http://deadline.com/2014/12/fox-tv-studios-fox-21-merger-plans-dana-walden-1201309296/

This week I read an article about how Fox is expanding its horizons by creating a new television studio by  merging the operations of divisions Fox 21 and Fox TV Studios under president Bert Salke. According to Dana Walden, the merger is not going to layoff employees as the merger was "inevitable" and its purpose is to create a "more successful organization."

I chose this article because I found it interesting that a big name Studio like Fox is merging with another company. This article is important because not to often do companies merge; when they do however, there is a reason why. Whether it be because of financial issues or because of competition between the two companies for customers there is a reason for this merger. This shows me, as a student, that teaming of with your competitors or rivals to for a team, can be a good decision. As a consumer this makes me wonder how the merger will affect the company's products. This article also makes me wonder is there really aren't going to be layoffs; mergers often mean layoffs. Why all of a sudden did the two companies decide to merge?

For our latest film project , we were asked to produce a film in the Noir style. In this project I am the director. As director, I try my best to come up with shots that, I feel will, will capture the essence of the scene and movie. This being a Noir style film means that it is dark in a sense and should use light and shadows to provide an added feel. As we rewrote our film into the script, I tried to incorporate some ideas in which I could relate to and also used my imagery, to in a way, give a dark feel to the film.  So far from our time working on this project I've learned that lighting is hard to get right, especially in a Noir style film. One can not jut, "through a light up" and just record.You have to be conscience of the mood you are trying to establish; does it require a lot of light? what type of light, shadows, where? These are but some of many questions that I have picked up as must know. Time and time again I have also learned that organization is key. I feel like my group lacks it. We do not stick to the set schedule and often find ourselves not all present. However, the few of us that do put in the effort, find our work satisfying. I did not except this to be a difficult project but I was proven wrong. Light is key to a a film Noir style film.    

http://deadline.com/2014/11/cbs-films-lionsgate-distribution-sales-partnership-1201283340/

The article I read is about Lionsgate and CBS films will become partners entering the new year. The partnership is more on the business side of thing and  expected to show great promise as the two companies already produce great revenues world-wide. The two companies had already partnered up in the past can released successful films and TV series.
I chose this article because two big name entertainment companies are going to be working together and it interested me to see what collaborating they would be doing. This article is important because when two big name companies decide to work together, there is always a reasons for this. I remember hearing that Lionsgate films did not produce as much profits as previous years, so this collaboration could be an attempt by Lionsgate to get some back by working with a successful company. As a student and filmmaker this shows me that even successful companies have to ask for help. As a consumer this shows me that two big name companies are going to be working together and kind of raises my expectations for the quality of the films. This article raises a few questions in my head, such why the sudden partnership? Could Lionsgates failure in the film department cause this partnership? Why would CBS agree if Lionsgate is having a slow year in the film department?

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-aereo-layoffs-20141106-story.html

The article I read is about Aereo Inc., which is a company that broadcasts TV signals, being accused by the Supreme Court  for breaking copyright law. The company, since, has announced that it will be laying off employees. The controversy started in when the Supreme Court found out that the company was streaming "local TV stations’ signals over the Internet via remote antennas, charging customers $8 to $12 a month for the antenna and a cloud-based digital recorder." According to the supreme Court this violated the Copyright Act. The company said that they laid off 43 workers.

This is important because is shows how  there are many laws and guidelines the entertainment industry/ companies must oblige to. This article caught my attention because it said that Aereo Inc. was laying off its employees and I thought, to myself, I wonder why? In my opinion I think the employees should not have been laid off. The fault was done by the company by illegally broadcasting local TV signals; the workers were just doing their jobs. This shows me that there is a dark side to the entertainment industry. You could be working for a company that is illegally doing something and you might not know about. However in this case it is unknown if the workers laid off knew about the illegal activity. As a consumer/ filmmaker it makes me wary of the  entertainment industry, I mean if you company was conducting illegal activity, who knows if other may be doing so too.     

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-warner-bros-to-cut-annual-costs-20141015-story.html

The article I read is about Warner Brothers reporting bad profit over the summer; to compensate for this they plan on cutting their budget by $200 million yearly. The article says that Warner Brothers will being laying off people as early as November. Although the amount of people that will be laid off is unknown, it is expected to be a large amount."We are firmly committed to IMPROVING our margins," Tsujihara said. "Through that process we have committed to cutting costs significantly."
I thought this article was important because it shows how one of the top companies in the entertainment industry must cut back due to the low revenues of the summer. This affects me as a consumer because as the budget is being cut, the quality of their productions will reflect it, which makes me question if I should even pay to watch it. This affects me as a filmmaker because the film industry suffered a huge blow this summer not producing as much revenue as the previous year and due to this companies must cut their budgets. What if I wanted to take up a career in the film industry? The budget cut is only making it harder so people to get into the industry. The Warner Brothers budget cut makes me wonder; if the entire film industry suffered a big blow of the summer and WB is cutting its budget, who's next? Will WB still be able to produce the same level of productions after the budget cut/ lay offs? 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/alibaba-leads-chinas-multibillion-dollar-736705

This week I read article about how Alibaba, one of the richest companies in the world, is said to be looking into buying a movie studio. Alibaba is marketed to be worth over $200 billion and has a "vault" of $25 billion. Alibaba has already purchased movie studios in china and also has purchased other companies to increase their corporation
.  This article is important because Alibaba holds a strong influence in social media in China, the fact that they are considering investing in U.S. based movie studios means that the film industry could expand even more. As a consumer this impacts me because if a rich company plans on investing in a movie studio than we can hope to see better movies as budgets would be higher and movies will not be restricted by money in a sense. As a filmmaker this influences me because the possible investment in a movie studio could lead to new developments within the industry itself. However this article raises a few questions, like if a Chinese based company buys a U.S. based company would will that effect the economy? Also how would this effect the movie studio? would it help it?    

http://deadline.com/2014/09/drones-hollywood-faa-approves-841265/

This week, I read an article about how drones can now be used as camera platforms in America. Before, the film and T.V. industries were restricted to man operated helicopter on American soil; if they wanted to use drones, they would have to go to another country. However, only 6 aerial photo companies are allowed to use drones on productions at the moment. It is said that this will support job creation, revenues, and movie and T.V. production in the U.S.  
This is important because it gives the film and T.V. industries new means of filming. There are no longer as many restrictions in America on using drones as camera platforms. This opens up endless possibilities to what types of shots and scenes can be produced.  This impacts me in a number of ways such as a consumer; I can expect to see possible more films, filmed in the U.S.. As a filmmaker It gives more possibles of shots that will better depict what is happening. 
The legalization of drones on American soil as camera platforms is good and all but raises a few questions.  Will this even affect film and T.V. industries? I believe it will; companies won't need to leave the country if they use drones as camera platforms. What differences do drone camera platforms and man operated helicopter camera platforms have? Man operated helicopter camera platforms are more dangerous and costs more money. How will it affect U.S. economy? it is said that it should encourage film industries to stay and film in america, creating more possible job opportunities and thus helping the economy.