Warp v Working Title Film examples

EXPLORING THE FILM INDUSTRY FOR ASSIGNMENT 2

We'll watch and compare these two trailers shortly



You can find additional resources in these posts:

• Video of summer 2015 hits + the (UK Indie) posters/trailers from page2 of the handout
• Pitching pointers and gallery of hybrid movies

We'll focus on two contrasting companies to begin exploring this industry.

• Working Title is owned by a huge US conglomerate (company that owns other companies), and so can make high budget movies
• Warp is an Indie (not owned by a larger company), and so makes low budget films

You can see the trump cards below for a selection of these. NOTE: I've blogged on many of these films in much more detail over on my Cinema blog.

Here are the boxofficemojo links for each (this site gives budgets, box office figures):

WORKING TITLE

2 contrasting companies in trump cards (gallery further down)

Bridget Jones's Baby (Maguire, 2016)
Sequel to Bridget Jones' Diary and Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason
Green Zone (Greengrass, 2010)
Marketing of this action/spy thriller tried to tap into the Bond rip-off Bourne's success by focusing on Matt Damon, with disappointing resultd
Hot Fuzz (Wright, 2007)
Second of the 'Cornetto Trilogy' this cop buddy satire was a sizeable hit despite its low budget.
Legend (Helgeland, 2014)
International audiences just weren't familiar with the Kray Twins (real life post-war London gangsters), and so box office was low outwith the UK
Les Miserables (Hooper, 2012)

Global IP/brand + A-list stars = global hit!

The sort of A-list star-studded movie, based on a globally successful IP (the long-running musical), that Indies couldn't dream of, this was a solid success
Notting Hill (Michell, 1999)
The company's second global hit rom-com starred megastar Julia Roberts, and made a star of Hugh Grant, fresh of Four Weddings and a Funeral success.
Paul (Mottola, 2011)
Featuring the (British) Cornetto Trilogy leads, this sci-fi/comedy hybrid used an A-lister (Seth Rogen) and a US setting to boost its US and international appeal
Shaun of the Dead (Wright, 2004)
Still popular with today's teens, the zom-rom-com that kickstarted the Corentto Trilogy
The World's End (Wright, 2013)
The budget was much higher than the previous Cornetto Trilogy movies, but the box office wasn't - I've blogged on why in detail
Theory of Everything (Marsh, 2014)
Typical Working Title: well off white southern English characters in a grand setting, with the romance framework boosting appeal to this biopic of Stephen Hawking.

Budget: just £48k!

WARP FILMS/WARP X
'71 (Demange, 2014)
Set at the start of the Northern Ireland 'Troubles' (armed conflict verging on civil war), this action/thriller could have been a hit with a star or two
Four Lions (Morris, 2010)
Such a bizarre idea: a comedy about a su*icide b*mber! A suprise hit in the UK, but it didn't do well in the US
She a Chinese (Xiaolu, 2011) [no entry]
You can't get much more uncommercial (unlikely to make money) than this: a Chinese woman illegally stays in Britain after running off from an official tour
Submarine (Ayaode, 2010)
Ingenious Welsh teen rom-com
This is England (Meadows, 2006)
The franchise continued on TV, with 3 series of sometimes brutal social realist drama
Tyrannosaur (Considine, 2011)
Another dark drama, despite the (sort-of) romance, it proved a hard sell with its two unglamorous middle-aged leads
Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee (Meadows, 2009)
Shane Meadows shot this mockumentary in just 5 days! Its entire budget wouldn't cover the catering on some tentpole Hollywood shoots!

FILM Hybrid genres and pitching

We started with this (PG-13) trailer; listening only to the opening 50 seconds, viewing the rest.

It is an example of a hybrid genre film.

Others are illustrated in the PowerPoint below.

Year 9 Taster day 2016 l2 from DB3igs

Your task today is this:

You have been invited to pitch a film idea to the world's most successful film distributor, Universal International Pictures.
They are especially interested to hear of any hybrid ideas you might have - no matter how outrageous.
You could combine two existing film franchises (series) or attempt a more original idea.
Either way you need to detail:

• the budget
• the main cast
• the genres
• which film/s it can be compared to (it should be clear they are successful films!)
• the title
• at least one tagline
• a summary of why you think this film would be box office gold

It would be to your advantage to have some visual aids (maybe even a mock-up poster) to boost your chances of successful pitching and winning funding - but focus on the content first!

Classic taglines; filmsite selected taglines; shortlist poster gallery of great taglines.