The Film Industry - Warner Bros

There are three main stages that a film goes through:

• Production
• Distribution
• Exhibition

The company that makes a media product is the most obvious institution and is in the production of the film. However the companies that distribute and exhibit, publicise and merchandise the product are also required to release a film and attract customers to watch it. For example, Warner Bros.
On the Warner Bros. homepage, it is very brief as it includes a wide variety of links which in turn make up the site map. From here your able to quickly navigate through the website and you are made to realise the diversity of Warner Bros., from movies to video games and a lot more! The homepage can be found at www.warnerbros.com/main/homepage.html

I then looked at their studios which are based in Burbank, California. Here I gathered five main facts about the studios:-

• It is home to 29 sound stages and has a 20acre back lot to build metropolitan cities, jungles or even Main Street.
• The facility covers 110 acres of land
• Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons were born at Warner Bros.
• In 1972, Warner Communications and Columbia Pictures joined together to create and form a single facility called The Burbank Studios.
• Warner Bros have created big hits such as 'ER' and 'Friends'. Also have created films such as 'The Matrix', 'Goodfellas' and 'The Bodyguard'.

Warner Bros. also owns a number of different companies, for instance Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, which distribute Warner Bros. movies, television, Internet streaming sites and even interactive gaming content. Another company that is owned by Warner Bros. is Castle Rock Entertainment Inc. which have produced the likes of 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'Harry met Sally' which are then distributed by Warner Bros.
Besides Warner Bros. owning different companies, they, themselves, are subsidiaries of a company called Time Warner. Here are five main facts about this company:-

• As of March 2009, they employ worldwide, approximately 38,000 people.
• It is the world's largest entertainment conglomerate.
• Major operations are in film, television, Internet services, publishing and telecommunications.
• Their Headquarters are based in New York.
• Time Warner has many subsidiaries besides Warner Bros. like AOL, New Line Cinema, Time Inc. and HBO.