Audience and Institution Essay

Evaluate the impact of media ownership on the media texts which get produced

   In the world of film media ownership and status is very important. When looking at some of the most successful films that have been created, we see a clear pattern. Most of the movies that do the best have been distributed by high status/ well known companies, often the same ones. When it comes to film and distribution there are many companies, but two companies that have done the best is Walt Disney Pictures as well as Universal Studios.

   When a person hears Walt Disney or Universal many different successful movies come to mind, some of these being “Beauty and The Beast” and “Guardians of the Galaxy VOL.2” from Walt Disney Pictures and movies like “Furious 7” and “Jurassic World” by Universal Studios. Disney is in fact the largest media conglomerate in the world and made a total revenue of $38 billion back in 2010. Since these companies are already well known and expected to produce great movies, every time they come out with a new release more and more people will go out and see it to see if it’s as good as the rest. Both Universal and Disney have come out with many films and have been able to observe and adapt to what people like to see and what often ends up being successful. They have the opportunity, unlike many other companies, to experiment with what movies are popular and even if it ends up being a fail, they still have a high status and will get viewers for their next films. These companies having high status and ownership over the media text which is being produced because they have gained the audience trust in them making a movie, they like which makes them grow even more.

   All this makes it hard for other companies to compete. Since these well-known companies basically rule the film industry, it makes it hard for other smaller companies to grow. Smaller companies must try and make movies that are similar to the ones that are successful, based on research within companies like Disney and Universal, but also have to make sure it’s not too alike because then there would be no point in viewing their movie if someone with higher status and budgets already made the same one. And being too diverse will not be beneficial either because it could push away the general audience who have grown to like what these higher-ranking companies put out. Smaller companies need to do a lot of work and research before attempting to compete with these more popular distribution companies in order to make it big.

   The success of a distribution company can be clearly seen when looking at the revenue they make. As stated before, Walt Disney created both “Beauty and The Beast” and “Guardians of the Galaxy VOL.2” which are two very successful movies. After Beauty and The Beast was released it made $1,263,521,126 (1.3 billion) worldwide. And Guardians of the Galaxy VOL.2 made $863,756,051 worldwide after its release. Due to them being distributed by the trusted and well-known company, Disney, it gave them the potential to grow and ended up being huge successes making millions and billions of dollars for the company and inspired for new movies. Universal has experienced the same success through different movies. Furious 7 made $384 million within the first opening week and Jurassic World made over 1 billion dollars in total. These successes also led to a series of movies related to its original made by the same company, like Jurassic World by Universal. There are several distribution companies that have made it big around the world and part of this is because each of the companies create different types of films and all reach different types of audiences. Since there are major distribution companies covering all genres it makes it difficult for new or smaller companies to either start a trend in films or make it big themselves.

   The large companies that were bring discussed have worked incredibly hard and all been unique in their way of working their way to the top. Now that they are known for releasing popular films, they have gained the audiences trust and no matter what the film may be like, they will have someone watch it to see if they like it or not based on who released it. They have much ownership over what is being put out and seen which can benefit themselves with their future projects as well as making sure they are staying on top.