for Outstanding Short-Form Nonfiction Program [9]. This is only the cusp of AOL’s original content. Their library also includes comedy shows, shows about food, cars, and even ballet [9]. Everyone can find something for them on AOL originals.

Financials

AOL released its last financial update on May 8, 2015 [11]. Though not in the last few months, It contains all of AOL’s first quarter 2015 financial information. In this quarter AOL had a 12% increase in its advertising revenue, going from $433.4 million in the last quarter of 2014 to $483.5 million in the first quarter of 2015 [11]. Additionally, their price for global advertising has increased 10% [11]. These are both important because it is becoming harder and harder to reach people via advertising. If the price for advertising is going up, one can assume that AOL’s advertising strategies are effective. AOL has overall had a successful first quarter with an increased total revenue of 7% going from $583.3 million in the last quarter of 2014 to $625.1 million in the first quarter of 2015 [11].

Source: AOL Investor Relations http://ir.aol.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=147895&p=quarterlyearnings

Source: AOL Investor Relations Presentation [11]

What’s New

In the past few months AOL has launched a number of new originals and services. In October, Jared Leto’s new series launched on Build called “Beyond the Horizon” which talks about the future of humanity and will have guests such as former Vice President Al Gore and author of The Martian Andy Weir [12].

Source: AOL Advertising advertising.aol.com

Beyond The Horizon Source: AOL Advertising [25]

Earlier this month AOL launched their new series on AOL.com called “Act Like A Musician” which brings together musicians and actors to talk about their passion and create music [13]. Danny Masterson, of “That 70s Show” fame, and The Strokes Albert Hammond Jr. join in the first episode to perform music and talk about their careers [14]. The series, which is currently in its third week, will be a limited run and end after six weeks [13].

In the recent months AOL has also launched various new apps and acquired thousands more. To target millennial users they launched the app “Kanvas” in late October [15]. The app is like a combination of Periscope and Snapchat [15]. It is similar to Snapchat in the sense that you can put filters and effects on your videos, but hopes to outdo the live streaming services, like Meerkat and Periscope, by not removing live streams after periods of time [15].

Kanvas Source: Entrepreneur [15]

In addition to creating a new app, AOL acquired Millennial Media granting them access to over 65 thousand apps and allowing them to reach over one billion global users [16]. It will also make available more advertising across ONE, AOL’s advertising service, by AOL [17], [27].

In September AOL launched LIVE by AOL which is a start to finish service for live events [18]. These productions will be distributed through AOL’s various channels such as Tech Crunch and The Huffington Post [18].

In October AOL went back to its email roots and relaunched ALTO, a service that puts all of your email accounts, be that Gmail or AOL, in one place [19]. ALTO has a dashboard, and many other features, to find the most important things among your email accounts [19]. The goal of ALTO is to make using email on your mobile device more user friendly.

Source: ALTO [26]

Wrap Up

In the past few months AOL has launched a number of new programs, videos, and made strategic acquisitions that gives it a leg up in the world we live in today. Its wide variety of online shows appeal to mass audiences. Its new app and newly launched shows appeal again to a wide crowd and specifically to the millennial generation. Its successful financial quarter will help AOL continue to grow.

[1] Corporate AOL. “Tim Armstrong.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://corp.aol.com/leader/tim-armstrong

[2] Corporate AOL. “Holly Hess.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://corp.aol.com/leader/holly-hess

[3] Corporate AOL. “Bob Lord.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://corp.aol.com/leader/bob-lord

[4] Corporate AOL. “AOL has a strong strategy, a clear mission and a firm commitment to delivering value.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://corp.aol.com/about-aol/overview

[5] Time. “A Brief Guide to the Tumultuous 30-Year History of AOL.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://time.com/3857628/aol-1985-history/

[6] The Washington Post. “25 Years of AOL: A Timeline.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/23/AR2010052303551.html

[7] CNBC. “Timeline: AOL Through the Years.’ Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://www.cnbc.com/2015/05/12/timeline-aol-through-the-years.html

[8] CNN Money. “Verizon Buys AOL for $4.4 Billion.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/12/investing/verizon-buys-aol/

[9] AOL. On. “Shows” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://on.aol.com/shows

[10] AOL. On. “Park Bench” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://on.aol.com/parkbench

[11] AOL Financial Information. “Q1 2015 Earnings Presentation.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://ir.aol.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=147895&p=quarterlyearnings

[12] Beyond the Horizon. “Beyond the Horizon.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://www.aol.com/beyondthehorizon/

[13] AOL Press Releases. “Act Like a Musician Premieres on AOL.com.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://corp.aol.com/2015/11/16/act-like-a-musician-premieres-on-aol-com/

[14] Act Like A Musician. “S1E1.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://www.aol.com/actlikeamusician/519231493/

[15] Entrepreneur. “AOL Launches Live Streaming App That’s Part Periscope, Part Snapchat.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/252218

[16] TechCrunch. “AOL Confirms It’s Buying Millennial Media in $238M Deal To Expand Mobile Ads.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/03/aol-acquires-millennial-media/

[17] Business Wire. “AOL to Deepen Its Programmatic Leadership with Agreement to Acquire Millennial Media.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150903005064/en/AOL-Deepen-Programmatic-Leadership-Agreement-Acquire-Millennial

[18] AOL Press Releases. “AOL Launches LIVE by AOL.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://corp.aol.com/2015/09/28/aol-launches-live-by-aol/

[19] AOL Press Releases. “AOL Launches ALTO.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://corp.aol.com/2015/10/28/aol-launches-alto/

[20] AOL. “AOL. image” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://corp.aol.com/

[21] Science Borealis. “America Online image.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://blog.scienceborealis.ca/youve-got-mail-and-everything-else-whats-a-science-blogger-to-do/

[22] Engadget. “Citizen Mars.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://www.engadget.com/citizen-mars/

[23] Deadline. “Hot Trailer: James Franco’s AOL Comedy Series Makes a Scene.” http://deadline.com/2014/09/james-franco-aol-trailer-scott-haze-ahna-oreilly-832391/

[24] AOL Advertising. “AOL Originals Releases Season 2 of ‘Park Bench with Steve Buscemi.'” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://advertising.aol.com/blog/aol-originals-releases-season-2-park-bench-steve-buscemi

[25] AOL Advertising. “Jared Leto’s ‘Beyond the Horizon’ Launches on AOL Build.” Retrieved November 30, 2015. http://advertising.aol.com/blog/jared-letos-beyond-horizon-launches-aol-build

[26] ALTO. “ALTO.’ Retrieved November 30, 2015. https://altomail.com/

[27] AOL Platforms. “ONE by AOL.” Retrieved December 1, 2015. http://www.aolplatforms.com/onebyaol

The Weinstein Company

Posted on September 30, 2015 by John House

JJ House

The Weinstein Company logo — source: dundascommunications.com

The Weinstein Company

99 Hudson St Fl 4
New York, NY, 10013 United States
(212) 845-8600
http://www.weinsteinco.com

Overview

The Weinstein Company Inc. is a film production studio that was founded in 2005 by Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein. It is a subsidiary of The Weinstein Company Holdings LLC. The two brothers founded the company after they left Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had founded in 1979.

The Weinstein Company is considered a mini-major film studio. This means it is a smaller production company, yet it always competes, or at least tries to compete, in the same market as major production companies (such as Universal Pictures or Paramount) [1]. Since its formation, The Weinstein Company has produced and released 117 feature films and has amassed over 300 Academy Awards nominations — giving the company the reputation of having a Midas touch for producing critically successful films [2]. Along with critical success, many of The Weinstein Company’s films have been box office hits. To see Box Office Mojo’s list of The Weinstein Company’s top box office successes, click here.

Company Structure

The Weinstein Company (TWC) is privately owned, and therefore detailed financial information is not available to the public [3]. The top executives in the company are: Mr. David Glasser, President and COO; Mr. Harvey Weinstein, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman, and Principal; Mr. Robert (Bob) Weinstein, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman, and Principal [3]. These three are known to have close personal relationships with one another on top of their business ones. Bob Weinstein has said, “Although many have tried to claim the title third brother, David [Glasser] is the only one that we would proudly bestow that moniker” [4]. But these three men don’t have complete control of the company. As well as the top executives, there are more than 30 investors in TWC, including AMC Networks, WPP, Tunisian entrepreneur Tarak Ben Ammar and hedge funds like Ziff Brothers [5]. Many of these major investors have representatives on the company’s board of directors [5].

http://www.screendaily.com/pictures/636xAny/7/2/9/1225729_David-Glasser.jpg

President/COO, David Glasser — Source: screendaily.com

Bob Weinstein — Source: Dailymail.co.uk

http://freedomoutpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Harvey-Weinstein.jpg

Harvey Weinstein — Source: freedomoutpost.com

Earlier this year The Weinstein Company was making industry headlines because in late July David Glasser announced that he was leaving the company [6]. He announced he would leave the company in November after helping it set up its 2015-16 film slate [4]. However, on September 9th it was announced that Glasser reversed his decision to leave The Weinstein Company, and has actually signed a new deal, keeping him with the company until at least 2018 [6].

2015-2016 Titles

As a production company The Weinstein Company has had an uncharacteristically poor year so far. While most titles the company has churned out in the past year: Big Eyes, Paddington, and Netflix television series Marco Polo, have all been well enough received and have had moderate financial success, none have been critical standouts nor done exceptionally well money-wise [7]. One recent film that has been all-around poor is Burnt, starring Bradley Cooper. The film has a received mostly negative reviews from critics, scoring a 27% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was a flop in the box office [8].

One hopeful redeemer to The Weinstein Company’s poor year is the upcoming Quentin Tarantino film, The Hateful Eight, which is set to release in the US on January 8, 2016. The film is slated to compete with Disney‘s new Star Wars movie, which may pose a threat in the box office. However Tarantino is a renowned director who has perennial success with his films, and the film is being released in a special 70mm “Roadshow” format — so the film is poised to be a hit with more avid movie fans [9]. Some other hopeful future successes on TWC’s slate are: drama/romance Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and McDonald’s biopic The Founder, starring Michael Keaton.

Subsidiaries

The Weinstein Company has two subsidiary production companies: Dimension Films and Radius TWC.

Dimension Films was founded by Bob Weinstein in 1992, when the brothers were still at Miramax Films. They conceived Dimension Films while out for lunch one day, and for two reasons: one, because they had to compete with New Line Cinema, which had just released a new label called Fine Line Features [10]. The other reason was because Bob Weinstein enjoyed genre films more than “art house fare”, which is what Miramax was more focussed on, so it was the perfect label for him to take the helm on [10]. Dimension moved to the The Weinstein Company when the brothers left Miramax, but has remained the same ‘genre’ label as when it was founded.

Currently, Dimension is working a lot in the horror genre. They are producing a horror feature Amityville: The Awakening, which is set to release in 2016. They are also producing the MTV series Scream: The TV Series, which, despite changing showrunners, is set to have a second season [11]. Dimension is also developing another television series based on The Mist, which was a Stephen King novella and a 2007 film by Frank Darabont [12].

Radius TWC is a boutique label from The Weinstein Company that specializes in both theatrical and multi-platform VOD distribution [13]. It was founded in 2011 by Tom Qiunn, Co-President and Jason Janego, Co-President. The two led the company for four years, until August 2015 when they both left to start their own new company [14]. It is unclear who now mans the helm at Radius TWC following their departure, but The Weinstein Company has kept the label alive.

Radius TWC has had success in the alternative distribution space. In 2013 it simultaneously released dystopian thriller Snowpiercer, both theatrically and on VOD. This turned out to be a huge success, bringing in great numbers for the film [14]. In 2014 it distributed the low-budget horror film It Follows in the same way. The film did very well in the box office and from VOD, grossing almost $15 million (the film’s budget was just $2 million) [14]. This was due to Radius TWC’s calculated distribution [15]. Radius TWC’s most recent release that is making headlines is the Austrian suspense-horror film Goodnight Mommy, which received four stars from Roger Ebert, and is representing Austria at the 2016 Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category [16].

Recent Company Shakeups

Source: Variety.com

On November 15, 2015 it was reported that The Weinstein Company was laying off 40-50 of its roughly 215 employees — mostly those in distribution, publicity, and legal [17]. COO David Glasser said the reason for the job cuts is to “reduce the film division’s overhead to make the company more efficient”. He cited the company’s appealing upcoming film slate as reason for the company to still have success going forward [17].

Following the new of the job cuts, on November 18, 2015 rumors started circulating that The Weinstein Company may be for sale. Apparently the Weinstein brothers are considering selling all or some of the company [5]. One potential acquirer is billionaire Ron Burkle [5]. Supposedly he has an interest in buying part of TWC and merging it with U.K. talent group, Independent Talent Group. These rumors have gained some weight, because certain unnamed board members at TWC have said that the company’s board has not been happy “for a long time” [5]. Speculation is that the board wants to refocus the company more towards television production, as it requires less capital. This speculation can be confirmed as at least mostly true, because on November 24, 2015 The Weinstein Company announced that it was reducing its film slate to less than ten movies a year and would be increasing its TV operations [18].

Sources

[1] Slanguage Dictionary. (2013, February 20). Retrieved December 2, 2015

[2] Fox, J. (2014, January 29). A Brief History of Harvey Weinstein’s Oscar Campaign Tactics. Retrieved December 2, 2015

[3] The Weinstein Company Inc.: Private Company Information. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015

[4] McNary, D. (2015, September 9). David Glasser Reverses Course, Staying at the Weinstein Co. Retrieved December 2, 2015

[5] Siegal, T. (n.d.). Layoffs, Defections: Is The Weinstein Co. for Sale? Retrieved December 2, 2015

[6] Jaafar, A., & Fleming Jr, M. (2015, July 30). David Glasser Resigning As Weinstein Company COO After Seven-Year Run. Retrieved December 2, 2015

[7] The Weinstein Company All Time Box Office Results. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015

[8] Burnt (2015) – Box Office Mojo. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015

[9] Atkinson, C. (n.d.). How Harvey Weinstein plans to battle ‘Star Wars’ at the box office. Retrieved December 2, 2015

[10] Weinstein, B. (n.d.). Bob Weinstein’s Love Letter to Brother Harvey: “Some Would Say I Deserve a Lifetime Achievement Award” Retrieved December 2, 2015

[11] Lee, B. (2015, November 9). Scream TV Series Replaces Showrunners. Retrieved December 2, 2015

[12] Hipes, P. (2015, September 16). ‘The Mist’ TV Series Emerges From Dimension & Scribe Christian Torpe. Retrieved December 2, 2015

[13] About Radius TWC. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015

[14] Setoodeh, R., & Lang, B. (2015, August 5). Tom Quinn and Jason Janego Exit Radius-TWC (EXCLUSIVE). Retrieved December 2, 2015

[15] League, T. (n.d.). What The Success of ‘It Follows’ Means for Indie Film Distribution. Retrieved December 2, 2015

[16] Miska, B. (2015, September 9). ‘Goodnight Mommy’ Entered to the 2016 Academy Awards. Retrieved December 2, 2015

[17] Lang, B. (2015, November 15). Weinstein Company Braces for Layoffs (EXCLUSIVE). Retrieved December 2, 2015

[18] Setoodeh, R., & Lang, B. (2015, November 24). Harvey Weinstein to Release Fewer Indie Films (EXCLUSIVE). Retrieved December 2, 2015

Sony Pictures #1

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Siyi Tian

by Siyi Tian

Sony Pictures Entertainment Logo

Sony Pictures Entertainment
10202 West Washington Blvd.
Culver City, California 90232
http://www.sonypictures.com

History

Sony Pictures Entertainment is owned by Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. Its history can be traced back to 1918 when brothers Harry and Jack Cohn formed a partnership with their associate Joe Brandt, to produce low-budget short films and features. They called the company CBC Film Sales (Cohn-Brandt-Cohn- or as it was more commonly known in the trade press, “Corned Beef and Cabbage”). By 1920, the film industry was attracting audiences of 35 million a week willing to pay five cents a pop to be drawn into the magical world of filmed entertainment. Meanwhile, down the road in Hollywood, Columbia Pictures got its start, bringing pictures like It Happened One Night and Lawrence of Arabia to life. Columbia Pictures officially moved onto the studio lot in 1990 after its acquisition by Sony Corporation [1].

Finance

In 2015, according to the consolidated financial report, Sony Pictures Entertainment got over 68,466 million dollar in total revenue, which shows 5.8% increase compare to the previous year[18]. Its new feature movie Spectre has over 17million on the total gross.[22]. Sony pictures has 15 movies released so far and it is the fifth distributer that owns 9.2% in the ranking of market share in 2015[23].

Key Executives[2]:

For now, there are seven key executives in Sony Pictures Entertainment.

: Steve-mosko, Chairman, Sony Pictures Television

: Tom Rothman,
Chairman, Sony Motion Picture Group

: David C. Hendler
Senior Executive VP & Chief Financial Officer

: Robert Lawson
Executive VP & Chief Comm Officer

: George Rose
Executive VP, People & Organization

: Leah Weil
Senior Executive VP & General Counsel

Michael Lynton, Chairman & CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment

The movies of SPE and Representative Movies

Movie reserved by SPE

As a company with long history of film shooting and transaction, Sony Pictures Entertainment now has a library of more than 4,000 films (including 12 Academy Award for Best Picture winners). Per statistics, each year Sony Pictures Entertainment distributes about 22 films on average under its various studio brands in 67 countries [16]. Quite a lot of them are very popular and still being produced by series currently. The movie and the derivative products like discs selling and rental could be the company’s major source of income.

Spiderman Series

[3] Poster of Spiderman 2, 2004

Spiderman series movie is one of the hottest movies in the new century which shot by Sony Picture Entertainment. Its plot is based on the popular Marvel comic “The amazing Spider-man”, which describes a young man gains the super power after he was bitten by a mutant spider. He then uses the super power to fight against the evils to protect the city and people he loves[4]. The film series have already had 6 released movies from 2002 to 2014, which are distributed worldwide and realizes US$3.96 billion gross box office revenue [5].

James BondSeries

[6] Poster of James Bond – Spectre (2015)

James Bond Series is another long lived, well famous and representative movie owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is inherited from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) by M&A transaction in the past[7]. The James Bond Series describe a legendary secret Britain special agent who fights against various evils in many countries since Cold War, whose unique selling points contains lots of stunts, high technology factors and beautiful women who are called ‘Bondgirl’[9]. Although it is well criticized by the feminism as discriminating the women, James Bond Series is still the hottest movie in the world. There are 26 releases of James Bond Movies from 1963 to 2015, which accumulatively realizes US$4.70 billion of box office revenue so far [8].

The latest series James Bond movie: Spectre tells a story that a cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind Spectre[21].

The interview

[10] Poster of the Interview (2014)

For those non-series movies, the Interview is the most controversy film in the list of Sony Picture Entertainment in recent years. The movie tells a story about two American reporters review the notorious Leader of North Korea Kim Jong-Un and finally kill him[10]. However, the movie annoys the real Kim Jong-Un and attracts the hacker infiltration to Sony Picture Entertainment’s computers and releases lots of secret files stored within. The North Korea government also threats to launch terrorism attack on the theater to deter anyone who goes to watch the movie [11]. The actions turn the entertainment event to escalate to a foreign affair and anti-terrorism event. Sony firstly decides to pull the movie. But soon US President Obama announces that Sony ‘did the wrong thing’ when it pulled movie [12]. Finally, Sony reinitiates the movie but with limited offline box office yet mainly relying on the rental and online movie watching. As a result, the Interview realizes US$11.3 million in office box but US$40 million in the rental and online movie watching [13], but without much marketing expenditure. The movie has become a classic marketing case in history.

The incoming films produced by SPE

In the next few years, there are a lot of new movies under production and released for the market.

The Angry Birds Movie

[19] Poster of The Angry Birds Movie (incoming in May 2016)

The Angry Birds Movie is written by the famous cell phone game ‘Angry Birds’, which tells a story about the fight between birds and piggies. It is a audacious innovation to put the cellphone games to the screen. The movie is about to show at May 2016.The proposed casts include Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, etc[19] .

The Brothers Grimsby

[20] Poster of The Brothers Grimsby (incoming in Feb 2016)

This is a comedy movie which tells a story that Nobby (Sacha Baron Cohen), a sweet but dimwitted English football hooligan, reunites with his long-lost brother Sebastian (Mark Strong), a deadly MI6 agent, to prevent a massive global terror attack and prove that behind every great spy is an embarrassing sibling [20] .

Other non Movie operations

Except for the movie business, Sony pictures entertainment also has multiple businesses in television and gaming. The television division, Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has formed or invested in international networks with 148 channel feeds in 178 countries reaching approximately 1.2 billion cumulative households worldwide [14]. It also develops many games in cellphone applications which are based on the movies and television dramas to maximize the profit from derivative sales of the movies and dramas[15] . Furthermore, it has the studio in Culver City, West Washington which open for tourists [17].

SOURCES

[1] History of Sony Pictures. (2015).Sony pictures museum Online. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[2] Senior Management Team. (2015). Sony pictures official site. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[3] Spider man 2 Wall paper. (2015). Fanpop.com. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[4] The Amazing Spider-Man. (2015). Holly wood reporter. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[5] Spider-Man Franchises. (2015).Box office mojo. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[6] James Bond Spectre. (2015). The James Bond 007 Dossier. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[7] MGM PARTNERS WITH SONY PICTURES. (2011).

[8] James Bond Franchises. (2015).Box office mojo. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[9] Bond girls. (2015). James Bond MM . Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[10] The Interview. (2014). IMDB. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[11] Hackers told Sony to pull ‘The Interview’. (2014). USA. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[12] Obama: Sony ‘did the wrong thing’ when it pulled movie. (2014). USA today. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[13] ‘The Interview’ Makes $40 Million Online and On-Demand. (2014). Variety. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[14] SPE divisions. (2015). Sony pictures official site. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[15] Games and apps. (2015). Sony pictures official site. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[16]. Collections. (2015). Sony picture museum. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[17]. Sony Pictures Studio Tour. (2015). Sony Pictures Studio Tour website. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[18]Sony. Consolidated Financial Results. Retrieved 2 Dec 2015.

[19] The Angry Birds Movie. (2015). Sony pictures official site. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[20] The The Brothers Grimsby. (2015). Sony pictures official site. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[21] Spectre (2015) . IMDB. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.

[22]Spectre (2015). Box office mojo. Retrieved 2 Dec 2015.

[23]Studio Market Share. Box office mojo. Retrieved 2Dec 2015.

Relativity

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Josue Munoz

Relativity Media Logo

Background

Relativity Studios is the film branch of the multimedia company, Relativity Media LLC, or Relativity. The largest division of the company, Relativity Studios has produced, distributed, or financed more than 200 films, generating more than $17 billion in worldwide box office revenue and garnering 60 Oscar nominations [1]. Considered the largest min-major film studio, Relativity Studios has continued to feed founder Ryan Kavanaugh’s vision to take advantage of and help fix inefficiencies in the market. The studio is dedicated to churn revenue and it employs a series of risk-assessing algorithms to help filter out risky projects. Relativity has operated with the mentality that they have taken the risk out of the film industry and takes pride in their innovative approach to a conservative industry [2].

History

Founded by Ryan Kavanaugh in 2004, the company started as a middleman, setting up multi-picture deals with studios and then finding banks such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch to sponsor them. By 2007, Kavanaugh had started developing a reputation of being a bit impractical with his methods and investors slowly started dropping out. However, Elliott Management stepped in and took a minor stake in the company providing the Relativity Studios access to around a billion dollars in credit [3]. With their own source of money, Relativity became more independent. After a notably successful period through 2009, Relativity Media has since struggled.Relativity’s financial debt accumulated and they spent most of 2015 pushing back loan payments and missing new deadlines. On July 30th, Relativity Media filed for Bankruptcy and since then has been faced with an uphill battle to keep the company running.

Bankruptcy

Ryan Kavanaugh Portrait at Relativity in Beverly Hills, CA on Wednesday, April 2, 2014 (Alex J. Berliner/ABImages)

Ryan Kavanaugh has been getting the company out of tricky situations since it’s beginning. After a string of box office flops, Relativity has found itself in a $1.2 billion debt and as of July 30th the solution has been Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The bankrupcy excludes: Relativity Sports, Relativity EuropaCorp Distribution (RED) and Relativity Education [4]. Chapter 11 allows for Relativity to restructure itself in hopes of reaching a point to stand on its feet; however, all decisions must be approved by a judge. Before reconstruction began, Kavanaugh auctioned off Relativity in October in hopes to pay off the debt. A group of creditors called Stalking Horse Bidders first offered $250 million for the whole company; then later withdrew to only $125 million to take Relativity Television, the company’s most successful branch of operation [5][6]. shortly after, Kavanaugh lead a group of investors to make a deal that would allow him to take control of the studio and with time, pull the business out of bankruptcy [7].

External Conflict

Despite his ability to save Relativity again and again, a few have spoken out against Kavanaugh’s ability to run the company Continue reading →

Paramount Pictures

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Patrick Munnia

Source: www.paramountguilds.com (1)

5555 Melrose Ave.,Ste. 121 Hollywood, CA 90038
Phone: (323)956-5000
Website: www.paramount.com

Overview

Paramount Pictures is a feature film production and distribution company.

Executives

Brad Grey – Chief Executive Officer Grey is responsible for all aspects of feature film development. (2)

Rob Moore – Vice Chairman: Worldwide Marketing, Distribution, Home Entertainment, Digital, Interactive, Television, Licensing, and Business Affairs Divisions. (4)

Frederick Huntsberry – Chief Operating Officer: Worldwide Strategic Planning and Operations. (3)

: Marc Evans – President of Motion Pictures Production (5)

Amy Powell – President of Paramount Television : Financing and Developing Television Content for Broadcast, Premium Cable, Cable and Online Audience. (6)

The Rise to Film Prominence

More than a century ago, in 1912, Adolph Zukor, Jesse L. Lasky and Cecil B. DeMill founded Paramount. (7) Paramount contributed to the Golden Age of Cinema in the 1950s with movies like A Place in the Sun in 1951 and The Ten Commandments in 1956. (8) The company birthed The Godfather series in the 1970s to further their prominence in Hollywood. (9) Paramount continued to churn out money-making films through the 1980s and 1990s including Top Gun, but also produced films which enjoyed critical-acclaim at the turn of the century, such as No Country for Old Men. (10) Paramount shattered industry records in 2011 by releasing “six consecutive movies grossing more than $100 million dollars at the domestic box office”. (11) Whether it be comedy, drama, action or suspense, Paramount has been highly regarded as a top player in the industry, but lately struggles to stay ahead of its competitors.

2015 Q3 and Beyond : Recent Financials

Paramount has finished another successful third quarter with a total gross of 585.5 Billion. As of November 22^nd, Paramount holding 6.2% of the market share. However, the company’s revenues have declined from 19.2% of the market share in 2011. (12)

Paramount has stayed busy ending the summer season moving into the fall. Terminator: Genisys opened in July and closed in September. The movie grossed $440 million worldwide on a production budget of $155 million. The DVD was released on Blu-ray November 10^th, 2015. (13)

Mission: Impossible – Rouge Nation was another summer smash-hit, which grossed a huge $682 million worldwide, and is available on Blu-ray December 15^th. (14)

Yet, Paramount remains successful not only courtesy of summer blockbusters, but also thanks to cheaper film series. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension opening just in time for Halloween delivers timely scares to its established fan base. With a production budget of only $10 million and a $77 million worldwide gross, the movie proved to be mildly successful venture. (15)

On Halloween, Paramount released yet another timely, and audience specific movie. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, is a wacky but funny horror-comedy movie, aimed at a younger audience. The movie failed to make its production budget of $15 million by only grossing $14 million worldwide. (16)

All of these movies besides Mission Impossible, only made the production budget back thanks to large grosses from international markets. This displays Paramount’s need to cater to not only a domestic U.S. market but also an international one.

2015 Q4: Marching into the Holiday Season

After a slow start in the fourth quarter with Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, Paramount remains optimistic with a few key theatrical releases.

The Big Short will be released December 11^th, 2015 and boasts huge star-power. Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt team up in a drama based on true events of the international banking collapse of 2008. (17)

On a lighter note, Paramount is re-releasing one of their classic romantic-comedies, Roman Holiday , staring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, this December. (18)

Finally, Paramount, once again appeals to star-power in Daddy’s Home, staring Will Farrell and Mark Walberg. This comedy pits stepdad vs. biological dad against one another. (19)

Steady March Slows: Reports Viacom

Paramount has been pulling in less and less revenue since a spike in 2011 of a huge $1,736 million. This displays that Paramount has clearly fell in prominence.

Source: Box Office Mojo (20)

Viacom, Paramount’s parent company, continues to support the film company despite, “disappointing revenue”. The studios sales in the box office fell from 20 percent since Q4 of 2014. Despite the recent dip in revenues, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, believes that the industry is cyclical and that Paramount is ready to make a big comeback in 2016. (21)

Source: The Wrap Philippe Dauman- Viacom CEO (22)

Paramount, among other tactics, has retained good relationships with talent such as Martin Scorsese and J.J. Abrams and intents to collaborate in the near future. (23)

2016: Looking Forward

In January 2016, Paramount plans to release The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. (24) The action-drama looks promising, especially since movies in the genre, like American Sniper have done incredibly well in the past. This may be a step in the right direction for Paramount to make 2016 a more successful finical year than 2015.

Paramount also plans to release Zoolander 2, the sequel to the comedy about male modeling, Zoolander, starting Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. (25)

Possible Reuniting of Scorsese and Monahan in Evel Knievel Film
- The writer director duo of The Departed, which was financial and critically successful, are being sought after by Paramount in hopes of producing a feature film about the fearless Evel Knievel. (26) The possibility of the pair reuniting has excited Paramount, and the studio has continued to negotiate. The movie has all the ingredients for becoming wildly successful.

Source: Deadline Evel Knievel (27)

Paramount Adapts to Changing Times

Paramount Embraces World of Streaming
- Paramount has long been known for producing high-quality, critically acclaimed movies as well as blockbuster hits. In a media industry facing loss of revenues from piracy and streaming, Paramount has found a way to embrace current technological advancements. Starting in October of 2015, Paramount has made available the, “Paramount Vault”. (28) The studio has made available select feature films for free. Paramount is now showcasing all of their film successes to a young, technological savvy audience, which only further builds their reputation.

Increased Distribution to TVOD
- Paramount signs licensing deal to expand offerings on TVOD, in foreign markets, with Youku Tudou Inc. (29) In an age of increasingly prominent OTT services, film distribution companies often search for an outlet exhibit. Youku has struck a deal with paramount agreeing to showcase classic titles such as Transformers, Shrek, and Star Trek. (30) Paramount has also made a deal with UltraFlix, which would allow for UltraFlix subscribers to view classics like Forrest Gump, Saving Privet Ryan, and The Godfather. (31) Paramount continues to reach large diverse audience even in increasingly difficult times.

Source: http://www.youku.com/
(33)

Source: https://www.ultraflix.com/ (source)

Source: https://www.ultraflix.com/
(35)

Changing Distribution Tactics
- Paramount has shortened the digital release of Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. “Scouts” was a flop. By challenging the norms of digital release windows of feature films, Paramount aims to test shortened time of digital release. (32) The movie would be available for digital release two weeks after leaving the theaters. The deal forced the hand of exhibitors like Regal and AMC who refused to show the movie in their theaters, further contributing to its failure. (34) Paramount is pushing conventional limits, when movies flop in theaters, “arbitrarily keeping those movies out of circulation is just bogus,” said Megan Colligan, Paramount’s president of world-wide distribution.

Where does Paramount Stand?

Paramount is among the oldest, most successful, film studios in the United States, and have been raking in the money and academy awards since 1912. Though the studio has seen some successes in 2015, Paramount has fallen out of dominance they enjoyed in the mid-2000s. Paramount, recognizing the blip, has taken measures, such as key theatrical releases, the use of star-power and alternative distribution techniques, to hopefully make 2016 a more financially bountiful and critically acclaimed year.

Sources

(1) Inside the Studio. Paramount Studios Logo. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(2) Inside the Studio. Paramount Studios Executives Brad Grey. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(3) Inside the Studio. Paramount Studios Executives Rob Moore. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(4) Inside the Studio. Paramount Studios Executives Fedrick Huntsberry. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(5) Inside the Studio. Paramount Studios Executives Marc Evans . Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(6) Inside the Studio. Paramount Studios Executives Amy Powell. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(7) Inside the Studio. The Paramount Story: Our Founding Fathers. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(8) Inside the Studio. The Paramount Story: Mid-Century Renaissance. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(9) Inside the Studio. The Paramount Story: The New Hollywood. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(10) Inside the Studio. The Paramount Story: Critical & Commercial Success. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(11) Inside the Studio. The Paramount Story: Record-Breaking Films. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(12) Box Office Mojo. Studios: Paramount. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(13) Box Office Mojo. Movies: Terminator 2015. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(14) Box Office Mojo. Movies: MI5. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(15) Box Office Mojo. Movies: Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(16) Box Office Mojo. Movies: Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(17) Paramount Pictures. Paramount Showcase: The Big Short. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(18) Paramount Pictures. Paramount Showcase: Roman Holiday. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(19) Paramount Pictures. Paramount Showcase: Daddy’s Home. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(20) Box Office Mojo. Paramount Yearly Comparisons. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(21) The Wrap. Viacom Defends Paramount’s Disappointing Revenue. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(22) The Wrap. Phillipe Duaman. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(23) Deadline. J.J. Abrams Extends Deal to July 2018. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(24) Paramount Pictures. Paramount Showcase: Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(25) Paramount Pictures. Paramount Showcase: Zoolander 2. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(26) Deadline. Paramount Revs Evel Knievel Pic with “Departed” Scribe and Scorsese Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(27) Deadline. Evel Knievel. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(28) Slashfilm. Paramount Vault. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(29) Bloomberg Business. Paramount Pictures Key Developments. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(30) Bloomberg Business. Paramount Pictures: New Licensing Deal. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(31) Bloomberg Business. Paramount Pictures Expands Offerings. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(32) Wall Street Journal. Paramount’s Plan Sees Scary Results. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(33) Youku. Company Logo. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(34) Wall Street Journal. Paramount’s Plan Sees Scary Results. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(35) UltraFlix. Company Logo. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(36) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx3ShEjUId0 Terminator 2015 Trailer. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(37) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjLSKvVDWyA Mission: Impossible Trailer. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(38) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9Jy2T0uQ9Y Paranormal Activity Trailer. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(39) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKOfR29xu-4 Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse Trailer. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(40) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgqG3ITMv1Q The Big Short Trailer. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(41) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQpN9LXrD-0 Roman Holiday Trailer. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(42) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arhMMJx7tCU Daddy’s Home Trailer. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(43) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBFmlNfFwUw The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Trailer. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(44) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CL4LNWHegk Zoolander 2 Trailer. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

(45) IMDB. Movies. Retrieved December 1st 2015.

MGM Studios

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Jessica Kunkel

Created by: Jess Kunkel

MGM Logo

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

MGM Studios Inc.
245 N Beverly Dr.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210 [2]

http://www.mgm.com/#

MGM began in the year 1924, when the two companies Goldwyn Pictures and Lewis B. Mayer Productions joined together as one.

[4].

History

MGM studios, fully known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Productions was formed in 1924 when Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Productions combined to become the company we know so well today [5]. The company began strong and only when multiple changes in power happened in the sixties did things begin to get rocky [5]. Including their file for bankruptcy in the year 2010, the company remained a player in the game, often sharing projects with other large media companies similar to themselves to sustain and finance their more recent work efforts [8]. Nevertheless, MGM and its never-failing Lion originally named “Slats” have undeniably created some of the greatest and best acclaimed pictures of all time.

The company was always known for the number of huge stars that it had in its early days, often referred to have “More stars than there are in the heavens”. With an astounding 175 Academy Awards the corporation is responsible for masterpieces such as The Wizard Of Oz (1939), West Side Story (1961), Rocky (1976), Annie Hall (1977), Dances with Wolves (1990), and many more.

MGM Through The Years

[16].

[16].

The Collection

MGM is known to have one of the most extravagant collections of film to date with more than 4,000 titles in their Library.

Executives

[17].

Gary Barber

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman

[18].

Jonathan Glickman

Motion Picture Group, President

[19].

Roma Khanna

Television Group and Digital , President

[20].

Kenneth J. Kay

Chief Financial officer

Financial

[21].

[21].

Although MGM filed for bankruptcy in the year 2010, the picture company has managed to remain. In 2015, MGM has financially had a much more active year than in 2014. Compared to Q1-Q3 of last year, MGM has seen a 246% change in the their cash flow [21]. While in 2014 the cash flow was noted to be at 170.1 (millions) by the end of the third quarter, the cash flow for 2015 had increase to more than double what it was at the same time last year, at a whopping 417.9 [21].

Since 2013 MGM has dropped 9% in their third quarter revenue, with it marked at 96% in 2014 with proceeds of 233.5 (in millions), and then down even further to 91% in 2015 with revenue noted at 212.1 (in millions) [21]. However Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Net income was on the upswing this third quarter. Compared to the increase of 172% from Quarter 3 in 2013-2014 with net income rising from $16.6 million to $28.6 million the third quarter took an even larger leap in 2015 [21]. With their third quarter net income rising from $28.6 million to $124 million MGM saw a 434% change from the previous year, a very positive sign for the business of MGM [2 1].

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Today

Today MGM focuses most of their work on producing and distributing television and film around the world [3]. Their main focus as of late it to keep creating new content, and to keep acquiring new scripts to produce, and or often is the case Co-produce, as well as to distribute.[23]. MGM is also making new deals to further distribute their films with businesses such as Tubi TV [51].

Recent Releases

MV5BODg5NDM1MDI4NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMzg0MzQxNzE@._V1_SX214_AL_

[27].

Creed

On November 25th, 2015 MGM, partnered with Warner Brothers Studios released the film Creed (2015). The picture is a continuation of the extremely popular Rocky film series. Directed by Ryan Coogler, the sports drama made $29.6 Million in its opening weekend and was able to snag the 10th largest opening of all time [26]. In its first week, the film has already made $42 million, surpassing its budget which is noted to be at around $35 Million [26]. Creed (2015) will continue to be released around the world until early March 2016.

As the seventh film in the Rocky series (1976), the film endeared many a Rocky fan to watch. Throughout the opening weekend it played for a 66% male crowd, and 62% being over twenty-five, and 26% aging from 35-49 years old [27]. Creed is said to have the potential for an oscar running, delightful news for the young director Coogler, and yet another Academy Award for MGM.

[50].

MV5BMjM2Nzg4MzkwOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNzA0OTE3NjE@._V1_SX214_AL_

[28].

Spectre

Only slightly earlier in the year on November 6th of 2015 MGM studio’s, partnered with Sony Pictures released the highly anticipated film Spectre (2015) [28]. Categorized as an action – adventure – thriller, the film is a continuation of the James Bond 007 franchise [28]. Spectre was directed by Sam Mendes and starred Daniel Craig as James Bond. The film took in $70.4 million in it’s domestic opening weekend at the box office, putting Spectre in the spot as the second highest debut weekend revenue for a Bond film, falling behind Skyfall (2012) and yet slightly ahead of Quantum of Solace (2008) [30]. Having only been out a few weeks, the domestic revenue is totaled at $176.8 million as of November 30th [30]. With the Bond Franchise acquiring so many fans across the world most of the revenue is expected to come from the foreign releases of the film, from which it has already made 76.4% of it’s total revenue at $575.3 million [30]. With it’s budget at around $245 Million, the total worldwide revenue of $750 million thus far puts MGM in a very good place moving into the weeks to come [30].

[51].

Things to Come

Being such a company, with a history of so many monumental films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is hoping to continue the legacy of the company’s name, looking towards the future with many new films to come having 39 titles currently in development [33].

To Name a few

[48].

Me Before you : A film based off of an acclaimed novel is expected to debut in March of 2016 [33]. The story entails a small town girl and her unlikely paralyzed friend to whom she tends, with the screenplay also being written by Jojo Moyes,the very author of the novel that originated the story [32]. The film is to be directed by Thea Sharrock, and will star Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Jenna Coleman.

[40].

Ben Hur: Currently in development at MGM is the remake of the original1959 film Ben Hur . Set to debut in August of 2016, the film, directed by Timur Bekmambetov is currently in post production. Starring Jack Huston, the film tells the tale of “A falsely accused nobleman survives years of slavery to take vengeance on his best friend who betrayed him.” [40].

[42].

Going In Style: Yet another film set to debut in 2016 for MGM studios is Going in Style (2016). The film is a comedy about three retired men who plan to rob a bank, and its cast is loaded with stars including Joey King, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine [42]. The movie is a remake of the 1979 original, and is to be directed by Zach Braff.

Other upcoming titles include: The Magnificent Seven (2016), Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016), The Belko Experiment (2016), A Movie Life (2016) just to name a few and many more [33]!

Overview

While the company has not fully recovered from it’s low point in 2010, executives remain confident in the strides that the company is making. While Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is also exploring the realms of new types of media in other ways, the company is continuing it’s legacy of film and attempting to renew MGM back to it’s great esteem starting with more products being created by the company [3].

[1].

Sources

[1]. MGM Lion Logo. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Bing Image search. Retrieved: November 29th, 2015

[2]. MGM Studios Contact Us. MGM Studios. Retrieved: November 20th, 2015.

[3]. MGM Studios Corporate. MGM Studios. Retrieved: November 20th, 2015.

[4].MGM Old Logo Still. Youtube Slats the Lion. Retrieved: November 29th, 2015.

[5]. MGM Studios Corporate History. MGM Studios. Retrieved: October 3rd, 2015

[6]. The Life and Times of the MGM Lion. Mental Floss. Retrieved: November 20th, 2015.

[7]. MGM stunning roster. Seeing Stars. Retrieved: November 20th, 2015.

[8]. MGM Files For Bankruptcy. New York Times. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[9]. Academy Awards. Film Site. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[10]. The Wizard of Oz. IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[11]. West Side Story. IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[12]. Rocky (1976). IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[13]. Annie Hall (1977). IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[14]. Dances With Wolves (1990). IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[15]. MGM 90th Anniversary. Youtube. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[16]. MGM Film Collection. Park Circus. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[17]. Gary Barber. MGM Studios. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[18]. Johnathan Glickman. MGM Studios. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[19]. Rhoma Khanna. MGM Studios. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[20]. Kenneth J. Kay. MGM Studios. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[21]. Investor Relations Financial Reports. MGM Studios. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[22]. Cash Flow. Investopedia. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[23]. Working At MGM Studios. Glass Door. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015

[24]. Creed Official Site. Creedthemovie.Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[25]. Ryan Coogler. IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[26]. Creed (2015). IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[27]. Creed Box Office. Forbes. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[28]. Spectre (2015). IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[29]. The Official James Bond Site. 007. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[30]. Spectre box office numbers. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[31]. Pro Spectre (2015). IMDb Pro. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[32]. Me Bofore You (2016). IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[33] MGM Pro Projects in Development. IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[34]. Thea Sharrock. IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[35]. Emilia Clarke. IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[36]. Jenna Coleman. IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[37]. Sam Claflin. IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[38]. Ben Hur (1959). IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[39]. Timur Bekmambetov. IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[40]. Ben Hur (2016). IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[41]. Jack Huston. IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[42]. Going In Style (2016). IMDb. Retrieved: November 21st, 2015.

[43]. Joey King. IMDb. Retrieved: November 26th, 2015.

[44]. Morgan Freeman.IMDb. Retrieved: November 26th, 2015.

[45]. Michael Caince. IMDb. Retrieved: November 26th, 2015.

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Principles & Practices

Website by the students of TRF235

Monthly Archives: September 2015

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YAHOO! INC.~ WHO WE ARE

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HISTORY

KEY EXECUTIVES

FINANCIALS

YOUTUBE RED

YOUTUBE’S MOMENTUM & FUTURE

SOURCES

“We make the world’s daily habits inspiring and entertaining”

– Yahoo! Inc. [26]

YAHOO! INC.~ WHO WE ARE

YAHOO! INC.~ Financials

YAHOO! INC.~ Leadership

YAHOO! INC.~ The future

Sources

Spiderman Series

James BondSeries

The interview

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

“We make the
world’s daily habits inspiring
and entertaining”