Hi, I’m Maddie and I work for Education Wise. I’ve been asked by them to tell you a little about the institution 20th Century Fox, sure nearly everyone’s heard of them, but do you know how they function?
Ownership
Ownership is a big part of any company, especially an independent one that is as well-known as 20th Century Fox. 20th Century Fox is owned by Rupert Murdoch, a very prestigious figure who is also in charge of companies such as Newscorp which produce the newspapers The Sun and the Sunday times. As some people would say, it's a lot of power for just one man! As a business, Fox achieves to make money from its venues and is called a conglomerate. A conglomerate is made up of other companies, otherwise known as subsidiaries- meaning a company that is controlled by another, more powerful company. Conglomerates tend to make more than one type of media thus owning companies across different platforms- this is known as cross media ownership. Because of this it becomes easy for them to cross promote, for example when the new Star Wars movie comes out 20th Century Fox will be able to advertise the film using other media, for instance they could bring out the movies soundtrack for people to buy. Promotion becomes even easier for companies such as 20th Century Fox if they have a ‘joint venture’ with another company. This is when two companies work together to distribute their product more widely. 20th Century Fox are known to do this with DreamWorks, and who doesn't love DreamWorks!
Ownership is a big part of any company, especially an independent one that is as well-known as 20th Century Fox. 20th Century Fox is owned by Rupert Murdoch, a very prestigious figure who is also in charge of companies such as Newscorp which produce the newspapers The Sun and the Sunday times. As some people would say, it's a lot of power for just one man! As a business, Fox achieves to make money from its venues and is called a conglomerate. A conglomerate is made up of other companies, otherwise known as subsidiaries- meaning a company that is controlled by another, more powerful company. Conglomerates tend to make more than one type of media thus owning companies across different platforms- this is known as cross media ownership. Because of this it becomes easy for them to cross promote, for example when the new Star Wars movie comes out 20th Century Fox will be able to advertise the film using other media, for instance they could bring out the movies soundtrack for people to buy. Promotion becomes even easier for companies such as 20th Century Fox if they have a ‘joint venture’ with another company. This is when two companies work together to distribute their product more widely. 20th Century Fox are known to do this with DreamWorks, and who doesn't love DreamWorks!
Operating model
20th Century Fox has an important role in something called vertical integration, bear with me here as it's a huge part of the film production cycle. This is when the production, distribution and exchange, or PDE, is controlled by a company. Most independent film companies can only do the first part of that which is to produce the films as they don’t have as much influence as conglomerates and require their help with distribution and exchange. Only conglomerates can have vertical integration so they help independent companies to distribute their product by getting it into the public eye and advertising it using different platforms such as Radio, TV or merchandise. They also help with the final stage which is known as exchange, that’s the part where the consumers-you-watch the movie and will pay to go see it in cinemas or to buy it on DVD. This is how the producers earn money for what they’ve created. 20th Century Fox owns businesses in the same chain of production and distribution which allows their product to be consumed with far more ease.
20th Century Fox has an important role in something called vertical integration, bear with me here as it's a huge part of the film production cycle. This is when the production, distribution and exchange, or PDE, is controlled by a company. Most independent film companies can only do the first part of that which is to produce the films as they don’t have as much influence as conglomerates and require their help with distribution and exchange. Only conglomerates can have vertical integration so they help independent companies to distribute their product by getting it into the public eye and advertising it using different platforms such as Radio, TV or merchandise. They also help with the final stage which is known as exchange, that’s the part where the consumers-you-watch the movie and will pay to go see it in cinemas or to buy it on DVD. This is how the producers earn money for what they’ve created. 20th Century Fox owns businesses in the same chain of production and distribution which allows their product to be consumed with far more ease.
The second part of the film production cycle is known as horizontal integration- another new word! There are a couple of different variations of horizontal integration, it could be when subsidiaries of a conglomerate work together, which means that the product they are trying to promote will reach a wider audience because the subsidiaries handle different medias. With the help of more subsidiaries, instead of it just being advertised on TV it could also be advertised in the cinema or on a website or have a video game made of it- this is, as I mentioned earlier, cross promotion. Because 21st Century Fox has subsidiaries such as the national geographic channel and obviously 20th Century Fox, this becomes much simpler for them. Horizontal integration can also be when companies go on a joint venture together, which I've told you 20th Century Fox has done with DreamWorks during the production of films such as The Croods and Turbo. This way both companies can promote each other. The companies; Sky, Talk Radio and The Sun are 21st Century Fox’s subsidiaries so they also help out when it comes to promoting across platforms. Horizontal integration can also be when parent companies work together- a parent company is a company that can control management in another firm. Warp Records parent company is Warp, so if they were to work together it would be an example of horizontal integration. Any of these three things result in ‘synergy’. Synergy is when that product is advertised in multiple places at the same time, or cross promoted, in order to maximise its influence. Vertical integration and horizontal integration together create the film production cycle, from the film being just a concept to the audience being able to buy it on DVD.
When 20th Century Fox begins to actually create a film, there are certain stages they need to go through called the film production process. The first of these is pre-production in which they have to plan what they will be doing, they’ll need to figure out their budget to decide what equipment they will be using or what actors they will pay for. If their budget is pretty small, they can't exactly sign on Tom Cruise. During pre-production they will; write a script, cast their actors and go location scouting. Everything will need to be sorted out so they don’t encounter any problems in the middle of the next stage. But once these details have been finalised they go into the production stage, where they will begin filming. During production the cast and scripts will be put into action and the crew will set to creating the necessary costumes and prosthetics. After they’ve finished the filming, they go into the third stage known as post-production. This is where they look back at the footage from the production stage and begin to edit it using CGI and manipulate any blue or green screen filming. Any necessary sound effects will be added and transitions from one scene to another will be added in, for instance a jump cut or wipe.
Products
Obviously 20th Century Fox is majorly known for creating films that cater to a mass audience, but their subsidiaries also produce for platforms other than film such as TV, 21st Century Fox have subsidiaries in radio and music. For instance, 21st own Sky which produces Modern Family and An Idiot abroad, as well as Fox Entertainment which is known for series’ like Gotham, Empire and Bob’s burgers. These series’ are very popular on their individual channels and offer a variety of genres, Modern Family is a comedy whereas Empire is a drama. Fox music has been Fox's music arm since 2000, they mainly produce movie or television soundtracks to cross promote for other subsidiaries. They’ve produced soundtracks for Empire which airs on fox entertainment as aforementioned and for Paper towns which 20th Century Fox distributed for the producers TSG entertainment and Fox 2000 pictures. But it doesn’t stop there, as I mentioned before Rupert Murdoch owns not only 20th Century Fox but also Newscorp! To recap, Newscorp are responsible for some of the most well-known newspapers: The Sun and The Sunday Times, this allows them to supply recent events and affairs to a large group of people to increase their influence. Yet another subsidiary of Fox is Talk radio, Talk radio reaches a wide audience by dabbling both in the DJs discussion of political matters and mainstream music. The products of fox are known for being mainstream instead of niche, this refers to ‘a current of thought that is widespread’. Because of this they appeal to a wider variety of people who will consume their products. 20th Century Fox tend to be known for their handiwork in the film industry, they’ve created Avatar and X-Men, very high grossing films. A lot of their most popular ones were created from joint ventures though such as the later Star Wars movies which were produced by Lucas film ltd. and distributed by Fox, the Ice Age movies and the Croods were a product of them distributing movies for DreamWorks. The films I’ve named here are ‘family films’ so have the opportunity to reach a more diverse audience, which is 20th Century Fox’s aim. They want to appeal to as many people as possible so that they will become popular and more people will want to consume their product.
Obviously 20th Century Fox is majorly known for creating films that cater to a mass audience, but their subsidiaries also produce for platforms other than film such as TV, 21st Century Fox have subsidiaries in radio and music. For instance, 21st own Sky which produces Modern Family and An Idiot abroad, as well as Fox Entertainment which is known for series’ like Gotham, Empire and Bob’s burgers. These series’ are very popular on their individual channels and offer a variety of genres, Modern Family is a comedy whereas Empire is a drama. Fox music has been Fox's music arm since 2000, they mainly produce movie or television soundtracks to cross promote for other subsidiaries. They’ve produced soundtracks for Empire which airs on fox entertainment as aforementioned and for Paper towns which 20th Century Fox distributed for the producers TSG entertainment and Fox 2000 pictures. But it doesn’t stop there, as I mentioned before Rupert Murdoch owns not only 20th Century Fox but also Newscorp! To recap, Newscorp are responsible for some of the most well-known newspapers: The Sun and The Sunday Times, this allows them to supply recent events and affairs to a large group of people to increase their influence. Yet another subsidiary of Fox is Talk radio, Talk radio reaches a wide audience by dabbling both in the DJs discussion of political matters and mainstream music. The products of fox are known for being mainstream instead of niche, this refers to ‘a current of thought that is widespread’. Because of this they appeal to a wider variety of people who will consume their products. 20th Century Fox tend to be known for their handiwork in the film industry, they’ve created Avatar and X-Men, very high grossing films. A lot of their most popular ones were created from joint ventures though such as the later Star Wars movies which were produced by Lucas film ltd. and distributed by Fox, the Ice Age movies and the Croods were a product of them distributing movies for DreamWorks. The films I’ve named here are ‘family films’ so have the opportunity to reach a more diverse audience, which is 20th Century Fox’s aim. They want to appeal to as many people as possible so that they will become popular and more people will want to consume their product.
Market position
20th Century Fox has a revenue of $13.28 billion, $1,790.5 million for 2014. Yeah, I know right? The most recent film they made, Hitman: Agent 47, had a domestic gross estimate of $21,583,995- and that was a terrible film! They are majorly known for their part in the film industry although they span across other platforms as their subsidiaries produce for TV and music. Avatar was their highest grossing film to date at a whopping $760,507,625 followed by their distribution of the Star Wars trilogy, the first one grossed $431,088,295. They are an internationally successful. Some of their subsidiaries include: Fox star studios in India, 20th Century Fox Japan and Fox studios Australia. In relation to other companies they manage to be very successful. One of their subsidiaries Fox is prominent as it airs the mainstream show The Walking Dead in which 14.8 million viewers turned in to watch last mid-season finale, of which I was one of. I've said that DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox have gone on multiple joint ventures together but one of DreamWorks highest grossing films is Shrek 2 at $596,117,300 almost $200,000,000 less than Fox's highest. They have produced more than 10 films with box-office grosses of more than $100 million each. DreamWorks are a widely renowned company, but the fact that they tend to cater to a younger audience means they will probably bring in a smaller profit than if their products were for aimed at a larger audience. On the other hand, 20th Century Fox pale in comparison to Disney's revenue of $48.813 billion! Their highest grossing film, the Avengers, grossed $623,357,910-less than Fox's Avatar.
20th Century Fox has a revenue of $13.28 billion, $1,790.5 million for 2014. Yeah, I know right? The most recent film they made, Hitman: Agent 47, had a domestic gross estimate of $21,583,995- and that was a terrible film! They are majorly known for their part in the film industry although they span across other platforms as their subsidiaries produce for TV and music. Avatar was their highest grossing film to date at a whopping $760,507,625 followed by their distribution of the Star Wars trilogy, the first one grossed $431,088,295. They are an internationally successful. Some of their subsidiaries include: Fox star studios in India, 20th Century Fox Japan and Fox studios Australia. In relation to other companies they manage to be very successful. One of their subsidiaries Fox is prominent as it airs the mainstream show The Walking Dead in which 14.8 million viewers turned in to watch last mid-season finale, of which I was one of. I've said that DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox have gone on multiple joint ventures together but one of DreamWorks highest grossing films is Shrek 2 at $596,117,300 almost $200,000,000 less than Fox's highest. They have produced more than 10 films with box-office grosses of more than $100 million each. DreamWorks are a widely renowned company, but the fact that they tend to cater to a younger audience means they will probably bring in a smaller profit than if their products were for aimed at a larger audience. On the other hand, 20th Century Fox pale in comparison to Disney's revenue of $48.813 billion! Their highest grossing film, the Avengers, grossed $623,357,910-less than Fox's Avatar.
Competitors
The company have a lot of competition in their industry, some of the more crucial ones are Walt Disney and Warner bros. which are a subsidiary of Timer Warner. Both of these companies are widely recognised for both the production and distribution of films, but they also have subsidiaries based in TV and other platforms globally. For instance, Time Warner also owns HBO which have bases in: Asia, Europe, Hungary, India, Poland and Romania. HBO has become a very popular network as it shows Game of Thrones, now one of the most mainstream shows internationally. Disney are a distributor on The Avengers movies, as well as some of the other Marvel films leading up to it- one of Fox's highest grossing franchise is the X-Men trilogy which will be in competition as they target similar audiences and is also developed by Marvel. The 'nerd' culture has begun to become popular in recent years, it's produced a formulae that everybody can get behind- a heroic protagonist and a heinous villain, because of this film companies want to buy into their production as soon as possible. Both Warner bros. and, distinctly Disney, are known across the majority of the world. It is estimated Disney has a revenue of $48.813 billion as of 2014 and their highest grossing film was The Avengers at $623,357,910- beating 20th Century Fox by quite a sum. Warner bros. however have an overall gross estimate of $12 billion, less than Fox, and the film that has earned them the most across theatres was The Dark Knight at $533,345,358. But 20th Century Fox still manages to stand out from its competitors because of the recognisable franchises it has distributed such as X-Men and Star Wars; two amazingly favoured collections that caters to a mass audience. Whilst Disney could be considered to make 'family films' they mainly appeal to the younger generation, what first world child hasn't got one of their toys or at least heard of Disney? Fox has a far more varied target audience and are better seen as a company with products for a more diverse set of people.
The company have a lot of competition in their industry, some of the more crucial ones are Walt Disney and Warner bros. which are a subsidiary of Timer Warner. Both of these companies are widely recognised for both the production and distribution of films, but they also have subsidiaries based in TV and other platforms globally. For instance, Time Warner also owns HBO which have bases in: Asia, Europe, Hungary, India, Poland and Romania. HBO has become a very popular network as it shows Game of Thrones, now one of the most mainstream shows internationally. Disney are a distributor on The Avengers movies, as well as some of the other Marvel films leading up to it- one of Fox's highest grossing franchise is the X-Men trilogy which will be in competition as they target similar audiences and is also developed by Marvel. The 'nerd' culture has begun to become popular in recent years, it's produced a formulae that everybody can get behind- a heroic protagonist and a heinous villain, because of this film companies want to buy into their production as soon as possible. Both Warner bros. and, distinctly Disney, are known across the majority of the world. It is estimated Disney has a revenue of $48.813 billion as of 2014 and their highest grossing film was The Avengers at $623,357,910- beating 20th Century Fox by quite a sum. Warner bros. however have an overall gross estimate of $12 billion, less than Fox, and the film that has earned them the most across theatres was The Dark Knight at $533,345,358. But 20th Century Fox still manages to stand out from its competitors because of the recognisable franchises it has distributed such as X-Men and Star Wars; two amazingly favoured collections that caters to a mass audience. Whilst Disney could be considered to make 'family films' they mainly appeal to the younger generation, what first world child hasn't got one of their toys or at least heard of Disney? Fox has a far more varied target audience and are better seen as a company with products for a more diverse set of people.
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