The Movie Market Landscape

There have been many posts written about Netflix’s entrance into the market and how streaming is the new wave blahblahblah. And then back and forth arguments about whether Netflix deserves to be considered in the Emmy’s (it should). However, one larger point has been missed: the new shift in the ways audiences consume content has hurt the movie market more than we know. Global box office may have achieved an all-time high last year, it came at a high, high, high cost. Margins are getting suppressed at movie studios, and in turn the companies and people working for these studios are getting squeezed. (see: VFX dude getting Jaws’ed off the stage

A movie studio makes money in different ways around the world, and the entrance of these new forms of content consumption has “disrupted” (I use this word very liberally) the industry. Here’s a general idea:

-Theater: you and your friends decided to take it easy on a Friday night instead of bumping to EDM you go catch Twilight. Spend $15 a ticket. Depending on the countries and deals made, the “receipts” go to the movie studio while theaters pocket the rest. (mostly)
-Pay per view / VOD: This is where Netflix has been making the most noise, buying up rights to contend versus the likes of HBO and Showtime. However, for studios this may be free money but it comes at the expense of...
-DVDs: people still buy these, you ask? sure, although at a very fast pace. I buy them for gifts nowadays. Or unless it’s a special edition that i really want. This piece of the business peaked in the mid-2000s and people to this day are still trying to figure out a way to salvage this business.
-TV: After a long day of work you went home and turned on the TV. Oh my, The Rock is on again you definitely have to stop everything to watch this. A rather insignificant amount to the studios but it pretty much is gravy.

Together, combined with the performances worldwide, this is called the ultimate. And that’s how studios look at each movie in general. Some movies may have flopped domestically but recovered well in other parts of the world and/or DVD sales due to the cult following or what not.

Next time I will talk a bit more about the happenings in each of the streams. Ultra Violet, for example, is something that hasn’t caught on much (would definitely love to see what you monkeys think) and how TV markets are being affected by this as well. Stay tuned (ha-ha)

Tangent: I can't believe Jennifer Lawrence won. Ugh. So disgusted. Argo wasn't really best picture worthy in my opinion. Django was probably the best film out of the bunch. LOLincoln I have no idea what happened there. My girl Samantha Barks looked great.