TRF 235

MGM Studios

History

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayers, also known as MGM for short, is a film studio that distributes as well as produces motion pictures. The film company owns the largest collection of modern films to date of about 1,400 films. MGM, based in Culver City, California, was the result of the merger between three film companies in 1924: Metro Pictures Corporation, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Productions. The company had a thirty year string of success from it’s founding in 1924 to 1954. Throughout this time period MGM produced an Academy Award nominated film every year.

January 10^th MGM studios and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment released “BOND 50” which contains all 22 James Bond films on Blu-ray. This is the first time all 22 films were released altogether in honor of the 50^th anniversary. James Bond is the longest running and most profitable series in film history. Click this link to see MGM History.

As of February 6^th MGM is on the way to closing off their debt after the company went bankrupt about a year ago. MGM made a deal where they are receiving $500 million revolving credit from numerous banks including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, City National Bank, and Deutsche. Fortunately this deal allows for the company to continue producing with their film and television business. The company’s Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officers have mentioned they are grateful for the amount of confidence the financial community has in them. Additionally, MGM also made an agreement with the Tele Munchen Group, (TMG), in which TMG now has exclusive TV rights to motion pictures and TV shows to air in Europe for five years.

Since March 5^th MGM partnered with Sony Pictures Entertainment to co-finance as well as distribute a remake of the 1987 film Robocop, to be released in August of 2013. Both the two companies have different rolls in the production; MGM is in charge of theatrical distribution and production responsibilities. Around mid March MGM announced that the popular movie Hoosiers is being released on Blu-ray on June 5^th for the 25^th anniversary of the movie.

As of March 13^th the HISTORY network ordered its first scripted drama series entitled Vikings from MGM studios. The full season of Vikings is to appear on the network in 2013. Vikings is an Irish/Canadian co-production to be filmed in Ireland and Northern Europe. Vikings is about historical figure Ragnar Lothbrok and his family as they live among the Viking culture. The MGM president of Television Group and Digital commented, “We are thrilled to be able to bring HISTORY their first scripted series […] We look forward to using MGM’s global reach to introduce Vikings around the world.”

It was announced on April 2^nd that Jennifer Sharp was appointed senior vice president of New Platforms. Under her new title she will focus on business opportunities that use MGM’s new television and theatrical content. Among those working closely with her are Roma Khanna and MGM’s Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Schapiro. Prior to this current position Sharp has been Group Product Manager of Books at Amazon.com, as well as Vice President of Business Development for Conduit Ltd, a technology company.

A big step for MGM was made during the middle of April, when MGM made a deal that allowed more than 600 of its titles to be rented on YouTube and Google Play in the United States and Canada. This deal has made it easier for YouTube and Google Play subscribers to watch MGM films instantly.

Sources

History retrieved from: http://www.mgm.com/corporate/index.html

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer image retrieved from: http://spacegypsies.com/media/2010/12/mgm.jpg

Jan 10th; Feb 6th; March 5th; April 2: retrieved from: http://www.mgm.com/news/

MArch 13th retrieved from: http://www.iftn.ie/production/production_news/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4284679&tpl=archnewshome&force=1

by Jeff Cucinell

Warner Brothers Logo, Image courtesy of Warner Brothers

1. War With Digital Sharing
2. The Good and the Bad in Distribution 
3.  Big Blockbuster Releases 
4. Movies on Deck
5. Warner Brothers Kryptonite: Latest News

1. War with Digital Sharing

2012 has already seen its fair share of copyright infringement cases. Copyrights and online piracy have been the major issue in the entertainment industry, from the outcry against SOPA, to the takedown of Megaupload.  Warner Brothers Pictures has been in a battle of its own against a website called Hotfile. As a file locker site, Hotfile.com is one of the world’s most popular websites due to its easy one click file sharing.

Last year, the MPAA filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the website, claiming Hotfile to be very similar to Megaupload in violating copyright agreements(1). But Hotfile fired back earlier this year by filing a law suit against Warner Bros. for distributing incorrect takedown statements. The studio uses anti-piracy technology that sends out notices to websites that do not follow intellectual property policy. Hotfile states that Warner Bros. Pictures should be held accountable for sending out takedowns without justification. The website says that the studio has sent out close to 800 wrongful takedown messages, just a small percentage of what the studio sends out each day(1).

The battle has been heating up in court as Warner argues that the lawsuit filed by Hotfile should be dismissed on several grounds. One of these grounds is the lack of evidence the website can present, showing that Warner Brothers had subjective knowledge that the notices had errors. The studio has acknowledged that the system has made some mistakes in sending out incorrect takedowns, but not enough to cause damage to Hotfile.com(2).

Both lawsuits are still being deliberated.

2. The Good and the Bad in Distribution 

The early parts of 2012 have also provided both successes and struggles for Warner Brothers Pictures’ distribution channels.

As for the good news, Warner Bros. is staying up-to date on the digital conversion platform, by joining 4 other major studios and teaming up with Walmart’s new “disc-to-digital” service. Costumers can convert SD, HD or Blu-ray discs to digital files, across devices via Walmart’s streaming service called Vudu. The fee for the conversion is $2 and upgrading discs to HD will cost $5(3).

An ad for Walmart's new disc to digital service. Image courtesy of Walmart

The bad news for the Warner Bros. distribution department is that it finds itself tied up in a legal battle with the German production company MHF. The company states that Warner Bros. distributed the movies The Whole Ten Yards, The In-Laws and Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever without a proper license(4).  The deal with Warner Bros. stems from the bankruptcy of Franchise Pictures, the former distribution channel that the movies were originally given too. When Franchise went under in 2004, Warner Brothers took the rights to distribution for the movies.

The studio is alleged to have copyright infringed and breached the contract. The studio responded with a statement.

“MHF’s lawsuit comes years too late. At its core, the lawsuit complains about a transfer of rights in three motion pictures that occurred in 2006 during the Franchise Pictures bankruptcy. MHF had notice of that transfer at the time, and several opportunities to object, but failed to do so and the bankruptcy court approved the transfer,”(4).

The case is still being deliberated.

 3. Big Blockbuster Releases 

Some big time releases have also brought in great revenue for the studio early in 2012.

“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” which was released on December 16th, 2011, has brought in $529 million in the global box office as of, March 20th.  An estimated $186.7 million of that revenue has been said to be on the domestic side and $342.3 million internationally(5). The film opened at number 1 and spent 6 weeks in the top 10 in the U.S box office. The film also brought a lot of excitement to the Warner Brothers lot and the studio is ecstatic with the outcome:

The movie poster for Sherlock Holmes. Image Courtesy of Warner Bros.

“The movie is a great adventure–complete with action, humor and great characters. Congratulations to the filmmakers and cast, who were truly our partners in bringing Sherlock Holmes back to an enthusiastic worldwide audience.” –  Sue Kroll, Warner Brothers President, Worldwide Marketing (5).

Also, Warner Bros. released Project X on March 2 which received immediate success in the box office. According to Box Office Mojo, as of April 26th the movie has brought in over $54 million nationally and over $87 million worldwide(6). Project X, a film about a group of unpopular high school students who want to become known for throwing the biggest party ever, is causing problems in the state of California. Police have been seeing many copycat cases as teens have been occupying vacant million dollar homes and throwing uncontrolled parties that mimic the movie(7).

4. Movies on Deck

Warner Bros. has also made some exciting announcements about films that will premiere in 2013.

Legendary Pictures and Warner have agreed that the third installment of the Hangover franchise will hit theaters May 24th, 2013.  The studios have announced that the 3 main characters played by Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis will be returning in the movie. The first and second parts of the series grossed $467.5 million and $581.5 million worldwide respectively(8). The Hollywood Reporter has also reported that the 3rd movie is likely to take place in Los Angeles, and will break the formula that was created in the first two films.

The stars of The Hangover 3. From left to right: Helms, Cooper and Galifanakis are all getting paid at least 15 million dollars for their parts. Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Along with the Hangover, Warner Bros. has also announced that it is joining forces with famed director Brian Helgeland for the movie 42, in honor of the late great, Jackie Robinson. The movie will be released on April 12th, 2013, just in time for the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson day(9).  Chadwick Boseman, who played Floyd Little in the movie The Express, has been signed to play Robinson and Harrison Ford will play the man who signed Robinson, Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey. Helgeland, director of LA Confidential, wrote the original screenplay and has assembled a team of academy award winners around him to produce the film(9).  The location for production is Chattanooga, Tennessee, where Engel Stadium will double as Ebbets field, the home of the former Brooklyn Dodgers.

5. Warner Brothers Kryptonite: Latest News

The studio finds itself in a messy legal battle with Superman creator Jerry Siegel’s estate, as the two parties are fighting for the rights of the Superman franchise. The battle has been ongoing since 2008 but just on March 23rd, the studio filed a 117 page court brief arguing why they should hold the exclusive rights to the superhero(10).

The original cover of Action Comics' Superman. Now the creator and Warner Brothers are in a legal battle over copyrights. Image courtesy of Action Comics.

The case, which is being heard by the  9th Circuit Court of Appeals, is regarding a copyright termination notice that was deemed partially valid in a 2008 hearing in California. The notice said that the Siegel estate had the rights to the first edition of comics that originally told Superman’s story(10). The issue of the notice means that the Siegel estate owns the copyrights to the costume, the name Clark Kent and the original story. Since the works that followed were deemed “works for hire,” Warner Bros. holds the rights to Lex Luther and Kryptonite. The case will determine how far the studio can go in creating new Superman films and related works(10).

References

(1)  How Warner Bros. Is Fighting Charges It Abuses the Copyright Takedown Process http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/warner-brothers-hotfile-mpaa-lawsuit-295666

(2) Hotfile, Warner Bros. Copyright Fight Heats Up http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/169697/hotfile-warner-bros-copyright-fight-heats-up.html

(3)  Walmart unveils ‘disc-to-digital’: Five studios on board for in-store DVD conversion http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-201203131442reedbusivarietynvr1118051401mar13,0,2716664.story

(4) Warner Bros. Sued for Allegedly Distributing Movies Without License http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/warner-bros-sued-distributing-movies-whole-ten-yards-303299

(5) “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” Bests Its Predecessor, Nabbing Global Tally of $529 Million and Counting http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows-bests-its-predecessor-nabbing-global-tally-of-529-million-and-counting-2012-03-20

(6) Project X http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=projectx2011.htm

(7) Project X’ Parties Busted in California Mansions http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/04/project-x-parties-busted-in-california-mansions/

(8) Todd Phillips Says Third ‘Hangover’ Will Be the Last http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/todd-phillips-hangover-3-bradley-cooper-303424

(9) Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Put 42 On Deck For April 12, 2013; Stars Harrison Ford http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2012/04/warner-bros-pictures-and-legendary-pictures-put-42-on-deck-for-april-12-2013-stars-harrison-ford/

(10) Superman’s WB Future at Stake as Appeals Court Battle Begins http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/superman-warner-bros-future-court-battle-304263

by Nate Hapke

MGM Logo courtesy of Google images

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is an independent, privately-held motion picture, television, home video, and theatrical production and distribution company.

The headquarters for MGM is located in Beverly Hills, CA.

Key People:

Gary Barber- Co-Chairman, CEO

Roger Birnbaum- Co-Chairman, CEO

Jonathan Glickman- President of Film Division

Ken Schapiro- COO

After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Novermber 3rd, 2010, MGM emerged from bankruptcy on December 20th, 2010 with the executives of Spyglass Entertainment, Barber and Birnbaum, as the Co-Chairmen and CEO’s.

History/Overview:

MGM has become synonymous with its roaring lion logo that debuted back on April 16th, 1924. It was created by magnate Marcus Lowe who orchestrated the merger of Metro Pictures Corp., Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer productions.

Courtesy of MGM.com

After the consolidation, all it took was the vision of Louis B. Mayer and the genius of Irving Thalberg, known best for his production skills, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer became a Hollywood giant with prolific artistry and film making expertise. This giant soon became famous for having “more stars than heaven.”

During the golden three decades of Hollywood, 1924 through 1954, MGM was able to produce at least one best picture nominee for twenty straight years. Today, MGM is famous for having won a total of 205 Academy Awards including 15 Best Picture winners. These winners are: Rebecca(1940), Best Years of Our Lives(1946), Hamlet(1948), Marty(1955), The Apartment(1960), West Side Story(1961),Tom Jones(1963), In the Heat of the Night(1967), Midnight Cowboy(1969), Rocky(1976), Annie Hall(1977), Platoon(1986),Rain Man(1988), Dances With Wolves(1990), The Silence of the Lambs(1991) [1]

Since its inception, MGM has produced over 4,100 films and 10,400 hours of television programming. The 4,100 films makes the MGM library the largest among the Big Five. MGM ownership interests in domestic and international TV channels reaching over 130 countries.

Movies today:

Enjoying recent success with the release of “21 Jump Street“, MGM anticipates the releases of the next installment in the James Bond franchise with “Skyfall“, the first of two movies adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” which is the sequel to last summer’s blockbuster “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”

MGM is excited about the 6 nominations that “21 Jump Street” received for the MTV Movie Awards and have started a twitter campaign asking fans to vote for the film on the MTV Movie Awards site.

As of April 30th, 2012, “21 Jump Street” has made $132 million in the domestic box office which has far exceeded its budget of $42 million[2].

“SkyFall”, the latest addition into the James Bond series has revealed the two new “bond girls” for the film: actresses Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe will assume the roles of the femme fatales for Mr. Bond.

SkyFall movie poster, courtesy of imdb.com

30 years after the film debuted, “WarGames“, is now showing at the Tribeca Film Festival and director John Badham and actress Ally Sheedy will be in attendance to answer questions about the film and its relevance today network security, gaming technology, and hacking culture. [3]

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is the first ever major studio feature film to filmed completely using high frame rate cameras. The film was filmed at 48 frames per second. This new technology was met with mixed results at CinemaCon on April 24th, 2012 when director Peter Jackson screened 10 minutes of footage from the film that had never been seen before.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey movie poster, courtesy of google images

According to some film critics at the screening the footage had” that soap opera look you get from badly calibrated TVs at Best Buy.” [4] Other quotes reported in the Huffington Post included that “everyone hated (the footage)” and “The footage I saw looked terrible … completely non-cinematic. The sets looked like sets … sets don’t even look like sets when you’re on them live, but these looked like sets. The magical illusion of cinema is stripped away completely.” It will be interesting to see how MGM will respond to this criticism, however, at this point in the production process, there isn’t that much left that the filmmakers can change to combat the criticism that they received.

“G.I. Joe: Retaliation”, picks up right where the first movie left off. This time MGM was please to be able to add action stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Bruce Willis to the mix. Johnson takes on the role of ‘Roadblock’ and Willis steps into the role of ‘Joe Colton’.Colton is best known as the titular character of the G.I. Joe series. MGM is hoping that the additions of Johnson and Willis will be successful in bringing in a bigger box office for the sequel than the first installment. Willis has been in films that have exceeded a total of $2.5 million dollars in domestic box office alone [5]. Johnson is one of the most recognizable faces in action movies within the last 5 years.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation movie poster, courtesy of MGM twitter

One of the most recognizable MGM produced feature films, “Hoosiers“, is being released on DVD-Blu-ray on June 5th, 2012. MGM has created a facebook page to help advertise the release of the new special edition DVD.

Watch the trailer for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” here:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Movie Trailer

Watch the trailer for “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” here:

G.I. Joe: Retaliation – Movie Trailer

Successful franchises in MGM history include James Bond, The Pink Panther, and Rocky.

MGM in 2012:  

(All news and links taken from MGM.com)

4-26-12 – Park Circus at Cannes Film Festival 2012

3-13-12 – Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of HOOSIERS on Blu-ray

3-13-12 – MGM Brings First Scripted Drama Series VIKINGS to HISTORY®