After many a blog on media in Southern Africa, I reckoned it was time for a piece on that mother of entertainment: Hollywood. Hollywood is known for its three M’s: Movies, Moviestars and Money. But behind that glitter there is a much more powerful force: entrepreneurship. If it wasn’t for the unfailing entrepreneurship of Hollywood, I bet you: that Hollywood sign in those Hollywood Hills would have crumbled many a year ago.

Remember, Hollywood is responsible for timeless classics like Gone with the Wind and Titanic. It’s launched the movie careers of Clint Eastwood and Julia Roberts. And in the process made a lot of people very wealthy. All very well, but Hollywood has come repeatedly under attack over the last decades. First by the coming of VHS, later by DVD piracy and unstoppable, P2P powered sharing sites such as The Pirate Bay. With affordable high definition flat screens, the ability to download films before they hit the theatres and the downfall of the popcorn monopoly, why on earth go to a theatre? Mix in the fact that anyone with half a brain and After Effects can make a decent movie nowadays (see: Lazy Teenage Superheroes) and moviestars seem to have the expiration date of a carton of milk (who’s your latest Idols idol?) and you’ll get the Hollywood doomsday scenario the writers of “The Day after Tomorrow” would have died for.

“[…] moviestars seem to have the expiration date of a carton of milk […]”

Hollywood has been under attack for the last decades, but it has also fought back. And it did a good job in doing so. Enter: Star Wars. It revolutionised merchandising. Before Star Wars there wasn’t one movie that saw merchandising as a means to make a substantial profit along side ticket sales. Star Wars made more money of merchandise than anything else. Say what you will of George Lucas, but the guy knows how to make a profit (see: Lucasfilm PR stunts). And let’s not forget games based on movies or movie characters. Whilst at first games based on movies saw gamers replay the film in general lines, games and movies have steadily become more and more entwined. A movie game can lengthen the movie experience of moviegoers by offering them a chance to be the main character and change the storyline or continue the story after the movie credits (see: Enter the Matrix). Or a game can be part of the whole marketing campaign surrounding the movie. Over the last ten to fifteen years we have seen many a game made into a movie as well. Truth of the matter is, that it’s not just about the movie anymore. We are definitely beyond that stage. Movies are a complete brand, an experience available on many, each other enhancing mediums. The list of apps, games, commercials and sponsorships based on movies grows longer and more complex every year. To give you another example: let’s have a look at dragons.

“[…] a 36 feet tall Brachiosaurus, can’t be ripped off the internet”.

How to train your dragon was an animated film by Dreamworks that hit the theatres in 2010. A young Viking is challenged to capture and train a dragon. Captivating many children and adults a like, it grew to become a success. To capitalise on it’s success Dreamworks cooperated with Global Creatures, an Australian company known for their work on “ Walking with Dinosaurs” a theatre production with real life size robotically animated dinosaurs (see: Walking with Dinosaurs). Smart move, because a theatre experience including a 36 feet tall Brachiosaurus, can’t be ripped off the internet. And with the techniques already developed it was basically a rearranging of the skins of the dinosaurs to make them look like dragons (see: How to Train your Dragon). And make another couple of hundred millions in the process. We see this process of building on “what’s already there” a lot. If you have already created all of the props for a failed movie, why not use it in another movie; This happened to the Sci Fi gadgets that were developed for the never produced Halo film (another game to movie adaption). They were used in the hugely successful District 9 film. Also, if characters and film world has been created it’s easy to return to it. Development is expensive, but reusing it, is not. That’s why we see so many sequels or sets reused in other films and series than the one they originated from.

“Another non downloadable experience. Crap.”

And of course, there’s the development of new film or animation techniques. These can be sold at huge profits to other companies. Lucasfilm knows this procedure well and I suspect them to have launched series just because they were developing a technique (i.e. is was about the technique not the film or content). James Cameron is of course another example that springs to mind. The 3D developed for Avatar has been repeated in everything from Narnia to Conan’s Hyboria. Last week, we read that James Cameron is developing a Avatar theme park. Another non downloadable experience. Crap.

The merchandise, games, life action theatre, techniques, theme parks and capitalising on development proves that Hollywood is far from dead. It is also a source of inspiration for entrepreneurs worldwide.

tagged with: dinosaur, dragon, film, hollywood

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