Warner Bros Business - Research Paper Example

Warner Bros. Warner Bros happens to be one of the esteemed companies that are successful in applying management theory and practice in the running of the company. Warner Bros., a segment of Time Warner Company, happen to be a global leader in all kinds of entertainment, as well as their related businesses all over current and up and coming media and platforms. Warner Bros stands at the front of every facet of the industry ranging from feature film, Bluray, television and home entertainment production, along with worldwide distribution to DVD, digital distribution, animation, product and brand licensing, comic books, international cinemas, as well as broadcasting (Behlmer 7). Although Warner Bros. is presently a highly successful company, it has experienced various difficulties in the past considering that its initiation was never smooth sailing. Being the only company alongside MGM amongst the Big Five to evade financial collapse throughout the Depression, it was adverse to MGM in a number of ways. Whereas MGM had remained deluxe during the Depression, Warners managed to survive through siphoning off approximately one-quarter of its total assets during early 1930s and by establishing a mentality that was ruthlessly cost-efficient, as well as factory-oriented mass-production. That symbolized stretched budgets on all features, a more re-organized studio operation, reduction in contract personnel, together with a highly formulaic, as well as routinized tackling of its films and filmmaking. This resulted in Warners splitting its output almost evenly between the A-class star vehicles and a steady output of B pictures. Warners B picture could not be mistaken for anything else; furthermore, in most cases, Warners often allocated their mid-range stars such as Ann Sheridan and Humphrey Bogart unto low-budget jobs, thereby promptly suspending them if they attempted to balk (Gino, Simone, Lars, Florian 13). Warners happened to be the only family-run studio amongst the Big Five, with the company president Harry M. Warner who was the elder sibling, perceived as the most cost-conscious amongst the Big Five chief executives. On the other hand, the younger brother, i.e. Jack Warner, managed the studio-factory; while filmmaking operations were under the supervision of two longtime studio executives with Hal B. Wallis overseeing the production of all A-class pictures, whereas Bryan Foy controlled Warners’ B-picture production. Although Wallis turned out to be an able administrator who was certainly competent as a creative executive, he was not as competent as Darryl Zanuck, who was his predecessor at production chief at Warners, who ascended through the screenwriting positions to executive status. Wallis depended on a staff of associate producers, who did not have the capability of receiving screen credit until 1942 yet wielded extensive authority over A-class production at Warners. A number of them notably Henry Blanke, Mark Hellinger, Robert Lord and Jerry Wald were either former directors or writers, thereby getting close involvement in all phases of production. Apart from that, Warners had a staff of competent, effectual directors, such as Michael Curtiz, William Keighley, William Dieterle, Raoul Walsh and Lloyd Bacon. A small number of them had considerable power over particular star genre formulations, for instance Curtiz on the Flynn vehicles and Lloyd Bacon on Cagney’s action pictures (Sandler 34). Warners’ strategy of depending on half-dozen star genre formulas for its A-class pictures started to change in the prewar era due to various reasons. In late 1939, Paul Muni departed from the company so as to seek freelance status thereby letting Edward G. Robinson to be in charge as resident biopic star whereas the studio brass re-evaluated their commitment to the genre. In the meantime, there was the dropping of musical production owing to the defection of Busby Berkeley to MGM. Moreover, Warners responded to the even more competitive market by modifying its formulas, as well as by teaming and off casting its top stars, for instance, recasting Flynn’s swashbuckling Brit as a westerner, or teaming Davis, together with Cagney in a screwball comedy. Warners’ search for outside deals, as well as presold story properties turned out to be another problematic issue considering that they did not turn out to be beneficial to the company. Whereas the off casting, outside deals, as well as presold story buys signified a tremendous shift in Warners’ A-class operations during 1940-1941, the studio had the capability of maintaining an effective, assembly-line tactic to B-picture production. It is intriguing that Warners did not come up with series pictures or even serials at the B-grade level. Although the studio excelled in series-oriented short subjects particularly in animation production, which was the area Warners took an interest in, they enjoyed a golden age of its own during that time. An animation unit by Leon Schlesinger appeared on its own in the late 1930s, controlled by the cartoon directors Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett and Tex Avery (Stephens 45). In spite if this problematic beginning, Warner Bros has succeeded to bear the odds and turn out to be one of the most prestigious companies in the media industry globally. Under the leadership of Meyer, Warner Bros. continues to be consistently positioned as one of the strongest, most profitable, as well as best-positioned studios in the media industry. In 2010, Warner Bros. Pictures Group surpassed the all-time industry global box office record owing to the receipts of $4.814 billion that beats the prior record in 2009. Apart from that, Warner Bros. established a recent industry benchmark for the given international box office by means of total of $2.93 billion, thereby marking a third time record of beyond the $2 billion threshold, while at the same time, retaining its leading domestic box office positioning with receipts of $1.884 billion. Furthermore, 2010 happened to be the year that Warner Bros. Pictures marked the given 10th consecutive year that it surpassed the billion dollar mark for both the local and international box offices. As a result, Warner Home Video once again turned out to be the industry's leader, with a total of 20.6 percent market share in totality of DVD, as well as Blu ray sales. Therefore, the companies, which comprise of the Warner Bros Television Group, together with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group goes ahead to be the category leaders, working all over all platforms, as well as outlets, while at the same time, being trendsetters in the digital realm along with video on demand i.e. transaction and ad-supported, anti-piracy technology, branded channels, broadband and wireless destinations and original content (Williams 79). Under the leadership of Meyer, the Studio has the capability of embracing modern distribution stands, technologies, as well as opportunities, while there is the channeling of company's efforts channeled to the creation of new business models to match up and coming consumer demands. Warner Bros. has received credited for taking an industry-leading ranking in these modern markets, while working tirelessly with other Time Warner companies in leveraging the companies' collective strength in helping in the shaping of the digital future of the entertainment industry. There is more to Warner Bros. than it meets the eye Warner Bros. is the habitat of such world-renowned icons like Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo, Batman, Harry Potter and Superman, and has the largest, fastest advancing film, as well as television library all over the world with not less than 6,600 films (The Jazz Singer, The Dark Knight, Casablanca, The Hangover, The Maltese Falcon, The Departed, The Matrix, Million Dollar Baby, Happy Feet, Inception amongst others, together with the seven Harry Potter films that turned out to be the most successful motion picture franchise throughout history in September 2007); along with 50,000 plus live-action, as well as animated television titles (comprising of more than 40 current series from The Big Bang Theory, The Bachelor, The Closer, and Two and a Half Men, amongst others). Coming from pioneering talking pictures during the 1920s, all the way to the development of DVD, the initiation of The WB Television Network in 1995, the consequent initiation of The CW Television Network in 2006, as well as the implementation of unique, modern business models within feature films, home video together with television, Warner Bros. has emerged to be an industry innovator, while at the same time, proving to be the leader for not less than 85 years (Williams 101). Work Cited Behlmer, Rudy. Inside Warner Bros. California: Simon & Schuster, 1987. Gino Cattani, Simone Ferriani, Lars Frederiksen, Florian Taube. Project-Based Organizing and Strategic Management. United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing, 2011. Sandler, Kevin S. Explorations in Warner Bros. Animation. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1998. Stephens, E.J. Early Warner Bros. Studios. Beverly Hills : Arcadia Publishing, 2010. Williams, Chuck. Effective Management: A Multimedia Approach. Texas: Cengage Learning, 2011. Read More