Who holds the most power in terms of influencing what films get made and seen?

There are varied stages in the film production cycle e.g. distribution, exhibition and marketing. Different groups have different influences on how a film gets made and seen for example… audience, studios, production cast, writer, star, director etc.

My first argument is that the audience holds the most power in terms of influencing what films get made and seen. My reason for this is because without an audience of course, a film would not get seen and therefore a film would not make any money. It is easy to distinguish what films are popular from viewing box office statistics. For example, a recent film (Sky Fall) produced by Sony, made $302,823,504 from viewings, with the production budget costing $300million. The production cost would have also included the advertising costs Sony would have used to spread the word of the new film for people to see so they are attracted to the advert if they are interested in the action genre of film. Without advertising, the target audience would not be notified about the film and Sony probably wouldn’t have generated as many views. The amount Sony generated from this film shows that the audience played a big part in the amount they made because without an audience paying to see the film, Sony would not have made such a large amount.

On the other hand, it could be argued that the audience does not hold that much power in terms of influencing what films get made and seen. It could be argued that it is the big media/film conglomerates that holds the most power and has the biggest influence on what films are made and seen. Media conglomerates are huge multinational media companies who own: film studios, TV stations, record labels, magazines, newspapers, books, internet platforms etc. An example of a media conglomerate is The Walt Disney Company; in terms of revenue they are the largest media conglomerate in the world. The reason the media conglomerate has the most power is because they have the power to promote the film wherever they like, so that the target market notice the film and go to see it. For example, Walt Disney Company can promote a new film by advertising and giving out toys in McDonalds Happy Meals for kids, so the children are intrigued by the advertisement and toys and are persuaded to see the film. Media conglomerates are also a very powerful source in influencing how and film gets made and seen because the film may have originally been just a book, then created into a film. This is very likely to influence people who have read the book, especially if they enjoyed it they would be very likely to go and see the film after it has been produced. Media conglomerates can be very powerful and influence how a film gets seen and a lot more influential than the audience because the media conglomerate is what influences the audience to see the film through major advertising campaigns.

However, this can also be argued because it known that the ‘star of the film’ is what holds the most power as to how a film is created and viewed by the public. This is because, the more popular or ‘loved’ a famous star is by the public, the more views a film is likely to get. A very good example of this is Channing Tatum, a huge film star and heart-throb adored by many people worldwide, especially loved by women. An example of the films Channing Tatum has starred in is: Dear John, G.I. Joe, The Vow, Step-Up and 21 Jump Street. All of these films been relatively recent and the film companies produced a huge amount of profit due to Channing Tatum starring in these films. This is just one example of how the ‘star’ can be the most powerful source in terms of what films get seen and made. All of these films Tatum starred in, his face was plastered across every advertising campaign possible to catch the female attention because they are extremely likely to view the film if their favourite heart-throb is starring in the film. If for example, unknown/not very popular film stars are starring in a new Hollywood film, and no heart-throbs are starring in the film, many people are likely to not be as interested as they would be if a huge Hollywood star had a part in the film. This just shows how much power a star can hold in terms of what films are made and seen.

In conclusion, I believe that the media conglomerate is the most powerful source in influencing what films are made and seen because huge media conglomerates such as NBC, Disney, Universal are just a few examples of the biggest media conglomerates in the world who possess a lot of power and can have a huge influence over what and how films are made and seen. This is because they can create huge advertising campaigns that attract the right target audience, they can get hold of the biggest Hollywood actors to star in their films and this can really persuade an audience to go and see the film.