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Warner Brothers Film studio Research Project
What is Warner Brothers? • One of the ‘Big Five’ major American film studios • A subsidiary of AT&T Warner Media • A member of the Motion Picture Association • Was first established as a leader in the American film industry and then branched out into animation, television and video games. • The Studios are based in Burbank, California but the Warner Brothers are also a multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate – this means they’re a multi-industry company operating in entirely different industries but run under one corporate. • In 1989, Warner communication collaborated with with Time Inc. making DC comics a subsidiary of Time Warner. • In 2017 this was purchased by AT&T forming the mass media conglomerate Warner Media we know today.
A Brief History: • Founded in 1923 (Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc.) by brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner – Polish Jewish immigrants who moved to Canada from Poland. • 1903 — opened a movie theatre in Pennsylvania. • 1904 — Warners founded the Pittsburgh based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company in order to distribute films. • 1912 – an author was hired and by WW1 they begun producing films – In 1918 the first Warner Brothers Studio was opened in Hollywood. • Fun fact: Warner Bros were one of the first studios to use synchronised sound in film – also known as talkies – the Jazz Singer (1927) was the first talkie film.
Where do they operate? The headquarters of Warner Brother film studios are in Burbank, California Their entertainment is available worldwide thus making it an international franchise.
Warner Bros products • Although the Warner Bros are most famous for their film production. They often venture into video games for both mobiles and consoles. Additionally, they have studios around the world where the public can take tours. • Additionally, they have a wide variety of merchandise varying from clothes to toys in order to keep fans amused and entertained.
Budgeting of films and examples • A mid-budget for a Warner Bros production is $25-$75 million. • Some films such as The Shining were below the average budget costing the studio around $15 million • Other films like The Dark Knight Rises cost way above the budget amassing to $250 million.
1920s and 30’s — the Jazz singer (1927) was one of the first films where there was actual dialogue. The studio first produced this film due to financial troubles they had run into during the mid 1920s. Due to this films (and a few others) success, Warner Bros became a major motion picture studio. Through the 1930s, they started to produce tightly budgeted films – around 100 pictures a year. They also started the gangster film craze with the production of films such as Little Caesar (1931) and Scarface (1932). Notably, the Warner Bros also started to produce animation films such as Looney Tune – short animated film series.
1940s and 50’s — the rise of classic films such as Casablanca (1942) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) which are some of the studios best known films. The first TV series were also produced, the first western series Cheyenne premiered in 1955.
Diversification of the 1960s, 70’s and 80’s — in the 1960s, the studio had great success with My Fair Lady (1964) but this is also when Warner Bros ventured into music, video games and comic books. Over the next two decades Warner Bros produced many big screen movies such as The Exorcist (1973) and Blade Runner (1982). Also Warner Bros produced block busters famous such as Dirty Harry and Superman.
Later developments — the 1990s and 2000s is when Turner Inc. was formed and big hits such as The Matrix, Inception, Wonder Woman and Harry Potter were produced. Also on the small screen, shows such as Friends and later on The Big Bang Theory were launched and became very popular. • Overall Warner Bros has ventured and still produces films and series of many different genres from horror to action.
