Community Discussions
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Whats the difference: Film Studio vs Production Company?
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Having worked on a few film sets I feel dumb having to ask this but am confused - so please pardon the stupidity đź«Ł...
While documenting our collection I noticed older packaging often mentions only the distribution company & u have to look up which studio was behind it. A few appear to have been made purely by independent production companies w/ no studio ties (such as RED).
My understanding has always been:
• Production companies: source material, find actors, contract pre-production, insurance, etc. Depending on the companies nature they may also offer offer financial backing / funding or have a partner who sources.
• Studio: is a physical place which offers full package goods (art & wardrobe departments, sound stage, backlots, lighting, and post services). They can also provide funding, P&A, legal, insurance, & packaging / distribution as needed.
Is that how it works?
If so, how does an independent production company go about making a major motion picture without the use of @ least a few of the studios resources?
Top Comment:
A film studio is a vague term that could refer to a distribution company, a production company, a co-fianancer, etc. A lot of the time in common usage, people might use “film studio” to refer to the “main” film studios, like Paramount/Disney/Universal/Sony/Warner Bros.
A production company is a company that is involved to some degree with the production, be it the script, the filming, the financing, etc. The production company may also be the distributor (and the distributor may also be one of the production companies, especially before the 1990s). Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, Bad Robot, Village Roadshow, Amblin, BRON, and American Zoetrope are examples of production companies. Top Gun: Maverick is an example where Paramount is both one of the production companies and the distributor.
Honestly, in many conversations, the terms are pretty interchangeable. Unless you’re specifically talking about a studio building
Which studios would you prefer to deal with and which would you avoid if you were in the film industry?
Main Post: Which studios would you prefer to deal with and which would you avoid if you were in the film industry?
Top Comment: I'd be an idiot to pass up anything in my position
Which Movie Studio is struggling the most ?
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With the qaulity of films going down and box office bombs dropping left and right which studio is doing worse money wise ?
Top Comment: "Aside from WB, which Movie Studio is struggling the most?" just fixed that for you so we can have a proper discussion haha
How hard would it be to start a movie studio?
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I'm just asking since I've been thinking of making a business and I'm really been into screenwriting and seeing so many of you sometimes being screwed by Hollywood makes me upset.
The point of my studio is to let lesser known writers get their voices heard that way they can make it big like other screenwriters. I just want to know if you all have any ideas on how to start a company like this? Any help is appreciated!
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What happens when you open your doors to lesser known screenwriters is you get inundated with amateur screenplays. So many you can’t read them all and then you have to close your open submission policy, and change it to “sorry, we no longer accept unsolicited submissions” then you become every other movie studio.
I’d like to talk about movie studios and their impact on the industry
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Not just in this particular sub, but film fans on all mediums typically ignore discussing specific movie studios, in terms of the quality of their product, their relationships within the industry and their dedication to film as an art form.
Typically, when studios are brought up it’s in terms of box office numbers, mergers, streaming services or more often...controversy. I know that the simple and obvious bottom line is that these studios are first and foremost a business. However, while it’s obvious that there are efforts which are clearly cash grabs and/or efforts that are clearly crunching the algorithms to reach the broadest audience possible, I refuse to believe that there isn’t a soul in all of Hollywood who doesn’t care for the future of cinema (in theaters and at home) in a way that is more than just a money funnel. But something that molds and reflects our culture in a deep and meaningful way.
I’m talking about the big studios here:
Warner Bros, Disney, Universal, Paramount, Sony/Columbia as well as smaller studios/distributors like Lionsgate and Magnolia. Not so much independent studios as they are typically known for putting art above entertainment (or on the same level at least)
I know most of us have no interaction with these studios, nor have any insider knowledge, but I’m curious on your opinions of these big studios in general. Do you think any of them have shown more artistic integrity than others? Are there any in which you think only care about movies as a means for profit above all else? Have you heard any stories on which studios are easier to work with? Do some studios give the artists (directors) more creative independence than others? Do you see any of these studios paving the way for a better industry? These are just a few questions I’ve thought to ask, but I would love to discuss anything related that comes to mind.
For the record, I’ve been a lover of film for quite a long time. While I’m not completely content with the state of cinema and the like, I’m not someone who longs for the golden years. There’s a great deal of quality that has been released this century and though there’s a lot of uncertainty with how recent/current events have changed things, I’m still excited for what’s in store in the near future.
I personally hold the opinion that art and entertainment are both equally valuable. Not that each and every film needs to have both, but that some films can focus on one more than the other respectably. In other words, not all films need to have equal parts of artistic expression and entertainment, but some creators should have every right to choose art or entertainment as their main purpose, in order to have a well rounded industry and a long lasting cultural impact. It’s because of this belief that I’m trying to gauge how these studios affect the industry. Are they currently a model for what the movie industry needs to thrive as a form of entertainment and as a medium for artistic expression? Or do these studios absolve themselves of any responsibility by strictly producing “what the people want to see”? Perhaps both?
Top Comment:
New Line Cinemas comes to mind. They were a tiny independent studio when they produced A Nightmare on Elm St., and that runaway hit and its sequels transformed them into a major player while allowing them to remain independent of the larger studio system. This held true all the way through the production of Peter Jackson’s LOTR trilogy, arguably making them the most successful “independent films” of all time.
And it’s not just in name only — watch those films and it’s easy to see the artistic integrity right there on the screen. There’s no sense of boardroom deliberation about spinoffs or fretting over whether a loving male friendship was marketable.
As I recall New Line was finally gobbled up by a larger studio after those films. But their legacy remains a triumph of artist independence.
*edit: just to clarify, I’m not insisting that everything New Line did was great. I’m pointing out that their being independent allowed Peter Jackson’s LOTR films to retain a remarkable degree of artistic integrity that would be unlikely today.
How Does One Become A Studio Executive Of A Film Studio/Corporation In Particular?
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Basically how one becomes the head of a big movie studio? May I please get an explanation and guidance what happens post-MBA.
Top Comment: Same way as head of any company. You either start your own small studio, eventually sell it or move to another one slightly bigger, work your way to an established one... you know, horizontally... or you start in the mailroom at the big one and work your way up vertically.
What is the worst decision any major studio has made in the 2020s so far?
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Here’s my opinions for each major studio:
- Disney: Ditching theaters for animation, and sending every animated movie to die on Disney+. They’ve cheapened their own brand by conditioning audiences to watch WDAS and Pixar movies at home.
- Warner Bros.: Neglecting to market their own movies, causing them to underperform. It’s an oddly backwards approach. I know it was from financial troubles, but this created a self-fulfilling prophecy.
- Paramount: Tie between approving a huge budget on something as niche as Babylon, and opening D&D in such a crowded space. Dungeons & Dragons could’ve been a nice hit for them and started a franchise, but they threw it all away by opening right before Mario.
- Universal: Insisting on early or simultaneous streaming and VOD releases, even after COVID. It sort of made sense for Halloween Kills and Ends since they sucked, but now they’re just throwing money away. Five Nights at Freddy’s in particular was incredibly stupid of them, although we’ll see how that does in October.
- Sony: Staying presistent about those stupid Spider-Man villain spin-offs that scrape the bottom of the barrel for content
Top Comment: I don't know if it's the worst worst one, but my favorite one was definitely Sony re-releasing Morbius, thinking they found some sleeper meme hit, only for it to fail the box office once again. That's just comedy Gold right there
Which film studio/distributor is your personal favorite?
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As much as I love Universal I am gonna go with Paramount. They have pumped out some awesome movies over the years: Once Upon in the West, Willy Wonka, Chinatown, Up in Smoke, Friday the 13th movies, Indiana Jones movies, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Hunt for Red October, Juice, Wayne's World, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Tommy Boy, Braveheart
Which film studio is your favorite? Big or small. Feel free to list some of your fav movies that they made too :)
Top Comment:
As much as it's now tainted by the guy who founded it, I'm going to say Miramax
r/movies on Reddit: Has a studio’s interference ever made a film better?
Main Post: r/movies on Reddit: Has a studio’s interference ever made a film better?