Who holds the most power in terms of influencing what films get seen and made?

 There are many different stages in the film production cycle. As there are different groups in society, they might have different influences, for example, reviews, which people are in the film, and which studios produce it. It is also down to different groups which determine which films get seen and made, for example, production companies, audiences, and directors.

            The large Hollywood companies could be seen to have all the power in terms of influencing what films get seen and made because the productions companies, a lot of the time make similar films, if the films do well, which means they will get a reputation for having good films, and people will go to see them films if they have previously enjoyed the company’s films, for example, Pixar make cartoons, which are enjoyable for the family, such as ‘Monsters Inc’, which is very similar to other films they have made such as ‘The Incredibles’ and ‘Toy Story’. They also have a lot of power over what films get seen and made, as big production companies have the funds to promote their films using all different types of media and advertising, such as magazines, TV stations or internet platforms. As they have the funds, they are also able to hire the best script writers/crews/celebrities to take part in these films/directors, to make their films the most successful, and most likely to get seen.

            However, many people may argue that it is not the production companies, but it is the audiences and consumers who have the most influence over what films get seen/made. It is simply that, if a majority of the audiences, give bag reviews, or don’t like the films, sequels or similar films, will not get made. For example, in 2010, ‘Grown Ups’ got a lot of bad reviews, with a box office of only $271,430,189 (which compared to other films is very low), and since then, there has been no sequel/rumoured sequel, and those actors have not appeared together in a film. Also, the audiences, choose which films they go to see, so they have a lot of influence over what films get seen, for example, a friend might recommend it to another friends, so they go to see it, and so on. Although, some may argue that audiences actually have little control over which films they decide to watch, as we are a passive society and are easily influenced by mass media., such as posters at bus stops, or toys/themes in McDonalds happy meals, which could lead to pester power from children, ,meaning films are more likely to get seen. Also, audiences could have power over what films get seen/made, as many people are now finding ways to watch films without paying  which might means that stats about the film are not as high, which could result in less films that are similar/sequels getting made.

            It could also be argued that it is the celebrities/stars of the films that have the most influence over what films get seen/made. Many people have favourite actors/actresses, which could mean that if those celebrities are in certain films, audience may be more likely to go and see them.

            One last argument could be that it is actually the writers that have the most influence over what films get seen/made. If audience have seen previous films written by a certain writer, that they enjoyed the style of, they might be more inclined to go and view other films written by them writers. This might lead to them writers becoming more in demand and more films written by them getting made. It could also be that before the film was produces, it was a book, and audiences enjoyed the book, so decided the film would also be good, or wanted to go and see it.

            In conclusion, there are a lot of different groups which have different influences, but production companies and audiences together have the most influence over what films get seen and made, as if audiences do not enjoy films that get made, they simply will not go and see them, and if production companies have a good reputations and advertise their films well, audiences will be more likely to go and watch their film, meaning more films are made by that company.