Film Franchise Strategy In the Age of Intellectual Property
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This thesis aims to discuss the presence and power of franchises at a time when consumers have different mediums to access film and TV as well as a growing amount of entertainment options to choose from. For studios to be even more successful in an economy where consumers are shifting away from a transactional service good and more towards experience goods, a studio should aggressively extend their films outside the theaters into as many aspects as possible of consumers’ daily lives in order to immerse the consumer in the story and capture the connective tissue between a film, its experiential marketing, merchandising, pop-up experiences, and more. These studios may each have their own recipe for success and should be introspective, but they should be studying what their competitors are doing well to integrate those ideas into their own strategies. Should they want audiences to return for sequels, spin-offs, and cinematic universes, their franchises must maintain a presence in a consumer’s life outside of the theater. My point will be made by discussing the evolution of the exhibition space as well as how and why audience habits have shifted in recent years; analyzing three different studios and their approach to franchise films; and discussing the different spaces a franchise should aim to occupy in the future. NBCUniversal will provide an example of a studio whose franchises are easily transportable overseas, increasingly becoming eventized, and have improved the company’s licensing and merchandising presence. Sony is an example of a studio whose filmmaker and artist-driven model is no longer sufficient at a time when brands and franchises dwarf a celebrity’s status. Disney will illustrate the rise of “event films”, the importance of intellectual property (IP), and how its acquisition of Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm has enabled Disney to have an increased presence in theaters, merchandising, and theme parks.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | [ca. May 2019] |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Brown, William Walker |
|---|---|
| Primary advisor | Hamilton, James |
| Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Department of Communication |
Subjects
| Subject | Stanford University Department of Communication |
|---|---|
| Subject | Disney |
| Subject | Film Studies |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
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- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC-ND).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Brown, William Walker. (2019). Film Franchise Strategy In the Age of Intellectual Property. Stanford University Department of Communication. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/nz124sf6606
Collection
Undergraduate Honors Theses, Department of Communication, Stanford University
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- Contact
- walkerbrown1221@gmail.com
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