· The black panther party, were a revolutionary political organisation founded by Bobby Seale and Huey newton in October 1966 in California
· The party was active until 1982
· The party was a political activist group established initially to provide armed monitoring of police behaviour and prevent police brutality in the US. It was controversial, with many panthers being arrested or killed in confrontations with police
· Scholars have characterised the Black Panther Party as the most influential black movement organisation of the late 1960s
· In 2016, the 88th academy awards the Oscars we criticized because they didn’t recognise film makers of colour, they had the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite
· Science fiction blockbusters and superhero genres have primarily been dominated by white male characters
· Marvel film shave topped the box Office. Some of these include non-white sidekicks (captain America, ironman)
· Black cinema has traditionally consisted of issues-based social realism or have been ‘arthouse’/prestige
· In 2016 the #OscarsSoWhite meme drew attention to the lack of diversity
· Spike Lee famous black director
Budget $200 million
Box Office $1.347 billion
Production Company Marvel studios
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Marketing Budget (estimate) $150 million
Marvel Studios
· A production company produces the film, so this includes all filming, sound, CGI, and special effects
· Marvel studios is the movie production arm of Marvel entertainment, the comic book company in 2007 began releasing a successes of films in the marvel cinematic universe which feature interconnecting plot lines and characters
· They have grossed over $13.5 billion at the global box office
· In 2009 Disney bought marvel for $4billion, giving marvel the added benefit of the powerful Disney marketing and merchandise machine
Distributors- uses marketing strategies to make the film well-known to audiences
· Trailers
· Toy sales
· Posters
· Poster campaigns
· Toyota-owned Lexus was a major brand partner
· Its activity culminated in lucrative super bowl slot called long live the king with the intent of putting keen to put itself in front of a younger and more diverse audience than it is accustomed to. It pursed a return to glory, having last led US luxury car sales in 2010
· This appealed to the ADVENTURER/ EXPLORER PSYCHOGRAPHIC
Cross Platform marketing
· Parks and resorts
· Consumer products
· Interactive gaming
· Media networks
· Gives companies a head start that many distribution companies do not have
· As marginalized groups become more vocal, corporations and their savvy public relations department have turned to catering to these groups- to turn a profit- and this film by Marvel studios is no different
Conglomerate-
· A media conglomerate, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, theme parks, or the Internet. According to the magazine The Nation, "Media conglomerates strive for policies that facilitate their control of the markets around the world
· In 2008 Walt Disney is the world’s largest media conglomerate with news corporation, Viacom and time warner ranking second, third and fourth respectively
Who are the conglomerates?
· Walt Disney
· Paramount
· Universal pictures
· Warner brothers
· 21st century fox
· Columbia Pictures
Vertical Integration- when the company has ownership of the means of production, distribution and exhibition of the film by the same company thus have the same profit
Horizontal integration- when a company expands into other areas of one industry. This means tha5t the company can develop a particular area of production and buy out other companies that usually deal with these areas
How does being a conglomerate benefit Disney?
· Profit- from sales, doesn’t have to share with a separate distribution or toy company
· Control- it can change its mind regarding distribution or exhibition without having to justify it to others (or pay inconveniences) high quality
How does being a conglomerate benefit Disney audiences?
· Security- films they are anticipating are unlikely to be cancelled at the last minute because the company owns all the process
· Sequels- the company has more scope for releasing sequels straight to DVD
· Quality- they know if past films are high quality then new one are likely to be too because it’s all the same company. Certain companies developing an association with specific film genre
What are the negative ways in which conglomerates affect non conglomerates?
· Lack of opportunity- if most film companies have a distribution branch there is little need for individual distribution companies (e.g British film distribution companies)
Effects on society
· It imposes a risk in the modern age. Its leverage in the entertainment and news industries, through television networks and motion picture studios, allows it to influence not only how we see the world and interprets events, but also allowed it to mould the values of our society. Overall, conglomerates have such a large monopoly over the media that they have a supreme power and leverage over public opinion
David Hasmondhalgh
· Media companies need to minimise risk and maximise audiences to be successful
· The most successful companies are vertically or horizontally integrated. The more companies you can buy up and take over the less companies you are in competition with and the more power you will gain
· The most successful companies work access a variety of media platforms and industries. This is called diversification. Diversification is when a company branches into other areas such as film companies having an online presents ir have a music label to produce soundtracks
· Media companies need to focus on popular formats/ genres/ stars. This can be seen in marvel. Its popularity encourages Disney to keep marketing the films focusing on these characters, using the same stars, and similar plot lines
· The most successful companies control their release dates of their products
· Success comes from a strong detailed marketing campaign
Funding- non-profit, crowd, public funding
· One of the major stories is from a crowd funding effort to ensure that boys and girls club of Harlem could all secure seats to what will likely be a lasting model in the superhero genre.
· The drive tripled its goal of $10.000 in just four days reaching $45,000- celebrities also help fund it like Ellen DeGeneres paid for the kids to visit the cinema
· This move garnered broad media coverage and a series of copycats fundraisers cropped to do the same for kids across the country
· After BP Disney donated $1 million to STEM programs
Commercial Funding
· Marvel studios budgeted $200,000,000 to make the film
Impact on budget
· The bigger budget allowed for high-quality production values
· Black panther ha the most expansive advertising budget and biggest line of merchandise of any Marvel non-sequel
· The campaign was about super-saving black audiences while still trying to appeal to all, in order to make the film “feel like a current event”
Criticism of the marketing
· Black Panther is a film designed to make a profit, produced by one of the largest companies in the world.
· The attachment of a Disney movie to a powerful social movement empowering black creatives, and audiences, has inspired some scepticism on twitter
