The Atlantic: Reports of the film industry’s impending death have been greatly exaggerated. It’d be more accurate to say the business is consolidating, with earnings for some major studios soaring in recent years and others taking big write-downs. Head and shoulders above everyone else is Disney, which reported profits of $2.5 billion in 2016 and made five of the 10 most successful films of the year (including the top three). The company, which owns Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, and Pixar, already makes almost $1 billion more than its next biggest rival. That casts the news of its reported interest in acquiring Fox in an even more daunting light.
11 comments:
It’s crazy to think about the fact that if this deal were to ever happen that Disney would only face 4 major competitors. I think this lack of competition is easier to understand and accept in the technology industries because we recognize the edges each company has and we latch on them, then bring them into our everyday life. I think that’s harder to do with a movie studio. What makes movies so great is the vast array and types of films that you can see at any point. This article does have me thinking about the types of movies in theatres today. I feel as though now as opposed to 5 or 10 years ago, there are less of the “in-between” movies that the article talks about. The movies I hear of now are big action or horror blockbusters or small indie films. There aren’t as many “School of Rock”’s or “The Pursuit of Happyness”’s. I think the smaller indie films have started to fill in this gap, but I would love to see a resurgence of this type of movie.
I do understand the concern here, and while the idea of Disney having more to produce is good, the sinister aspect is well defined here: "What’s unsettling is that Disney is already focused on making films on the largest scale possible, leaving little room for the kinds of mid-budgeted dramas and comedies that used to thrive in Hollywood. If Fox were subsumed, that would leave Disney with only four major rivals: Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, and Sony, all of which also rely on revenue from other sources (mainly television) to make money. Disney/Fox would be a corporate monolith like no other, with an even larger stable of superheroes to throw around."
If smaller budget films are on the way out, we will lose a lot of access to wonderful stories. Blockbuster films aren't the be all end all, and it would be a shame if this merger prices out smaller companies and productions as competitors are scaled back.
It really is crazy to think that most of what we see in films and on TV are all owned by the same core group of people. In our world thats the way a lot of industry works that their are just some big players and very little room for any small companies to really compete. I do not really have much of an interest in the superhero world so seeing those kinds of movies swap hands would not mean much to me, I am however a huge National Geographic nerd. Disney has had some incredible nature films and it would be interesting to see what they could do with National Geographic, but it will just become part of such a large corporation. This is something I will be following because seeing the deal between these two companies would be interesting in what exactly they give over rights to and for how much it actually ends up selling for. What I found most surprising in this article is that Disney thinks their biggest rivals are Google, Amazon, and Netflix. I find it hard to believe that Google and Disney think they operate in the same world, but I guess it really is just big companies that capture a big part of human life.
I think massive consolidation of an industry is always concerning not least because the consumer rarely seems to come out ahead. Consumers benefit when there is competition and choice. Competition means companies strive more, more striving means a better product, etc… you know how it works. And, as the article mentions, it’s harder for unique voices and projects with average budgets to make it in a monolithic environment. “The Movies” are one of our greatest story-telling vehicles. I’m not sure how I feel about the idea that one corporation could have such a singular influence over so great a percentage of the stories we consume.
And then there’s the issue of one corporation wielding so much wealth, power, and influence. I realize that I am inherently suspicious of industrial wealth and power, but it really seems we are increasingly moving toward a landscape of corporate giants that narrowly skirt the definition of monopoly. That’s bad news for the little guy and maybe us too.
This article just address why for many in the industry to be worried about the landscape of the entertainment industry, if the Fox and Disney did manage to come to a agreement to have Fox sell many of its studios and properties to Disney. What would be interesting is if this could actually happen as the article states "It would, essentially, amount to a merger of the first and third biggest movie studios, resulting in a potential monopoly" this is likely a monopoly that would not be allowed to happen do to anti trust laws and many people including the article do not believe that this would be highly likely to happen. Personally while I would really love to be able see all of the the Marvel Universe reunited in the films, I would never wish for it to happen in this manner because it would basically allow Disney to control in it mouse shaped fist the film industry.
It's really wild to think about how much power Disney has in literally every entertainment industry. They obviously have a huge amount of power in film, a huge amount in theatre, a huge amount in theme parks, and very large amounts in television and music. If Fox and Disney merged, obviously Disney's stake in film would drastically increase, but also Disney's stake in television would become huge as well. The article mentions that Disney would not have the rights to the actual Fox broadcasting network, but just some of the smaller networks owned by Fox, like National Geographic and FX, but those are still very large gains. It's interesting to see a company like this get so near to a monopoly that the legality of them owning other companies is becoming a real question. The article also discusses how these gigantic film companies make little room for medium-sized movies, and I definitely agree. I feel like there are a lot of medium-budget movies that I have had recommended to me by friends that I have never heard of, while there are a lot of smaller, indie movies that I've heard of more than the slightly larger ones.
This is pretty uplifting to see that some of the high profile people in the industry take the stand of not being complicit in enabling or excusing criminal behaviors. Recasting Spacey is absolutely a bold move. It is a statement that the cast crew and the producing company refuse to cover for a narcissistic sexual predator. It is a huge challenge for the director, the entire cast and the production team to make the shift and make to the film’s planned world premiere which is in less than two weeks. But at the same time, it is a brilliant chance. If it works, it will stand as an example that crossing the line and making a stand against unacceptable misconducts will be rewarded. We should not see faces of sexual predators who are not feeling any regret of what they have done to others, who use their sexual orientation to divert the public attention from their horrible molestation, who shrug the accusations off, on the screens representing the best of this industry can offer.
It is indeed chilling to think about how Disney has become a mega power more and more rapidly. The bigger it becomes the faster it will become even larger and that applied to all current existing tech giants. Consumers benefit the most when there are fair competitions among many companies and institutions because competition stimulates creativity and better products. But the world has moved fast towards an age of monopoly where small and medium budgeted companies have no place to grow and will forever be stuck in the less powerful position in an unfair game. It is more like a dilemma for small companies because they will wither if they fight on their own and it seems the only chance to grow is to merge into a bigger cooperation and grow with the mega machine. I am really curious to know how to stop this or at least slow this down because no one wants to live in a world where everything is actually under the umbrella of Disney and they become the one and only industry standard.
Disney owning much of the entertainment industry in any format is always amazing and alarming at the same time. With the bottomless pocket, Disney can rejuvenate a form of art and boost the quality of the industry as well. However, when the movie market is already similar to oligopoly of 4 major producing companies, merging Disney and Fox indeed is worrisome in many different ways. First of all, it discourages diversity in the market. The movie market is already prevalent with superhero movies and brand series that makes the most money. With four giants competing with each other, there may be no breathing room for mid-size budget movies. Also, my next concern is about the future. When it comes down to even smaller number of major producing companies, and eventually one, how can it be controlled? The article mentions that Disney and Fox merging already could be illegal. But although it may be illegal, what governing entity can override Disney, the one and only giant that rules the entertainment industry? Although I hope that it will not happen, I do think it's already too late to be thinking about how to manifest healthy competition in the industry.
Disney already owns a scary amount of assets that ranges over many types of production. So, when a merger of Disney with fox is in the works, Its very scary but also very interesting. I would go to say that fox is, or was its only rival as there are other companies out there that should be considered rivals; In terms of film, Disney is on its own level. Disney puts a lot of money into film and television whereas the other companies do not put that kind of money into film or television because they focus their money elsewhere due to the return and profit from doing so. However, Netflix and Amazon are entering the game and although they are small in comparison to Disney, I would say they are the real competitors as they are putting their money toward the same thing Disney is, even though Netflix is sort of drowning in debt and possibly declaring bankruptcy, it is still much more of a competitor in my mind because of the potential they have. The Disney/Fox merger may be a response to such but it may also just be Disney doing what it does. Either way It is scary because Disney is already Huge and they are about to get much, much bigger if this merger happens but at the same time Disney seems to be pretty smart and great at what they do so chances are this isn’t a bad thing either, except maybe for consumer prices.
This potential merger is worrisome to say the least. One of the things that has kept filmmaking so interesting and so alive over the years has been the sense of competition. With companies like Disney increasing in size and industry dominance every day, pretty soon it will be all but impossible for any new companies with fresh vision and direction to break into the industry. Indeed, Disney's hold over so many culturally key franchises gives it a kind of monopolizing edge over its competitors. And now with Disney looking to expand even further, how long before one of the remaining giants in the film industry collapses? This is no longer a question of weakest links; rather the future and shape of filmmaking will now depend on other companies abilities to withstand Disney. This merger represents many things: the hyper-monetization of this industry, the excision of novel voices from the industry, as well as the competitive spirit so key to making industries like this one successful. It will be interesting to see not only if this pans out, but also - if it does - how the future of filmmaking is effected.
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