Sirius XM Radio

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Stephanie Bronfein

By Stephanie Bronfein

The official SiriusXM logo, courtesy of siriusxm.com [1]

SiriusXM Satellite Radio

1221 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

www.siriusxm.com

Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube

History [2]:

SiriusXM Radio is one of the largest radio broadcast and subscription media companies in the United States that provides original content to 25.6 million subscribers. Their commercial-free programming covers a diverse range of music, sports, talk, entertainment, traffic and weather shows, with celebrity personalities such as Howard Stern, Oprah Winfrey, The Grateful Dead, Pearl Jam and Tiesto. While the most popular way that consumers experience SiriusXM Radio is through satellite radio in their cars, it is also available for the home or office and can be streamed through SiriusXM Radio’s website or through Apple and Android mobile applications.

Key Executives [3]:

James E. Meyer – CEO

Scott Greenstein – President & CCO

Dara Altman – Executive VP & CAO

David J. Frear – Executive VP & CFO

All photos courtesy of SiriusXM Radio. For more information on the company’s executives click here.

Financial Standing:

SiriusXM Stock Change from 11/12 to 11/13, courtesy of siriusxm.com [4].

With 36 million shares to its name, SiriusXM Radio’s stock value sits at $3.68, with a 52-week high of $4.18 and a 52-week low of $2.67 [4]. Since the third quarter of 2012, the recorded revenue has increased 11% to $962 million. The adjusted EBIDTA increased 21% to a new record of $296 million and free cash flow increased 26% to $245 million [5].

Liberty Media Takeover:

Liberty Media Logo, courtesy of forbes.com [9].

SiriusXM Radio shareholders finally spoke up this August about Liberty Media Corporation gaining control of over 50% of the company, which resulted in former Chief Executive Officer Mel Karmazin leaving the company, along with a string of other directors. In 2009, when SiriusXM Radio was considering filing for bankruptcy, John Malone of Liberty Media offered a $530 million investment to get the subscription satellite radio company back on its feet. This deal allotted 40% control over the company to Malone and included a three-year grace period where Malone could not acquire a controlling interest in SiriusXM Radio’s shares [6].

In light of this period’s expiration at the end of last year, SiriusXM Radio shareholders failed to find a loophole in the investment-agreement terms to prevent Malone from buying out the company, so he did just that. What’s more, Malone didn’t allow other shareholders to vote on the deal. This is the main contention that SiriusXM Radio shareholders have against Liberty Media. Shareholders even went as far as suing the SiriusXM Radio board of directors in Aug. 2012 for not creating a strong enough defense against the Liberty Media takeover in the original investment-agreement [7].

As of the end of August, SiriusXM Radio share value has increased more than 2,160% at $3.62 since the Liberty Media investment was made, where shares were valued at as low as $0.16 [7].

Liberty Media also holds controlling shares of the Atlanta Braves, Leisure Arts, Inc., MacNeil/Lehrer Productions and TruePosition, Inc [8].

SoundExchange Sues SiriusXM:

SoundExchange Logo, courtesy of forbes.com [10].

On Aug. 16th, SoundExchange filed a lawsuit against SiriusXM Radio for $50 to $100 million in damages, claiming that the radio provider underpaid artist royalties from 2007 to 2011 [12].

SoundExchange is an independent nonprofit organization that has been designated by the Copyright Royalty Board to collect digital performance royalties from statutory license users—such as SiriusXM Radio—for the purpose of distributing those royalties to the rightful copyright owners and artists. As the only Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service in the country, it has been decided by the Copyright Royalty Board that SiriusXM Radio should pay a federal statutory royalty rate to avoid penalty of copyright infringement for the public performance of sound recordings that they do not own (via transmitting them to their subscribers). This rate is applied to the gross revenue as defined by the Copyright Royalty Board, which was settled between 6-8% for the years of 2007 to 2012 [11].

At the root of the lawsuit, which is compromised of four different counts against SiriusXM Radio, is a claim that the gross revenue has been reduced without proper authorization from the Copyright Royalty Board, causing a multi-million dollar underpayment to SoundExchange [11]. Essentially, SiriusXM Radio has been cornered for their bad accounting.

From their reported gross revenue, SiriusXM Radio excluded revenue collected from pre-1972 sound recordings, incremental revenue on SiriusXM Radio’s premier subscription package and two additional subscription packages that include both music and talk programming [12]. On top of these three counts against SiriusXM Radio is a claim that they did not pay late fees to SoundExchange on time—in part due to the fact that they didn’t know that they apparently owed SoundExchange millions of dollars—and SoundExchange expects to collect interest on these late fees [13].

While copyright law does not protect pre-1972 sound recordings, the Copyright Royalty Board requires that those who publicly perform them must separately recognize the attributed revenue generated—if SiriusXM Radio chooses to exclude this revenue from the reported gross revenue to SoundExchange, the deduction must be precise and the methodology transparent. Since SiriusXM Radio does not distinguish the revenue made from different kinds of music programming, the percentage that they attribute to the pre-1972 sound recording revenue can only be defined as an assumption, and is therefore unlawful [11].

SiriusXM Radio excluded incremental revenue that was garnered from the pricing difference between its standard package and its premier package. While the subscription satellite radio service is allowed to exclude channels that don’t include music programming—and the premier package only gives consumers additional talk/news programming—the additional channels offered in the premiere package aren’t offered for a separate charge [12]. In plain, the premier package also includes all of the programming from the standard package, meaning that it unlawfully excludes publicly performed sound recordings from its reported gross revenues [11].

In the same vein, SiriusXM Radio excluded revenue from the Family Friendly and Mostly Music packages, which were originally offered from XM Radio before the merger and contain both music and talk programming. The publicly performed sound recordings in these packages are supposed to be covered by a statutory license. Once again, SiriusXM Radio did not spell out the method by which they separately recognize revenue garnered from music and talk channels in these packages, therefore making the reduction from gross revenue unauthorized by the Copyright Royalty Board [11]. Of all the exclusions, this one makes the least sense.

At the time that this post was published (Nov. 20th, 2013), SiriusXM Radio has declined to comment on the lawsuit and no progress has been made to the public in regards to securing a jury trial date.

New Programming:

David Bowie, photo courtesy of billboard.com [14].

David Bowie’s Limited-Run Station [14]:

From October 30th through November 12th, SiriusXM Radio ran a limited-time station revolving around David Bowie’s latest album, “The Next Day,” which premiered on November 5th. As a promotional effort for the album, the station revealed five songs from an expanded version of the album. Other programming included rare demos, covers and live performances of Bowie’s.

Danny Howard, photo courtesy of billboard.com [15].

UK DJ Danny Howard Brings EDM radio show to BPM [15]:

Premiering December 5th on the BPM station, Danny Howard will join an elite group of European DJ’s to showcase what’s hot in the UK and European electronic dance music scene. With this weekly show, he hopes to break DJs and producers from his side of the pond that might not have gotten stateside exposure. Prior to accepting this stateside residency with SiriusXM Radio, Howard hosted a show on BBC Radio 1 titled, “Dance Anthems with Danny Howard.”

21st Century FOX logo, photo courtesy of 21cf.com [17].

FOX Business returns to SiriusXM Radio [16]:

Originally dropped in 2008 after Sirius Satellite Radio merged with XM Satellite Radio, FOX Business reclaims its spot next to FOX News as another 21st Century Fox radio station. With their nationally regarded collection of personalities, the stations are sure to attract a wide audience with their discussion of news, politics and current affairs. The deal is set to last through 2019.

Sources:

1. SirusXM Logo

2. SiriusXM Corporate Overview

3. SiriusXM Key Executive Bios

4. SiriusXM Stock Quote

5. SiriusXM Third Quarter Financial Results

6. Bloomberg Article on SiriusXM Investor’s Being Shortchanged by the Liberty Media Takeover

7. Billboard Article on SiriusXM Shareholder’s Position on Liberty Media Takeover

8. Liberty Media Asset List

9. Liberty Media Logo

10. SoundExchange Logo

11. SoundExchange Sues SiriusXM Radio – Filed Complaint

12. Billboard Article – SoundExchange Sues SiriusXM Radio Over Royalty Calculations

13. Billboard Article – SoundExchange Seeks Up to $100 million from SiriusXM for Underpaying Artist Royalties

14. David Bowie’s Limited-Run Station

15. Danny Howard’s UK EDM Show

16. FOX Business Returns to SiriusXM Radio

17. 21st Century Fox Logo

20th Century Fox

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Evette Yedid

CONTACT

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp
10201 West Pico Boulevard,
Los Angeles, California 90035

www.foxmovies.com
www.foxstudios.com
Phone: (310) 369-1000

KEY EXECUTIVES:

(http://www.theempressofdress.com/2012/12/02/20th-century-fox/)

[10] via The Empress of Dress Blog

Mr. Keith Rupert Murdoch, 82 years old
Chairman of the Board and CEO

HIS TEAM [3]
Mr. Eduardo Echeverria – Senior VP of Latin America
Mr. Michael Peikoff – Senior VP of
Licensing and Merchandising
Mr. Robert Marick – Executive VP

BIO

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, better known as 20th Century Fox, is one of the top six world-renowned American film studios. It is a fully-equipped studio with over 17 stages, based out of the Century City area of Los Angeles, California. It is a subsidiary of the major media conglomerate 21st Century Fox as of recent divisional affairs. Major motion pictures from the studio include Avatar, Star Wars, X-Men, and Independence Day. [5]

[10] via Empress The Dress Blog

HISTORY

  20^th Century Fox began as Fox Film Corporation, which was started by movie theater chain entrepreneur William G. Fox. He began Fox Film Corporation when he merged his two companies Greater New York Film Rental and Fox Office Attractions Company in 1915, unknowingly creating the foundations of one of the biggest film production companies in American history. Fox Film Corporation eventually merged with Twentieth Century Pictures on May 31, 1935 to become what we know today as The Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, or simply, 20^th Century Fox. [1]

20^th Century Fox is a subsidiary of the newly established 21^st Century Fox. This past June 2013, mega-media distributor News Corporation (founded by Rupert Murdoch in 1979) was split into two separately traded companies; 21st Century Fox and News Corp. The film/media assets (20^th Century Fox Studios) went to 21^st Century Fox, and the publishing assets went strictly to News Corp. This highly anticipated split was achieved to appease long-term shareholders who were tired of the lesser of the successes, the publishing assets, from weighing down the stock. [4 ]

FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT

21^st Century Fox (the owner of the subsidiary 20^th Century Fox) is publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol FOXA. As of last week (Tuesday, November 5^th) it has been an official quarter since the June 2013 split of News Corporation into News Corp and 21^st Century Fox. Since the split, the quarter report reveals that 21^st Century Fox profit has experienced a 44% profit loss. Net income for the past quarter was 1.26 billion or 54 cents a share [8] whereas a year ago, it was 2.23 billion or 94 cents a share. This drop may be due the launch of two new cable channels, FXX and Fox Sports 1, however Fox executives recognize their success take time. “We knew going in that building these networks would take a few years, not months, and many of our signature events and programs are yet to be launched” Chase Carey, Chief Operating Officer of 21^st Century Fox, said. However in terms of studio revenue, there was a 9% increase to $2.12 billion in the past quarter, partially attributed to the sale of popular TV series New Girl to Netflix and strong movie releases such as The Wolverine and The Heat, although neither compared to last year’s blockbuster Ice Age: Continental Drift. [7]

CURRENT NEWS 

Via IMP Awards [16]

In Theaters now: 20th Century Fox recently released the young adult film The Book Thief on November 8, 2013, based on the best-selling novel. It tells of the journey of a young adopted girl, Liesel, and her life-changing experiences during World War II in Nazi-occupied Germany. Because of the film’s heavy theme and need to find its niche audience, it is being released gradually. Over opening weekend it was only released in four theaters (two in New York and two in LA), the second weekend it opened in 29 theatres, and its major release will be November 27, over Thanksgiving weekend. [12] The film ranked #30 in terms of gross total and has made a total of $569,000 thus far, although greater success after its main release is highly anticipated. [11] On the same day The Book Thief was released, another 20^th Century Fox motion picture, 12 Years A Slave, took box offices by storm. It is the story of Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, who is sold into slavery in the antebellum south. The movie is in its 5^th week and ranks #8 on top grossing movies on the past weekend. It has made nearly 25 million dollars and is showing in 1,411 theatres. [11]

Past successes of the quarter include the drug trafficking thriller The Counselor (which currently ranks #18 in its 4^th week) which has made $16,582,000. Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake’s Runner Runner came in third in its opening weekend, after Gravity and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Although it did not receive much praise from the critics, Runner Runner’s international release helped its numbers greatly. It grossed a domestic total of over 19 million dollars and adding this to its foreign box office totals, the film has earned over 60 million dollars. [14]

[17] via Chicago Now

Other films released this year include the indie teen romance The Spectacular Now, comedy The Internship, and 3-D animated kids movie Epic. In 2012, 20^th Century Fox hits included Life Of Pi, Lincoln, and Diary Of Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. [13]

WHAT’S TO COME?

Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty will finish out 20^th Century Fox’s releases of 2013. For 2014, Devil’s Due, Son of God, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, The Maze Runner, the extremely expensive sequels X-Men: Days of Future Past, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, are all in store. [13]

20^th Century Fox recently began discussing plans for the creation of a theme park near Miami Florida’s Zoo, after its recent agreement to create one in Malaysia. The plan would consist of 70 acres of a traditional “Orlando-style” amusement park with rides and attractions themed around the studio’s recent hit movies, such as Rio, Ice Age, Life of Pi, and Night at the Museum. There would be a separate 16-acre water park, an expansive hotel, a movie theater (used for Fox film premiers), a concert hall, a shopping strip, and a sports park. The cost of the park is 1 billion dollars, although Fox is only looking to pay $800 million of it, and hopes Miami-Dade County can fund the rest. Although nothing is finalized yet, Fox projects a dual-phased opening, one in 2018 and one in 2020. [15]

SOURCES:

[1] The Studio Tour – Fox Timeline

[2] 20th Century Fox – Directory of Services

[3] BusinessWeek FOXA – Private Company Information

[4] Paid Content Article – News Corporation Split

[5] Fox Studio Chart – Box Office Mojo

[6] IMDb The Book Thief

[7] News Corporation Split via The Guardian

[8] FOXA Stock graphs on MarketWatch.com

[9] Kell, John. Market Watch: 21^st Century Fox profit drops 44%; Sales Gain

[10] Photos via Blog The Empress of Dress

[11] Box Office Mojo – Fox Weekend Chart Movies

[12] Background on The Book Thief via Yahoo! Entertainment News

[13] www.foxmovies.com – Fox main website

[14] IMDb Page – Runner Runner

[15] Munzenreider, Ken. 20th Century Fox Has Plans for Major Theme Park Near Zoo Miami via miaminewtimes.com

[16] The Book Thief Photo via IMP Awards

[17] Runner Runner Photo

20th Century Fox

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Rebecca Drootin

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp

10201 West Pico Boulevard,
Los Angeles, California 90035

Mail: P.O. Box 900,
Beverly Hills, California 90213
Phone: 310-277-2211
Fax: 310-203-1558
www.foxmovies.com [1]

20th Century Fox’s iconic logo.

Summary:

20th Century Fox is a film production and distribution company under Fox Entertainment

Recent Best Picture winner, Life of Pi, is a 20th Century Fox film.

Group which is a part of the media conglomerate, News Corporation. The company releases about 14 films a year many of which have been very successful [1]. 20th Century Fox formed in 1935 and has been one of the top film studios for almost a hundred years [2]. The subsidiary companies to 20th Century Fox include Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox International Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios [1]. 20th Century Fox is most notably responsible for James Cameron’s films Avatar and Titanic as well as classics such as the Star Wars series, Home Alone, the Ice Age series, Independence Day, The Sound of Music, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and hundreds more [4].

Fox Searchlight’s logo

Fox Searchlight is a speciality division under 20th Century Fox. The company tends to release smaller budget, niche-genre films. Many of Fox Searchlight’s films have earned Academy Award nominations and wins such as Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, Slumdog Millionaire, The Descendants, and Black Swan [4].

Executives [15]

Rupert Murdoch

Chris Petrikin- Executive Vice President, Global Communications
Rupert Murdoch- Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Robert Marick- Executive Vice President
Ricardo Crespo- Senior Vice President of Global Creative
Thomas E. Rothman- Board Member
Robert Harpe- Board Member
James Gianopulos- Board Member

Financial Information

News Corp’s current share price is $30.9 up 36.6% from 19.58 at this time last year. Their revenue for the year 2012 was $34.33 billion a 2% increase from their 2011 revenue of $33.4 billion [3].

This graph represents the share price of News Corp stock since 2008 [9].

20th Century Fox is currently number 4 in the market, holding an 11.7% share. It has grossed $256.9 million. Compared to its position in April of 2012, it is down $40 million in revenue, with the same amount of films released. In 2012, they finished 6th in the market with a 9.5% share, releasing 15 films. 2012 was a successful year, having increased profits from 2011 by 4.9%, up from $977 million to $1 billion [4].

Fox Searchlight is currently 16th in the market with a .2% of the market share. It has currently grossed $4.5 million at the box office with the release of 4 films so far this year. Searchlight finished 2012 grossing $117.8 million, down 22.7% from the 2011 gross of $152.4 million. For 2012, Fox Searchlight was 12th in the market a slight decline from their 2011 position of 11th in the market. In 2012 they released 10 movies and in 2011 they released 11, most likely causing the decline in profits [4].

Competitors

The Weinstein Company is independently owned unlike most studios that fall under a media conglomerate.

20th Century Fox competes most closely with the five other major studios (Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros, Disney, Universal, and Paramount.) Universal is currently number one in the market, followed by the Weinstein Company, and Buena Vista. Universal has only released 2 films so far this year, one being the successful film, Identity Theif, and have still been experiencing profits from their late 2012 releases including the award winner Les Miserables. Beuna Vista released the high grossing, Oz The Great and Powerful. The recent wild success of the Weinstein Company has caused it to become more comprable in profits to 20th Century Fox than to Fox Searchlight though they release similar types of films. This has largely been due to their award winning films Django Unchained and Silver Linings Playbook. 20th Century Fox has held a high position in the market due to the success of The Croods. Other 2013 releases inclue Broken City and A Good Day to Die Hard [4].

Recent News

After a phone hacking scandal in 2011 and increased pressure from shareholders, News Corp will be splitting into two separate companies mid-2013. 20th Century Fox and all other Fox brands will become a part of a new company titled Fox Group. The publishing side of the company will remain News Corporation. Fox Group is slated to be led by Chase Carey, president and chief operating officer, Rupert Murdoch, chief executive and chairman, and James Murdoch, who will serve as the deputy chief operating officer [6]. Due to this split, 20th Century Fox’s co-chairman Tom Rothman will be resigning, leaving co-chairman, Jim Gianopolus, to lead the entire film division [11].

The 2013 release of The Croods has been notable for more than just its success at the box office. The film is the first to be released under DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox’s new partnership. Formerly, DreamWorks films were distributed by Paramount but the two companies ended this agreement late last year. This new deal has been very profitable for 20th Century Fox, as The Croods grossed $44.7 million in its opening weekend alone [7].

20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios are currently preparing for the release of the film Epic. Director, Chris Wedge, known for the Ice Age films, claims that Epic shows both technological advancement and genre evolution for Blue Sky [12]. The companies are heavily promoting the film that is set to release in May. Teaming up with Rite-Aid, the film will be an official charity partner of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals [13].

20th Century Fox is taking initiative to lead the industry in the new medium of digital media. In September, the Home Entertainment division decided

to release digital copies of the film Prometheus three weeks before the DVD and Blu-ray release. In attempt to make online films more accessible and affordable, the company is also moving to dispel online piracy. 20th Century Fox is the first of the major studios to place such high importance on the release of digital content, calling the initiative Digital HD. Fox will release all recent films on Digital HD in addition to the effort to have over 600 Fox titles available on other digital platforms [8]. 20th Century Fox as well as other studios are currently in a prolonged legal battle with Google due to online piracy issues. The companies are requesting Google to remove links to pirated content but Google is responding by publishing the requests from these companies with direct links to the pirated content. This phenomenon is being called “copyright irony.” [14]

Fox Searchlight recently announced that it will be releasing the upcoming film, Twelve Years A Slave, rather than the parent company 20th Century Fox. The Steve McQueen film features Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, and the young Quvenzhane Wallis. It will premier in December [10]. Fox Searchlight currently has two films in theaters: Danny Boyle’s thriller Trance and Chan-wook Park’s Stoker which experienced festival success [10].

Sources:

[1] http://www.newscorp.com/management/20film.html

[2] http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/zanuck-schenck.htm

[3] http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=NWS+Key+Statistics

[4] http://www.boxofficemojo.com/studios

[5] TRF 235 Lecture Notes: Barbara Jones, Class 2

[6] http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/news-corp-announces-its-corporate-split-and-the-closing-of-the-daily/

[7] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/movies/the-croods-and-olympus-has-fallen-lead-the-box-office.html?_r=2&

[8] http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/20th-century-fox-s-mary-daily-taking-digital-lead/238751/

[9] http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=NWS+Interactive#symbol=nws;range=20080103,20130401;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

[10] www.foxsearchlight.com

[11] http://www.medialifemagazine.com/people-9-17-12/

[12] http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=101806

[13] http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1149205

[14] http://businessofcinema.com/hollywood/twentieth-century-fox-and-others-in-piracy-battle-with-google/71643

[15] http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/people.asp?privcapId=35867

Photos

1.http://www.foxstudios.com/data/image/teasers/category_bg_home.jpg

2.https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net/profile_images/495817344/FoxLogo_FanfareVersion.jpg

3.http://www.impawards.com/2012/posters/life_of_pi.jpg

4.http://www.foxsearchlight.com/media/blog_post_images/fsl_logo2.jpg

5. http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/files/2010/09/rupert-murdoch.jpg

6. http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/2010/11/19/weinstein.jpg?1290168446

7. http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BODU3NzI5ODc1NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODQ2NDU1OA@@._V1_SX214_.jpg

8. http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2011/09/FBI_Anti-Piracy_Warning.jpeg

Universal Pictures

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Moon Park

by Moon Park

Universal Pictures logo [1]

Address: 100 Universal City Plaza Universal Studios, CA. 91608

Contact Information: 818.777.1000

Major Media Company: Comcast

Parent Company: NBC Universal

Key Executives:

Ron Meyer, President and Chief Operating Officer

Adam Fogelson, Chairman

Jimmy Horowitz, President

Rick Finkelstein, Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer

James Schamus, Chief Executive Officer

(Ronald Meyer)

Profile: Universal Studios Inc. also known as Universal Pictures is an American motion picture and television studio which is located in Universal City in California. Universal Pictures is owned my Comcast and is a subsidiary of NBC Universal. It is one of the six major studios in the United States and one of the longest existing motion picture studios as well. Its main purpose is to develop, produce, and market entertainment[2]. Along with making movies, Universal also has theme parks located in Hollywood, California and Orlando, Florida[3]. Through its international production group, the studio teams up with the international studios to make blockbuster movie. They also make wide commercial and special releases in not so familiar regions. For almost a century now, Universal Pictures made diverse films such as classics: Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park series, and Mamma Mia!. It also made franchise movies such as: Meet the Parents, Fast and Furious, Back to the Future, and the Bourne Series. Not only did they make high grossing movies, they also made quality movies which won them the Academy Awards such as: King Kong, Brokeback Mountain, The Pianist, and many more[4] . Over the years of movie making, Universal Pictures grossed over $25 billion all time (movies before 1982 has not been recorded)[5]. On the course of making movies, Universal is very successful and is on the top of the list when it comes to studios.

Universal Pictures History: Carl Laemmle was the man to start Universal Pictures. While he was planning to start a clothing shop in Chicago in 1905, he came across people waiting in line for a nickelodeon. At that moment Laemmle decided to change his job, and opened his first theater The White Front Theater. From then on, Laemmle started to make more branches of theaters with partners and started making money. Carl Laemmle met Robert Cochrane and expanded their theaters. They made the Laemmle Film Service, which became the largest movie distributor of the country in the early 1900s. After having problems with the motion pictures, Laemmle and Cochrane made their own movies. In 1912 the Universal Film Manufacturing Company was formed and this led to Universal Pictures’ 100th anniversary in 2012 [6].

Where the company is headed today: Most good film today push towards the holidays or before it so that it could be a contender for an award ceremony held in early times of the year. Films such as: Zero Dark Thirty and Les Miserables were nominated for both the Golden Globes and the Oscars. The movie Ted also did great in the box office to end Universal’s 2012 [7].

January 2013 : On January 6, Universal renewed its domestic domestic output deal with HBO with a long term extension. This is the tenth year they are working with HBO and has been successful [8]. The epic film Jurassic Park, which was made in 1993, is scheduled to be released in IMAX and 3D on April [9]. Universal Pictures signed with Nintendo’s marketing director and assistant general manager, Dawn Paine to be their vice president of marketing mostly in overseas. In addition he is responsible for the publicity of Universal’s home entertainment business [10].

February 2013: Universal showed their new release: Fast and Furious 6 on the day of Superbowl. The movie is expected to be seen everywhere on theaters May 24 [11]. The character Ted(from the movie Ted) came out with its co-star Mark Wahlburg in the 85th Oscars. Seth McFarlane who created and played Ted hosted the show and asked Universal Pictures to pay for the appearance due to technical issues [12]. In addition, Les Miserables’ Anne Hathaway won best supporting actress and many were nominated for both Les Miserables and Zero Dark Thirty.

March 2013: Universal Pictures were fighting for legal rights with a porn producer, who adapted a pornography adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey. Universal won the rights in the end, which turned out for Smash Pictures to pay Universal for their doing [13]. Marc Abraham and Eric Newman of Strike Entertainment (an Universal Pictures co-company) decided to dissolve the company and step away from Universal after a 15 year run [14]. StudioCanal has launched legal actions against Universal, who was their former partners. StudioCanal claims that Universal’s violation was “fiduciary and contractual obligations.” They also claim that Universal hid some payments and did not report incomes. [15].

April 2013: Jurassic Park premiered on April 5th and is made $18 million in its opening weekend where budget was just at the $10 million mark [16] . From January-April, Universal Pictures came in at number one in the studio market share with its distribution. They marked 13.1% and grossed over $300 million with five movies, two of them being released in 2013 [17].

What is coming next for Universal: Universal Pictures are pushing for roughly twelve more movies to come out for 2013. Summer movies are: Fast and Furious 6, Kick Ass 2, The Purge, Despicable Me 2, R.I.P.D, etc… [18].

Financial Reports: For the fourth quarter report of Universal Pictures in 2012, they increased 9% from 1.3 to 1.4 compared with 2011 fourth quarter financial report from films such as, Les Miserables Ted, This is 40, and Bourne Legacy. Their Operating Cash Flow decreased 4.7% from $89 million to $84. For the year, they ended $5.2 billion, which was a 12.4 increase from their 2011 revenue $4.7 billion [19]Comcast Corporation (the owner of Universal) announced on March that they will release their 2013 first quarter financial report on May 1, 2013 [20].

Competition: Competition for Universal Pictures are as followed: Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and Warner Bros. Pictures. They are known as the Major Big Six Film studios in the United States.

Universal Pictures Affiliated Groups:

Bravo Media
CNBC
E!
Esquire Network
Fandango
Focus Features
Golf Channel
International Television
MSNBC
mun2
NBC Entertainment
NBC News
NBC Owned Television Stations
NBC Sports Group
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Cable and New Media Distribution
NBCUniversal Digital Distribution
NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution
NBCUniversal Television Networks Distribution
Oxygen Media
Sprout
Style Media
Syfy
Telemundo
Universal Parks & Resorts
Universal Pictures
Universal Television
USA Network

Sources:

1. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.myfilmviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/universal-pictures-100th-anniversary-logo1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.myfilmviews.com/2012/02/16/the-story-behind-the-universal-pictures-logo/&h=811&w=1500&sz=891&tbnid=azNGy7FcyZtUPM:&tbnh=65&tbnw=120&zoom=1&usg=__8V1u5F0D3KgGXBGBzwXIMnzueIM=&docid=XETkV1Rks8ResM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hkRiUa_mH-nh4AO5h4DQCg&sqi=2&ved=0CDcQ9QEwAQ&dur=1874

2. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=804881

3. http://www.universalstudios.com/

4. http://www.nbcuni.com/film/universal-pictures/

5. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/studio/chart/?page=7&yr=&view=company&view2=allmovies&studio=universal.htm&p=.htm

6. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/universal-studios-inc-history/

7. http://www.movieinsider.com/c13/universal-pictures/

8. http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/universal-pictures-extends-domestic-output-deal-with-hbo/

9. http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/jurassic-park-imax-3d-release-april-5/

10. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=804881

11. http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/fast-and-furious-6-trailer-extended-universal-pictures/

12. http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/oscars-2013-ted-appearance-mark-wahlberg/

13. http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/settlement-reached-in-universals-fifty-shades-of-grey-porn-adaptation-suit/

14. http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/producing-partners-marc-abraham-and-eric-newman-dissolve-strike-entertainment/

15. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=804881

16. http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/

17. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/studio/

18. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/schedule/?view=distributor&id=universal.htm

19. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/12/pa-comcast-idUSnBw4kmz68a+100+BSW20130212

20. http://www.cmcsk.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=750147

DreamWorks Animation

Posted on April 7, 2013 by alwenner

by Alex Wenner

1000 Flower St.
Glendale, CA, 91201, United States
(818) 695-5000
dreamworksanimation.com

Origins:

DreamWorks’ Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen on the cover of Time Magazine, March 27, 1995. Coutesy of malibucomplete.com

Co-founded in 1994 by entertainment veterans Stephen Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, DreamWorks Animation SKG has released a total of twenty-six animated feature films that have grossed over $10 billion worldwide (as of 2012). In 1995, DreamWorks embarked on a co-production venture with Pacific Data Images. This new unit was created to produce computer-animated motion pictures, beginning with 1998’s Antz. In 2005, Viacom purchased the live-action division of DreamWorks, only to end this partnership in 2008. Reliance Entertainment now acts as its parents company. 20th Century Fox took over international marketing and distribution for SKG in 2012, and the SKG studio now handles its own domestic distribution. In addition to feature films, DreamWorks produces television programming and other family entertainment. [1] [2]

Key Executives:

Spielberg, Courtesy of static-I3.org

Jeffery Katzenberg, Courtesy of hollywoodreporter.com

Jeffrey Katzenberg – CEO and Director: Directed Disney‘s animation unit to successes like The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994) before co-founding DreamWorks Animation in ’94. Heavily involved in early SKG animation hits.

Lew Coleman – President and CFO: Spent 37 years in the banking industry before joining SKG in 2007.

Stephen Spielberg– Principal Partner: One of Hollywood’s most recognizable names and

Lew Coleman, Courtesy of dreamworksanimation.com

talents, Steven Spielberg co-founded the studio. From 1997 to 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull , all Spielberg films were released through DreamWorks live-action division. [3] [4]

Financials: [5]

Revenue: $749 million (2012)

Operating Income: -$65 million (2012)

Animation Portfolio:
DreamWorks has enjoyed considerable success, both commercial and critical, with its large library of animated films. SKG’s films boast a $430 million gross average, an astounding number second to only Pixar. Four of DreamWorks films rank amongst the fifty highest-grossing films of all time, and the studio can lay claim to sixteen of the fifty highest-grossing animated features of all time. Though the studio has a history of traditionally-animated films (The Road to El Dorado, Sinbad), SKG has confirmed that all future films will be computer-animated. [6]

Chicken Run (2000)

Courtesy of impawards.com

Co-financed and distributed by DreamWorks for Aardman Animation, the stop-motion animated Chicken Run marked one of the company’s first forays into animated motion pictures. It was a decisive success, grossing nearly $228 million worldwide with a $42 million budget.

Shrek (2001)

DreamWorks found solid gold with the release of Shrek, a box-office smash-hit that

Courtesy of traileraddict.com

catapulted the studio to the forefront of film animation alongside studios like Pixar and Disney. The green ogre grossed $485 million worldwide and earned the Academy’s first award for Best Animated Feature. The computer animation used in Shrek was different from the traditional animation methods used in previous DreamWorks features, and the film’s release marked a subtle change in direction for the studio; now it would focus its efforts almost entirely on computer animation. Its sequel, Shrek 2, would go on to shatter box-office records in 2004 ($920 million worldwide gross).

Madagascar (2005)

Courtesy of impawards.com

Following the computer-animated tradition of Shrek, Madagascar continued the string of massive success for SKG, taking in $530 million worldwide in ’05.

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

impawards.com

Jack Black stars in this computer animated comedy that marked DreamWorks biggest opening for a non-sequel, and the highest grossing animated feature of the year ($632 million worldwide).

Rise of the Guardians (2012)

Expected to launch a new franchise, Guardians (featuring a re-envisioning of classic characters Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, etc.) was considered a flop despite being well-received critically and grossing over $300 million worldwide. It also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. [7]

Courtesy of yodale.org

Recent Activity:

February 26, 2013 – DreamWorks Animation reported a quarterly loss of nearly $83 million, mainly due to the disappointing performance of Rise of the Guardians (which still brought in over $300 million to an estimated $145 million budget, excluding marketing costs). CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg attributes Guardians lackluster performance to poor marketing. Another film in production, Me & My Shadow, was sent back into development, accruing more losses for the studio. As a result of the studios reset setbacks, SKG announced a series of layoffs that will see around 350 employees lose their jobs by the end of the year. This resulted in a small drop in SKG stock.[8]

March 13, 2013 – Despite watching its stock price drop in the wake of its 4th quarter earnings report, DreamWorks Animation SKG stock experienced an 8% rise after an analyst predicted the studio’s new release, The Croods, will exceed box office expectations. As of April 7th, The Croods has earned over $330 million worldwide in two and a half weeks. [9] [10]

March 20, 2013 – DreamWorks Animation releases the theatrical trailer for its upcoming summer 2013 animated feature, Turbo. Starring voice talent such as Ryan Reynolds, Snoop Dogg, Paul Giamatti and Luis Guzman, the film chronicles a snail’s dream of becoming a racing legend, and will be distributed by 20th Century Fox. [11]

Upcoming Projects- Even with the recent theatrical release of The Croods and the summer release of Turbo, DreamWorks Animation SKG has a full slate of movies set for production. Two sequels to SKG’s acclaimed How to Train Your Dragon (2010) are set for release in 2014 and 2016. In fall 2013, SKG plans to release Mr. Peabody & Sherman, a Rocky & Bullwinkle spin-off. With five planned releases including new films from the Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda franchises, 2015 figures to be a huge year for Animation SKG. [12]

Sources:

[1] http://animation.about.com/od/industryprofiles/p/dreamworks.htm

[2] http://www.dreamworksanimation.com/company

[3] http://quotes.wsj.com/DWA/company-people

[4] http://www.forbes.com/companies/dreamworks-animation/

[5] http://quotes.wsj.com/DWA?mod=DNH_S_cq

[6] http://animation.about.com/od/industryprofiles/p/dreamworks.htm

[7] http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/series/DreamworksAnimation.php

[8] http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/dreamworks-reports-82-7-million-loss/

[9] http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dreamworks-animation-stock-surges-8-428424

[10] http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=croods.htm

[11] http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/watch-dreamworks-animations-speedy-theatrical-trailer-for-turbo/

[12] http://screenrant.com/dreamworks-animation-lineup-2013-2016/all/1/

20th Century Fox

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Bria Holness

by Bria Holness

Photo courtesy of fanpop.com

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp

10201 West Pico Boulevard,

Los Angeles, California 90035

www.foxmovies.com

A Brief History

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, also known as 20th Century Fox, was established on May 31, 1935 when the founders of Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures decided to merge into one. It is now one of the major American film studios that produces, acquires, and distributes motion pictures. Based in Los Angeles, California, it operates as a subsidiary of Fox Entertainment Group Inc. and is responsible for some of the top grossing movies, including Avatar and Titanic. [1] [2]

Quick Financials

During the first quarter, which encompasses the months of January, February, and March, 20th Century Fox brought in a gross income of $256.9 million, a 13.7% decrease in comparison to the first quarter of 2012; however, this is also an 123.7% increase in comparison to 2011. [19]

Key Executives

Keith Rupert Murdoch

Photo courtesy of biography.com

Murdoch is the founder of News Corporation, in which 20th Century Fox is a subsidiary of, and has been its Chairman since 1991. Since 1992, Murdoch has been the Chairman of Fox Entertainment Group Inc. and its Chief Executive Officer since 1995. He operates as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. [2]

Eduardo Echeverria

Photo courtesy of variety.com

Echeverria is Senior Vice President of Latin America at Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and has served as so since 2001. [2] Echeverria manages the sales and marketing operations and theatrical distribution for all Fox Filmed Entertainment product in Latin America. [2]

Michael Peikoff

Since July 1, 2007, Peikoff has been Senior Vice President of Licensing and Merchandising of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. His duties include managing internal and external communication for the licensing division and managing retail marketing and licensed promotion initiatives in the U.S. [2]

Robert Marick

Photo courtesy of licensing.biz

As Executive Vice President since July of 2010, Marick manages the global licensing of Fox’s television and film assets across different platforms including television promotions, interactive gaming, literary publishing, themed entertainment, and consumer products. [2]

Ricardo Crespo

Photo courtesy of centralpa.aiga.org

Crespo has served as Senior Vice President of Global Creative at Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation since July 2010. [2] Prior to joining the 20th Century Fox team, Crespo held several leadership positions at Saatchi & Saatchi, Mattel Inc., Bozell Worldwide, and McCANN ERICKSON. [4]

In The News

Broken City

Photo courtesy of radionowindy.com

20th Century Fox Films released its first film of the year, Broken City, starring Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, and Catherine Zeta Jones, on January 18th. The film told the story of a New York City cop, who one night gets involved in a scandalous shooting. He’s stripped of his badge but kept out of jail by the works of New York’s Mayor, who offers him a lump sum of money to investigate his wife. While doing so he finds himself in the middle of a much larger scandal as he realizes that the Mayor isn’t who he seems to be.

During its opening weekend, the film made about $9 million and $4 million the weekend after. With an estimated budget of $55 million, it has made an overall gross of $19,667,601 up to date. It has received mixed reviews ranging from being called a complete mess to being considered an entertaining thriller. Nonetheless, there seems to be a majority consensus—the cast and the numerous twists are great but can only keep the “weak” storyline going but so far, causing it to receive a B- from Entertainment Weekly. [5] [6]

20th Century Fox employed an interesting marketing strategy for the movie. Instead of featuring promotional quotes from legitimate movie critics, they chose to use tweets from the hashtag, #BrokenCity, in which basically anyone could be a critic.

Photo courtesy of cultureblues.com

The studio believed it was a way to be more personable and interactive and to get fans more excited for the upcoming film. However, the tactic raised many questions about the weight of movie critics’ opinions and whether or not they carry the same weight as the opinions of the fans. [7]

Wahlberg also held a special, early screening of the film as a fundraiser for the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation . He offered a chance to win tickets at Celebrities for Charity. [8]

A Good Day to Die Hard

Photo courtesy of movies.wikia.com

20th Century Fox released the fifth movie of the Die Hard franchise, A Good Day to Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney, on February 14^th. This is the first of the franchise to not be released during the blockbuster summer months and instead in the cold month of February. [9] The film tells the story of a cop, John McClane, who travels to Moscow to help his unruly son Jack, unaware that Jack is really a CIA agent attempting to stop a nuclear weapons robbery. Despite their differences, they are forced to work together to keep each other and the world safe. [5]

The film was produced for about $92 million. During its opening weekend, it made $24,834,845 domestically and $45,301,894 oversees, giving it the number one spot of films newly released that weekend. [10] However, this is over $70 million less than what the last movie of the Die Hard franchise made in the summer of 2007. With this comparison, it could be considered disappointing. [11]

Very unlike the previous films of the series, the film has been largely slated by various critics. Based on 40 “generally unfavorable” reviews, Metacritic has given the movie a 28 out of 100 and based on 184 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes has given it a score of 4 out of 10. On both sites, several reasons for such low scores have been cited but the majority seems to agree on a muddling plotline with too many holes and twists as the movie’s downfall. [12] [13]

The Croods

Photo courtesy of filmofilia.com

20th Century Fox teamed up with DreamWorks Animation for the first time in the production and release of The Croods, a prehistoric comedy for the family, starring Nicholas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, and Catherine Keener. It officially premiered worldwide on March 22nd and brought in $43,639,736 during its opening weekend. [18]

The film follows the story of a caveman, Crug, who must lead his family across an unstable and dangerous landscape after an earthquake destroys their home. While doing so they come across a nomad who charms everyone but Crug with his revolutionary modern ways. [14] As of April 1st, with a budget of about $135 million, the film has made $93,893,394 domestically and $148,802,379 from foreign theaters, amounting to $242,695,773 worldwide. [18]

To build up anticipation of the release of the movie, DreamWorks made a deal with Rovio to create a mobile game based on The Croods, an impressive marketing strategy. In the game, the Croods, a family of cave men, find their way out of the Stone Age through the use of a new tool, the idea. They hunt and gather their way through new landscapes as they tame creatures they’ve never seen before.

Rovio released the game for Apple and Android devices on March 14, just about a week before the official release of the film. [15]

What’s Next for 20th Century Fox?

20th Century Fox plans to release another 3-D animated family film, Epic, which is based on the children’s book, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs. From the creators of Ice Age and Rio, Epic follows the story of a teenage girl, who finds herself magically transported into a secret universe. While there, she must team up with a group of capricious characters in order to save their world and her own from Queen Tara, the evil spider. [16]