Synergy
The basic concept of Synergy can be explained through this mathematical formula:
1+1=3
Whilst this may not make sense to mathematicians, in business it does, when we think of profit value.
If you sell two separate products, for example a video game and a film, they could both do very well, giving you a profit of £200 million each. However if the video game and film were linked, i.e. both Harry Potter projects, this is synergy because the profit value of each will be more, perhaps £300 million each. Therefore the product value of intertied products is more than the value of two separate products.
As film students, of course you do not have to worry about mathematics, but you do need to understand the importance of synergy for the industry and to be able to identify and discuss examples. Jill Nelmes, in ‘An Introduction to Film Studies’ defines synergy strategy as: Combined or related action by a group of individuals or corporations towards a common goal, the combined effect of which exceeds the sum of the individual efforts. (Nelmes, 1996: 42)
Synergy can come in a number of different forms:
Looking at the synergy of particular case studies allows us to analyse the structure of Hollywood, how major high concept releases get the funding and profit they do and how they are able to dominate, through their distribution campaigns, over independent films. It is an important facet of Hollywood because it enables the conglomerates to continually accumulate large sum of profit, thus enabling them to continue to make major releases and dominate over the global market. Another key issue with synergy is that it is in part responsible for the repetitive nature of Hollywood films. To encourage corporate partnerships, merchandise deals and other pre-sales, enabling large budgets to be sought means the films Hollywood produce have to be viewed as low-risk by the partners. Safe films are those which seem to be almost guaranteed to succeed (remember there are never any guarantees in the film industry!).
Partners and investors will want to see evidence that similar films have done well in the recent market, that the directors and stars’ recent films have been profitable and any pre-existing property or clear genre conventions help this. Therefore, if you look at your local cinema listings, or a film magazine like Empire and Total Film for upcoming releases, you will see there are many similarities between the major Hollywood films. Filmmaking at this level is a business and films have been potential for synergy, therefore more potential for profit if they are safe investments. Whilst we often say a film’s profit is dictated by the opening weekend box office figures; in today’s global society film’s often make as much, if not more profit, from the longevity of the film’s brand as a presence in the public sphere - this happens through synergy.
So to sum up:
•Synergy is an important part of a film’s marketing campaign- making the public aware of the film’s existence.
•Synergy is an integral reason for the success of the major conglomerates, who own Hollywood, and for their dominance over independents worldwide.
•Synergy is also a key reason for the studio’s preference towards safe films, because the safer the investment the more likely it is that they will be able to attract corporate partnerships.
•The synergy opportunities developed for a film can often be more profitable than the film itself and keep the film brand in the public sphere constantly- ideal if the studios are planning a sequel, which is more than common in contemporary Hollywood!
Case Studies: Casino Royale was produced by Metro Goldwyn Mayer (M.G.M), Columbia Pictures, United Artists and EON Productions. MGM and Columbia Pictures are both subsidiaries of Sony Corporation. Sony Pictures Entertainment and MGM then distributed the film. This is the first level of synergy we see behind Casino Royale - vertical integration. However, the sound track was released on Sony Classical and the artist Chris Cornell (of Audioslave) who performed the title song “You Know My Name” is signed to Epic Records, part of Sony BMG. The film was released on Sony Blu-ray, PSP UMD Video, as well as on DVD, and was offered as part of a package deal for customers buying the Playstation 3 (another Sony product). These releases were organised by Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment, yet another Sony subsidiary. There is a lot of product placement in the film; in fact this is how a large percentage of the budget was raised. Several Sony products include the Vaio, Sony blu-ray and Sony Ericsson phones all appear in the film.
However other companies engaged in a synergy partnership and their products featured in the film: FedEx, Omega Watches, Martini, Heineken Beer and Ford Car. The image of Daniel Craig was used in the advertising for Heineken, Martini, Omega Watches and Ford Car. The Sony Ericsson website also featured Daniel Craig as the character of James Bond.
The Avengers is perhaps one of the greatest examples of the extremes synergy can be taken. The film is based on pre-existing property and has raised the profile of its comic book characters, most of the characters have been features in spin-off television animation series, re-issues of the old comic books, or re-branded new comic book series. Tie-ins have been arranged with fast food restaurants such as McDonalds (for their happy meals), Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins and fizzy drinks, such as Pepsi. However, the most unique facet of The Avengers marketing and synergy campaign is that each of the protagonists has their own film(s) which have been used to market The Avengers. Each of these films has had tie-ins, product placement, merchandise, computer games and spin-offs and each is based on pre-existing property - which has been exploited and promoted by the film’s release. Iron Man, Thor and Captain America have been film franchises in their own rights, but from the build up to the release of Thor it has been clear that they are all part of the campaign for The Avengers. Marvel was bought by Disney, however a pact was organised between Marvel and Paramount Pictures to produce a slate of comic book films.
The inter-relationship between two organisations owned by two different conglomerates: Disney and Viacom respectively, expresses the oligopoly nature of Hollywood. From 2012 this relationship will end leaving both with sizeable profits and Disney will continue to distribute the later films, including Iron Man 3 and The Avengers. Synergy Activity Marvel Comics and Disney-Buena Vista (who now own Marvel Comics) have decided to release a new film on their character Ms. Marvel (see her profile here: http://marvel.com/characters/bio/1010338/ms_marvel). Look at a range of existing comic book examples, www.moviemarketingmadness.com could be a helpful resources, research the different inter-linked products they have i.e. merchandise, spin-offs, cross-promotions, etc. Mind map synergy potentials for the film Ms. Marvel remember to consider the different potential audiences you could appeal to and how you could develop pre-existing property.
If you sell two separate products, for example a video game and a film, they could both do very well, giving you a profit of £200 million each. However if the video game and film were linked, i.e. both Harry Potter projects, this is synergy because the profit value of each will be more, perhaps £300 million each. Therefore the product value of intertied products is more than the value of two separate products.
As film students, of course you do not have to worry about mathematics, but you do need to understand the importance of synergy for the industry and to be able to identify and discuss examples. Jill Nelmes, in ‘An Introduction to Film Studies’ defines synergy strategy as: Combined or related action by a group of individuals or corporations towards a common goal, the combined effect of which exceeds the sum of the individual efforts. (Nelmes, 1996: 42)
Synergy can come in a number of different forms:
- Product Placement Companies pay to feature their product in a film, which often leads to a deal in which the film’s protagonist or other characters are featured in their advertising campaigns. Tie-ins Promotional Partnerships, where the film or its characters will feature on existing products. This may be in the form of competitions.
- Spin-Offs Products based on the original, i.e. the Film. A film may be a spin-off of a television series, or a television series may be created as a spin-off of a film. We can also think of this as media convergence.
- Pre-Existing Property If a film is based on pre-existing material (for example a video game, novel or comic book) the pre-existing material is often re-released featuring imagery from the film on its cover, or a special edition is released in synch with the film’s scheduled cinematic release.
- Merchandise Companies created products specifically for the film, for example toys, calendars, video games. These products not only help market the film, but the audience’s knowledge of the film brings their awareness to the merchandise.
- Vertical Integration When distribution and some forms of exhibition are kept in-house, meaning other subsidiaries of the conglomerate (who owns the production company) distribute the film and create DVD releases of it.
Looking at the synergy of particular case studies allows us to analyse the structure of Hollywood, how major high concept releases get the funding and profit they do and how they are able to dominate, through their distribution campaigns, over independent films. It is an important facet of Hollywood because it enables the conglomerates to continually accumulate large sum of profit, thus enabling them to continue to make major releases and dominate over the global market. Another key issue with synergy is that it is in part responsible for the repetitive nature of Hollywood films. To encourage corporate partnerships, merchandise deals and other pre-sales, enabling large budgets to be sought means the films Hollywood produce have to be viewed as low-risk by the partners. Safe films are those which seem to be almost guaranteed to succeed (remember there are never any guarantees in the film industry!).
Partners and investors will want to see evidence that similar films have done well in the recent market, that the directors and stars’ recent films have been profitable and any pre-existing property or clear genre conventions help this. Therefore, if you look at your local cinema listings, or a film magazine like Empire and Total Film for upcoming releases, you will see there are many similarities between the major Hollywood films. Filmmaking at this level is a business and films have been potential for synergy, therefore more potential for profit if they are safe investments. Whilst we often say a film’s profit is dictated by the opening weekend box office figures; in today’s global society film’s often make as much, if not more profit, from the longevity of the film’s brand as a presence in the public sphere - this happens through synergy.
So to sum up:
•Synergy is an important part of a film’s marketing campaign- making the public aware of the film’s existence.
•Synergy is an integral reason for the success of the major conglomerates, who own Hollywood, and for their dominance over independents worldwide.
•Synergy is also a key reason for the studio’s preference towards safe films, because the safer the investment the more likely it is that they will be able to attract corporate partnerships.
•The synergy opportunities developed for a film can often be more profitable than the film itself and keep the film brand in the public sphere constantly- ideal if the studios are planning a sequel, which is more than common in contemporary Hollywood!
Case Studies: Casino Royale was produced by Metro Goldwyn Mayer (M.G.M), Columbia Pictures, United Artists and EON Productions. MGM and Columbia Pictures are both subsidiaries of Sony Corporation. Sony Pictures Entertainment and MGM then distributed the film. This is the first level of synergy we see behind Casino Royale - vertical integration. However, the sound track was released on Sony Classical and the artist Chris Cornell (of Audioslave) who performed the title song “You Know My Name” is signed to Epic Records, part of Sony BMG. The film was released on Sony Blu-ray, PSP UMD Video, as well as on DVD, and was offered as part of a package deal for customers buying the Playstation 3 (another Sony product). These releases were organised by Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment, yet another Sony subsidiary. There is a lot of product placement in the film; in fact this is how a large percentage of the budget was raised. Several Sony products include the Vaio, Sony blu-ray and Sony Ericsson phones all appear in the film.
However other companies engaged in a synergy partnership and their products featured in the film: FedEx, Omega Watches, Martini, Heineken Beer and Ford Car. The image of Daniel Craig was used in the advertising for Heineken, Martini, Omega Watches and Ford Car. The Sony Ericsson website also featured Daniel Craig as the character of James Bond.
The Avengers is perhaps one of the greatest examples of the extremes synergy can be taken. The film is based on pre-existing property and has raised the profile of its comic book characters, most of the characters have been features in spin-off television animation series, re-issues of the old comic books, or re-branded new comic book series. Tie-ins have been arranged with fast food restaurants such as McDonalds (for their happy meals), Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins and fizzy drinks, such as Pepsi. However, the most unique facet of The Avengers marketing and synergy campaign is that each of the protagonists has their own film(s) which have been used to market The Avengers. Each of these films has had tie-ins, product placement, merchandise, computer games and spin-offs and each is based on pre-existing property - which has been exploited and promoted by the film’s release. Iron Man, Thor and Captain America have been film franchises in their own rights, but from the build up to the release of Thor it has been clear that they are all part of the campaign for The Avengers. Marvel was bought by Disney, however a pact was organised between Marvel and Paramount Pictures to produce a slate of comic book films.
The inter-relationship between two organisations owned by two different conglomerates: Disney and Viacom respectively, expresses the oligopoly nature of Hollywood. From 2012 this relationship will end leaving both with sizeable profits and Disney will continue to distribute the later films, including Iron Man 3 and The Avengers. Synergy Activity Marvel Comics and Disney-Buena Vista (who now own Marvel Comics) have decided to release a new film on their character Ms. Marvel (see her profile here: http://marvel.com/characters/bio/1010338/ms_marvel). Look at a range of existing comic book examples, www.moviemarketingmadness.com could be a helpful resources, research the different inter-linked products they have i.e. merchandise, spin-offs, cross-promotions, etc. Mind map synergy potentials for the film Ms. Marvel remember to consider the different potential audiences you could appeal to and how you could develop pre-existing property.
In Fear
Cool website: http://www.sliceofparadise.info/
In Fear's Alice Englert: 'I never thought fame would make me happy' The actor and daughter of Jane Campion talks choosing passion over cash and whether her mum makes sexy films
The Guardian, Friday 8 November 2013
In Fear Production year: 2013 Country: UK Cert (UK): 15 Runtime: 85 mins Directors: Jeremy Lovering Cast: Alice Englert, Allen Leech, Iain De Caestecker
For his debut film, In Fear, director Jeremy Lovering needed a cast who were happy to be terrorised. In Fear follows a young couple (Englert and Iain De Caestecker) who, driving to an isolated country hotel, find themselves lost in a labyrinth of narrow roads and looming trees. Filmed chronologically and set in real time, it explores not only fear but trust, ego and violence.
To get the performances he wanted, Lovering strove to instil genuine terror into his leads: they were required to sign up without having seen a script or knowing what would happen. That alone was enough to persuade Englert to dive in: "I was just so attracted to the strangeness of the thing," she says. Lovering wanted to make his actors' reactions as authentic as possible. In the film, the couple have known each other for two weeks, so he had Englert and De Caestecker meet for a fortnight before shooting, improvising in coffee shops in character. They then were dumped in a car in Cornwall and left to work their way through the story as it spooled out around them. The pair were given relationship pointers before each scene, but weren't told what would be physically happening to them. They were given notes independently of each other, and had to keep them secret. The dialogue was improvised. "It's the only time I think I'll ever be an audience to a story as I'm making it," says Englert. "With acting it's important to be able to change your ideas about characters, and this was very good for that. Because as people we don't have much control over the way people see us.
We assume that characters know who they are. No – find out what they want to be, what they're striving for, what they're afraid of being, as opposed to who they think they are. I think you've got to be vulnerable." Lovering says that because they didn't know what their characters' fates would be, they were emotionally prickly throughout. Not quite, laughs Alice. "The one time I got annoyed with Jeremy was when I figured out that the potential first-scene reveal of me in a lead role was gonna be on a toilet. 'I'm on the toilet? So am I doing a shit?' He caught me on the monitor rolling my eyes. That's the only time." Improvisation is nothing new to Englert. She's only 19 but, as the daughter of New Zealand-born screenwriter, producer and director Jane Campion, she's benefited from years of invaluable guidance. Growing up with her mother, travelling the world and living in different countries, she's more worldly wise than many of her contemporaries, with confidence to match.
At 11, Englert starred in her mother's short film The Water Diary. At 15, she left school, quickly bagging co-lead roles in Roland JoffĂ©'s Singularity (still unreleased), Sally Potter's Ginger & Rosa and Richard LaGravenese's fantasy drama Beautiful Creatures. Link to video: Ginger & Rosa's Elle Fanning and Alice Englert The latter was pushed as a potential Twilight successor, but it came and went, not causing much of a stir. "To be honest I don't really mind because I didn't want to be in a franchise," says Alice, with visible relief. "It didn't make enough money for that, and I got to come to London." Passion projects are leading the way. "When people are doing a small film for no money, you know they're doing it because they really want to. And that is always attractive." Her next roles are in TV: Restoration drama New Worlds, Channel 4's sequel to The Devil's Whore, screens early next year, and she's just started filming on the BBC1's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Many times in junket interviews she was asked how she would deal with the global fame that might result from Beautiful Creatures, and each time she looked uncomfortable at the suggestion. "I just never thought that that would make me happy," she says. "I didn't like having my ego constantly tugged in this direction that I know is not a healthy one for my disposition and personality, and would not suit me. At all." On one occasion she was asked what it was like shooting a Hollywood blockbuster. "Well," she said, referencing Campion's Holy Smoke, "I'm bred from a woman who had Kate Winslet pissing in a desert, and that was always going to be where I was from." She laughs now at the recollection: "That's the truth. I knew I was going to be OK because there's just not much they were ever going to be able to do to me to change that." When did she first see her mum's films? "I was 13, and these boys had said, 'Your mum makes sexy films,' and I said, 'She doesn't.' Then I watched them and… my mum makes sexy films! Jesus. I'm a huge fan of my mum. I only recently realised that if someone was to say something bad about her, I can't punch them. That that's not appropriate behaviour. I'm very protective." Alice Englert: terrorise her all you like on a film set. But don't diss her mum. In Fear is out in the UK on Friday 15 Nov
Ultra Violet
http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/ultraviolet/
Look at The Hobbit and Gravity for most recent filming advances:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/8449819/Peter-Jackson-to-shoot-The-Hobbit-with-new-film-technology.html
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