Relativity Media

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Trevor Bulger

By Trevor Bulger

[1] Courtesy of GeekForE.

Relativity Media engages in full-scale film and television production and distribution, music publishing, sports management and digital media. Relativity Media has produced, distributed, or financed over 200 films and generated more $22 billion in box office revenue worldwide. The company partners with and invests in other media-related companies, including a recent partnership with Major League Gaming (MLG). [2] Currently, their film Free Birds is in theaters.

Executives:

Ryan Kavanaugh Tucker Tooley Happy Walters Gregory Shamo Robbie Brenner
CEO President Co-COO Co-COO Pres., Production

Ryan Kavanaugh is both the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Relativity Media. He is a producer, and has been producer or executive producer of many of Relativity Media’s recent movies, including Out of the Furnace and The Family.

Tucker Tooley, as president of Relativity since 2007, oversees its daily operations, as well as marketing and distribution. He was also producer of We’re The Millers, released in summer 2013.

Happy Walters, since 2012, has served as Co-Chief Operating Officer for Relativity. He helps determine the direction that Relativity Media will go in future seasons and handles day-to-day operations.

Gregory Shamo oversees the corporate, business, and legal affairs of Relativity Media, as well as assisting the day-to-day operations of the company. He has helped lead several of the major deals that Relativity Media has made, including the distribution agreement they have made with Twentieth Century Fox.

Robbie Brenner, the President of Production, leads the production team in filmmaking. She has overseen a large number of the films produced by Relativity Media, and led the acquisition of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Don Jon. [3]

Recent Releases:

Don Jon Official Trailer
Don Jon, directed by and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is a comedy about Jon, a rather stereotypical stud who can get a different girl every weekend, and Barbara, a girl raised on Disney looking to find her Prince Charming. It focuses around their attempt to find intimacy despite their differences and the fantasies of the culture of the time. [4]

Don Jon opened on 27 September, and made a domestic gross of over $24 million, on a production budget of only $6 million, reaching #5 in the weekend box office on its opening weekend. [5]

Free Birds Official Trailer
Free Birds, directed by Jimmy Hayward and excellently premiering in the month of November, is a buddy comedy about a pair of turkeys who want nothing to do with each other, but must team up in order to change history and remove turkeys from the holiday menu. [6]

Free Birds is currently in its fourth week, having opened on 1 November. It has already grossed over $42 million out of its $55 million budget, and has remained in the Top 5 weekend box office for all three weekends. [7]

Financial Information for Relativity Media is unavailable, as it is not a publicly traded company.

The Shift:

Relativity Media has largely focused on financial backing of projects created by other groups or studios, but that is changing. The company spent months exchanging one financial backer for a full consortium of investors, and with the closure of this shift, the company is ramping up production on a large variety of coming projects as it becomes a full-fledged studio capable of releasing 10 to 15 movies per year. [8]

Among the upcoming projects is the adaptation of the memoir Not Without Hope, which will be financed, produced, and distributed by Relativity Media. Dwayne Johnson is planned to star in the film, which is based on a story of four friends who were tragically stranded at sea, struggling to survive while hoping for help to come. [9]

Another upcoming project, to be released on 6 December, is Out of the Furnace, a gritty drama produced by Scott Cooper, about a blue collar man whose brother is pulled into a crime ring. When his brother disappears, he takes matters into his own hands to find justice for his brother. [10]

Partnership with Major League Gaming:

MLG and Relativity Media have partnered to begin producing original content about professional gamers. Though professional gaming is somewhat of a niche market, it is expanding, and quite a few people follow it closely, many saying that professional gamers deserve as much respect as professional athletes. They plan to produce content to better paint a picture of these players and the audiences to non-gamers, hoping that some of these gamers may even eventually become attached to brands in the same way that many athletes today are. It has been pointed out that both companies target similar demographic audiences, with most of their products targeting men much more than women. [2]

Sources:

[1] Geek for E: Relativity Media Logo Accessed on 19 Nov 2013

[2] All Things D: MLG Partners with Relativity Media Accessed on 19 Nov 2013

[3] Relativity Media: Executive Bios Accessed on 20 Nov 2013

[4] Relativity Media: Don Jon Accessed on 20 Nov 2013

[5] Box Office Mojo: Don Jon Accessed on 20 Nov 2013

[6] Relativity Media: Free Birds Accessed on 20 Nov 2013

[7] Box Office Mojo: Free Birds Accessed on 20 Nov 2013

[8] The Wrap: Robbie Brenner Interview Accessed on 20 Nov 2013

[9] Variety: Dwayne Johnson Accessed on 20 Nov 2013

[10] Relativity Media: Out of the Furnace Accessed on 20 Nov 2013

Warner Bros. Pictures

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Jacob Tobias

By Jacob Tobias

Warner Brothers Pictures Logo [1]

History

Warner Brothers Pictures was founded on April 4, 1923. Since then Warner Brothers has been at the forefront of the movie industry. Founded by the 4 Warner brothers, Albert, Sam, Harry, and Jack, Warner Brothers quickly became a leader in motion pictures. Warner Brothers Pictures is responsible for Oscar winners such as, Casablanca, My Fair Lady, Driving Miss Daisy, and Million Dollar Baby. Warner Brothers Pictures is consistently a leader in the film industry. [2]

Key Executives

Kevin Tsujihara
Courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter [3]

Barry M. Meyer
Courtesy of thezog [4]

Greg Silverman
Courtesy of Deadline [5]

Kevin Tsujihara is the CEO of Warner Brothers. Barry M. Meyer is the chairman of Warner Brothers, and under his leadership consistently ranks as one of the strongest and most profitable studios in the film industry. Greg Silverman is the President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production for Warner Brothers Pictures. Silverman oversees the creative development and the budget for Warner Brothers Pictures.[6] [7] [8]

Financials

In 2012 Warner Brothers Pictures grossed $1.66 billion domestically, and another $2.67 billion internationally. It was the twelfth consecutive year in which the domestic box office, as well as the international box office has exceeded the billion dollar mark. In 2013 Warner Brothers is expected to cross the billion dollar mark again thanks to blockbusters such as Gravity, which has exceeded $500 million worldwide, Man of Steel, which has totaled about $663 million worldwide, We’re The Millers, which has totaled $266 million worldwide, and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which is projected to earn approximately $230 million domestically. This continued success should have Warner Brothers Pictures above the $4 billion dollar mark worldwide by the end of the year. [9] [10]

Recent Releases

Gravity

Gravity Poster
Courtesy of comingsoon.net [14]

Gravity is a space thriller directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The film follows the struggle of a medical engineer and an astronaut after they are stranded in space after an accident. [11]

Gravity opened in 3,575 theaters on October 4, 2013 to a number one ranking at the box office. It raked in $55, 785,112 during the opening weekend. It has gone on to make $240, 379, 710 domestically and another $275,200,000 in the foreign box office. That totals a gross of $515, 579,710 worldwide approximately five times its projected budget. [12]

Gravity has received universal acclaim and received a score of 96 out of 100 on Metacritic. Along with the incredible success in the box office there is also a lot of Oscars buzz surrounding the film. Critics believe that Gravity will receive a nomination for best picture, and may receive several other nominations as well, including a nomination for Best Actress for Sandra Bullock. [11] [13]

We’re The Millers

We’re The Millers
Courtesy of impawards.com [15]

We’re The Millers is the story of a drug dealer who creates a pseudo family in order to smuggle drugs across the Mexican border. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, the film stars Jason Sudeikis, and Jennifer Aniston. [16]

We’re The Millers opened on August 7, 2013 and grossed $26, 419,396 the opening weekend. The film is still in select theaters around the country and currently the film has grossed $150, 024,262 domestically and another $116,300,000 in the foreign box office. [17]

Overall the film was not warmly received by critics. We’re The Millers received a Metacritic score of 44 out of 100. Although critic reviews were mostly mixed the imdb rating for the film is 7.1 stars out of 10. Clearly the target demographic of the film received the film much better than critics. Considering the mixed reviews the film still did extremely well for the studio, grossing over $250 million worldwide.

Upcoming Projects

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug poster Courtesy of collier.com

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug poster
Courtesy of collider.com [18]

On December 13, 2013, Warner Brothers will release the second installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy. The film is projected to make about $230 million domestically, not quite as high as the first film, but still a good number for the studio. In 2014, Warner Brothers will release the third film of the trilogy, The Hobbit: There and Back Again. Although the reception for the first film was not overwhelming the studio is hoping that the return of familiar faces from The Lord of the Rings will aide in The Hobbits release. [10]

Although the first film made over $300 million, Warner Brothers has been working hard to market Gandalf, and Legolas, as well as the dragon Smaug, in an attempt to avoiding losing out on Lord of the Rings fans who did not enjoy the first film. The studio is hoping that the return of such characters will provide a breath of fresh air for the trilogy and will bring in more than the projected sum of $230 million. [10]

Superman vs Batman

Warner Brothers owns DC Comics so there has been a ton of success with both the Batman

Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck
Courtesy of Vulture [19]

and Superman franchises. The Dark Knight trilogy was wildly successful for the studio, and in 2013 Man of Steel was released. In the second installment of the Superman franchise Warner Brothers has brought together the man of steel and the caped crusader.

Ben Affleck has been cast as the newest Batman to star alongside Henry Cavill. The casting has come with major scrutiny. Director Zack Synder has given his full support to Affleck and is excited for the opportunity to work with him. The film is set to debut in the summer of 2015, and aims to piggyback off the success of the several DC Comics franchises. [20]

Grudge Match

Grudge Match Poster
Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly [21]

Grudge Match, is the story of two aging boxing rivals who fight 30 years after their last bout. It is the first time that Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone share the big screen. Grudge Match has an excellent cast and there is talk that it may be this years Silver Linings Playbook.

Grudge Match exemplifies Warner Brothers ability to produce movies with star power and the studio is hoping that Grudge Match could be the feelgood movie of the holiday season. It is to be released on Christmas Day. [22] [23]

Sources

[1] Warner Brothers Pictures Logo

[2] Warner Brothers Company History

[3] Kevin Tsujihara Picture – Hollywood Reporter

[4] Barry M. Meyer Picture- Who Controls Hollywood

[5] Greg Silverman Picture- Deadline

[6] Kevin Tsujihara Bio- Warner Brothers

[7] Barry M. Meyer Bio- Warner Brothers

[8] Greg Silverman Bio- Warner Brothers

[9] About Warner Brothers Pictures

[10] Box Office Mojo- Holiday Predictions

[11] Gravity- Imdb

[12] Box Office Mojo- Gravity

[13] Entertainment Weekly- Sandra Bullock Oscar Buzz

[14] Gravity Poster- comingsoon.net

[15] We’re The Millers Poster- impawards.com

[16] We’re The Millers- Imdb

[17] Box Office Mojo- We’re The Millers

[18] The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Poster- collider.com

[19] Vulture- Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck

[20] Batman vs Superman- Imdb

[21] Grudge Match Poster- Entertainment Weekly

[22] Fox News- De Niro and Stallone Face Off

[23] Grudge Match- Imdb

Warner Bros Pictures

Posted on September 18, 2012 by jdsaffre

by Jarrad Saffren

The Warner Bros Pictures logo, courtesy of WarnerBros.com.

A Brief History and Profile

Warner Bros Pictures is a major film studio that produces film, television, and music entertainment. Founded by the four Warner brothers, Albert, Harry, Sam, and Jack in 1918, Warner Bros Pictures has been a “Big Three” or “Big Six” American film studio since the development of the “major film studio” classification in the 1930s. Based on revenue and market share statistics from the 2011 fiscal year, Warner Bros Pictures is the most profitable entertainment subsidiary of the Time Warner conglomerate and the second most profitable major film studio behind only Paramount Pictures. It merges several divisions and brands including New Line Cinema, HBO Films, Castle Rock Entertainment, Warner Bros Animation, and DC Entertainment.

Financial Situation

On the strength of a lucrative summer performance at the box office that included the seventh highest grossing film of all-time (“The Dark Knight Rises”), Warner Bros Pictures had its strongest financial quarter in a year in terms of net income. Including the cost of revenue and after taxes, Warner Bros raised its net income from $430 million at the end of the second quarter of 2012 in June to $838 million at the end of the third quarter in September (1). This is the highest total for the company since it netted $822 million in the third quarter of 2011.

Unfortunately, Warner Bros’ net income is expected to drop slightly at the end of the fourth quarter. At the box office, the fall and early winter season has been a mixed bag for Warner Bros based on its two most prominent releases. Ben Affleck’s “Argo” is a smash hit that has grossed over $111 million and counting, surpassing its $44 million budget with flying colors (2). “Cloud Atlas,” on the other hand, has been a resounding box office failure in spite of critical acclaim. The film has grossed just $25 million against an estimated $100 million budget (3).

This mixed bag is not alarming because the fall movie season is typically less lucrative than the summer and holiday seasons that bookend it. As one of the most prominent film studios on the planet, Warner Bros has also finalized a steady stream of high profile releases featuring A-list stars coming out this holiday season and throughout 2013.

On a long-term scale, Warner Bros has raised its total shareholder equity this quarter to $30.02 billion, its highest total since the third quarter of 2011 (4). More people are investing in Warner Bros because the company has finally started to market its vast intellectual property holdings via alternative media sources like Flixster, a company-owned online streaming service.

Recent News

August 2012

Peter Jackson is teaming up with Warner Bros for another Hobbit trilogy beginning this December. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org.

In a joint announcement on the last day of the month, Warner Bros Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures revealed that the final film in Peter Jackson’s trilogy adaptation of “The Hobbit” will be released worldwide on July 18, 2014. All three films are set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his team adapted into an award winning trilogy of its own from 2001 to 2003. The first installment in the new trilogy “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” kicks off the holiday movie season next Friday and could provide an end-of-quarter financial boost for the company. The second “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” will be released on December 13, 2013. (5)

September 2012

In the first week of September, Jack Horner was named Executive Vice President, Theatrical Communications, Warner Bros Pictures Group. Sue Kroll, President, Worldwide Marketing, Warner Bros Pictures, created this new position. Horner will primarily handle corporate PR issues relating to the film division. He will work closely with the domestic and international publicity units of the film division as Warner Bros tries to expand its reach across multiple platforms and cultures. Horner most recently worked at News Corporation, where he was Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Corporate Communications. (6)

About a week after the Horner announcement, shooting began for “The Hangover Part III,” the third and final film in director Todd Phillips’ wildly popular comedy trilogy. The project is a team effort between Warner Bros Pictures and Legendary Pictures. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha are back to star as the beloved “Wolfpack” foursome of Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug. “The Hangover Part III” is scheduled for a worldwide release on May 24,2013. (7)

October 2012

Always staying proactive, in addition to “The Hangover,” Warner Bros Pictures announced a slate of four new films set for release during 2013. “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” stars Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, and Jim Carey as dueling magicians on the Las Vegas strip. It comes out on May 15^th. “The Conjuring” stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as paranormal investigators who are forced to take on the most horrifying case of their careers in a secluded farmhouse. It hits theaters on July 19^th. “We’re the Millers” stars Jason Sudeikis as a small-time pot dealer forced to travel to great lengths to pay off a debt to his big-time supplier. It will premiere on August 9^th. “Prisoners” stars Hugh Jackman as a desperate father who abducts the man he suspects is behind the kidnapping of his eight-year-old daughter. It is set for release on September 20^th. (8)

“All You Need is Kill” is based on a 2004 Japanese sci-fi novel of the same name. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org.

Looking even further into the future, Warner Bros Pictures, Legendary Pictures, and Village Roadshow Pictures announced jointly that “All You Need is Kill,” a sci-fi thriller starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt and based on the book of the same name, will be released on March 14, 2014. The film is a futuristic, society-on-the-brink drama where an alien race is swiftly destroying the human race. Cruise and Blunt star as the military lieutenant and Special Forces warrior tasked with destroying the alien invaders and saving the world. (9)

Such a bright future would not be possible without Warner Bros’ landmark past. This January, Warner Bros Pictures will pop the corks on a yearlong celebration of its 90^th anniversary. On the strength of the largest film library in the world–6,800 feature films including 22 Academy Award-winning Best Pictures–Warner Bros will be releasing seven new exclusive film collections to DVD and Blu-ray. 100 of the films will be on DVD, 50 on Blu-ray. Both will be the largest such collections of their formats in history to date. Several classics will also be released individually on Blu-ray for the first time including “The Jazz Singer” and “Driving Miss Daisy.” (10)

In addition to its innovative approach for bringing old classics onto newer formats, Warner Bros is also getting in on the newest media. In the last week of October, after announcing its anniversary celebration, Warner Bros revealed that it is teaming with Paramount Home Media Distribution to release more than 600 catalog titles from the Paramount film library via Flixster, the Warner Bros movie streaming and discovery service. Warner Bros will now have exclusive rights to Blu-ray and DVD distribution of those movies in the US and Canada, expanding the company’s massive reach into the pivotal Internet streaming sector. (11)

Finally, to conclude its busiest month of the third quarter and most progressive technological month of any quarter in recent memory, Warner Bros Home Entertainment agreed to a multiyear deal with Redbox, a DVD, Blu-ray, and video game distribution service owned by Coinstar, to bring Warner Bros titles to Redbox kiosks. All Warner Bros titles will be released to the kiosks just 28 days after their initial retail release dates. In addition, Redbox has agreed to promote Ultraviolet, Warner Bros innovative streaming service that would allow consumers to buy a title once and then access it anywhere on any device. (12)

November 2012

Warner Bros picked up in November right where they left off in October, continuing its mass effort to release content across multiple platforms. The new hobbit trilogy is not even out in theatres yet, but it is already hitting the mobile circuit. Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment has teamed up with Kabam, a leading producer of multiplayer games for electronic devices, to launch “The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth” app for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Android devices. The game is based on collective strategy with other users and is free for all consumers of the aforementioned devices. (13)

In the midst of these new platforms, Warner Bros did not forgot about the one that made it a player in the first place: the big screen. In 2003, Warner Bros became one of the first film companies to partner with the IMAX Corporation. A few weeks before Thanksgiving, the two sides agreed on a new 20-picture deal over the next three years. Among the anticipated Warner Bros titles that will be showcased via the IMAX experience are “300: Rise of an Empire” (August 2, 2013) and “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (December 13, 2013). (14)

References

Principles & Practices

Website by the students of TRF235

Tag Archives: We’re the Millers

Relativity Media

Warner Bros. Pictures