1. DISNEY
BUYS
MARVEL

2. 1) What companies were involved? What is the ownership information of the companies involved?
The two main companies in buying Marvel comics is itself the Marvel Entertainment and the Walt Disney Company. As
Walt Disney is a parent company to many different small Disney companies such as Pixar, this shows how Disney has
become a conglomerate company by buying in smaller companies from around the world and including the companies
within its own organization that Disney provides.
In addition to this, The marvel comics also have its own parent company which is the Marvel entertainment. However
this is about to change as Walt Disney wants the ownership over the company Marvel entertainments for the price of 4
billion dollars. People at Disney as well as Marvel entertainment believe this is the largest tie-ups made as both
organizations are very unique in different ways as they set out to completely different target audiences, and by
combining both companies together would mean they would have a wider range of target audience rather than a
selected amount.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/aug/31/disney-marvel-buy-out
2) What are the companies involved famous for? i.e. what are their biggest grossing films or why would people know
who they are?
The two main companies are famous for mostly the characters they have created, for example Marvel entertainment is
known for its superhero’s such as iron man and the incredible hulk, as a range of comics, cartoons and movies have
been created about the types of character's marvel has created. The biggest grossing film for the marvel entertainment
would be recently scoring a box office success with the movie Iron Man. By knowing this Marvel also created a film
which included most of the well known superhero’s in a movie called ‘The Avengers’ which is the superhero’s reuniting
and taking down the villain. The way this movie also became a big grossing film for marvel is the use of A list stars
marvel included in the movie. This encourages the audience to watch the movie even more as some have the
opportunity to see the stars that they like in a superhero action movie. On the other hand Disney is also well known
across the world for the different animations created by them. The main and well known animated character from
Disney would be Mickey Mouse, as he was created by the man himself Walt Disney in the year 1928. After Mickey
Mouse, there was a period of time where Disney Princesses was the main thing about Disney, they where well known
for Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Snow white etc. This started engaging more younger female audiences rather than
both. Later on Disney had a range of little companies and organizations to help expand the company for example theme
parks for Disney is now created in 2 countries, Disney channels created with different Disney shows, more range of
movies suitable for more of a bigger audience, stores of Disney products sold all around the world, different
animation created etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Comics

3. 2) when and why did the deal take
place?
As for Marvel, The tie-up between the two companies has been a turnaround for marvel, the reason for this is Marvel
was field for bankruptcy in 1996 as they where under heavy debts as comic books reached recession which caused a lot
of problems for the company, as this whole incident occurred this leaded marvel into selling there company to another
parent company which in this case is Walt Disney. From the research I have gathered on the deal between Disney and
Marvel , the buyout of the deal between the two companies was supposed to be completed later on that year in 2009.
3) How has the deal increased the power or influence of the company within the film industry – is there any evidence
of a monopoly or oligopoly – if so please explain?
The deal has increased the power of Disney enormously the reason for this is the film industry has risen up which has
caused Disney to become so powerful within the filming industry. As Disney did not have a wide range of audience they
where appealing to for example Disney has created a huge range of Disney princess films as well as the hit TV
programme Hannah Montana , both of these examples where aimed at young female. In addition to this Marvel only
aimed at a more of a male audience but with a slightly more wider age range. By combining both companies together it
can increase power in many different ways, an example of gaining more power in the film industry would the audience
range would be more broader which means it would appeal to a wider range of people rather than keeping it very
limited. In this situation The monopoly between the two companies would be that Disney is a parent company to many
of the smaller companies, one of which is Marvel entertainment.
4)What do you think the impact will be on the other major film
companies?
I think the biggest impact on other major film companies would be the competition between one another, as two big
mainstream companies are combining into one, there is more room for different ideas as well as they will be attracting
for of an audience than before for example they would have more of a range with age group as well as gender. This
would become an interest for the company as it would be something new for the audience to look forward too when
there will be a movie out from the creation of both companies this then means the more people they attract the more
income the company would be getting. This can be a big downfall for other major film companies as it might affect
them from appealing to the same target audience have the audience to be more interested in a film made by this
company rather than another major film company.

4. 5) What are the key issues with this ownership deal find at least 3 issues- this will require you to
research.
One of the issues that needs to be resolved with the buying of Disney and Marvel is the only major movie Disney
has full ownership over is Iron Man , this has become and issue as before Marvel was brought by Disney, they
planned many films that would occur in the future, which would consist of various more Marvel characters such as
Spiderman, The Hulk, X men etc. By not having the ownership over all Marvel characters, the movies that would
have been created in the future for different Marvel characters might not materialise into a movie as the company
would not have the ownership, they wont be able to create the movies which could lead to decrease in the
audience as they wont be happy to hear how they wont be able to watch a marvel movie as it was not created.
Another issue would be the creation of a new Marvel movie would be completely different to previous movies
created by Marvel for example the time taken to actually create a Marvel movie could take so much longer than
before as they are new to creating a superhero movie.
In addition to this as Disney are not as experienced with creating comics, it would be harder for them to write a
suitable script for a Marvel film that would suit the audience for Marvel.
6) summarise what you have learnt about how ownership practices work within the film
industry.
Throughout my research on this topic, I have learnt that a parent company owns more money as they have more
power over the smaller companies within the film industry. In addition companies can benefit from gaining more
income if a well known character is included in a film they create, this is beneficial as the public would want to see
more films with the characters they like more.

5. 7) What are the different ways in which the FILM industry makes money from audiences – create a mind map –
include the words below.
•product placement
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/28/the-internship-john-patterson
•Sponsorship
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponsor_(commercial)
•private investment
Development Funds:
•development funds
Development Funds is when a certain well known companies pay
•corporate investment
Corporate investments:
Corporate investments is when different companies invest
in the movie to help them with there production if they are
involved in the company. To make money from the movie
the company would start to create a range of
merchandises to help advertise the movie and gain more
population.
Sponsorship:
Sponsorship is when a sponsor is used
to support an organization, TV show,
film companies etc. The way a
sponsorship works is they would pay in
cash or a in-kind fee paid to the
company, which in return the sponsors
will gain access to advertising there
products. Different sponsors would
sponsor as many TV programs and
films to attract the viewers that will be
watching, as well as it will be raising
brand awareness for that company. An
example of this is the TV program
‘Made In Chelsea’ is sponsored by the
make up company Rimmel London,
the company is aimed at female teens
with a wide range of an age range
which links with the TV program.
money to the the independent film producers to help them create
there short or featured films, this helps the producers by
acknowledging different talents for there industry, an example of
this is the national lottery giving funds to any new filmmakers to
help them produce there feature films.
How do films make
money?
Private Investment:
Private investment is when a company
helps create the production financially,
this does not allow them to promote a
product also it is for the publics
amusement and the interest, this helps
educate the public. An example of this is
the Blind side which was given to
produce due to the plot of the story and
the young man in the movie, the
minimum buy for individual investors is
300,000.
Product Placement:
Product placement is when a well known brand is used in a big feature
film, by doing this the brand pays a huge amount of money to include
there brand in a film. This helps the company advertise there brand
and products as it will become well known from the film In addition A
list stars would also be using the brand or a product which might
encourage the public to buy it even more. An example of this would be
Google featuring in the movie ‘The Internship’ they paid 60 million for
the brand to be featured in the movie. The price of the brand would go
straight to the producer.

6. 8) What is meant by product placement – what famous examples are there of films that have used product
placement.
Product placement is when a well known brand is used in a big feature film, by doing this the brand pays a huge amount
of money to include there brand in a film. This helps the company advertise there brand and products as it will become
well known from the film In addition A list stars would also be using the brand or a product which might encourage the
public to buy it even more. An example of this would be Google featuring in the movie ‘The Internship’ they paid 60
million for the brand to be featured in the movie. The price of the brand would go straight to the producer.
9) How does product placement help films to make money (explore a big blockbuster film)?
In order to create block blockbuster films, they are in need of money to help them create different effects if needed for
the film, a list actors to star in there production can help them gain more publicity also the money might be needed for
different particular types of lights and equipment for the film. By including there brand or product in the film they pay
the producers a large amount of money to advertise there brand. An example of this would be Google featuring in the
movie ‘The Internship’ they paid 60 million for the brand to be featured in the movie. The price of the brand would go
straight to the producer.
10) Where do Independent film companies get their funding – explore development funds, film funding schemes etc.
Explain how development funds and film funding schemes work. (Look at examples like Film four, BBC films,
Revolver)
Producers for featured films go to places like the BFI to fund for their production, as it is a bigger production than a
independent filmmaker which would be creating a short film, the BFI would be funding the featured film a huge
amount of money as more time and effort will be gone into the film where as an independent filmmaker would have to
be funded either by kickstarter which is a free funding website which provides funds for independent filmmakers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/before-you-start/links-funding
Here is an example of a film funding scheme.
11)Explain how sponsorship deals work within the film industry – provide an example of a sponsorship deal for a
recent film. (think of a big blockbuster film, you can try Man of Steel, The Avengers Assemble, The Hobbit – and see
what you can find).
Sponsorship is when a sponsor is used to support an organization, TV show, film companies etc. The way a sponsorship
works is they would pay in cash or a in-kind fee paid to the company, which in return the sponsors will gain access to
advertising there products. Different sponsors would sponsor as many TV programs and films to attract the viewers that
will be watching, as well as it will be raising brand awareness for that company.