Franchises Exam Answer

How important are franchises to producers and audiences?

The modern film industry operates with a horizontally integrated business model which means they are able to share resources and use or buy the assets of different companies in order to expand there own. An example of this is in the company Time Warner as they have bought into TV, video games, music and other media such as toys and comics. This allows them to create synergy and sell one product multiple times in a variety of different formats. The amount of money this generates has become a big reason for why franchises are so important for the producer.

Due to the huge amount of money that franchises generate companies like Time Warner have a safety net on which to fall back on if they create a film that doesn’t make as much as anticipated. An example of this is found in 2011 when Warner Bros produced the film Green Lantern. This film made a net loss of about $90 million however in that same year the company had its third highest box office sale of all time with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. (DHP2) This safety net created by franchises mean that big companies like Time Warner are allowed to take risks that smaller companies would not be able to make. Companies can also generate money from franchises many years after as merchandise and theme parks continue to bring in audiences from all around the world.

One of the main reasons that franchises are so important to audiences is that there is familiarity within the story and they can have their expectations met. The huge profit generated from DHP2 is an example of how franchises are very important to audiences, as this was the eighth film in the series that spanned ten years. This proves how audiences like to follow the story for as long as possible and enjoy being able to learn about different universes that are seen in films. Proof for this point is seen in the very popular community website called ‘Pottermore’. Pottermore is a website focusing on the unknown parts of the Harry Potter series and re-telling the story in an interactive way. This means that five years on from the release of the last film there is still an audience eager to engage with the franchise. This site has also allowed fans to create a community in which they can talk and debate about their opinions on the story. The community aspect of franchises I think is very important to fans as they bring people that have the same interests together that would otherwise never converse. Other than this website there are many other ways that audiences can revisit the harry potter world as there are countless toys and pieces of merchandise that are available to buy and also theme parks and studio tours allowing people to literally walk back into the story.