Austin Effert

Mr. Furman
Aice Media
10 February 2016

Warner Bros
HISTORY: Warner Bros is a global leader in entertainment across all forms. Like all great
success stories they started off small, as 4 brothers; Albert, Sam, Harry, and Jack, only having
one film projector the brothers started showing film in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The first film the
brothers showed was The Great Train Robbery. In 1903 the brothers opened their first theater
which they named The Cascade in New Castle, Pennsylvania. A year later the brothers invested
in and founded a supply company to distribute films called; Duquesne Amusement & Supply Co.
By 1913 they started producing their own films and that is that start of something great. 1917
rolls around and they move their HQ to Hollywood California, the home of film some may say.
In 1923 the brothers made it official and incorporated their company as Warner Brothers Pictures
Inc. A few years later Warner Bros released the worlds first synchronized-sound feature film;
The Jazz Singer, the first full length all talking film in 1928, then in 1929 the first all talking
color film. From 1929 to 1932 Warner Bros released 16 color films out to the public.
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, as the Great Depression hit America no one
could afford to go see movies so the company lost 22 million dollars. In the early 1930s the want
for musicals declined and so Warner Bros was forced to try something new which led to the more
realistic story lines aka many gangster films. Because of the release of so many gangster films
the company got a nickname of the gangster studio. With the new president FDR and his new

deal the company was able to regain lost money. Toward the end of the 1930s Warne Bros
became big in cartoons and came the all popular Looney Tunes show. The company became so
popular that they started releasing 40 films a year in the 1940s. Warner bros appearance on
television really sprouted in the 1950s although comedy was very popular, Warner Bros did
something bold and took a more dramatic genre approach like the show Cheyenne. November of
1969 the company was bought by Steve Ross and renamed Warner Communications. The
company also bought DC comics in that same year. In 1989 the company built multiplex
theaters overseas their first location being Australia, was a stunt to grow its market on new
territory. The 90s was a huge year for the company because they merged with Time Warner Inc.
In more recent years the company has grown to be one of the most infamous entertainment
empires of the 21st century with over 79,000 hours of programming, with 7,500 films and 4,500
TV programs made up of thousands of episodes.

Technology evolution and Impacts: As the brothers started off they only had a portable
projector to show films. Now the company uses the top state of the art movie editing software
and technology. Soon later Sam saw potential in this new sound technology and now
incorporated sound into the films. This new technology had a huge impact on the way film was
watched now the audience could hear the actors, this opened a whole new realm of possibilities
and Warner Bros even won an academy award for technical achievement for this new
technology. The technology got the best of them and in 1928 converted their new studio into one
of the top sound studios in the world. The stages were sound proof and linked together by
underground conduits with a special state-of-the-art sound building where recording could take
place under exacting laboratory conditions.(Warner bros.com). During the 1930s the company

made cartoons which used a new technology of converting drawings into motion pictures and
that itself helped open a new branch of entertainment. In the 1950s the company released a 3-D
film House of Wax which was not the first 3-D film, but this film was very popular among this
different kind of technology. In 1955 the company used their technology to enter the world of
television; this not only brought great shows to the public but also impacted their company by
making them a ton of money. In 1989 the company built highly advance multiplex theaters
overseas to bring their film to other countries. Modern movies now use CGI which is computer
graphics to input images into film. As this technology advances the movies advance to allowing a
more real affect of the fantasy put in. this affects not only Warner Bros but all movie companies
by making movies more realistic.
Distribution Practices: Warner Bros has domestic television distribution and it has become one
of the most influential and popular among the movie companies. They distribute to first-run
syndicated series, off network television programs, motion pictures, cable/ satellite networks,
subscription video programs, a type of on demand, off network television programs, and
animation. They distribute HBO, Lorimar television, TMZ, TMZ live, Ellen, Extra, Judge
Mathis, and even the People Court. Their other programs are The Big Bang Theory, Two and a
half men, the middle, and Friends. Warner Bros also has an international distribution for
television as well through pay/ basic cable, pay-per view, different subscriptions and through
digital platforms. Internationally they show around 60,000 hours of entertainment in 40
languages. Warner Bros offer non theatrical ways of distribution too which means they distribute
movies etc to planes, cruises, colleges, hospitals etc.
Marketing Strategies: Warner Bros is still the top dogs among the movie businesses are because
they know how to market properly. One reason they are on top is that they have a balanced

business, meaning that 40% is movies, 49% is TV, and 11% is consumer products and games. By
keeping a balanced business approach they are able to attack all spectrums of entertainment
rather than focusing all their attention on one aspect. Warner Bros have noticed the decline in
DVD purchases so to counteract this decline they plan to make digital ownership of creative
content more appealing. What this means is, is that they are going to focus on a more blue ray
approach since blue ray offers a clearer movie experience. Also include later rental windows to
make renting DVDs worth the money. Also a reason they are on top is the experience behind
their studio, its been around for quite some time and with age comes wisdom.
Diversification and Convergence: In 1918 the brothers bought property to expand and named
that studio West Coast Studios. 1928 they needed a theater chain so to diverse they bought The
Stanley Company of America; they had the theaters the brothers needed to expand their
company. Soon after the brothers bought First National and built their current Warner Bros
studio there. In order to diverse even further they acquired the best actors and actresses of that
time to make their company even better known. By diverging into cartoon in the 1950s the
company was able to open a new path for them to make money on. In 1969 the company was
bought by Steve Ross and converged into the Kinney Corporation which made Warner
Communications Inc. Steve then bought DC comics and the Warner Bros now converged into
two franchises. In 1976 Warner Bros signed an agreement with David L. Wolper to create some
of TVs most watched shows including: Roots and The Thorn Birds. In 1989 Warner Bros
converged with Lorimar Telepictures making Warner Bros a leader in the business. 1990 Warner
Communications converged with Time inc. In modern years Warner Bros has diverged into many
types of entertainment to acquire the most money and create the largest empire.

Productions: Warner Bros have been producing movies since the late 1910s starting from My
Four Years in Germany which was their first film made to modern movies such as Creed. The
company has produced hundreds of movies since their first movie back in 1918.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Warner_Bros._films

This a list of all the movies made by

Warner Bros so far. Warner bros also has 4,500 television shows.
Case Study 1 (Mad Max): Mad Max was originally a 1979 film starring Mel Gibson, however
Warner Bros recently released a different take on the post apocalyptic world; Mad Max Fury
Road. Mad Max Fury Road is the fourth movie in the franchise which features a man Max
played by Tom Hardy as a post apocalyptic survivor that gets captured by mutant humans where
he is used as a blood bag, and the story is based on Max escaping and saving the lives of a group
of women. The budget for the Mad Max movie was 150 million dollars and the movie brought in
376.7 million dollars making a profit of over 200 million dollars. There are many reasons the
movie did relatively well. One reason is that it was hyped because the older Mad Max did so
well people were expecting the new movie to be as great if not better than its predecessor.
Another reason is the way Warner Bros marketed the movie in the first place. Warner Bros
advertised the movie in a plethora of ways one being YouTube trailer pop ups before the video
played. What this did was it gave a taste of the movie to an audience that wasnt even looking for
the movie, and by showing the trailer to people who werent expecting it is a good way to get
the word out about the movie. Mad Max was not only advertised on YouTube it was also
advertised as pop up ads, banners on social media and there are links to the movie website. The
Mad Max website includes a trailer that must be watched to continue onto a home page complete
with 6 tabs that label: home, videos, story, gallery, mad looks and soundtrack. The homepage
allows access to the trailer, and a vehicle showcase. The videos tab has all the trailers associated

with the movie. The story tab includes a synopsis of the film. The gallery tab is pictures of
scenes from the movie. The mad looks tab is 4 backgrounds available for download. And the
soundtrack tab is a list of all the songs used in the movie. Mad Max has lived up to its hype and
was As crazy, thrilling, gorgeous and awesome as anyone could really hope, and guaranteed to
be one of the best big-screen spectacles of the year- Cinemablend.
Case Study 2 (Superman vs. Batman): Batman v. Superman is an upcoming Warner Bros
superhero film featuring the DC Comics characters Batman and Superman The film is supposed
to follow Man of Steel a film released in the years prior to BvS. The film is directed by Zack
Snyder, with a screenplay written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer. The film stars Ben
Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman, the movie will be the first live action movie
starring the two superheroes together. The film also foreshadows future films like wonder
woman. Production began in Los Angeles in October 2013 while it ended in December 2014 in
Chicago. Batman v Superman is scheduled to be released in the United States on March 25,
2016, in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D. Marketing of the film is mostly digital with few exceptions. The
way Batman v Superman is advertised is the same as Mad Max through social media and pop up
ads however this movie was advertised at Comicon where it was also announced. Billboards and
other physical signs of the movie are existent in more popular cities. Logos of the film have been
easteregged in other films such as I am Legend starring Will Smith, and the upcoming movie
Suicide Squad has references to Superman v Batman. Twitter is the main social media
advertisement where the actors themselves tweet about the movie to spread the word using the
hash tag #BATMANvSUPERMAN. The movies website is basic with only 4 tabs: characters,
comics, movies, news. The website seems to be dependent on the video aspect since the movie is

up incoming not too much is released about it on the website. The budget for the film is 200
million dollars, the film is highly anticipated by fans of all ages.

http://www.warnerbros.com/studio/about-studio/company-history
http://www.britannica.com/topic/Warner-Brothers
http://www.imdb.com/company/co0026840/
http://batmanvsuperman.dccomics.com/
http://www.madmaxmovie.com/