Disney on Alice and Tentpole model

Sad hatter: Johnny Depp’s Alice sequel makes half its predicted box-office http://gu.com/p/4jqbt?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

CONVERGENCE DISTRIBUTION Amazon enables VoD for all

Big development this: Amazon Video Direct enables anyone to upload video and monetise it through streaming fee, as revenue share or a small share of the $1m Prime pot.

This reinforces Amazon as one of the global big tech 4 with Apple, FB and Google, all now competing in video and music, with the likes of Netflix hoping to establish themselves as effective rivals (but most would-be competitors end up bust or as subsidiaries).

Amazon launches YouTube-style video service http://gu.com/p/4j3ap?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Avatar, Paul, Cornetto Trilogy: audience, marketing, digitisation

http://www.threeflavorsscreenplay.com/theworldsend/
https://www.instagram.com/theworldsendfilm/
https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/the-world's-end
https://www.facebook.com/TheWorldsEndMovieUK/
https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheWorldsEnd?src=hash
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/beyond-the-screen/id830552609?mt=8
Wend Intl trailer;
http://corporate.comcast.com/our-company/businesses/nbcuniversal#accordion-3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ynzqn83T1c

WorldsEnd UK site;

2016 cornetto trilogy compressed from DB3igs

Quite simply bringing together some of the material on here on these...



WT use game to market Paul - play it here.


might add more...

WARP'S £48K LE DONK
This is both a good example of how low budget Indies can compete ... and an illustration of how much more Warp could/should be doing when promoting their films, even if that is the job of the distributor!!!
In this case, Le Donk was self-distributed in the UK, with a VoD (convergence!!! digitisation!!! proliferation!!!) US release. Below is a screen recording browsing the Warp web page for this



The page did offer the opportunity to send 'an exclusive Le Donk... Christmas card' ... but the link is dead now ... AND just look at the 'latest' news (I checked again May 2015!) ... its on Tyrannosaur!!! If Chris Anderson's long tail theory is to work surely they need to try harder with the online marketing?!

US VoD link and a dead link to some smart online marketing

Self-distribution!

This sums up the issue with Warp's online marketing - too little effort!!!

...

CONVERGENCE YouTube as TV network

Film channels are bound to be part of this mix, building on the pay-per-view system already built into YouTube, making self-distribution an easy option for even the most micro-budget filmmakers...

This is the news that YouTube are set to launch a TV subscription service to rival the likes of Hulu, to be called Unplugged, a reference to the US trend of unsubscribing from physical cable services and moving to online subscriptions.
A good example of digitisation and the disruption it has brought: even the traditional US TV networks will have little option but to sign up to the YouTube model or risk losing further business. The networks' traditional means of distribution, the cable box, is being radically undermined.

http://www.techradar.com/news/television/youtube-could-become-a-true-cable-killer-next-year-1320399

NBC-Universal buys DreamWorks - nightmare for WT?

If they got a chance to co-produce this could be good news, but that's unlikely, so WT face being a smaller fish in a BIG pond with parent company NBC-U picking up DreamWorks Animation for $3.8bn (a premium on the current stock market valuation of $2.5bn).

Already demoted from block funding to a first look deal this can only mean it will get more difficult for WT to gain financial backing or distribution agreement for their productions from within NBC-U.

As they've recently produced some ambitious, big budget family/children's movies, and have franchises like Bean and Nanny McPhee, this could mean in-house competition for attention and distribution.

WT are an admirably resilient company though, one that has retained its independent spirit and operating style while taking full advantage of their vertical integration in the NBC-U big six conglomerate.

They have a long-standing relationship with StudioCanal, a fellow NBC-U subsidiary, bringing production financing and, often, European distribution. Their track record ensures that the WT brand is enough to be taken seriously by all the big six distributors and earn a hearing (chance to pitch) any new productions.

Comcast’s NBCUniversal to buy DreamWorks Animation in $3.8bn deal http://gu.com/p/4tytg?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

REPRESENTATION Hollywood has no A-List Asian female stars

A row has broken out over the casting of a white actress in an anime remake

Max Landis: there are ‘no A-list female Asian celebrities’ who could have taken Scarlett Johansson’s Ghost in a Shell role http://gu.com/p/4tdyc?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

CONVERGENCE US cinema chain oks texting. sadface

I gather that after less than favourable feedback this horrible idea was binned, but multi-screen viewing is certainly a serious issue for film. And I found myself watching the latest Bourne and being very irritated at a pair to my left lighting the room with their phablets - even more than the ridiculous overuse of non-diegetic music to impress the kinetic tension on the producer-imagined dumb audience (in Aug 2016, a few months after picking up on this)

US cinema chain might introduce 'texting-friendly' screens.

Also ...

The Blue Room is being released in the UK by MUBI, first theatrically, then online. How do you feel about cinema becoming an online phenomenon?People keep saying that cinema’s about to die, but it has a way of transforming itself all the time. I never feel like saying: “It was better before.” OK, watching a film in a cinema is something different, but now people can use new tools, watch in different ways – they’re even able to watch three screens at once. That’s changing the grammar of cinema, it becomes like a mash-up or something. You have to take an interest – you have to use it all. [Mathieu Amalric: ‘Cinema has a way of transforming itself’]

BOX OFFICE v MARKETING software predictions

http://nofilmschool.com/2016/04/why-algorithm-promised-to-save-hollywood-destroyed-relativity-media

GENDER Stats on invisible mute women and male writers

Lots of killer statistics from multiple research papers here, detailing how little dialogue women get, how few films (18%) where 2 of the 3 lead roles are female, the dominance of male writers ... even the absurd long-term proportion of women in crowd scenes (17%!).

Also a good point, echoing one I make often, about the dismissive treatment of 'chick flicks' and the lack of a binary (we don't speak of men's movies!).

Why, in 2016, are women still (mostly) silent film stars? 

UK government report on film audience

The examples are little old, but this is still very useful: link.

The BFI, who took over the UK Film Council's role in using government funds to support the industry in 2011, publish an annual report and much more: link.

These are great sources for audience research as well as for a stronger idea on how the UK film industry operates.

a few of the 2015 reports, all freely downloadable

TECHNOLOGY 1st 4K discs and player out

4K TV and DSLR/camcorder has been going for a while, with most video editing software also offering upgrades to work with 4K.

Now Samsung have released the 1st consumer 4k player and Fox are releasing 4K discs at £19.99 - with The Life of Pi and Kingsmen among the titles. 

A 4K disc has 16 times the data of a DVD; it's basically the bitrate used in digital cinema projection.

Convergence continues.

Life Of Pi in ultra high-definition video? No thanks http://gu.com/p/4t6jq?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

INDIE DISTRIBUTION Festival then VoD day after, Swanberg strategy

This guy puts even Shane Meadows (the 5-day shoot £48k Le Donk) to shame, releasing SEVEN features in a year.

Over time he has responded to the limited benefit of festival buzz (6/7 months later when the DVD/VoD release occurs, the buzz is gone he notes) with his own unique strategy: put it out on VoD the day after a festival screening, tap into that buzz.

He urges Indie filmmakers to keep as much control as they can over production and distribution, noting that he makes most money when he has self-financed rather than relying on investors.

http://nofilmschool.com/2016/03/how-drinking-buddies-director-joe-swanberg-made-7-features-year

EDITING terms and examples

http://nofilmschool.com/2016/03/rocket-jump-film-cuts-and-types-transitions-editing

AUDIENCE WEB 2.0 Fans call BVS ratings BS

This is a point that has almost been taken for granted for some time: in the web 2.0 era, where the audience/producer divide is unclear at best, the power of the traditional media critics is gone.

Batman vs Superman SEEMS to be a good example of this: awful ratings but record-breaking opening figures (ahead if Avengers, the 3rd biggest hit of all-time).

HOWEVER... word of mouth has not been great, and it seems doubtful that the film will enjoy sustained success. Many believe that this is a conspiracy of paid-off hacks protecting Marvel's empire by trashing the Warner Bros/DC rival, for which this film marks the start of a 5 year schedule of comic book movie adaptations, seeking to replicate the huge success of the ultra-converged Marvel Universe which skips between TV and cinema routinely.

Moreover, 9/10 of the year's top 10 biggest hits had 60%+ RottenTomatoes ratings (a new shorthand for critical consensus).

The modest examples of Warp's '71 (low opening Friday night turnout but box office staff in Bradford correctly predicted that once The Guardian had reviewed it the audience would pick up) and Le Donk (placing trailers for a theatrical release that was never planned to generate newspaper reviews to boost DVD and VoD sales) also show that the established, traditional media continue to play a part in determining movie's success.

After all, the stars of this mega-budget tentpole ($250m and same again on prints and marketing) duly trooped over to the UK to film a Graham Norton Show Special, looking to boost its appeal beyond its core youth audience and firm up it's four quadrant credentials!

Is the biggest Batman v Superman smackdown between fans and critics? http://gu.com/p/4hqkd?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

SELF-DISTRIBUTION Orion £25 package with vinyl

Consume with care: are bespoke releases the future of film? http://gu.com/p/4hzpv?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Biggest cinema markets ranked by box office. UK in top 5

These will vary over time, but the UK and France are Europe's biggest markets, with Japan and China key Asian markets. China is expected to eventually exceed the US box office (perhaps towards the end of 2017?), but India's massive population is less likely to follow suit with ticket prices so much lower in the countryside.

The UK is dwarfed by the US and China, but it, France and Japan are closely matched and are ranked differently depending on the survey/year but is the 3rd, 4th or 5th biggest cinema market in the world, a definite top 5 market. Note how low its share from nationally produced films is - US films account for 4 times the box office of UK-produced films. No figure is given for the US but this would be in the high 90%+ range.

Table from Wiki. Note that China's figures are more recent than the rest, significant as they are growing every year.

DISTRIBUTION disruption debate

Fantastic article (or at least the SXSW panel debate it reports on) with strongly contrasting views on how the industry works, whether digitisation has opened doors for the little guy, if stars really make a difference, if the whole industry is nuts as only 1% of releases make money (probably a rhetorical claim)...

http://nofilmschool.com/2016/03/sxsw-is-indie-film-healthy-if-99-percent-fail

Film PITCHING guide from executives at SXSW

A hit team of Hollywood producers discussed the art of pitching at a SXSW (the Texas festival) session. Quotes are from the article by Liz Nord (2016) How Not to Pitch a Movie: Production Execs Tell All.

NB: the article contains an image which may be considered disturbing/NSFW (poor choice from a great site).

I did learn a new term from this myself: sizzle reel! Read on [click the read more] to find out what that is!

Last year, Shaked Berenson's company got 28 scripts from agents, double that number from managers, and slightly more from producers. About ten times that number were unsolicited. 

Epic Pictures Group made five films that year.
Berenson and his fellow SXSW 2016 panelists, who have decades of Hollywood producing experience between them, gave a few pointers. The group included Gudrun Giddings, CEO of G4C Innovation; Travis Stevens, CEO of Snowfort Pictures (whose film Teenage Cocktail is playing at this year’s fest); and Winnie Kemp, Director of Development at Super Deluxe/Turner.

ROM-COM Is this Working Title's signature genre?

In this post I highlight a recurrent point that has been made for some years now: the rom-com is DEAD and (box office) buried!

That is based on the lack of major, 'breakthrough' [very wide audience, typically overachieving for its budget] rom-coms in recent years, with the series of Jennifer Aniston flops symbolising this seeming reality. Is this true? Debatable. All genres go in and out of fashion. There is a solid argument that TV is now the home of the rom-com (not least the TV adaptation of About a Boy!).

Working Title are arguably more commonly associated with the genre than any other film production outlet, not just in the UK, but globally. They have had an impressive run of rom-com hits, and it seems unlikely that they will simply fail to add to this list. The upcoming third Bridget Jones flick could well change views on the rom-com's box office potential.

As far back as 1987, WT's 3rd production was a rom-com, albeit one with a social realist style which made minimal impact, Hanif Kreshi's Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (US cinema release only through Cinecom, just $1.2m, no budget figure available; it is also listed as unrated, indicating it didn't get a wide release). Director Stephen Frears had also directed their debut feature, My Beautiful Laundrette, and would go on to direct many more for the company.

The Tall Guy didn't stand too large at the box office...but did bring Richard Curtis into WT

1989 saw the introduction of Richard Curtis, screenwriter of The Tall Guy, a rom-com with a US star (Jeff Goldblum) plus Emma Thompson and Rowan Atkinson. Apparent changes to remove some British references (replacing US actors names in dialogue) and positive reviews didn't save it from box office gloom, a mere $500k and no record of releases elsewhere (straight-to-TV in the UK?). You can visit its blank WT website page here!

ROM-COM no more love for the classic hybrid?

I've read a variety of articles over the past decade announcing the death of the rom-com after some genre flick flopped (often starring Jennifer Aniston!).

Here's another ... which goes a step further in pronouncing a range of genres as dead and box office buried, but also argues that TV is now the true home of the rom-com, an intriguing point in this era of digitisation and convergence:

REPRESENTATIONS Hollywood's war on Muslims?

A detailed analysis of the real world impact of the normative representation of Arabs, the Middle East and Muslims (all very diverse demographics) as anti-Western, violent and a threat.

A recent study found a stunning 97% of such Hollywood characters to be negatively portrayed.

This is despite the seeming lack of box office appetite for films on the Iraq or Afghanistan campaigns - though this us now being reflected in a turn to satire and comedy after the failure of even critically acclaimed dramas such as The Hurt Locker.

‘Death to the infidels!’ Why it’s time to fix Hollywood’s problem with Muslims http://gu.com/p/4hcpx?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

STARS Hiddlestone key to Wheatley's High Rise financing

“You’ve always got the question of how to trigger the finance for a film as crazy as this,” Wheatley says. “And that comes from casting as much as anything.

Ben Wheatley: ‘Financing a film as crazy as this takes good casting’ http://gu.com/p/4h7jh?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

RELEASE WINDOW Star Wars 16.5 week wait for DVD

A typically jargon-packed column here on the UK's weekly box office; regular exposure to writing such as this will teach you a lot about the way this industry thinks and operates.

We have the 'counter-programming' of Working Title's Hail Caesar, adult fare from the Coens in amongst the various franchise, tentpole releases dominating the box office as ever.

Then there's Deadpool dropping 48% in its 3rd 'frame' (week of release, with weekend takings really the key measurement, thus the term 'opening weekend'), a typical figure.

Grimsby is compared to all the previous Bacha-Cohen releases, a serious flop given the heavy marketing campaign. I thought it was notable that the actor chose to appear as Ali G when doing his turn at the Oscars on Sunday; now a well established brand, unlike the struggling 90s-style English lad/lout he's failing to sell in Grimsby.

The major story nails down the precise terms demanded by the UK multiplexes for exclusive exhibition rights before DVD release: 16.5 weeks. Star Wars may actually exceed this, with the lucrative Easter holidays not far off and the film only just outside the top ten. No DVD release date has yet been announced, suggesting an extended cinema window is being considered.

It's now up to £122m, easily the biggest ever in the UK, trouncing the £105m Skyfall raised as the only other 9-figure film (the latest Bond, Spectre, topping out just short at £94m).

Bear in mind that such figures are routine in the US, where $1bn is the target figure for the truly monster hits (Gant rule...).

Grimsby sickens but fails to gross as Deadpool continues heroics at the UK box office http://gu.com/p/4h7c4?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Social Realism

[I'll be updating this with Warp/WT egs]

The film genre that is most associated with British cinema (costume/historical/heritage drama also: Elizabeth, Pride and Prejudice...). Features:

• Few films from the genre enjoy major box office success, because...
• they have low budgets, because...
• they rarely feature any stars (maybe some TV actors that are quite well known in the UK only, but not internationally), and even...
• often cast non-professional actors; This is England's Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) was a kid Meadows spotted bunking off school (truanting)!
• they often have no script, instead actos improvise - Ken Loach and Mike Leigh are famous for this approach, which makes it hard for them to convince studios to fund their films!
• whereas most successful, hit UK films are set in London/the South of England, these often use locations around the UK: Sweet Sixteen in Scotland, Mickybo and Me (WT2) in Northern Ireland
• most UK hit films also use middle or upper class characters, or central protagonists (all those Hugh Grant Working Title rom-com characters...), but social realist films typically centre on working [DE] (or lower middle [C2]) class characters: look at the opening shot of This is England, with the peeling wallpaper in Shaun's bedroom, or the opening scene of WT's debut film back in 1985, My Beautiful Laundrette, seeing the homeless lead being kicked out of a 'squat'
• Thats the 'social' bit of social realism - this generally means focussing on underprivileged or minority sections of society, including ethnic minority and sexual minority characters too (MBL's co-lead is a gay Asian man)
• the 'realism' bit comes from their documentary style: they aim to present 'the truth' about the country, not an idealised version that sells, and use documentary-style approaches to do so: handheld cameras, natural lighting, which of course also means...
• that, coming full circle, they are cheap to produce!
• See links below: the genre comes from earlier historical film traditions

British films that fictionalise real-life social issues, using a filming style similar to documentary (handheld, shaky, natural lighting, comparatively limited non-digetic music, usually unknown or minor actors). Developed out of the 1920s-40s BDM, 40s/50s Italian neo-realism, 50s/60s French New Wave, and British New Wave around the same time.

There are at least 25 posts on this blog which reference social realism; see also:
http://britrep.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/britishness-miserable.html
http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2010/may/28/british-film-social-realism
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1037898/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_realism#In_British_cinema
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_sink_realism
http://www.slideshare.net/tinkertaylor1981/british-social-realism-3986811 (teacher PowerPoint) 
http://www.slideshare.net/hannahmedia123/codes-and-conventions-of-british-social-realism (student PowerPoint)


A classic BDM eg: Night Train (Watt & Wright, 1936) follows the journey of a mail train across Britain and the working men who see our mail gets delivered. [Watch on YouTube here.]
Here's some excerpts from a PowerPoint I've done (full version available on request)

AUSTRALIA Warp and Working Title's subsidiaries down under

TBC

IMDB's list of Carver Productions' 3 films - actually Warp Films Australia productions

CARVER FILMS (IMDB)
MADMEN ENTERTAINMENT (IMDB)
WARP FILM AUSTRALIA (IMDB)

The UK already provides substantial tax advantages that make it an attractive location for film production - so too does Ireland (North and South have their own specific tax benefits, thus Game of Thrones joining other major TV series in shooting in Belfast).

So too does Australia. It also has a longstanding tradition of skilful low budget filmmaking, including the Ozploitation era, and breakthrough films like Mad Max.

Acordingly, both WT and Warp have set up offices down under and have overseen a variety of productions.

Warp Films Australia has produced three so far: Snowtown; Shopping; Partisan. They have received government (local and national) funding in Australia.

***UPDATE*** WARP FILMS AUSTRALIA DISBANDED! Late 2015

The label may reappear as a co-producer, with Mark Herbert saying they plan to work in Australia again, but the co-founders of the Aussie subsidiary have left to form Carver Pictures (working in both TV and film, like Warp).

This is actually typical of Warp, which can be considered a real talent incubator (as can BBC Films, Film4, and the government-funded agencies - the BFI, but previously the UKFC and its still running regional wings such as Screen Yorkshire).

ScreenDaily - co-founders of Warp Films Australia to go it alone with new Carver Films:

Snowtown and Partisan producers Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw are moving on from Warp Films Australia to launch production outfit Carver Films with a slate that includes Nick Cave adaptation The Death of Bunny Munro.
McLeish co-founded Warp Films Australia six years ago with ’71 and This Is England producers Warp UK, which will discontinue the Warp Films Australia banner but where possible will look to continue to produce with the territory. 
McLeish and Shaw produced Kurzel’s acclaimed debut Snowtown, Ariel Kleiman’s Vincent Cassel starrer Partisan, which premiered at Sundance this year, and New Zealand drama Shopping, which played in Sundance and Berlin.
...
Carver is also set to cut its teeth in TV, entering into a development and co-production deal with Australian production outfit Matchbox Pictures ...
...
“It’s been an exhilarating journey with Warp,” McLeish told Screen. “Sarah and I remain drawn to creating content with the same kind of exceptional talent we’ve worked with to date, in Australia and abroad. We look forward to unveiling more of that with Carver.”
“What Anna and Sarah have achieved in a short time is fantastic and we fully support their decision to set up their own production company,” said Warp UK’s Mark Herbert.
“We’ve enjoyed working with them and Warp will still continue to make productions in Australia and with Australian talent.”

PARTISAN

POSTERS:

WARP as seen by US magazine Variety

A fantastic overview of the company's history, production philosophy, struggles with box office and distribution, distinctive Britishness, and how they're evolving to look to work with bigger budgets and with high-end TV productions that can be sold internationally ... and even stop-motion kids films!

The article dates from 2012, and several of the productions mentioned as being green lit have yet to come about, but still may do.

Brilliant resource for anyone looking to write an analysis of the film industry using Warp as a case study - Mark Herbert notes himself how common a choice of study Warp has become within Media Studies!

Edgy Warp Films eyes U.S. entre

December 15, 2012 | 04:00AM PT

10-year-old Brit shingle steps up with pricier slate

Adam Dawtrey

LONDON — On a Saturday night in November, 1,200 people gathered in a converted steel mill near Sheffield to watch the Shane Meadows thriller “Dead Man’s Shoes” on a giantscreen, with a live band playing the soundtrack and the director spinning discs afterwards. Those in the hip young crowd were paying $45 a head to celebrate the birthday of Warp Films, the Sheffield-based shingle that started 10 years ago as an offshoot to electronica label Warp Records, and still prides itself in being a bit of an outlaw.
Based 150 miles north of London, Warp has emerged over the past decade as the strongest brand in British indie filmmaking, and the anniversary marks a watershed of sorts: After winning awards and a cult following with edgy, provocative, low-budget movies, including teen skinhead drama “This Is England,” which beat out “Atonement” to nab the BAFTA for outstanding British film in 2007, the company is leveraging its reputation and relationships to launch its biggest slate of projects, with larger commercial ambitions. While trying to staying true to its distinctively British and defiantly non-metropolitan roots, Warp is aiming to make a greater impact in the international market, including a project or two that can finally break into the U.S.

RELEASE WINDOW Cinemas love Amazon, nix Netflix

TBC

Guardian article.

There have been several high profile battles over the traditional release window - the convention that there will be around a 3 month gap between cinema run and DVD release, and another before TV release (which can be further staggered in the UK between premium subscription channels such as Sky Movies and terrestrial channels BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, C4 and C5).

Disney was forced to back down over its plans for Alice in Wonderland when several of the major chains threatened to boycott the movie if they didn't stick to the release window.

Netflix seems to have suffered such a backlash with its plans for a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel (the biggest foreign hit in US history took $130m there) to be an IMAX release seemingly abandoned. Cinema chains again pledged to boycott the film, due to be released on the Netflix platform at the same time.

REPRESENTATION + BOX OFFICE Why Mickybo flopped

Note the lack of official reviews.

**a linked, more recent film to consider alongside this: Warp's '71**

LINKS:
IMDB.
BoxOfficeMojo.
Wiki.
RottenTomatoes.
Trailer; VoD.
Culture NI feature.
Fan-made video (young boy).
Russian fan-made video/trailer?
OST as YouTube playlist.
1st 10 minutes + playlist.

Son of Rambow Wiki; trailer; BoxOfficeMojo;
WT2 IMDB.



This was one of Working Title's WT2 productions, their shortlived Indie-style subsidiary for low budget films:

IMDB's list for WT2

IMDB figures; BoxOfficeMojo puts it at $465k - but still a UK release only.

BOX OFFICE, AND A POTENTIAL AUDIENCE LOST?
This film came out around the same time as Son of Rambow; both films were about two boys obsessed with a movie (Rambo; the Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid). The film set in southern England did much better at the box office ... TWENTY TIMES better!!!

WARP v WORKING TITLE WEB 2.0 comparing social media

Through various case studies I've noted a key difference between the two companies in how their social media operates: scale.

In theory, web 2.0 creates a potential level playing field for Indie minnow and (conglomerate subsidiary) mini-studio alike ... but it still takes skilled, paid operators to create and update content, and respond to user comments/posts ... not to mention doing so in multiple languages (Paul and Les Miserables are just two WT examples which had Facebook accounts in multiple languages; you have to look to the truly weird L for a Warp example: essentially a Greek film, its no surprise to find a Greek language presence!).

Although we do see some very smart content (the Le Donk Xmas card) on some Warp sites, the considerable investment that WT make (encroaching on traditional distributor territory in doing so) on content rich websites stands out: the huge interactive Tinker, Tailor... online/offline game, Hot Fuzz Pacman, Shaun of the Dead Space Invaders... even the Smokin' Aces comic book.

Three basic points:

1. These combined materials are a vast learning resource freely available to you - the YouTube uploads especially
2. Warp's shift towards TV (think convergence) is evident based on my sampling today (Feb 14th 2016), with This is England 90 and The Last Panthers most prominent
3. As I note above, the lack of investment from Warp in maintaining these sites is also clear, with nobody updating the YouTube description for example for at least 6 months!

WARP
THIS BLOG TAG
WIKI 
IMDB (no separate TV division)
IMDB Warp Films US (limited brand)
IMDB Warp X
IMDB Warp Films Australia
THE-NUMBERS.COM
WEBSITE
YOUTUBE
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK 
WARP FILMS 10 (a dead link - they can't afford to maintain hosting fees?!)
TUMBLR (actually Warp Records, no separate Films site, another sign of limited funds; sample: '71 post)
TUMBLR TAG: warp films (plenty of UGC, and links from other companies, such as Australia's Madman Films (Snowtown, Shopping, Partisan all with Warp).

NEWS SITES
VARIETY Leading Hollywood trade magazine.
BFI (Google search) - see their review of 10 key Warp releases.

WORKING TITLE
THIS BLOG TAG
WIKI 
IMDB
IMDB WT2
IMDB WTTV 
IMDB WT AUSTRALIA
THE-NUMBERS.COM
WEBSITE
YOUTUBE
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
TUMBLR - no official page, but tagged a lot (including Working Title Korea) 

BFI 
VARIETY (also a simple search, brings up different results) 


COMPARING WARP/WT FOLLOWER NUMBERS:
Twitter Warp 30k v WT 8k
Facebook Warp 50k v WT 24k
YouTube Warp 666 v WT 388
Instagram Warp 4k v WT 4k
Tumblr numbers not shown
TOTALS: Warp 85k v WT 36k
BUT ... on YouTube views: Warp 159k v WT 466k (on a new channel, launched 2013, replacing previous channels)


WARP
THIS BLOG TAG
WIKI 

IMDB (no separate TV division)

The shift towards TV is clear

IMDB Warp Films US (limited brand)

IMDB Warp X

IMDB Warp Films Australia

THE-NUMBERS.COM

Notably this site only picks up on FOUR Warp films! An indication of their lack of US success (though the likes of TisEng are missing)

WEBSITE

Four social media outlets listed/linked.

Click on the 'read more' link for further screenshots, links and analysis

MALE GAZE left behind in Deadpool?

A lengthy discussion here on the extent to which the 'pansexual' Deadpool character is or is not counter-hegemonic (underming hetero-normativity), given that the only relationship or physical intimacy (other than with a unicorn in the end titles) is with his girlfriend ... but also a very direct discussion of the male gaze, and how it might be subverted here.

Note how the writer homes in very specific moments; this is just what you need to do too when writing an analysis of cinema - in the micro elements we find evidence to discuss the macro environment in which these are created and consumed:

The film’s reluctance to make good on its hero’s pansexuality should not overshadow the little moments of daring, the subtle advancements, that have survived to the screen. In a medium characterised by the male gaze, it is implicitly radical to include a lingering closeup of a man’s pert behind, especially when that shot isn’t giving straight male viewers the get-out clause of replicating a woman’s point-of-view: everyone, male or female, is simply being invited to enjoy the image on its own merits.

UNIVERSAL tentpole franchise kings hiking ahead

ScreenDaily reports on the huge turnaround, after a poor 2014

IN THIS POST: Analysis of how Universal's shifting strategy impacts on WT; an outline of what this strategy is, with key figures; details of how the new horror universe was proposed in 2014, and how its taking shape in 2016; the Battlestar Galactica bid to take on Star Wars.

Working Title's conglomerate parent, NBC-Universal, clearly knew what it was doing in downgrading its subsidiary's relationship to 'first look' status*; NBC-U would have first refusal over any new WT production, but had no obligation to pick it up for distribution or to fund production proposals. WT have to find their own financing now, even if that still often means pre-signing distribution deals with StudioCanal or UIP, all part of the NBC-U (and Comcast) conglomerate. Gone are the days of massive block funding for WT.

*See this post for details on the new deal (and a definition of first look), signed in 2012 and due to run out in 2015; no news yet of any changes

This shift in approach, which may seem surprising given how successful WT have been, reflects a hardening of Universal's commitment to the tentpole strategy, and the franchising that largely underpins this. Anita Elberse, who uses the term 'blockbuster' in her book, would approve: she argues that this is the only viable approach for any major player in any entertainment industry (she also considers football and music among other industries - a very interesting, digestible read, I recommend it).