International Should three film studios team-up to create a new UK home entertainment joint-venture? (1 Viewer)

[Utah Saints]

Hey there,

Following on from my first thread last year, i have another idea that would unite three of the greatest Hollywood studios: Disney, Paramount, and Sony.

So, three of the home video divisions; Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and Paramount Home Entertainment; should create a team-up effort and to form the new UK home video joint-venture and, if more possible, the world's largest home video joint venture to be called One4All Entertainment. One4All is a namestake to all unrelated companies of the same name.

But to achieve it, three of the studios themselves must first expire their home video distribution deal with Elevation Sales - a joint between StudioCanal and Lionsgate - and then setting up a permanent joint-venture. It would operate similar to Studio Distribution Services, a North American and Canadian joint-venture between Warner Bros Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, but the team-up could aim to centralise the distribution of physical media, ensuring the continued availability and quality of DVDs and Blu-rays in the region.

Through its teaming-up routine, Disney would revive the international home video label of Disney Videos and allowing non-Disney branded divisions of The Walt Disney Studios such as Marvel Studios; Lucasfilm; and 20th Century Studios (including Searchlight Pictures) be finally unified under the Disney DVD and Disney Blu-ray names on the physical media artwork in Britain (sorry US).

Additionally, One4All would adapt the same DVD/Blu-ray artwork as Disney did and could now apply to some of the world's most famous brands like Paramount; away from the traditional artworks over the years.

And there's a though: a One4All store, along with its distribution centre, should also be considered in Welwyn Garden City and it would be built right next to the former Shredded Wheat factory but needs further approval in order to construct the world's largest physical media retail store that could surpass Walmart for the first time.

So what do you think about the idea? Any thoughts on that?

 

[Robin9]

What are you hoping this merger would achieve?

 

[jcroy]

Besides something like HMV, which large offline retailers still have huge dvd/bluray movie sections in the british isles?

 

[Utah Saints]

Besides something like HMV, which large offline retailers still have huge dvd/bluray movie sections in the british isles?

In terms of contract negotiations, these titles would remain available for those who don't have the One4All store such as Stevenage etc.

 

[Utah Saints]

What are you hoping this merger would achieve?

That's a good question.

Well, this proposed teamwork effort would allow some of the films that were missed out on Blu-ray and DVD outside the United States, or otherwise originally released on those formats in the past, to be reissued but also have newer prints as well to make sure that it is not go out of print after 20+ years.

Also, more bonus discs would be supplied to bring more extra features that were originally available or not available in the past such as; for example; HBO First Looks of some of the films such as Shrek and Gladiator.

For Disney, there should have increased more bonus discs than it was in the past before the Coronavirus pandemic began in 2020. The last Disney-branded film to receive official bonus disc was Onward - released on Disney 4K UHD Blu-ray in Summer 2020. Nowadays, Disney has less bonus discs than it was before 2020.

 

[Utah Saints]

But there's one more thing:

Perhaps if One4All Entertainment to be created, then it would consider a non-stop format that would avoid going to the main menus of the main feature similar to the VHS in the past.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Hey there,

Following on from my first thread last year, i have another idea that would unite three of the greatest Hollywood studios: Disney, Paramount, and Sony.

So, three of the home video divisions; Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and Paramount Home Entertainment; should create a team-up effort and to form the new UK home video joint-venture and, if more possible, the world's largest home video joint venture to be called One4All Entertainment. One4All is a namestake to all unrelated companies of the same name.

But to achieve it, three of the studios themselves must first expire their home video distribution deal with Elevation Sales - a joint between StudioCanal and Lionsgate - and then setting up a permanent joint-venture. It would operate similar to Studio Distribution Services, a North American and Canadian joint-venture between Warner Bros Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, but the team-up could aim to centralise the distribution of physical media, ensuring the continued availability and quality of DVDs and Blu-rays in the region.

Through its teaming-up routine, Disney would revive the international home video label of Disney Videos and allowing non-Disney branded divisions of The Walt Disney Studios such as Marvel Studios; Lucasfilm; and 20th Century Studios (including Searchlight Pictures) be finally unified under the Disney DVD and Disney Blu-ray names on the physical media artwork in Britain (sorry US).

Additionally, One4All would adapt the same DVD/Blu-ray artwork as Disney did and could now apply to some of the world's most famous brands like Paramount; away from the traditional artworks over the years.

And there's a though: a One4All store, along with its distribution centre, should also be considered in Welwyn Garden City and it would be built right next to the former Shredded Wheat factory but needs further approval in order to construct the world's largest physical media retail store that could surpass Walmart for the first time.

So what do you think about the idea? Any thoughts on that?

What are you hoping this merger would achieve?

Hate to be the lawyer in the room, but a merger and a joint venture are two very different things. A JV is a consolidation of services and/or enterprises without creating a formal connection between the companies. A merger intertwines the two entities with either the companies assuming some portion of each other, or one company assuming a whole other company. SDS is a joint venture; the Paramount/DreamWorks deal [later de-merged] is a merger. As for setting up a UK or Euro-centric version of SDS, as long as product is still going out, I don't see the issue.

 

[Thomas T]

Fantasies are nice, we all have them but it's pointless to surmise about something that could/would never happen. Disney has no interest in partnering anybody. Buying them (like Fox) and owning them outright, yes but what would Disney get out of it. They're richer than King Midas.

 

[Utah Saints]

Fantasies are nice, we all have them but it's pointless to surmise about something that could/would never happen. Disney has no interest in partnering anybody. Buying them (like Fox) and owning them outright, yes but what would Disney get out of it. They're richer than King Midas.

Come on. I reckon that Disney could be interesting in partnering any studio sooner than later. I mean, look at the 80s, Disney and Paramount made a partnership for Popeye and Dragonslayer.

But under one condition at the time between 1980 and 1981: Paramount distributing these films in North America and Disney distributing them internationally (including the UK).

 

[Thomas T]

Come on. I reckon that Disney could be interesting in partnering any studio sooner than later. I mean, look at the 80s, Disney and Paramount made a partnership for Popeye and Dragonslayer.

All that meant was that neither Disney or Paramount wanted to risk the cost of an expensive production all by themselves. Like Titanic (1997). 20th Century Fox got nervous about the mounting costs so worked out a deal with Paramount to get domestic rights while Fox got international rights.

 

[Utah Saints]

All that meant was that neither Disney or Paramount wanted to risk the cost of an expensive production all by themselves. Like Titanic (1997). 20th Century Fox got nervous about the mounting costs so worked out a deal with Paramount to get domestic rights while Fox got international rights.

I know that.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

All that meant was that neither Disney or Paramount wanted to risk the cost of an expensive production all by themselves. Like Titanic (1997). 20th Century Fox got nervous about the mounting costs so worked out a deal with Paramount to get domestic rights while Fox got international rights.

I know that.

This type of joint venture has been going on since the 70s; The Towering Inferno, anyone? It continues to this day as evidenced by Twister and Twisters, both joint ventures between WB and Universal where WB distributed the first film domestically and Universal internationally, and the reverse for Twisters. The idea behind this and SDS is no different: its sharing costs and infrastructure for an overall cost reduction on both sides. Disney's licencing agreement with Sony is more of the same and with Paramount/Skydance announcing cuts to their home media divisions, I would not be surprised to hear an announcement that Paramount is joining SDS in the future. While the studios may want to invest as little as possible in physical media, they're not abandoning it entirely.

 

[Thomas T]

This type of joint venture has been going on since the 70s; The Towering Inferno, anyone?

Four years before The Towering Inferno, 20th Century Fox and the Toei Company in Japan joined forces to make Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). Today, of course, funding comes from a myriad of sources which is why we get credits like this:

Breakheart Studios and Wind Valley Inc. in association with Nonesuch films and Sunshine Pictures U.K. present a Dark Mirror Company and Razorback production of Fill In The Blank. Distributed by Universal (U.S.) and Paramount (all other territories).

 

[Utah Saints]

This type of joint venture has been going on since the 70s; The Towering Inferno, anyone? It continues to this day as evidenced by Twister and Twisters, both joint ventures between WB and Universal where WB distributed the first film domestically and Universal internationally, and the reverse for Twisters. The idea behind this and SDS is no different: its sharing costs and infrastructure for an overall cost reduction on both sides. Disney's licencing agreement with Sony is more of the same and with Paramount/Skydance announcing cuts to their home media divisions, I would not be surprised to hear an announcement that Paramount is joining SDS in the future. While the studios may want to invest as little as possible in physical media, they're not abandoning it entirely.

And therefore it is possible that SDS could inspire the creation of the home video joint-venture One4All like as i mentioned before. This could invest more in physical media in the UK than in the US because, in North America and Canada, Disney reached the licensing agreement with Sony for home video but Sony have no plans to release more classic titles to Blu-ray or DVD. But to oversee One4All's creation, the proposed agreement could be submitted to the European Commission for approval.

However, comparing to the US physical media market, the UK physical market could help and start bringing out more titles on Blu-ray in the UK.

Focusing on Disney, it should have a UK Blu-ray debut of the 1996 live-action version of 101 Dalmatians (and its sequel 102 Dalmatians); The Three Musketeers; Flubber; 5 Herbie Movie Collection; and Iron Will.

 

[Utah Saints]

Anyone for a history lesson?

Welwyn Studios was a British film studio located at Broadwater Road, Welwyn Garden City, in Hertfordshire. The facility operated between 1928 and 1950.

The studios were first constructed by British Instructional Films, and converted to make sound films shortly afterwards. The studios were later taken over by British International Pictures (from 1933, the Associated British Picture Corporation) who used them as the base for production of the company's supporting features as well as an overflow facility for the main complex at Elstree Studios. A number of films were also made there by independent companies.

Welwyn Garden City, anxious to develop the town with home industries, had initially approached A.E Bundy, who had bought British Instructional Films, from Sir Oswald Stoll. Bundy was offered the site on favourable terms and thousands of girders, left over after Stoll had enlarged his Surbiton Studios, further reduced the construction cost. H. Bruce Woolfe, producer of significant First World War documentaries, was the major figure at the studios. Welwyn was one of the pioneer studios in Britain - it produced one of the first British sound films, claimed to use the first back-projection shot - in Battles of the Coronel and Falkland Islands - , and was important in the production of British educational films. Woolfe made the popular Secrets of Nature series and war films, the aforementioned Battles of the Coronel and Falkland Islands and Tell England. Tell England, a story concerned with the Gallipoli landings, was directed by Anthony Asquith for British Instructional Films, and he was an artist who had been given his first chance at Welwyn studios.

Later films made at Welwyn included The Night Has Eyes (1942) with James Mason, Queen of Spades (1949), Night Boat to Dublin (1945), Quiet Weekend (1946), Cairo Road (1950), with Eric Portman, No Place For Jennifer (1950) with Leo Genn, and Last Holiday (1950 film). The studios were apparently ideal for talkies but noises easily penetrated and made shooting difficult - the 5pm hooter from the nearby Nabisco shredded wheat factory and the adjacent main-line railway were amongst the distractions. Of the 194 employees in 1950, 46 transferred to Associated British Picture Corporation's studios at Elstree. The three-studio complex was sold in 1951 to a tobacco company.

Sourced from a Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welwyn_Studios

 

[Jay1]

What I am sick of the proliferation of streaming services.
I cut the cord a long time ago back when Netflix was 9.99 and I could watch news with a HD antenna.

I can see the value prop with Disney owning Lucas and Marvel - they have a critical mass of intellectual property and the cartoon classics will be entertaining generations of kids for many generations long after I am gone.

Netflix got into the content game simply to avoid the licensing fees. Competing against the other streaming platforms and cable is not cheap. Admittedly some of their homegrown stuff is pretty darn good. I can say the same for Amazon, HBO, etc.

Ideally I would like to see Netflix spin the content creation business off leaving Netflix as the free market streaming platform for all media to be shown on. Disney would save themselves a ton of grief (and boost their share price) if they simply handed off their streaming business to Netflix. They would still make it on licensing fees.

Per the the stupid cost of Netflix and other streaming these days I would suggest tiers vs the commercial interruption bs.
Premium (just released content) and live events at the top tier pricing, then as content ages it comes to the lowest syndication tier where they share space with the likes of Gilligan's Island and Threes Company Re-runs.

Studio consolidation might make sense in the profitability and ability to attract investors to the content creation (quality), but the opposite is also true. No studio wants to be working on 300 different projects at the same time, and even from a equipment and realestate play they look to consolidate. I like the idea of 200 studios all working on new and interesting projects, and there are also remakes. Think King Kong. With that said I don't mind yet another spiderman movie but wish they would move on from the origin story of how Peter transformed into Spidey.

 

[Utah Saints]

What I am sick of the proliferation of streaming services.
I cut the cord a long time ago back when Netflix was 9.99 and I could watch news with a HD antenna.

I can see the value property with Disney owning Lucas and Marvel - they have a critical mass of intellectual property and the cartoon classics will be entertaining generations of kids for many generations long after I am gone.

Netflix got into the content game simply to avoid the licensing fees. Competing against the other streaming platforms and cable is not cheap. Admittedly some of their homegrown stuff is pretty darn good. I can say the same for Amazon, HBO, etc.

Ideally I would like to see Netflix spin the content creation business off leaving Netflix as the free market streaming platform for all media to be shown on. Disney would save themselves a ton of grief (and boost their share price) if they simply handed off their streaming business to Netflix. They would still make it on licensing fees.

Per the the stupid cost of Netflix and other streaming these days I would suggest tiers vs the commercial interruption bs.
Premium (just released content) and live events at the top tier pricing, then as content ages it comes to the lowest syndication tier where they share space with the likes of Gilligan's Island and Threes Company Re-runs.

Studio consolidation might make sense in the profitability and ability to attract investors to the content creation (quality), but the opposite is also true. No studio wants to be working on 300 different projects at the same time, and even from a equipment and realestate play they look to consolidate. I like the idea of 200 studios all working on new and interesting projects, and there are also remakes. Think King Kong. With that said I don't mind yet another spiderman movie but wish they would move on from the origin story of how Peter transformed into Spidey.

Streaming is a very difficult story