Monthly Archives: April 2016

Verizon

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McAdam,_Lowell_edited-1

Lowell C. McAdam

Verizon Communications, Inc., or more commonly known as Verizon, is a holdings company that utilizes its subsidiaries to offer several different services. These include, bur are not limited to, communications, information, and entertainment products and services to consumer, businesses, and government agencies. Verizon is currently one of the top communications companies in the world, as they hold the 15 spot on the Fortune 500. They have recently become the largest 4G LTE distributor within America, as well as having the premier all-fiber broadband network. Verizon serves 150 countries worldwide, and has a reaches over 112 million people through it’s network.

Currently, Lowell C. McAdam, is currently both the CEO and chairman of the company. He was appointed CEO in 2011, and chairman in 2012. McAdam’s has been a prominent figure in wireless communications even before joining the company in 2000. Under his leadership, the company has been able to buy out Vodaphone’s 45% share of Verizon Wireless.

Although most see Verizon as simply a service provider, their subsidiaries are extensive and give them a broader reach that meets the eye. Two companies that stand alone from Verizon’s usual business ventures are AOL and The Huffington Post. AOL is a media company and news source that provides email services along with other things, and The Huffington Post is a liberal online-exclusive news source that comes out of New York City. Some other ventures of note include Verizon Fios, which is an internet, television, and phone bundle for private residences, and Verizon Business, which provides a similar service, except in this case to small businesses.

AT&T and Verizon stand atop the competition for mobile carriers, far surpassing the likes of  Sprint and T-Mobile. The race for the most subscribers has gone up and down over the years, however Verizon has recently peaked over AT&T in the number of people using their service. And, despite the fact AT&T have always created more revenue from the services than any competitor, Verizon has been slowly catching up to the competition coming in at only a little over a billion dollars below AT&T last year. Although AT&T claims a faster network, Verizon has far better coverage, as they are a better provider throughout America with less bad spots in their coverage.

Currently, one of Verizon’s largest issues has been protesting. Last week 36,000 workers walked off the job after their was a failure to reach a labor agreement. It’s currently the largest strike since Verizon workers walked off the job in 2011. Luckily for the company a lot of the employees on strike work for the landline providers as well as there Fios broadband network. This won’t have as large of an impact on the financial standing of the company, being that the largest stake of the company, Verizon Wireless, is left relatively unaffected by the issues brought on by the strike. The union on strike, the 201604570bf6a891606Communications Workers of America, is working to get a better contract offer for their workers, who have gone without one since August. Most of the issue the union has with Verizon lies within the characters they’re currently employing. Verizon has started outsourcing for a lot of their jobs: around 5,000 jobs have been giving to workers in second and third world countries such as Mexico, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic. These workers will work for far lower wages and are non-unionized. Verizon is also apparently asking their employees to work out of state for often months at a time. Despite the claim that Verizon is cutting costs to increase its already growing profits, most of these profits are coming from it’s wireless service, which these employees have no part in whatsoever.

This issue has factored into the race for the 2016 Democratic nomination heavily. Both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have voiced their support to the protestors, but both have different stakes in the situation. Verizon has been a huge supporter of the Clinton campaign. She’s received tens of thousands of dollars in support for her campaign. In May of 2013, she was payed $225,000 to give a speech, along with between $100,000 to $250,000 given to the Clinton foundation. Clinton did come with a statement in support of Verizon and the strikers reaching an agreement, but came off as ingenue and paled to the support of her rival. Sanders, on the other hand, has been continuously attacking the company in support of the strikers. He was most recently found marching alongside the strikers, and making heartfelt speeches on their behalf. In a recent speech, he called out Verizon as being “one of the largest, most profitable corporations in this country” and further attacked it on blatantly not supporting it’s workers. He promised that he would continue to stand behind the strikers throughout his campaign until a fair contract is reached by both parties involved.

Louise Brown walks down King Street during a Black Lives Matter march, Saturday, June 20, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. The event honored the Emanuel AME Church shooting victims. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

As far as quarter 1 has gone for Verizon in 2016, they’ve surpassed already lofty expectations. Verizon was able to beat all four quarterly estimates of 2015, and seems to be carrying the trend into 2016. Although they only beat the Wall Street quarterly estimate by 0.5%, even exceeding expectations slightly is a huge gain. Their projections had them doing better than they had all of last year, so this is seen a victory.

One of the biggest stories of recent is Verizon’s current bidding war for the tech giant Yahoo. Among competitors to absorb Yahoo are Verizon’s rival AT&T, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and the former partner of AOL, Time Inc.. Verizon’s goal would be to merge Yahoo into AOL in a way that would be one of the largest platforms for online advertising, rivaling the likes of Facebook and even Google. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong is the one administering the possibility of acquiring Yahoo, with him and Marni Walden, current Verizon Executive Vice President, operating the would be combination. Verizon is willing to even take on Yahoo’s Japanese assets, a project that has been perpetually losing money since it’s inceptions. Despite the fact that the company has had major issues as of late, Verizon sees Yahoo’s business to be worth around 8 billion dollars.

Works Cited

Affiliations, Lexisnexis Corporate. Hierarchical Profile for Verizon Communications Inc. (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

“Did Verizon Beat Earnings Estimates in 1Q16?” Yahoo Finance. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2016. <http://finance.yahoo.com/news/did-verizon-beat-earnings-estimates-134723437.html>.

“Hillary Clinton Rakes in Verizon Cash While Bernie Sanders Supports Company’s Striking Workers.” Saloncom RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2016. <http://www.salon.com/2016/04/13/hillary_clinton_rakes_in_verizon_cash_while_bernie_sanders_supports_companys_striking_workers/>.

“Lowell C. McAdam.” – CEO. N.p., 12 June 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2016. <http://www.verizon.com/about/our-company/lowell-c-mcadam>.

This Is the Largest Strike in the United States since Verizon Workers Last Walked off the Job in 2011. “36,000 Verizon Workers Go on Strike.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2016. <http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/13/technology/verizon-strike/>.

“Verizon At A Glance.” Verizon at a Glance. N.p., 26 June 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2016. <http://www.verizon.com/about/our-company/verizon-glance>.

“Verizon Communication Inc.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2016. <http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=VZ.N>.

“Verizon Has AOL Chief Tim Armstrong Looking into a Yahoo Acquisition.” The Verge. N.p., 08 Feb. 2016. Web. 28 Apr. 2016. <http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/8/10939526/verizon-yahoo-acquisition-aol-tim-armstrong>.

Zynga

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by REBECCA DUKE

[1] Zynga logo

OVERVIEW

In 2007, Mark Pincus founded Zynga, the first social gaming company. Named after his dog Zinga, the company was created in order to make gaming more accessible and turn it into a more interactive, friendly experience [2]. Zynga has created some of the most successful social games to date, including Words with Friends, FarmVille, and Zynga Poker. Over one billion users have played Zynga games and connected via the company’s franchises.

[3] A sampling of Zynga games

Additionally, in 2009, Pincus formed Zynga.org, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that allows the success of social gaming to give back to those in need by connecting revenues from gamers to other non-profits around the world. One of Zynga.org’s biggest projects was the creation of co.lab, a gaming development technology program that gives underprivileged San Francisco kids the opportunity to learn about game design hands-on.

 

INDUSTRY

The creation of Zynga spawned the entire social gaming industry, an industry of which Zynga continues to be a leader. According to IBISWorld, the industry has grown rapidly ever since its conception in 2007 [4]. Growth peaked during the 2008 recession, when many companies were downsizing and left unemployed Americans with more leisure time. In recovery from the recession, customers are slowly investing more and more in social games in order to unlock achievements and progress more quickly in the game (for example, while playing FarmVille, a user could pay a few dollars to expedite the growth of their crops and thus move on to bigger and better tasks).

[5] FarmVille 2: Country Escape

Before social gaming, those interested in playing interactive games were required to own some form of external console, such as an Xbox or PlayStation. With Zynga, users can play games and connect with other gamers all across the globe as long as they have an internet connection and an account on a social networking site. The number of broadband connections in households has grown steadily each year, widening the potential market of social gamers. The social network aspect of gaming has introduced new customers that were not previously active gamers, namely females over 40.

 

KEY EXECUTIVES

[6] Mark Pincus – Founder and Executive Chairman of the Board

[7] Frank Gibeau – Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors Member

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier in March, Mark Pincus stepped down as CEO of Zynga and was replaced by Frank Gibeau [8]. Pincus still sits as the Executive Chairman of the Board and oversees the company. Frank Gibeau is a 20-year veteran of Electronic Arts, one of Zynga’s leading competitors, so he is expected to bring positive change and expertise to the company and allow it to progress financially.

 

FINANCIALS

Zynga is a publicly traded company, listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker ZNGA. The stock price currently sits at 2.48, a relatively high number since averaging 2.15 over the past three months [9]. Zynga stock took a tumble in early and mid-February after the publication of a disappointing fourth quarter and annual report. After bringing in $185 million in revenue, the company’s operating income and net income amounted to losses of $55 million and $51 million, respectively. These numbers were a stark contrast to the third quarter, when Zynga brought in $10 million more in revenue and net income was $3 million. Zynga has two main revenue streams: advertising, namely video and banner ads, and the sale of “virtual goods” from in-game purchases [10].

[11] NASDAQ – ZNGA

One big change for Zynga that will bring in more cash flow is its future sale of real estate. Currently, Zynga operates out of a 670,000 square-foot office in Silicon Valley, a space that is now too large for its 2,300 employees [12]. Downsizing and liquidating their current office space could lead to a $300 million profit, given the astronomical increase in San Francisco properties since 2012.

[13] Zynga Headquarters

CURRENT PROJECTS

In January, Zynga announced a partnership with The Rubicon Project in developing SponsoredPLAY, a new form of native advertising that allows political candidates to take advantage of what mobile ads have to offer [14]. SponsoredPLAY beta ads have seen six times the engagement rate of normal mobile advertisements, a metric that is incredibly important in today’s age of distracted consumers. With these ads, players connect with brands through mini games that incorporate a piece of the brand’s image. Specifically, The Rubicon Project introduces political candidates as the brands, and encourages the candidates to use the technology to engage voters in a fun and educational way. The SponsoredPLAY ads are also linked to Twitter to create a social buzz around the political issues that the user finds compelling. Ads are expected to be finalized and placed in the games later this year, just in time for the presidential election.

[15] SponsoredPLAY Mockup

One of the two new Zynga games that launched on March 31, 2016 was Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Slots. This was the first game of many to be licensed from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, thanks to a multi-year agreement signed in mid-2015 [16]. The partnership allows for a realistic representation of the characters, sounds, and visuals from the original film. Willy Wonka Slots provides the player with nine different slot machines to begin, in addition to a special “High Roller World” with more levels that unlock after the player has earned over 24 million credits. The basic format of the game is similar to other Zynga games, where the user can play completely for free but has many opportunities to progress further with small increments of in-app credit purchases. The game can be downloaded for free on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon or played on Facebook.

[17] Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Slots

The second game that debuted at the end of March is Crazy Cake Swap, a variation on the wildly popular Match-3 genre [18]. Crazy Cake Swap is a mix of Candy Crush and Diner Dash, taking place in a bakery and offering different sets of goals for each level. The essentials are similar to other Match-3 games; of course, there’s the concept of matching three or more identical cakes to gain points. A player also only gets five lives and must wait or pay for more when they run out, and a similar wait-or-play model when the end of each “world” is reached. However, it provides a fun element of personalization by allowing users to upload their own photos or avatars, and has more of a storyline than other similar games. Crazy Cake Swap is distributed through the same outlets as Willy Wonka Slots and is free to play with the exception of optional in-app purchases.

[19] Crazy Cake Swap

FUTURE PROJECTS

Zynga has been promising investors two high-development games for awhile, CSR2 and Dawn of Titans, that are finally set to debut later in 2016 [20]. These games could bring in major revenue for Zynga if they become anywhere near as popular as Words with Friends or FarmVille. A recent trend with Zynga has been the overall decline in players, but huge increase in bookings for some of their popular games [21]. Essentially, this means that while there are fewer players, these players are spending a lot of time gaming. If Zynga can successfully recruit more of these avid gamers and grow their user base back up, they will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in the social gaming world.

[22] Dawn of Titans

SOURCES

[1] “Zynga Logo.” Pop Culture Blog. Dallas Morning News, 3 June 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[2] “Zynga Leadership.” Zynga. Zynga, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.

[3] “About Game Cards.” Zynga. Zynga, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[4] “Social Network Game Development.” IBISWorld. IBISWorld, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.

[5] “Farmville 2: Country Escape.” Google Play. Google, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[6] “Mark Pincus.” Catchafire. Catchafire, 25 Sept. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[7] “Frank Gibeau.” Live Geek or Die. Disqus, 29 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[8] Takahashi, Dean. “Mark Pincus and Frank Gibeau Talk about the Future of Zynga and Social Mobile Gaming.” Venture Beat. VentureBeat, 2 Mar. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

[9] “Zynga, Inc. (ZNGA).” Yahoo Finance. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[10] Gobry, Pascual-Emmanuel. “How Zynga Makes Money.” Business Insider. Business Insider, 28 Sept. 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[11] “Zynga’s Opening Day.” Gigaom. Knowingly, 16 Dec. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[12] Bruno, Alessandro. “ZNGA Stock: This Is Why the Bears Are Wrong on Zynga Inc.” Profit Confidential. Lombardi Publishing, 26 Feb. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.  

[13] “Zynga Headquarters.” Games.com. AOL, 12 Nov. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[14] Pakula, Kelly. “Zynga & Rubicon Project Announce New SponsoredPLAY Custom Mobile Advertising Product for Political Campaign Advertisers.” Global Newswire. Nasdaq, 7 Jan. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[15] “Zynga Mockup.” Adweek. Adweek, 7 Jan. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[16] Shaul, Brandy. “Zynga Launches Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Slots on Facebook, Mobile.” Social Times. Adweek, 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[17] “Willy Wonka Slots.” Zynga Blog. Zynga, 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[18] Allen, Jennifer. “Crazy Cake Swap Review: Sweet, Familiar, and ‘Friendly’.” Gamezebo. Gamezebo, 5 Apr. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016

[19] “Crazy Cake Swap.” Google Play. Google, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[20] Morris, Chris. “What Will It Take To Turn Zynga Around?” Fortune. Fortune, 11 Feb. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[21] Nusca, Andrew. Here’s Why Changing CEOs Won’t Fix Zynga. Fortune. Fortune, 2 Mar. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

[22] “Dawn of Titans.” NaturalMotion. NaturalMotion, 5 Mar. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Sony Pictures

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10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City, California

sonypictures.com

HISTORY

Sony Pictures, also known as Sony Pictures Entertainment, was formed in 1987 when Columbia Pictures and Tristar Pictures merged to form Columbia Pictures Entertainment (CPE). However, it was not until two years later that the Coca-Cola Company, who owned CPE, sold the business to Sony, who promptly renamed it. Since it became a Sony property, the film production and distribution company has seen successes in both the commercial and critical spheres; Sony Pictures has broken records with releases like Men In Black and won a plethora of Oscars over the years for films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and many others [1].

COMPANY

Sony Pictures is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment. The company is divided into Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, Sony Pictures Studios, and Sony Pictures Television. Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group handles the distribution of Sony’s massive library of over 3,500 titles. Sony Pictures Studios offers a variety of production-related services, operating out of the Culver City studio complex which boasts sixteen sound stages [2].

Sonypicturesentertainmentoffices.jpg

Sony Pictures Plaza in Culver City, CA

FINANCIALS

As of April 17th, 2016, Sony Pictures held a total of 5.6% studio market share, with Sony Pictures holding 5.2% and Sony Pictures Classics holding 0.4% [3]. With regards to distribution, Sony Pictures holds the third spot just behind Warner Brothers and Walt Disney, with 12.6% of the market share [4].

Sony’s earnings report for the current fiscal year will be released on April 28th, 2016 at 4:45 PM [5]. On January 29th, the Sony Corporation released its financial results for its third quarter. Sales for Sony Pictures increased from 206.6 billion yen in the third quarter of 2014 to 262.1 billion yen in the third quarter of 2015. This represents a 26.9% increase in yen, which Sony attributed this increase to a surge in theatrical revenues due to international successes like Spectre and Hotel Transylvania 2 [6]. Top investment analysts are advising investors to hold their position with Sony stock, as forecasts show a predicted 27% median increase from last fiscal year’s stock prices [7].

On April 24th, Sony’s stock prices closed at $26.59, a five-cent decrease from the previous day’s close. Over the past year, Sony shares have reached a high of $32.95 and a low of $19.90 [8]. However, the past month has seen fairly stable stock prices, seeing change of no more than $2 for the entire period from mid-March to late April [9]. As of April 24th Sony shares are up 7% from 2015 [10].

KEY EXECUTIVES

[11] Michael Lynton: CEO of Sony Entertainment Inc., Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment

[12] Tom Rothman: Chairman of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group

[13] David C. Hendler: Senior Executive Vice President and CFO of Sony Pictures Entertainment

[14] Robert Lawson: Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment

[15] Leah Weil: Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Sony Pictures Entertainment

RECENT RELEASES

Miracles from Heaven (PG)

Despite receiving a multitude of negative critical reviews [16], the faith-based drama Miracles from Heaven has grossed over $64 million internationally, making it a huge success—its production budget was a mere $13 million. The film was released on March 16th through TriStar, a property of Sony Pictures [17].

The Brothers Grimsby (R)

Though Sony has not released the budget for the film, The Brothers Grimsby has undoubtedly been a financial disappointment. Debuting on March 11th, the movie has yet to break just $7 million in the United States. That being said, the film has been a hit internationally with revenues upwards of $20 million outside the US. With pricey talent such as Sacha Baron Cohen, Penelope Cruz, Rebel Wilson, and Gabourey Sidibe, it’s doubtful Sony has seen a return on investment as of yet [18].

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (PG-13)

This satirical take on the novel was released on February 5th to less-than-enthusiastic reception. Though the film saw a budget of $28 million, it has grossed just $16 million worldwide, with the opening weekend accounting for 48.8% of that [19].

UPCOMING RELEASES

The Angry Birds Movie (PG)

This 3D film adaptation of the popular game will be released on May 20th. Sony Pictures is clearly expecting to cash in on the video game’s massive audience and has invested in a $250 million promotional campaign which includes a Happy Meal promo with McDonald’s and multiple television ads for car company Citroën. Other partnerships consist of Ziploc, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, Home Depot, and about 100 more brands and companies [20].

Ghostbusters (PG-13)

The buzz surrounding the remake of Ghostbusters is still going strong. The film features four female stars—Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon—in place of the all-male cast the original film had. The remake has raised important questions regarding women’s roles in popular film. Ghostbusters is slated for theatrical release July 15th [21].

UPDATES AND DEVELOPMENTS

On April 7th, US District Judge R. Gary Klausner approved a multi-million dollar settlement in a class-action lawsuit by previous employees of Sony Pictures. The lawsuit was a result of the cyberhacking incident back in 2014, which released personal information of many employees and Sony partners. The agreement will give the 437,000 people involved identity theft protection until 2017 [22].

HYPEBEAST Giveaway: Autographed Essentials From Nas' HSTRY Clothing x Ghostbusters Capsule Collection

Nas x Ghostbusters Clothing Line

The next day, Sony Pictures announced that their Consumer Marketing department will be working with the rapper Nas to create a high-end Ghostbusters fashion line. The collection, called Nas x Ghostbusters, will be collaborating with brands like FILA, New Era, Monster, HSTRY, Italia Independent, and Tokyobike, and will be exclusively unveiled by HYPEBEAST. The collaborations will help reach the millennial market [23]. Sony Pictures is also teaming up with Activision for a Ghostbusters video game that will operate on PC, iOS, Android, and Kindle [24].

At CinemaCon the week of April 11th, Sony Pictures announced a variety of groundbreaking projects and ideas, most notably MIB 23. The film is a unique concept: a mashup sequel to both Men in Black and 21 Jump Street. Other ambitious projects include animated films like a CGI version of the Beatrix Potter stories of Peter Rabbit and a third installment in the Hotel Transylvania franchise. They also are in the process of developing the animated The Emoji Movie, which will be set inside an iPhone [25].

Sony Pictures is taking a marked interest in sequels and remakes, hoping to capitalize on the popularity of existing films and franchises. There are plans for Blade Runner 2, the follow-up to the original 1982 movie. Then, they are working on a remake of Jumanji, as well as the final film in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. In addition, the company will release a movie version of Stephen King’s wildly popular book The Dark Tower. All the films Sony Pictures teased at the convention are tentatively slated for release between late 2016 and late 2018 [26].

SOURCES

[1] Company History. Sony Pictures. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[2] Divisions. Sony Pictures. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[3] Studio Market Share. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[4] Market Share for Each Distributor 1995-2016. The Numbers. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[5] FY2015 Earnings Announcement. Sony. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[6] Consolidated Financial Results for the Third Quarter Ended December 31, 2015. Sony News & Information. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[7] Equities: Sony Corp. Financial Times. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[8] Sony Corp. ADR. MarketWatch. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
[9] Sony Corp Ord Stock Chart. Nasdaq. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
[10] Sony: Film Slate Ready To Deliver. Seeking Alpha. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[11] Michael Lynton. Sony Pictures. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[12] Tom Rothman. Sony Pictures. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[13] David C. Hendler. Sony Pictures. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[14] Robert Lawson. Sony Pictures. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[15] Leah Weil. Sony Pictures. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[16] Miracles from Heaven: EW Review. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[17] Miracles from Heaven. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[18] The Brothers Grimsby. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[19] Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[22] Judge Approves Settlement in Sony Pictures Hacking Case. Billboard. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[24] Sony Pictures Teaming with Activision for New Ghostbusters Game. Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[25] Sony Pictures & Warner Bros Preview 2016-2017 Line-up. Slash Film. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[27] Sony Pictures Logo. JOLT Digest. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[28] Michael Lynton Photo. Jewish Journal. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[29] Tom Rothman Photo. IMDb. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[30] David C. Hendler Photo. Sony Pictures. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[31] Robert Lawson Photo. Sony Pictures. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[32] Leah Weil Photo. Sony Pictures. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[33] Miracles from Heaven Trailer. YouTube: MovieClips Trailers. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[34] The Brothers Grimsby Trailer. YouTube: Sony Pictures Entertainment. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[35] Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Trailer. YouTube: MovieClips Trailers. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[36] The Angry Birds Movie Trailer. YouTube: Google Movie Trailers. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[37] Ghostbusters Trailer. YouTube: Sony Pictures Entertainment. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[38] Nas x Ghostbusters Photo. Hypebeast. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
[39] Sony Pictures Plaza Photo. Wikipedia. Retrieved April 25, 2016.

Dreamworks Animation

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DreamWorks_Animation_SKG_logo_with_fishing_boy_svg

DreamWorks Animation SKG logo                                                 Source: operation build tv

 Dreamworks Animation SKG

Contact

1000 Flower Street Glendale, CA 91201

Phone: (818) 695-5000

Twitter: twitter.com/dwanimation

Homepage: http://www.dreamworks.com/home/

Investors’ page: http://ir.dreamworksanimation.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=185803&p=irol-irhome

Key Executives

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Jefferey Katzenberg, CEO and CED                     Source: Forbes.com

Fazal F. Merchant, CFO

Fazal F. Merchant, CFO                   Source: Hollywood Reporter

 

Ann Daly, President

Ann Daly, President Source: Hollywood Reporter

Background Information

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Dreamworks Animation SKG headquarters                    Source: bizjournals.com

Dreamworks Animation is an animation producing company that has been around since 2004. They are well known to the world having produced numerous films including ‘Shrek,’ ‘Wallace and Gromit,’ ‘Chicken Run,’ ‘How to Train your Dragon,’ ‘Kung Fu Panda,’ and ‘Madagascar.’

History

The-deadly-trio

From the left, founders of Dreamworks; Jefferey Katzenberg, Steven Speilberg, and David Geffen                                          Source: thegraphicslate.com

On October 12, 1994, three experienced hollywood entertainment veterans gathered up and founded Dreamworks SKG targetting to create a new Hollywood major film company. Mr. Katzenberg, a former Disney executive, recruited his own animation staff from Disney, while Spielberg brought in some of his animation artists from Amblimation, located at London.

In 2004, with Jefferey Katzenberg, Dreamworks’ animation department departed from its parent company Dreamworks/Public Data Images. They made an individual company that distributes and produces their own animations and named it Dreamworks Animation. Since their foundation in 2004, Dreamworks Animation has won 3 Academy Awards, 1 Golden Globe Award and has been nominated for both Academy awards and Golden Globe awards countless times.

Current Plan(2016)

  • MOVIES

Starting this quarter, Dreamworks Animation SKG changed their plans from producing 3 movies a year to producing only 2 movies a year. Although they have produced only one movie last year, “Home“; this year they are planning to launch 2 movies; ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ and ‘Trolls‘.

  1.  KUNG FU PANDA 3

Kung Fu Panda 3, one of Dreamworks Animation’s most successful animated film after Shrek, has hit the film market with great impact and has already achieved success world wide.

Avoiding to launch their movie at the same date with the new Star Wars movie, Kung Fu Panda 3 pushed back their launch date to January 29th. Collaborating an advertisement for Super Bowl with Wix before the release turned out to be a big success to have the public aware of the movie.

Though their stock prices have dropped by 6 dollars per stock, Dreamworks Animation did not seem to be worried at all. By earning 48 million dollars at the first week of the release, Kung Fu Panda kept their effort at the Box Office with great consistency.

However, due to Deadpool’s amazing success at the Box Office, Kung Fu Panda 3’s winning streak had to stop at the third week of their release. Though Kung Fu Panda 3’s weekly gross immediately reduced after Deadpool and Zootopia’s monopoly, the ‘Panda‘ still had an alternative and unreplacable plan.

Thanks to the Chinese giants who distributed and exhibited the ‘Panda’ movie at China, Dreamworks Animation could not only succeed on having a great start on 2016, but they also could recover their stock prices. Due to the success, Dreamworks could announce their last quarterly reports for 2015 safely with 55 cents per share: which was 39 cents higher than expected to be.

     2.   TROLLS 

Trolls is the last movie that Dreamworks Animation will release this year. Trolls will be open to the public in November, with some star voices that the audience might recognize. For Dreamworks Animation to continue their favorable situation, and compete with Disney and Pixar, Trolls must also achieve success.

  • NEW MEDIA

       VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER

Not just movies, but Dreamworks Animation has reached their range to Television Series all over the world. Realizing that producing profit-unpredictable feature films might not make a jackpot, Dreamworks Animation switched their target to a rather non-risky platform such as SVODS since 2013. After buying Classic Media’s classic TV animation characters for $155 million, Dreamworks Animation has announced that they will be producing and distributing Noddy, the classic 90s-00s animation at France and at the United Kingdom.

Netflix is one of the most frequently accessed media platform that 69-million people use regardless of their age. Dreamworks Animation has announced a partnership with Netflix last January. Netflix are now going to be a global home of various Dreamworks -Animation produced featured films including ‘The Adventures of Puss in Boots,’ and ‘Dinotrux.’ Plus, the two video giants will be launching ‘Trollhunters,’ and ‘Voltron: Legendary Defender’, a remake of a legendary Japanese animation.

Awesomeness TV is also one of Dreamworks Animation’s main source of income. Though giving Verizon 24.5% of Awesomeness TV’s stake, Dreamworks still remains as the main owner having over 50% of the stakes. It costed about 110 million dollars to buy the Awesomeness TV, but it is now making 70 million dollars of extra revenue every year; which is exceeding the profit of any other source of income that Dreamworks Animation has.

How important are these new media that Dreamworks started to concentrate on?

dreamworks dd

Source: Variety.com

As seen above, Dreamworks Animation’s revenue has exceedingly increased in 2015. Compared to 2012, 2013 and 2014 was not a good year for Dreamworks Animation because their revenue from feature films reduced and the profit from their newly-trying items weren’t too strong to shine. However, in 2015, even though ‘Home’ was the only featured film that they produced, their revenue from TV series and media made Dreamworks Animation leap in the market.

untitled

Source: Variety.com

Like above, Dreamworks Animation is having fun with the new media that they have recently started investing on. Although feature films are not doing so well as they did in the past, their strategy concentrating on subscription video-on-demand are crucial to their growth.

  • INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
i

Dreamworks Animation land on Korea as a channel                           Source: Worldscreen.com

Not just China, but now they are targetting the whole world. Dreamworks Animation has put effort on producing spin-offs for each countries. They concentrated ‘Kung Fu Panda’ spin-offs in China and ‘How to train your dragon’ spinoffs in Korea; which have made a huge amount of profit and awareness of the company in countries.

On April 20th, Dreamworks Animation and Korea Telecom made an agreement to launch a ‘DREAMWORKS CHANNEL’ in South Korea. After having a bunch of success in Asia, Dreamworks Animation decided to launch their own channel in South Korea; which is the third independent channel that they have created in Asia. Starting in May, the channel will be officially distributed via ‘OLLEH TV.’

Conclusion

 In a nutshell, Dreamworks Animation seem to having been adjusting to the market trend for a past few years, but they have now fixed their goal using new media as their medium. Though it might be risky to put most of their eggs in Netflix, investors and the public will have to look forward to what the company is up to in the following years.

Citation

Univision

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Univision Logo / Source Univision.com [3]

Los Angeles
5999 Center Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90045
(310) 348-3434

New York
605 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10158
(212) 455-5200

Miami
9405 NW 41 Street
Miami Florida 33178
(305) 471-3900

http://www.univision.com/

“Todos estamos con Univision” 

“We are all with Univision” 

ABOUT 

Source: Univision.com

Source: Univision.com [14]

Univision is the leading Spanish-language multimedia company in the United States with a network outreach of 94.1 million households. It’s the fifth largest overall network in the country and consistently outperforms English-language broadcast networks two out of every three nights a week and averages 1.4 million adults in the 18-49 primetime age group. The company is multiplatform and owns several digital properties, like TheFlama.com, Unvision.com, UnivisionDeportes.com and La Fabrica. English-language partnerships include Fusion, which caters to the millennial audience, Flama, an online media platform comparable to Buzzfeed but built for a Hispanic audience, and Tejano filmmaker Robert Rodriguez‘s production company El Rey, based in Austin, Texas. [1]

HISTORY 

Rooted in an independent Spanish language station in San Antonio, Texas, Univision’s start can be traced back to 1955, when Raul Cortez started KCOR-TV on channel 41. After a change in call letters and  less-than-profitable start, Cortez sold KUAL-TV in 1961 to his son-in-law Emilio Nicolas, Sr. and Emilio Azcarraga Vidaurreta, a Mexican entertainment mogul. The two would go on to sign a second Spanish-language station in Los Angeles in 1962 and a third in Paterson, New Jersey in 1968, appealing and expanding to both west and east coast markets. These three stations became the Spanish International Network, the first network of its kind to broadcast in a language that’s not English in the United States. SIN would continue to expand throughout the country in the next 20 years, until 1987, when Nicolas divided and sold his share of the company to Hallmark Cards and Televisa, a Mexican mass media company and the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world. It was through this negotiation that SIN rebranded and relaunched as Univision Communications Inc. [2]

KEY EXECUTIVES

Randy Falco, President and CEO

 Francisco Lopez-Balboa, Executive Vice President and CFO

Tonia O’Connor Chief Commercial Officer and President of Content Distribution

 

 

 

 

 

Jonathan Schwartz, Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Head of Government Relations, and Secretary

Jessica Rodriguez, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer

Kevin Conroy, Chief Strategy and Data Officer

All executive photos from same source. [18] 

UNIVISION PURCHASES STAKE IN THE ONION

The logo for Univision and acquired satirical news website The Onion / Source: CNNMoney [15]

On January 19, 2016, Univision announced its purchase of a 40-percent stake in the comedy and satirical media group The Onion. [4] The purchase comes at a time when Univision is looking to further its influence and appeal with millennial audiences, as executives of the company follow the trends of the current growing Hispanic population in the U.S. [5] With the country’s Hispanic population looking to double by 2050, this purchase was a headstart, a method of preparation, for the changing demographics of this country. [6] More Hispanics means more potential viewers and a younger audience as the numbers double. Upon making the decision to purchase a stake in The Onion, Univision felt comedy and satire was an especially powerful way to communicate with millennials, who, if like what both companies produce together, will create a central fanbase that will influence future generations. Largely, though, the company saw The Onion as a complement to Fusion, their news and entertainment faction geared towards young people, and as a method to develop new comedy television programs and Spanish/English comedy and satirical offerings. [7]

FUSION GOES SOLO 

Univision’s Fusion was originally created alongside Disney to reach young Hispanic viewers. / Source: Fusion.net [16]

After a three-year contract agreement, Walt Disney Co.’s ABC sold back their 50% stake in the Univision-ABC joint-venture cable network: Fusion. Launched in 2013, the venture was created to act as a multi-platform resource for young bilingual Latino’s heading into the professional world. In the years since, however, Fusion’s struggled to define its identity and place as a media entity, costing Univision $85.2 million in lost revenue alongside other start-up television network El Rey. Currently, Fusion is only available in 40 million homes across the U.S., a small market number compared to competitors and other networks owned by the company. Similarly, the channel isn’t distributed by both Time Warner Cable and Comcast Corp., limiting potential viewers and detracting larger advertisers. The deal took place on April 21, 2016 and information regarding the terms of the sale have yet to be released. [8]

UNIVISION VS. AT&T

Source: Univision.com [17]

Throughout March 2016 AT&T U-Verse and Univision engaged in a dispute over carriage rates which led to a blackout of Univision-owned locally stations on March 4. U-verse’s 5.6 million subscribers lost access to UniMás, Galavisión and Univision Deportes Network for six days, restoring national services to all households in time for the Univision-sponsored democratic presidential debate. In the dispute, Univision accused AT&T of discriminatory practices by not providing fair and equal compensation comparable to English-only broadcasters. Similarly, company grievances included AT&T refusing to recognize the purpose and importance of Univision and its place and appeal to United States television audiences. Jim Cicconi, AT&T’s Senior Executive Vice President of External and Legislative Affair’s, refuted the allegation, calling them “despicable” and “outrageous.” [9] The two media giants came to an agreement at the end of March and Univision was restored on all local and cable channels. The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce commended both AT&T and Univision for reaching an agreement and relaunching services, restating the importance of the network in a press release. [10] 

FINANCIALS

Univision is a privately traded company and has not yet released its 2016 quarterly earnings. However, a trend that should continue, as substantiated by their 2016 fourth quarter earnings, is a gain in subscriber fee and content licensing revenue. If the company continues to follow the trend set in 2015, overall earnings will increase at a minute percentages across all platforms. [11]

THE FUTURE

FUSION MEDIA GROUP 

After Univision’s recent acquisitions of The Onion and Fusion, the company announced the formation of the Fusion Media Group, a “multi-platform destination for the new, rising American mainstream.” The effort is a preparation to serve a rising generation of multiculturals who are rapidly approaching 40% of the total U.S. population. Fusion Media Group Will Include Fusion, The Onion, The Root, Flama, Univision Digital, Univision Music and El Rey. [12] 

LATINO VOTER EFFORT

In February Univision announced an effort to register 3 million Latino voters in time for the 2016 presidential election next fall. The effort, which extends to all of the company’s digital properties, will include engagements created by Fusion and The Root, a website that caters to an African-American audience and cultural issues. This summer, Univision will bring voter drives to the Copa América soccer tournament and run public-service announcements throughout the matches, expected to reach millions of potential viewers. The company looks to expand an online presence and has William Valdes, one of their most popular, and youngest, telenovela stars, is acting as a face of the Latino voter movement. [13]

[1] Univision Network – Univision. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2016, from http://corporate.univision.com/media-property/univision-network/

[2] Univision Communications Inc. History. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2016, from http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/univision-communications-inc-history/

[3] Univision Unveils a New Brand Logo, Signaling Transformation – Univision. (2012, December 17). Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://corporate.univision.com/2012/10/univision-unveils-a-new-brand-logo-signaling-transformation/

[4] Steel, E. (2016, January 19). Univision Buys a Stake in The Onion to Reach Millennials. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/20/business/media/univision-buying-large-stake-in-the-onion.html?_r=0

[5] Baysinger, T. (2016, April 22). How The Onion Is Helping Univision Grow Beyond the Spanish-Language Market. Retrieved April 24, 2016, from http://www.adweek.com/news/television/how-onion-helping-univision-grow-beyond-spanish-language-market-171014

[6] Krogstad, J. M., & Lopez, M. (2015, June 25). Hispanic population reaches record 55 million, but growth has cooled. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/25/u-s-hispanic-population-growth-surge-cools/

[7] Folkenflick, D. (2016, January 19). Area Satirical Publication The Onion Sold To Univision (Seriously). Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/19/463535648/area-satiric-publication-the-onion-sold-to-univision-seriously

[8] James, M. (2016, April 21). Walt Disney Co.’s ABC sells its Fusion stake to Univision, exits joint venture. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-disney-abc-ends-fusion-univision-20160421-story.html

[9] Lieberman, D. (2016, March 24). Univision Networks Return To AT&T’s U-verse While They “Finalize” Carriage Deal. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://deadline.com/2016/03/univision-networks-att-uverse-carriage-deal-1201725920/

[10] USHCC Commends AT&T and Univision for Relaunching Services. (2016, March 29). Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/ushcc-commends-at-t-and-univision-for-relaunching-services-2109830.htm

[11] Szalai, G. (2016, February 23). Univision Subscriber Fee Revenue Rises, and So Does Its Q4 Earnings. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6889307/univision-earnings-fourth-quarter-financials

[12]  Univision PR (2016, April 21). Univision Communications Inc. to Launch Fusion Media Group to Serve the Rising American Mainstream – Univision. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://corporate.univision.com/2016/04/univision-communications-inc-to-launch-fusion-media-group-to-serve-the-rising-american-mainstream/

[13] Corasaniti, N. (2016, February 22). Univision Aims to Make Hispanic Voting Bloc Even More Formidable. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/us/politics/univision-hispanic-voting.html

[14] Univision | The #1 place to reach Hispanic America. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://corporate.univision.com/

[15] Garcia, A. (2016, January 19). Univision invests in satirical news site The Onion. No joke. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/19/news/companies/univision-invests-the-onion/

[16] Fusion. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://fusion.net/

[17] Univision Statement Regarding AT&T U-verse – Univision. (2016). Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://corporate.univision.com/2016/03/univision-statement-regarding-att-u-verse/

[18] Executive Leadership | Univision. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://corporate.univision.com/corporate/executive-leadership/

Beginnings

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r1

Radio One is targeted at minority audiences and was itself founded by an African American woman, who continues to own a majority stake in the company. Catherine Hughes began her career in gospel radio in Washington DC, before eventually buying her first station with the help of bank loans, her own savings, and a loan from the African American venture capital firm Syncom, which funded African American media start-ups. Hughes’ overcame constant struggles with debt, eventually hosting her morning drive show herself as the bank refused to allow her to pay a salary for someone to host the slot.

Gradually, Hughes’ venture achieved profitability and expanded, though she still had to contend with banks that insisted she programmed her stations to include white music for white audiences. Hughes was convinced that black programming was the way to profitability, and the entire history of her company vindicated her insight and self-belief.

Hughes retired in 1993 and was replaced by her son Alfred C. Liggins III, who oversaw the massive expansion of the station in the 1990s, following the relaxation of ownership rules. Ironically, Hughes had feared that relaxing ownership rules would concentrate ownership in the hands of a few large corporations: Radio One has become the largest African American owner of stations in the United States [3]

In 2012, Radio One was expected to generate revenues of $433 million dollars. When asked how she had the vision to start such a venture, Hughes pointed to her need to take care of her son. She did not want him to become another statistic as part of the loss of African American youth in our society [4].

In 2013, Radio One acquired a majority stake in Reach Media. This allowed the company to expand its black talk radio programming, designed to offer an alternative voice to white conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh. The network features the Reverend Al Sharpton and other popular African American hosts and commentators [5].

Universal Pictures

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UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608

www.universalstudios.com

HISTORY

Universal Studios was founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane and Jules Brulatour. Following the boom of film studios of the time, Universal Studios became a vertically integrated company, linking movie production, exhibition, and distribution all into one corporate entity. Universal ranks among the “Big Six” film studios and is a subsidiary of NBC Universal who indirectly belong to Comcast, a huge media conglomerate. They’ve produced films such as Jurassic World which grossed at $651,926,506 making it the fourth highest grossing film of all time domestically and worldwide [15].

KEY EXECUTIVES

Donna Langley, Chairman

—Donna Langley, Chairman, Universal Pictures – Source: Forbes [16]

Jeff Shell, Chairman (Filmed Entertainment)

—Jeff Shell, Chairman (Filmed Entertainment), Universal Pictures – Source: BBG [17]

 

 

 

FINANCIALS

While Universal Studios is a privately traded company, Comcast is its parent company and they are publicly traded. In the most recent quarterly report, Universal cited a revenue increase of 25.8% to $1.6 billion compared to $1.3 billion in the previous year. There was a 74.9% increase in home entertainment revenue drive by the strong performances of Jurassic World and the Minions and Universal has cited an upward trend of revenue into the 2016 year. Earnings per share increased 6.8% with the value being held at $0.79 compared to the $0.74 reported in the fourth quarter of the previous year [7].Universal Studios is currently 5th place in terms of top grossing film companies with a market share of 7.7% and a total gross of $252.4 billion [12]. They hold an average of $36,054,255 per release for its 7 releases so far in 2016. Their top grossing release is Ride Along 2 which cited a total gross of $90,862,685 which exceeded their budget of $40 million [11]. Universal Studios is planning 15 releases for the rest of the 2016 year with the genres being split roughly in half between comedy and horror [13].

IN THEATERS

—The Boss

—The Boss (2016) [19]

The Boss

The Boss is another one of Melissa McCarthy’s slapstick style comedy movies and was released on April 8th, 2016. The opening weekend of The Boss beat out Batman V Superman by a mere $45,000 proving McCarthy’s star power as a movie she stars in tops another $20+ million opener. The movie opened its weekend with a total gross of $23.48 million with a reported budget of $29 million [1]. The second weekend saw a larger-than-expected 57.8% drop, but still remained in the top five grossing movies that week. The longevity of the movie may extend a little more seeing as the next R-rated comedy doesn’t release until around late May with Neighbors 2 [3].

—The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)

—The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016) [20]

The Huntsman: Winter’s War

The sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman, which grossed a total of $396.6 billion, called The Huntsman: Winter’s War was released on April 22, 2016. It charted at number 2 behind Jungle Book, even though Jungle Book was in its second week of circulation [2]. The Huntsman: Winter’s War earned a total of $20,080,000 in its opening weekend domestically and $80,200,000 internationally, proving the series popularity in the foreign market. With an estimated budget of $20 million, it brought in approximately 36% of the opening weekend total of its predecessor. The audience skewed 61% female and 39% male with 47% of the audience being over the age of 30. Comparatively, Snow White and the Huntsman attracted a much more evenly distributed gendered audience with about 53% of them being female [14]. Looking forward, it’s unlikely that the movie will reach an overall domestic cume of $55-60 million off their reported budget of $115 million.

SPRING/SUMMER 2016 RELEASES

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising is an R-rated comedy sequel to the popular Neighbors movie starring Zac Efron and Seth Rogen. Director Nicholas Stoller has said that the sequel was actually inspired by “Toy Story 2“. The film has a bigger budget than the previous one and is expected to focus of different aspects of college greek life. The movie is slated for release on May 20, 2016 [23].

The Purge: Election Year

The Purge: Election Year is also another movie in the series of Purge movies slated for release on July 1, 2016. The movie is third in the series and will follow Senator Charlene Roan played by Elizabeth Mitchell and her head of security Leo Barnes played by Frank Grillo as they escape those looking to kill them for the night. Director of the first two films, James DeMonaco, has agreed to return to direct this third installment [22].

FUTURE FOR UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Following competition from other big name companies like Paramount and Warner Bros, Universal Pictures has invested into turning a selection of its movies in 4K Ultra HD this summer. The upcoming Warcraft and Jason Bourne movies will pioneer the format along with UHD versions of Everest, Lucy, and Lone Survivor [6]. The home entertainment movie sector will offer an enhanced selection of new release and catalog titles mastered in Dolby Vision™ and plans to makes all titles available in 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD digital formats by the end of 2016 [8].

Jurassic World 2 teaser poster

—Jurassic World 2 teaser poster [18]

In terms of future releases, Universal will be continuing on the success of Jurassic World, the movie that brought in $1.6 billion dollars, and produce the sequel which has a release date of June 22, 2018. The director for the sequel was just announced on April 18th, 2016, to be J.A. Bayona, a Spanish filmmaker who make a name for himself through his tsunami drama The Impossible [5]. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, the stars of Jurassic World, are expected to reprise their roles for the follow-up film.

The Chinese media company, Perfect World Pictures, announced their plan to co-finance up to 50 movies, or movies for a time span of five years, for $500 million with Universal Pictures in an effort to diversify into the English-language film sector [4]. The president, Rong Chen, stated that an even larger phase of investment into Hollywood will follow the deal with Universal this year. Sources familiar with the deal states that Perfect World’s investment would get it a 25% share of most, but not all, of the films released by Universal [9]. This marks the first time a non-state-owned enterprise entertainment company from China will be working directly with a major U.S. studio. In addition, this will be the first time a Chinese company will invest in a multi-year deal with a major U.S. studio [10].

SOURCES

[1] Brevet, Brad (April 10, 2016) Melissa McCarthy’s ‘The Boss’ Narrowly Tops ‘Batman V Superman’ for Weekend #1. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 23rd, 2016.

[2] Mendelson, Scott (April 24, 2016) Weekend Box Office: ‘The Huntsman’Opens 64% Lower Than ‘Snow White And The Huntsman.’ Forbes. Retrieved April 25rd, 2016.

[3] Brevet, Brad (April 21, 2016) ‘Jungle Book’ To Repeat at #1 Over ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War.’ Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 23rd, 2016.

[4] Brzeski, Patrick (April 21, 2016) China Exec Who Put $500M Into Universal Pictures Says “More To Come.” The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 23rd, 2016.

[5] Kit, Borys (April 18th, 2016) ‘Jurassic World’ Sequel Finds Its Director. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 23rd, 2016.

[6] Palladino, Valentina (April 20th, 2016) Universal Pictures to release 4K Blu-ray movies, starting with Jason Bourne. ArsTechnica. Retrieved April 23rd, 2016.

[7] Comcast Fourth Quarter 2015. Comcast. Retrieved April 23rd, 2016.

[8] Unknown (April 19th, 2016) Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Unveils First 4K Ultra High Definition Offerings. PR Newswire. Retrieved April 23rd, 2016.

[9] Faughnder, Ryan (February 17, 2016) China’s Perfect World invest up to $450 million in Universal film slate. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 23rd, 2016.

[10] Petski, Denise (February 17th, 2016) Universal & China’s Perfect World Confirm 50 Film Funding Deal. Deadline. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[11] Ride Along 2. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[12] Studio Market Share. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[13] Box Office by Studio: Universal. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[14] Brevet, Brad (April 24, 2016) ‘Jungle Book’ Repeats, ‘Huntsman’ Falls On His Axe and ‘Zootopia’ Tops $900M Worldwide. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[15] Universal Studios. Comcast. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[16] Donna Langley. Forbes. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[17] Jeff Shell. BBG. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[18] Jurassic World Sequel Teaser. Twitter. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[19] The Boss. IMDB. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[20] The Huntsman: Winters War. IMDB. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[21] Youtube: Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. Youtube. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[22] Youtube: The Purge: Election Year. Youtube. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.

[23] Jogwar, Sangati (April 13, 2016) ‘NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING’ INSPIRED FROM ‘TOY STORY 2’ AND ‘MAD MAX.’ Movienewsguide. Retrieved April 25th, 2016.