The Big Six - Walt Disney

Walt Disney is one of the most renowned film production companies in the history of the business and now holds 15.3 percent of the US/Canadian market share (2007 figures). With highly successful movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure, Meet the Robinsons and Enchanted, there's no doubt that Disney will continue to play a key role in the industry for years to come. 

• Walt Disney was founded by Walt and Ron Disney on October 16th, 1923, in Los Angeles, California, U.S. 
• Revenue for 2011 was $40.893 billion. 
• The company has 156,000 employees (2011 figures).
• The chairman and CEO of Walt Disney is now Bob Iger.
• 1923-1928: The Silent Era. In early 1923, Walt Disney created a short film entitled Alice's Wonderland. After the bankruptcy in 1923 of his previous firm, Laugh-O-Gram Films, Disney moved to Hollywood to join his brother Roy O. Disney. Film distributor Margaret J. Winkler of M.J. Winkler Productions contacted Disney with plans to distribute a series of Alice Comedies purchased at $1,500 per reel with Disney as a production partner. Walt and his brother Roy Disney formed Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio that same year. More animated films followed after Alice. In January 1926 with the completion of the Disney studio on Hyperion Street, the Disney Brother's Studio's name is changed to the Walt Disney Studio. Disney developed a cartoon series, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, distributed by Winkler Pictures through Universal Pictures. 
• 1928-1934: Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies. In 1928, Disney developed Mickey Mouse and Disney's first sound film Steamboat Willie was released on November 18th, 1928, through Pat Powers' distribution company. It was the first cartoon to feature synchronised sound. Disney continued to produce cartoons with Mickey Mouse and other characters, and began the Silly Symphonies series with Columbia Pictures signing on as Symphonies distributor in August 1929. On December 16th, the Walt Disney Studios partnership is reorganised as a corporation with the name of Walt Disney Productions. In 1932, Disney signed an exclusive contract with Technicolor to produce cartoons in colour, releasing them through Powers' Celebrity Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and United Artists. 
• 1934-1945: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Word War II. Disney began production of it's first feature-length animated film in 1934. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, premiered in December 1937 and became highest-grossing film of that time by 1939. Using the profits from Snow White, Disney financed the construction of a new studio complex in Burbank, California. The new Walt Disney Studios was completed and open by the end of 1939 and on April 2nd 1940, Walt Disney Productions had its initial public offering. After World War II began, box office profits declined. 
• 1946-1954: Post-War and Television. The release of Cinderella in 1950 proved that feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace. Other releases of the period included Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan, both in production before the war began, and Treasure Island. Disney ended its distribution contract with RKO in 1953, forming its own distribution arm, Buena Vista Distribution. In December 1950, Walt Disney Productions and The Coca-Cola Company teamed up for Disney's first venture into television, the NBC television network special An Hour in Wonderland. In October 1954, the ABC network launched Disney's first regular television series, Disneyland. ABC became Disney's partner in the financing and development in Disney's next venture - It was the first phase of a long corporate relationship.
• 1955-1965: Disneyland. In 954, Walt Disney used his Disneyland series to unveil what would become Disneyland. On July 18th, 1955, Walt Disney opened Disneyland to the general public. On July 17th, Disneyland was previews with a live television broadcast. In November 1965, Disney World was announced in Orlando, Florida. Disney continued to focus its talents on television throughout the 1950s, but Walt Disney Productions invested little into television ventures in the 1960s. Disney's film studios stayed busy as well, averaging five or six releases per year during this period. Disney's most successful film of the 1960s was a live action/animated musical adaptation of Mary Poppins, which was one of the all time highest grossing movies and received five Academy Awards.
• 1966-1971: The Deaths of Walt and Roy Disney and the Opening of Disney World. On December 15th, 1966, Walt Disney died and Roy Disney took over as chairman, CEO, and president of the company. On October 1st, 1971, Walt Disney World opened to the public. On December 20th, 1971, Roy Disney died, leaving the company under control of Donn Tatum, Card Walker and Ron Miller, each trained by Walt and Roy. 
• 1972-1984: Theatrical Malaise and New Leadership. As head of the studio, Miller attempted to make films to drive the profitable teenage market who generally passed on seeing Disney movies. Inspired by the popularity of Star Wars, the Disney studio produced the science-fiction adventure The Black Hole in 1979 that cost $20 million to make, but was lost in the Star Wars' wake. The Black Hole was the first Disney production to carry a PG rating in the United States. In 1979, Disney entered a joint venture with Paramount Pictures on the production of the adaptation of Popeye and Dragonslayer - the first time Disney collaborated with another studio. Paramount distributed Disney films in Canada at the time, and it was hoped that Disney's marketing prestige would help sell the two films. In 1984, Disney CEO Ron Miller created Touchstone Pictures as a brand for Disney to release more adult-orientated material. In 1983, The Disney Channel debuted as a channel on cable systems nationwide. In 1978, Disney executives announced plans for the second Walt Disney World theme park, which would open in April 1983. 
• 1984-2004: The Eisner Era.
• 2005-Presnt: The Iger Era.

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Warp Films - Facts

• Warp Films was established by Warp Records founding partners Rob Mitchell and Steve Beckett. It was initially created with financial support from NESTA and had a remit to produce a number of short films.
• After the death of Rob Mitchell in 2001, Beckett decided to continue with Warp Films and enlisted the expertise of Sheffield friend Mark Herbert to run the company.
• The first film (Chris Morris' My Wrongs) was shot in 2002. It won the award for Best Short Film at the 2003 BAFTA Film Awards and became the first short film DVD in the UK market.
• Warp Films breakout success came with Shane Meadows' This Is England. Since its release in early 2007, it has gained many awards including the Best Film at the British Independent Film Awards, the Special Jury Prize at the Rome Film Festival and Best British Film at the BAFTAs.
• At the same ceremony, Warp Films recieved its third BAFTA as Paddy Considine's directional debut Dog Altogether won the best short film award.
• Three months after This Is England released in cinemas, Warp's third feature film, Grow Your Own, was released by Pathe. This film was Warp's first collaboration with BBC Films. The film was directed by Richard Laxton, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Carl Hunter, and produced by Barry Ryan for Warp Films, Like Alkin for BBC Films and Carl Hunter for Art in Action.
• In 2004, Warp Films made a significant expansion its capacity. Robin Gutch joined Mark Herbert and Barry Ryan to devise the Warp bid for the Low Budget Film Scheme tender put out by Film4 and UK Film Council. The Warp bid was backed by Optimum Releasing, Screen Yorkshire and EM Media. Warp won the tender against competition and Warp X was formally set up in 2005 as a low-budget digital 'studio' to develop and produce films with focus on new talent and commercial potential.
• Warp Films/Warp X productions, Tyrannosaur, Kill List and Submarine were nominated for a total of 18 awards at the 2011 British Independent Film Awards.
• Warp Films successfully ran a crowd-funding campaign to fund four short films shot at the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival by Vincent Moon, using the website Kickstarter.com. The project reached its funding goal on 15th October and the films are currently in post-production.
• Warp Films is currently developing several television products with Channel 4, the BBC and Sky. Warp Films' development slate currently includes projects with Shane Meadows, Chris Morris, Tony Grisoni, Paul Fraser, Gregory Burke, Paul Wright, Yann Demange, Tom Kingsley & Sharpe, The Sheeps, Peter Strickland, Olly Blackburn, Paddy Considine, Mikey Please, and Shynola amongst others. 

Films

• Dead Man's Shoes - A short film directed by Shane Meadows and written by Paddy Considine, Shane Meadows, and Paul Fraser. The film took $1,825 on the opening weekend (USA) (14th May 2006) and was shown on one screen. The total gross of the film was $6,013 (USA) (28th May 2006). 
• Four Lions - A film directed by Christopher Morris and written by Simon Blackwell, Christopher Morris, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. The film took £608,608 on the opening weekend (UK) (9th May 2010) and was shown on 115 screens. The gross of the film was $30,527 (USA) (13th February 2011). 
• Submarine - A film directed by Richard Ayoade and written by Richard Ayoade and Joe Dunthorne, who was the writer of the novel. In the opening weekend, the film took £244,476 (UK) (both March 2011) and was shown on 60 screens. The total gross of the film came to $466,702 (USA) (14th August 2011). 
• Kill List - A film directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump. The budget of the film was an estimated £500,000 and on the opening weekend, the film took $9,838 (USA) (5th February 2012) shown on two screens. The total gross came to $26,297 (USA) (4th March 2012).

Film 4 - Facts

Film4 was originally known as Film four when established in 1998 as channel 4’s second channel but was for subscription only.

Channel 4 is a production house company, who's funding comes from adverts/commercial funding.

FILM 4 - "committed to enhance the British film making industry by nurturing and funding new talent"

Film 4 has a niche (very specific small audience)

It was then followed by many other channel 4 further programmes who time shared the air of blockbuster films.

In 2006 film four modified its name to Film4 and also became a free digital viewing channel and started producing many adverts with celebrities in weird situations to stress and intrigue the audience that this is the only channel to watch free movies continuously.

Tessa Ross became the Controller of film4 in 2004 and head of TV drama for Channel 4. 

Film4 is very heavily linked with Channel 4. Channel 4 financed in the helping of production in such films as “The Crying Game” and “Madness of King George”. Channel 4 also decided that there side film channel would be made free on digital networks, therefore becoming the only free film program to boost ratings. 

Film 4 are currently on some large projects including Tyrannosaur, which Film4 backed in production and distribution closely working with Warp X and Inflammable films. This movie is an example of how Film4 help broadcast and produce English films and not just Hollywood Blockbusters as this was the first film ever to be directed by Paddy Considine. Also Film4 are in the final stages of distributing their own creation of Random originally a theatre play by director Debbie Tucker Green. It is being regularly advertised on channel 4 and competitions have started to try and attract people to see the film in cinemas.

Film 4 produces about 6 films a year and works along their subsidiary Warp X

Less of the budget is spent on distribution, because the films can be advertised on their own and parent companies TV channels.

They have won 5 Oscars in 4 years & 3 BAFTA's in 2007. 8.3 million AB Cl's a month, with an upmarket (42%) and male (55%) profile.

Successful Films include - Slumdog Millionaire/127 Hours/Four Lions/This Is England/Trainspotting

Film 4 work closely with specific actors and directors such as Danny Boyle's/Martin McDonagh/Steve McQueen/Peter Mullan/Chris Morris

Film 4 recently launched Film 4.0 - digital/online arena

Film 4.0's aim will be to find new talent and discover new ways of making, marketing and distributing films and engaging new audiences online in a multi platform environment.

Films:

• Johhny English - It was wrote in 2009, worte by the same people of James Bond which grossed $160 million. Rowan Atkinson starred and the sequal was released in september 2010.
• Wild-Child - Budget of $20 million. Filmed at Cobham Hall. Was marketed on radio stations, social networking sites and TV adverts - was a financial flop with 2.2 mill opening weekend.
• The Soloist - Based on true Story. Budget $60 mill. Based on books and articles/directed by Joe Wright. Produced by Gary Foster & Russ Krasnof. Grossed $31,720,158 mill. Paramount helped distribute through Dreamworks animation and Universal Pictures. Released a year later than planned, therefore lost oscar potential

Written by Stephen Hare

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