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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 2 years ago

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Who's To Say They Can't

Concerns and worrywarting continues to swirl after the not-so-great opening weekend of ELEMENTAL...

The talk of the town is largely "Pixar will become a sequel factory from here on out", but I'm also seeing such alarmist takes as "Pixar will be forced to make a live-action remake of one of their movies."

Meanwhile, a pal of mine and a critic who goes by Mr. Coat suggested...

Believe it or not, Pixar had considered at least one book adaptation at some point in their existence...

Remember the movie EPIC? The one about the shrunken human and all the bug warriors and such? That film, made at the sadly-defunct Blue Sky Studios, was based on the William Joyce book THE LEAF MEN AND THE BRAVE GOOD BUGS. Director Chris Wedge started the project at Fox, who was Blue Sky's home, and of course - Disney bought Fox AND Blue Sky. However, for a brief bit, Wedge was able to shop it over to Pixar... And Wedge was good friends with John Lasseter, so this book adaptation was actually going to go full-speed ahead there... Until Fox wanted it back, so the production moved back there and began around 2009, with the movie releasing in spring 2013.

Interestingly, Joyce himself was at Pixar during production of TOY STORY and A BUG'S LIFE. You can see a lot of his concept art for the former on all the film's home video release bonus features. Another one of his books, DINOSAUR BOB, was in consideration for a feature at one point, too... But someone else had the rights at the time. Several other Joyce stories became animated movies and shows, one of which was A DAY WITH WILBUR ROBINSON, which became Disney Animation's MEET THE ROBINSONS, which Lasseter heavily oversaw and had retooled during production.

So it all shows that Pixar wasn't entirely against doing movies that were based on a pre-existing source material, and not their own material. LIGHTYEAR is interestingly in that it's a spin-off of their own movie series, inspired by a character by said series. Everything else is either a homespun original story or a sequel to one of those original stories...

Personally, I wouldn't mind if they finally - after making over 27 movies - tackled a book or a comic. Something dynamic that would be brought to the screen spectacularly through animation. And it'd be something a little familiar, too, if they had trouble trying to crack the next original idea nut. I don't see why that's a bad thing, either... The big, beloved new animated movie out right now is the umpteenth cinematic adaptation of a Marvel character. The animated movie based on those Italian plumbers fighting bad turtles became the 4th highest-grossing animated film of all-time, and most folks are super-duper-pumped for webcomic adaptation NIMONA. The beloved PUSS IN BOOTS Dos from last year is a fairy tale adaptation.

So... Why not? Every other big-time animation studio in the West has adapted pre-existing works. Disney Animation has a WHOLE history of that, right down to their first ever animated feature. DreamWorks? A good chunk of their beloved movies are book adaptations, SHREK included. They even took on something biblical. Sony Animation has done it all from comics (SPIDER-VERSE, SMURFS) to children's picture books (CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS) to - also - the Bible (THE STAR). Illumination has two Dr. Seuss movies and Super Mario in their library.

Honestly, I'd love to see a filmmaker at Pixar take a crack at a fantasy novel or a really weird and wacky comic, or a sci-fi novel. And if the thing does well, they already have the sequel work built for them, and it'd be a nice way to bypass sequels to their legacy favorites like TOY STORY and THE INCREDIBLES.

HECK! Any of you remember when Pixar was supposed to join forces with Walt Disney Pictures (live-action division) and Warner Bros. to make a Brad Bird-directed adaptation of the novel 1906? Or when FINDING NEMO/WALL-E director Andrew Stanton's live-action/CG JOHN CARTER OF MARS project was initially thought to be the studio's foray into live-action? JOHN CARTER OF MARS (I often refuse to call it by the title Disney ended up giving it) had plenty of animation in it, so if Pixar were to ever do some live-action, they could do something like that.

Just a few thoughts, ya know...

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feunnec · 2 years ago

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#animation #poll

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hashtagloveloses · 4 years ago

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i also work in media, and it is REALLY helpful for people to both learn how much disney owns, and learn the other major conglomerates, some of which are owned by ISPs which own a hell of a lot more than just media companies. a LOT will start to make sense once you keep what brands are owned by who in mind, and who has what streaming service.

- disney (see above, obviously disney+ is their service) but the main ones you should know are disney, marvel, star wars, 20th century (formerly 20th century fox), controlling stake in hulu, ESPN, ABC, national geographic, and a LOT more

- comcast (owns nbcuniversal and dreamworks, which means universal studios, usa network, bravo, syfy, telemundo, illumination, nbc, msnbc, cnbc, and a lot more, streaming service is PEACOCK)

- at&t (owns warnermedia, which is warner bros, hbo, adult swim, cartoon network, cnn, tbs, tnt, 50% of the CW, and more, streaming service is HBO MAX)

- viacomcbs (owns MTV, nickelodeon, cbs, a ton of local news station affiliates, VH1, VidCon, comedy central, showtime, BET, and simon & schuster, although they are trying to sell that to penguin random house pending approval...which will create another publishing monopoly, and MUCH MORE. has a lot of streaming services but the main one is PARAMOUNT+)

- amazon (no, seriously, even things you don't think are owned by amazon probably are, streaming service is obviously amazon prime)

there are a few big media companies that also own a ton of shit to keep in mind and look up:

- rupert murdoch's news corp (owns fox news AND harpercollins)

- sony (which is about to have an anime monopoly that the SEC is getting involved in)

- the big publishing houses (as i mentioned above, if the simon & schuster sale goes through to penguin random house, which has recently bought other big imprints and now is distributing marvel comics, the monopoly will only get larger. their parent company bertelsmann also owns a LOT of other stuff)

- the growing podcasting and audio monopolies (pandora/sirius XM and spotify are in a war, buying up as many companies of all kinds as they can.)

- obviously facebook (fb + IG + whatsapp, but god knows wtf else) and google (literally everything imaginable)

- the monopoly everyone forgets: mindgeek, the internet's powerful overlord over pornhub, redtube, brazzers and more. seriously, this one is a BIG one

this is so funny

#oh you thought just DISNEY was bad??? noooo

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mobilesluts · 7 years ago

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America's Test Kitchen Season 16 Trailer

Content is still king. With Dalian Wanda Group’s $3.5 billion acquisition of Legendary Entertainment in January, this year’s media and entertainment M&A activity kicked off with a bang that hasn’t slowed down.

Comcast’s $3.8 billion acquisition of DreamWorks Animation just three months later continued the trend of content consolidation and IP aggregation. Both transactions have varying motivations, but the common denominator is access to franchises and content that can be leveraged across the parent companies’ various business units.

Content and digital transformation strategies have driven M&A activity so far in 2016, with no signs of slowing down — and thus providing clues about where we’ll see activity during the rest of the year.

One major trend that continues is Chinese investment flowing into the United States. Almost 50 percent of all U.S.-targeted M&A transactions from foreign investors came from China in Q1, and media and entertainment is a significant driver of that figure. In addition to acquisitions, there were a number of investments in U.S. film studios, including Film Carnival’s $500 million investment in Dick Cook Studios and Perfect World Pictures’ $500 million investment in Universal Pictures’ upcoming film slate.

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China’s continued interest in gaining insight into how Hollywood works is paying off for both sides of these deals. This insight will continue to help them ramp up their own production capabilities and speed up their ability to compete with the current global content creators. As a result, Chinese investment and M&A in U.S. media and entertainment should continue throughout 2016.

Wanda’s massive Legendary transaction allows it to vertically integrate content production with its exhibition business. Its announced acquisition of Carmike Cinemas in March for $1.1 billion added more theatres to its current count, which already includes other global exhibitors. This news came days after Wanda announced plans for a $3.3 billion theme park outside Paris. When viewed as a whole, this ecosystem of content and distribution outlets positions Wanda as a global media and entertainment leader for the foreseeable future.

In China, Wanda also holds a trump card over the other major studios in that it is a Chinese-owned/operated business, allowing it to navigate and potentially circumnavigate the Chinese theatrical quota system. Wanda’s ability to leverage its insider position with future Legendary productions, as well as its own forthcoming Wanda Studios at Qingdao, should give Wanda a significant market share in the theatrical film industry going forward.

Comcast’s acquisition of DreamWorks Animation gives it a wealth of content that it can use across its numerous lines of business, including its cable subscription service (Xfinity), theme parks (Universal Parks and Resorts), cable networks (USA, Syfy, Sprout), digital platforms (Watchable, Seeso) and production companies (Universal Pictures, Illumination Entertainment).

As the digital ecosystem expands, traditional studios are seeing an opportunity to diversify their tech and content strategies.

The potential overlap in animation capabilities with Illumination Entertainment is complicated, but could help Universal compete against Disney’s formidable one-two punch of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios (if managed correctly). Comcast and NBCU also now have access to AwesomenessTV’s target demographic, production capabilities and original IP. The key to this transaction will be the extent to which they successfully integrate their content cross-platform. Content strategy factored heavily in Warner Bros.’ move to acquire Korean Drama SVOD service DramaFever for an undisclosed sum, which will help the studio broaden its digital presence. Korean dramas are big business around the world, and WB has made a bet on proven content to widen its market reach. FuboTV, a soccer-focused SVOD service, raised $15 million led by 21st Century Fox, and Turner led a $15 million round in Mashable. As the digital ecosystem expands, traditional studios are seeing an opportunity to diversify their tech and content strategies.

Virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) investment has ramped up in “the year of VR,” taking in $1.1 billion through February alone. Most of that investment was Magic Leap’s Series C round of funding at almost $800 million, but other companies involved included MindMaze with a $100 million round and Wevr with a $25 million round. While consumer products are still in the early phases, the overall excitement and wide-ranging applications for VR and AR are driving investment for those who want to get involved early.

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Following Baobab Studios’ $6 million round in December, Penrose Studios raised $8.5 million in March, highlighting a competitive race to become the go-to VR content creator for immersive animated content. Comcast Ventures recently led a $6.8 million investment in Felix & Paul Studios, producers of cinematic VR experiences. Investors see this industry as a tremendous growth opportunity, with projected industry potential revenue of $120 billion by 2020, according to Digi-Capital. It doesn’t appear that investment and M&A will slow down anytime soon.

Live streaming has had activity as well, with IBM’s purchase of UStream for a reported $130 million being the biggest transaction of 2016 so far. Twitter made a strategic decision to purchase the live-streaming digital rights for 10 Thursday Night Football games this year. The $10 million price tag was especially low, considering Yahoo paid a reported $15-$20 million for the rights to live-stream one game last year. This gives Twitter a way to flaunt its Periscope functionality, potentially acquire users, increase engagement and recoup some of its investment with a limited amount of ad inventory that it will retain.

The NFL gets to broaden its distribution, experiment with alternative revenue streams, target a younger demographic and, ultimately, create more competition for the NFL’s overall rights when they expire in 2022. It is very possible that the future of NFL broadcasts may lie with a digital-first platform like Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, Google or Twitter, each of whom has deep enough pockets to bid for the opportunity to capture the most valuable must-see live content in the United States. Expect the other professional sports leagues to watch this development closely.

The rest of 2016 should continue to see plenty of activity across the media and entertainment space as companies brace for the future of mobile and digital consumption trends.

Based on activity in 2016 thus far, it’s clear we haven’t seen the end of key transactions. Paramount Pictures is looking for a strategic investor to build out its international and digital capabilities, which would provide key content and IP access to the investor (although this process has become very muddled recently). Yahoo is fielding multibillion-dollar offers for its core business, and Anonymous Content, creators of Oscar darlings Spotlight and The Revenant, as well as TV hits True Detective and Mr. Robot, is reportedly looking for a minority investor. Another area that could see more investment is the e-sports industry. It is expected to be a $1.1 billion industry by 2019, and traditional sports insiders are paying attention. Former Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Rick Fox bought his own e-sports team for a reported $1 million in December, while former and current athletes Shaquille O’Neal, Alex Rodriguez and Jimmy Rollins have recently invested an undisclosed sum in e-sports team NRG. FaceIt, an online e-sports platform, raised $15 million in January. Brands and advertisers are beginning to spend money in e-sports as they take advantage of the massive viewership opportunities for targeted demographics.

The rest of 2016 should continue to see plenty of activity across the media and entertainment space as companies brace for the future of mobile and digital consumption trends. Consolidation of content and the need for diversification in the digital environment will fuel interest from traditional players like telcos and major studios. Investment from China does not appear to be slowing anytime soon, so expect those eye-popping headlines to continue throughout 2016 as it plays the long game.

VR will begin to consolidate around content and tech, allowing leaders in both areas to emerge by the end of the year. As e-sports continues to gain traction via mainstream coverage and traditional advertising opportunities, it won’t be long before we see e-sports live events vying for the same eyeballs as the current pro sports leagues and attracting additional investment dollars along with them.

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vraskaacosplayandsound-blog · 8 years ago

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Discussion - Annual Reports - August 29, 2017

Hello class,

I'm sure I am not the only one that was worried about this months course since I am one to shy away from financial tasks. Its not that they are difficult to me but they are nerve-racking and hold no interest. I know it is something that I do need at least general knowledge of though. I am ready to get this class started and learn from it even if I am not necessarily happy about it. To begin this course we were to look into 2 companies annual reports and gather information. I decided to go with Dreamworks and Time Warner.

If we start with Dreamworks the most recent report I can find is from 2015 and is 160 pages long. They appointed new leadership in their feature animation business and changed a few things in their creative process. In this transition they were only able to make one feature film that year and plan on focusing efforts to make 2 higher quality films annually than 3. We also see that they delivered their best top line result in 11 years and highest revenue growth percentage in 8 years, increasing 34% from 2014.

They are also one of the companies that combined their report with their 10K. We are able to get a brief history of the company and their dedication to family animation that we are all able to grasp. We even get to see a line up of releases coming soon including How to Train Your Dragon 3 on June 29, 2018. They also talk about the companies they have bought out, such as Classic Media, and those that they are making contracts with such as Netflix.

One of the major things that peaked my interest and the largest sections of the report was their Distribution and Servicing arrangements. It goes over deals and agreements with Fox, Paramount, Nickelodeon, Super RTL, and Planeta Junior. The other thing that stood out to me was their creative process. It includes a chart of how everything fits and works for one movie in a years time. Starting with things like screenplay, storyboards, visuals, modeling, and voice rigging in pre-production it moves to layout, animation, and lighting in production and ends with sound effects and music before delivery.

It also goes over the main competitions that they have, many of which will come to no surprise, being listed as Disney, Pixar, Sony, and Fox’s Blue Sky and Illumination Studios. The last thing I wanted to talk about on this report was the employees. They had 2,500 employees as of December 31st, 2015. That number was surprising small to me until I read on to see they reduced their workforce by around 500 when they changed their creative track.

The next company that I took a look at was Time Warner that also has their most recent report from 2015. They also start off their report by talking about their current companies goals and projects. They want to bring the work of the worlds most talented storytellers and journalists to life for audiences to enjoy. They start with their heroic work on Batman vs. Superman, The Flash, and DC Super Hero Girls. Followed by dramatic work on Game of Thrones, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Confirmation. Continuing on to funny work on Big Bang Theory, Rick and Morty, and Silicon Valley.

They even continue on with more genres. Next was informed with work on Last Week Tonight, Full Frontal, and New Day. Then competitive with NCAA March Madness, Friday Night Knockout, and Real Sports. As well as innovative with HBO Now, CNNgo, Bleacher Report, and DC All Access. You would think I would be done, but they still continue on with playful in Teen Titans Go, Sesame Street, Steven Universe, and the :Lego Batman Movie. They also have unpredictable with Ellen, The Voice, Impractical Jokers, and Little Big Shots. And finally, at last, we have boundless with Latin Grammy Awards, Toonami India, Wataha HBO Poland.

While I have been a fan of the Time Warner company I for one didn’t know that they were involved in so many different and varying projects all atlas once. Its very impressive. When the CEO says in the report that he wants to continue showcasing an unmatched ability to create brands and content that forge deep connections with audiences across all platforms around the world I feel like he is succeeding. I'm also sure thats what he wanted people reading his report to feel as well.

We also get a list of their board of directors, senior corporate executives, and senior operating executives so you know the “big wigs” at the company if you are a shareholder. The last thing I wanted to talk about that I find interesting is the Risk Factors section of the report. It says that the company must respond successfully to ongoing changes in the Us television industry and consumer viewing patterns to remain competitive. It also says that popularity of content is hard to predict and can change rapidly and failure to renew agreements on favorable terms or at all could case the companies subscription and advertising revenues to decline. I feel it was smart to add this in there and a warning that there are predictions added that can change and can’t be held as truth. It gives people not only positive to look at and keeps them realistic.

The risk factors is one of the things in Time Warner that differs from Dreamworks. They put that in there since they have so many different projects to work on all at once and Dreamworks only has to focus on 1-3 a year. Another difference is the fact that, while they did both introduce their companies, Time Warner had a separate slide for each genre and product connected to it for reference to give visual aid. Dreamworks did on the other hand offer a few release dates for future projects while Time Warner wants to keep those as secret as possible for a bigger reveal factor on certain shows.

All and all they did go into detail about what their company does, who they are working with, what they most recent creative plans are, their different deals and agreements made, comprehensive incomes, cash flow, equity, and reconciliations which is what you would expect from an annual report. Seeing the different companies and the way that they present their report also shows that they portray what they want their company to portray as much as possible and focus on the companies brands.

Overall this was my first time ever reading an annual report and getting to see these definitely puts a few more things into perceptive of how you have to show yourself to the community and those that will possibly back you. As well as the organization, dedication, and other great lengths they go to to stay the large household names that we all know. While I highly doubt that I am ready to try to right one on my own right now, this is an eye opener as to what a great example looks like for future reference in my own work.

Sincerely, Hunter Smith

References:

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved August 29, 2017, from http://www.annualreports.com/C...

Time Warner. (n.d.). Retrieved August 29, 2017, from http://ir.timewarner.com/phoen...

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mobilesluts · 7 years ago

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New Post has been published on http://uplust.pw/2018/01/10/methode-technology-hall-intro/

Methode Technology Hall Intro

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As the digital ecosystem expands, traditional studios are seeing an opportunity to diversify their tech and content strategies.

Just an image for demo pủpose

The rest of 2016 should continue to see plenty of activity across the media and entertainment space as companies brace for the future of mobile and digital consumption trends.

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peachdoxie · 7 years ago

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Alright @smidvargandthegang, this is a callout post for you and for the dozens of other people who have complained about my response to the news of the Light Fury in HTTYD 3.

But in particular, I’m going to call out your comment about how we don’t trust DreamWorks because that’s just a shitty thing to say.

If you want the truth, no, I don’t trust DreamWorks mainly because “DreamWorks” isn’t a singular entity with a definitive goal towards creative endeavors. DreamWorks is a company made up of hundreds of individuals who have their own ideas about how things should go. In one movie, there’s a director (sometimes two), producer, executive producer, assistant producers, creative directors, screenwriters, storyboarders, editors, sound editors, lighters, and character designers, to name some major contributors off the top of my head. And that’s only people who are involved in the production of the movie. There are also marketers, franchisers, and studio executives. Some of these people have more sway than others, and while there is agreement among people involved about how the film should go, there is a lot of disagreement as well.

And right now, we’re in unchartered territory when it comes to how the studio will treat How to Train Your Dragon 3. NBC Universal bought DreamWorks in 2016 and though DreamWorks will maintain its own brand and some creative control, it will now be overseen by Chris Meledandri, the founder of Illumination, NBC’s animation department. In case you’re unaware of this, Illumination is the studio that gave us the Minions, as well as the Lorax (remember the Onceler?) and Secret Life of Pets, which was a pile of garbage. While Despicable Me was decent (I didn’t see the sequel or “Sing”, but from what I know they were good but not stellar), Illumination doesn’t have the best track record for producing great films, but rather for overcommodifying popular franchises. Before being bought by NBC, DreamWorks did the same, but at least they had many very good films to back them up.

I’d say I have fairly good reason to have worries about How to Train Your Dragon 3. Oh wait, sorry, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. I’ve already spoken about this, but the title breaking the pattern of the previous two doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in me. While I can attribute this to the marketers or studio execs and not people directly involved in filmmaking, it’s still worrying because it’s just not a good decision, which is agreed upon almost unanimously by fellow fans I’ve spoken to. We don’t like it. And since they’ve already broken with one major pattern regarding the film (a title is like, super important to the image of a film, especially this early), it sets a precedent that other major patterns of quality may be broken as well.

Then, we have the news about the Light Fury. Man, how many ways could that go wrong? A lot, if my bingo speculation is any indication. Or this post, for a little bit of discussion. Or this one. I know that a lot of us are reminded of Angel from the Lilo and Stitch TV show, who was basically Stitch but lighter colored and very seductive, for a show aimed at kids. It’s probably because the people who originally made Lilo and Stitch, Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, also directed the first HTTYD movie. While Chris Sanders is no longer involved in HTTYD and was the one who worked on the TV show, the similarities between Stitch and Toothless, at least for me, automatically made me think of the addition of Angel and how that same situation might happen in HTTYD 3.

Which brings me to another point I want to make about this. At least for me, and I suspect for others, a lot of my reaction is predominantly an anxiety response. I’m freaking terrified that How to Train Your Dragon 3 might be bad! To tell the truth, I’ve been afraid ever since they announced that Toothless would be getting a mate in HTTYD 3, and it’s only gotten worse since the title was announced because of the direction it’s pointing. And now, we have this Light Fury business. It’s terrifying to think that a trilogy I have so much emotional investment in might let me down by falling into patterns of cliches. My “trust” in DreamWorks has absolutely nothing to do with that. I’ve said this multiple times already, but anxiety overrides logic. Especially when we don’t know anything. There’s a reason that Nothing is Scarier is such a common trope. There’s a reason suspense is such a huge and profitable genre in horror films. Very few things are more terrifying than the unknown, from an existential standpoint. We don’t know what is going to happen. This means that minds begin to wander, particularly for people with anxiety or paranoia issues, and when minds wander, things often go to the worst place possible. I know that this is something I tend to do, which is why I was so angry when an anon spoiled Stoick’s death for me because I began to speculate about how it could happen and how that might ruin the enjoyment of the movie for me. The same thing is now happening with HTTYD 3 and will likely continue until we have a trailer to give us some indication of what direction the movie will take.

Also, It’s really shitty to say that I don’t “trust” DreamWorks just because I made a bingo sheet of things that could go wrong in HTTYD 3. Heck, there’s nothing inherently wrong with not trusting DreamWorks, even if it were logical to trust an entire studio (whose track record isn’t exactly top notch, mind you). You and others are basically calling me a bad fan of DreamWorks and the HTTYD franchise just because I’m expressing my fears for the third film. Which I am allowed to do, by the way, just to @all of the people who have told me to “let it go” or “stop complaining.” I’m allowed to express my fears in the ways that work for me, and to be honest, I think I’m fairly justified in having those fears. I’ve mostly been processing my anxiety through jokes and such, like this bingo sheet, which is mostly facetious anyway. It’s rude to tell me that I and others are not allowed to be worried about something we love.

I am allowed to be worried. I am allowed to express my worries on my personal tumblr. I am allowed to criticize things that I like. This does not automatically mean that I do not “trust” the studio making this film. This does not make me a “bad” fan. And I ask that you and all others who read this take a moment to think about your own response to my response and wonder why you feel the need to shut me down and tell me to shut up.

If you don’t like what I have to say about How to Train Your Dragon 3, unfollow me. Block me. I do not give a crap anymore.

#httyd 3 spoilers #how to train your dragon #httyd fandom #if you think i've overreacted i think you need to reconsider yourself and understand how much crap i've gotten #and how much crap ive seen other people get #just because we're expressing concerns about httyd 3 #httyd 3 is coming #httyd commentary #httyd 3 discourse

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mobilesluts · 7 years ago

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New Post has been published on http://uplust.pw/2018/01/10/a-guide-to-american-football/

A Guide To American Football

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As the digital ecosystem expands, traditional studios are seeing an opportunity to diversify their tech and content strategies.

Just an image for demo pủpose

The rest of 2016 should continue to see plenty of activity across the media and entertainment space as companies brace for the future of mobile and digital consumption trends.

#football

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