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Hollywood Guild members received almost no pay raises in their new contracts thanks to leadership that didn’t press for anything beyond meager. Yet the Big Media studios keep boasting about their box office. Here’s the latest MPAA announcement on behalf of the studios:
LOS ANGELES – The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) today released its annual Theatrical Market Statistics Report for 2010. The report shows that global box office receipts for all films released around the world reached an all time high of $31.8 billion, an increase of 8% over 2009. The U.S./Canada market repeated its peak performance from last year but remained flat at $10.6 billion. International box office increased by 13%, with the largest growth in Asia Pacific which grew by 21%. More than 40% of the Asia Pacific box office growth occurred in China. However, China remains a highly restrictive market for foreign film distribution.
The 3D market was a key driver at the U.S./Canada box office making up 21%, or $2.2 billion of the total, doubling last year’s performance, and compared to just 2% of the box office in 2008. One in three people in the U.S. and Canada saw a 3D movie in 2010. Younger moviegoers are avid consumers of the 3D experience; 64% of moviegoers ages 2-17 viewed at least one 3D movie in 2010.
“It was a strong year at the movies in 2010. Despite a weak economy, shifting business models, and the ongoing impact of digital theft, we had another record year at the global box office driven by growth outside the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S. and Canada 3D was the driving force,” said Bob Pisano, President and Interim CEO of the MPAA. “Higher value entertainment continues to make a significant contribution to box office revenues.”
John Fithian, President and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, added: “The domestic theatrical market continues its strong performance. Box office has grown for four of the past five years, setting records in three of them. It has surpassed $10.5 billion for the past two years. The industry’s investments in digital cinema and 3D have begun to show dividends, with 3D releases doubling their share of the box office. Admissions, which are more volatile than box office, continue to hold their own in the face of a prolonged economic downturn. Theater owners continue to offer their patrons the lowest-priced form of out of home entertainment, with the average movie ticket – including premium-priced tickets – costing less than it did in 1970, adjusted for inflation.”
The number of tickets sold in the U.S./Canada declined 5% to 1.34 billion, returning to the 2008 level. While the number of moviegoers was up 3% compared to the previous year, the average number of movies they attended declined to an average of six times in 2010, from 6.5 in 2009. Ticket sales continue to be fueled by repeated visits to the cinema by frequent moviegoers – those who go to the movies once a month or more. Frequent moviegoers make up only 11% of the population but bought over half of all tickets sold in 2010. While the number of frequent moviegoers rose to 35 million, up three million from the previous year, occasional moviegoers – those who see less than one movie per month – went to the movies less frequently in 2010.
The number of screens has remained constant over the past five years at around 150,000 worldwide; however digital screens have increased dramatically. Nearly one-quarter of all screens are now digital and over 60% of those are 3D-capable. In 2010, every region in the world more than doubled its digital screen count for an overall increase of 122%.
“Though innovation and technology continue to be a positive force for the theatrical business, driving moviegoers towards higher value 3D entertainment, the continued theft of movies online will have a sustained adverse impact on movie attendance in the coming years. It’s impossible to compete with free,” said Pisano. “We will continue to work with our industry partners to fight for common sense ways, through legislative, enforcement and legal avenues, to vigilantly protect the creativity at the heart of our industry from theft.”
For a detailed analysis of the 2010 MPAA Theatrical Market Statistics please click here. About the MPAA The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries from its offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Its members include: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; Universal City Studios LLC; and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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“Hollywood Guild members received almost no pay raises in their new contracts thanks to leadership that didn’t press for anything beyond meager. Yet the Big Media studios keep boasting about their box office.” Great point NF!
I hope the greed helps them sleep at night. Damn shame.
Corporate profits up, up, up… along with unemployment.
Wages flat or down in the middle and at the bottom, but way, way, way up at the very top.
Not an accident, folks.
Has to be squeezed from somewhere…
And that’s how it works–the new euphemism to end all euphemisms: jobless recovery.
It was the plan all along, a dislocation between corporate profits and jobs. They didn’t like having to share the upside, so they gamed the rules. ?
The Clinton administration knew this, Wall Street knew this, and the corporate media they own simply branded anyone who warned about it as a doomsaying kook.?
Just go back and watch Sir James Goldsmith–one of the biggest capitalists anywhere, but defiantly honest–laying it all out on Charlie Rose back in 1994. Rose then had a Clinton administration hack come on and shoot down everything he asserted. Well… just look at everything that’s unfolded since that debate, and you’ll see who’s assessment and predictions proved astonishingly correct.?
Wall Street efficiently pushed for what was in Wall Street’s interests, wrapping it in promises and reasoning that was mere hollow salesmanship–insisting NAFTA and GAT would bring better jobs to Americans.??Forget Madoff, our entire economy has been de-regulated into a pyramid scam. The loads of Dynasty-style wealth funneled upward had to come from somewhere, folks: so it was sucked out of the middle.
And once it reaches a certain threshold, it never goes away: just passed down from generation to generation, a neo-royal class born into assured prosperity.
Now what was once true of Hollywood is true of America in general: you can make a killing, but you can’t make a living.
Certainly wasn’t driven by quality.
Well — box office doesn’t indicate profit, so the snark in this headline is suspect at best.
Jay, I’m sure you know about “Hollywood Accounting” so you know that profit in real accounting terms doesn’t even equate profit in the studio system… Has Harry Potter even shown a profit yet?
I noticed when I wanted to watch Green Hornet the theaters in my neighborhood only offered it in 3D. I spent nearly $40 for two tickets. To compensate for the unplanned increase, I placed further limits on my budget for the month of Feb and scaled back on entertainment costs. Now that I’m that cognizant of this reality I will become more selective with the films I see in the theater.
When I went to see The Green Hornet I was told by the cashier that it would be $5 extra because it was in 3D. They very conveniently didn’t have the regular version of the film playing at that theatre.
So I told her I wasn’t going to pay that much and voted with my feet: I went home. No big loss. I wasn’t dying to see the movie and certainly not at that price. Even though I prefer to see movies on the big screen, in this case I can wait for the DVD.
Of course. Everyone knows the real heroes in the movie business are the studio heads and their executives. Writers, actors and crew members do nothing at all.
Yeah? Well, one guild has not settled – my guild the WGA. And let me tell you something,these asshole studios can afford to give us a BIG raise across the board – minimums, dVDs, New Media…and a lot of our more intelligent members know this. So it’ll be a power struggle between the smarts and the morons as to whether we strike. I’m confident there are more smart people in the WGA than dumb. So we’re talking strike. As unpleasant as that may sound, and with the inevitable “crew collateral damage” we need to stick it to the flush-with-money studios and get what is ours. It’s time.
I would absolutely support you and your guild. I think we need a little Wisconsin-type protesting over here for a change!
What was gained by the last strike?
A lot was gained. For the first time the studios agreed to pay for internet use. (though it was a crazy insane formula) But if we didn’t strike they would refuse to pay us anything. Just ask people who write animation how they feel about not getting residuals. It’s total bs but if left to their own devices the studios will always try and shaft talent. I guess you could say that is their one true skill.
I work in a minor role on a major Network Television show. I was out of work for a couple of months because of the last strike… And you know what? I’d support another one! Unions don’t exist to extort the corporate elite (as much as it’s being pushed by the right). They exist to protect the interest of the producing class, and part of that means a fair share in the profits resulting from their participation in the production process. When that’s broken, then it’s a race to the bottom… Which studio can make the most by paying the least – the least amount of money to the least amount of people to do the most work.
Animation writers don’t get residuals? Just because they don’t get squandered in mailboxes as the WGAs do, don’t mean they don’t exist.
Check your facts ‘WGA Writer’ or stop by the 839 offices sometime and I’ll go over how IATSE residuals help fund some of the best health care available in this town.
Steve K
All due respect, Steve, but you are dead wrong about the residuals. I have been writing animation for well over ten years, with over a 100 half hours of produced television episodes. I’ve also written several live action TV movies for animation channels, as well as animated features for television. I have not received a single residual. Not one. When you talk about the money that goes toward my health insurance, you are talking about money that comes out of my paycheck. Why do I say that? Because our rates are based on it, and these rates are set by the union. What ever the studios pay toward health insurance is reflected in what I am paid per script, per outline, etc. Oh, and by the way, animation rates, by and large, are about half of what traditional TV rates are. And we do the exact same job, but with half the staff. A typical animation writer works freelance, breaks his own stories, and writes all the drafts of his scripts. There is no “writer’s room”, except on a few shows at Nick and Disney, and those rooms only have 3 or 4 people, not 15.
Every time there is a strike with the WGA, animation writing is the first thing that is given away to the studios. Why? Because the studios say it will bankrupt them to give us residuals. Horseshit! Merchandising alone on animated shows makes billions. And now that all the major animation channels are aligned with toy companies, the profits are even greater. Trust me, I have no love for the WGA. They have done nothing for me, and I do not expect to see them EVER pull us under their contract. As for IATSE, I have no gripes with the Union, save to say animation union writing rates have actually GONE DOWN in the past decade, and they won’t even discuss going to bat for residuals.
But as you pointed out, Steve, the health care is great.
No surprise announcement here. Just follow the history of studio announcements following any union negotiations. Do you think it’s a coincidence there are so many scripted pilots this year? You can bad mouth union leaders (and some deserve it) but members should be taking the responsibility for their voting for crap contracts over the years. Educate yourselves and wake up. Proud to be one of the 6% who continues to vote against the contracts.
Hope everyone enjoys giving Roberta Reardon her stipend. SAG/AFTRA has become just like corporate America. Rewarding jobs not so well done.
“SAG/AFTRA has become just like corporate America.”
IBEW has done the same, but I agree, it’s up to the members to read about the proposals and take action. Just like we should be doing with most other important issues in our city and country.
Yes it is sad that only the 25% who bother to vote have no idea what they are voting on. Negotiators should have done MUCH better. Giving SAG away to the Producers. SAG members afraid to strike (or at least the 25% that bother returning their ballots). And I want 3500/month (until it’s done) to try and merge the Unions – Thanks Aftra for all your hard work tearing SAG a part. I stood with the Writers last strike on the picket line and then when SAG threatened to strike, EVERYONE I talked to in the Business, including writers, were not with us…”too much damage already” they pleaded. Proud to be a 6 percent-er.
Screwed again
Thank you, Nikki, for continuing to tell stories that other outlets won’t touch. You are one of the few counterweights to the untrammeled power of the multinational corporations in this industry.
well the studios need to trumpet this stuff – and in the backrooms are probably scared to death that the digi-effect is going to kick in. we all want to be entertained but for some reason resent paying for it. if this golden goose is indeed on its way to extinction, the mega-mediacorps have zero interest in sharing any of those eggs with anyone.
First of all, as one commenter posted, box office doesn’t indicate profit. And here’s the thing about a WGA strike, or a SAG or SAG/AFTRA strike. The last time these happened it began the plummeting of the studios’ income/profits into the crapper, then came the great rescession (which we’re still in the thick of). People are STILL being laid off the big networks/studios as we speak. Hoards of them. Do you really think that striking is going to do any good? All it is going to do is make the studios/networks have less money, which means they’ll make fewer TV shows and fewer movies, which in turn means that even fewer writers, directors, actors, and everyone else who works for these companies will get jobs. These union members either don’t realize or don’t care that by striking they really are hurting themselves in the long run (or short run in this economy).
after what you said ‘executive at some studio’ we definitely need a strike.
I agree with you. Do you think that it is curious that the only two unions that talk about striking are WGA and SAG/AFTRA. The reason is that unlike the other guilds that the members make their living off working in the Industry, these two unions have a large portion of their members who work only part time. It’s easy to go on strike when you aren’t working anyway. I do not work for the Industry, but my daughter does. She knows people who lost their homes, or had to declare bankruptcy during the last strikes. Some of her friends are still deep in debt, and another strike would be devastating to them.
Please stop repeating this canard that the WGA and SAG will strike because most of their members dont work anyway. The only way a WGA strike happens is if the television show runners and the top screenwriters support it. The decisive moment in the last WGA strike came when the show runners courageously refused to perform even their executive roles.
Okay I change my story – the well paid writers, and part time actors can go on strike, because one is well paid, and the other doesn’t work anyway. Well the not so well paid crew members get screwed.
Look, I’m with you. Nobody who actually earns their living in this business wants to strike. The WGA didn’t strike for twenty years between 1988 and 2008. The last big SAG strike was in 1980 (not counting the commercial strike in 2000). It’s just a myth that these guilds are strike happy.
3D was mentioned eight times in this press release. Any idea how the global box office hit an all time high??? Thank you Airbender and Clash of the Titans for putting it over the top (puking now).
Happily there has been a resurgence of smaller films which might not mean much at the global box office but means there are some quality films mixed in with the buckets of garbage. As for a strike, as a WGA member, my feeling is this is not the right time. We are still in the throes of a deep recession and once again the Writers will have to go it alone. If we are serious about striking then we should coordinate this with the Actors. Writers simply don’t have the clout to do it all on our own.
Nikki, you are so biased toward the unions. And it is a shame that you can’t function as an impartial reporting source with an eye on the facts from BOTH sides. I won’t try to change your thought process here, as it is probably a sisyphus challenge. But it wouldn’t hurt to take an unbiased look at the reality of Hollywood Union bully tactics and their seemingly incongruous hatred of the hand that feeds them.
Take, take, take until there is nothing left, is the mantra. Never, “let’s work together to make excellent entertainment for the world”.
This industry is wilting on the vine. Those who can’t see it are doomed to be surprised in a few years when the Networks and Studios as we know them (and hence, your paycheck you unthinking masses) fade away. New media, new production techniques and the threat of overseas competence are taking from us what was once our sole domain. And the big unions you support still want to push, push, push for unreasonable perks (first class flights for DGA, anyone? On clock meals for IA, hello?, etc.) that others on the staff and crew don’t share in. Equality for all and fair reasonable expectations for everyone in this industry, I say.
Show me anyone in this industry who is in a union and who works regularly who is not leading a comfortable and fairly compensated life. Stop crying and whining that life is so unfair to union members. It is despicable.
I agree that box office doesn’t reflect how much profit was made, but I have to defend the workers’ right to strike.
I resent having to be in a union and pay ridiculously expensive dues so that I will be in a better position to be offered fair wages at major jobs. However, studio productions (both film and TV) are notorious for taking advantage of employees that don’t have any bargaining leverage. Leverage in this case would be either professional clout or being in a union. Here’s an example of what I’ve experienced and seen that happens to those with no protections:
I started as a PA, and one of my first gigs was on Meet Joe Black. I remember all of us being frustrated because all the day players (basically all the PAs were day players), who were being paid peanuts anyway, would regularly get worked just ten minutes under a double shift. Why was this an issue? Because if we worked a true double shift of 16 hours, we would be paid double our already-pitiful day rate. But if we were cut off at 15 hours and 50 minutes, we only got our regular day. So basically, the production was working us literally minutes shy of a double shift but only having to pay us for a regular shift. If the PAs had had a union, that would probably not have happened. But there is no PA union, at least not one that’s taken seriously. If that kind of treatment had happened with any of the camera crew or the stunt guys, or props or the ADs or anyone else, heads would have rolled because of pressure from the unions. Big productions do this kind of thing all the time, it wasn’t exclusive to Meet Joe Black and Universal Pictures, who were the main production company behind that film.
Many years later, I am a senior editor at a major TV station in Los Angeles, and I have witnessed first-hand more times than I can count how if protections don’t exist for crew, studio productions would pay as little as possible. The unions exist to protect us below-the-line workers. I’m not saying I agree with everything they do, in fact, I don’t. However, if not for their existence, nobody in Hollywood except for those highest on the food chain would be able to make a decent wage working in film or TV. And by “a decent wage,” I mean a wage you can actually live on, even modestly.
Generally in studio film/TV production, the hours are long and the jobs are hard to come by, even for those with a lot of experience. I think this is due to a bunch of things, like technology changing, the job-seeking pool growing steadily as more film schools graduate classes, and investor/shareholder fears in the present economy, which make it harder for productions to get funded. Studios don’t always fund productions right out of their own pockets, they often co-produce with indie companies who then are given deals with the studios. So independent investing is certainly a factor. There are probably other factors affecting job availability too. But there is also corporate greed, which is undeniably present in Hollywood, and that alone is a reason to have unions. In corporate environments, the emphasis is always on profitability, especially in conglomerates like the ones that own all the studios.
Example- and tho this is a TV example, it’s relevant, because CBS TV has the same basic corporate model as major film studios– make more profits, with fewer resources and less money.
In the last year alone, at local O&O’s (owned and operated affiliates of the major networks) here in LA, there were several tidal waves of firings. At CBS2/KCAL9, the biggest CBS affiliate in the country, there were several rounds of firings in the News and Sales/Marketing departments. Many senior employees were fired and replaced with less experienced, cheaper versions in an effort to make higher profits. Yet CBS had record profits in the last fiscal year. If unions didn’t exist, given the climate at that station, it’s likely most of the writer/producers and technicians, not to mention on-air talent at CBS2/KCAL9 would be out of work. Even those who are in unions are seeing their contracts giving fewer protections, you know, like a guaranteed lunch. The WGA recently voted to give most of the writers at that station half-hour lunches. Who can get lunch in half an hour? If you have one errand to do, or if you buy your lunch that day, just collecting the food may take the entire amount of time. This is from the most recent round of negotiations. And WGA members are obviously among the people protected by union membership. But in Sales/Marketing, like with movie PAs, there is no union, so the station can hire new employees for pennies on the dollar and fire them at will, citing “cutbacks.” Sales/Marketing is just as important to the success of a film as making the film itself, and PAs are certainly a crucial component of making movies. There are always errands that must be run, extra hands needed somewhere, etc. Even if someone does a seemingly meanial job, they still need to be able to live on their wages. This is the mentality of the studios, spend less and make more. It’s not about making good movies or TV, it’s about making money. That’s fine, but when it comes at the cost of the people who work so hard to make the studios a success, it’s not fine at all.
On a personal note, I strongly feel that anyone who works in entertainment needs to plan accordingly for the inconsistency of this industry. I’m not saying that it’s okay to treat workers badly and pay them less than they can live on– it’s not. There are so many variables that go into greenlighting a production that actually has the budget to pay decent wages, and so much competition for those jobs. It’s frustrating, but the reality is that there is a culture of hiring people who are desperate and will work for lower wages, if union protections aren’t in place. It’s not just about the love of making movies– most people who work in film love movies, and that isn’t really in question. But loving movies alone won’t put food on your table, money will.
I don’t think the unions hate the hand that feeds them, but they are acutely aware of what would happen if they weren’t around. And after being taken advantage of myself not only on that PA gig but on many others (including non-union editing gigs) I am too. Not all of us union people get those fancy perks like first-class flights, etc. Most of us are just trying to eke out a living, just like everyone else, including those of us who work regularly.
The Studios are much like the current GOP. They have eradicated the ‘middle class’..actors/writers/directors. The gap between the creative haves and have nots has been widened to the point of breaking. I have seen my paychecks cut by half if not more and I am a recognizable name now living at the poverty level to be able to continue at the only work I am qualified for.
If your name is so “recognizable,” what is the shame in giving and backing you ASTUTE observations with it??
The global number is grossly inflated. There is no single agency which collects box office data worldwide so the MPA does some really bad estimations. Rentrak tracks 22 countries. If you add up the annual box office for the top 10 or so international markets, i.e. Japan, UK, France, China, Russia, South Korea, Germany, Spain, Italy, etc. the total is only about $12 billion. The remaining $10 billion has to come from countries like Mexico, The Netherlands, Brazil and other smaller markets. When you get past the top 15 international markets, it takes a lot of countries to add 1 billion to the totals. The international total is probably $5 billion over reported and is probably around $17 billion tops.
Nikki, fan those faux-proletariat flames as only you can do! And laugh all the way to the bank! Love it.
I am astounded that people don’t want to support the talent guild members who could not make a living without the rules they’ve fought for over the decades. Imagine living in a show business world without unions where the producers tell people what they’re going to earn and say, ‘take it or leave it.’ Strikes are the only power unions have.
Why would anyone want to dis members of unions who only want to get what they deserve? Have these critics not noticed the proliferation of millionaires and billionaires everywhere you look? Have you tried to buy a house (or a small apartment in New York City) lately?
Please open your eyes and your hearts and consider the humanity and not the bottom line, which is always going to favor the corporations because that is, by definition, all they care about.
Your point is eloquently made, but unfortunately fundamentally incorrect and naive on almost every level. The “power” one has does not derive from a union (excepting perhaps an early 20th Century Appalachian coal miner) but rather what value you’re perceived to bring to the table as a professional. If a buyer believes you, selling your services, is worth 150K a year, that is what you’ll be paid…etc etc. One should not need to rely on extortion (aka “collective bargaining”) to get their “fair value” in the marketplace, just as when a maker of a product is a seller they should not rely on anti-trust and price fixing to get the price they feel they’re “deserved” for their wares. That practice is illegal for a reason.
What the Industry needs is something like the CIO, not the AFL. Right now all the different craft unions have their own agendas and totally disregard the interest of other workers. The studios play the different guilds against one and another. If there were a single union that took the interest of everyone – all the workers Writer, Actors, and crew would be better off.
ticket prices are higher. and nobody i know watches movies in theaters anymore.
Rising box-office – that’s great! Problem is that’s shared 50 percent with the exhibitors.
The big margin, aka the fat, the profit, the vig, was always the DVD marketplace, specifically sell through. Had a look at those numbers lately? Some studios are down over 25 percent, and I like Reed Hastings, but Netflix is quarters replacing dollars. Great for consumers in the long run because subscription is the better model, but that insane profitability of sell through is long gone.
Studio heads’ days of omnipotent moguldom are also gone, with Jimmy G probably representing the last iteration of a “poor man’s LB.”
Glad to hear everyone’s thrilled with the BO, but the money isn’t there. WGA et al can fight like the teachers in Madison, but ultimately their fight will be just as futile.
2011 will be a massacre for MPAA!!!!!!!
I do VFX.
Our industry is not organized and the studios have us RIGHT where they want us.
We’re the ones doing the 3D conversions so they can charge that extra $5/ticket. We’re the ones creating the cgi that terrible films are dipped in to make them shinier.
Pressure from the studios and the threat of outsourcing ALL of the vfx work overseas has been used to keep us in line – while they break global sales records.
We’re starting to rally – and I suspect the studios truly fear what organized VFX, standing alongside the other guilds, means to their bargaining position.
The next few years will be ‘curious times’ indeed.
As an actor who is financial core, which means I can work union and non-union jobs I have seen the discrepancy in how productions treat you differently even when the production company and director are the same! I was asked to do a stunt last minute on a non-union production, it wasn’t that bad but the whole time I was thinking they couldn’t ask me to do this if this was union, they would need a stuntman. The other actor was game and new to LA so this was exciting for him, so if I would have said no I would have looked like an asshole, which I have seen actors ask about their contracts and pay bumps for doing things they weren’t supposed to do and get torn new assholes in front of everyone for asking those valid questions. Anyways, even the 2nd AD who works mainly union productions knew that was wrong and gave this director a “really?” look. Yes I’m a dumbass for doing it but who do I call in a situation like that? If it was union I could have called SAG and gotten that straightened out. Now the point isn’t I the fact I did the stunt, the point is that producers/directors know the rules of SAG, which are there to protect us actors, and when given the opportunity (random non-union jobs) they are more than willing to go against these standard rules for the sake of their own benefit and to the harm of us, the actors.
Oftentimes, if I work non-union I’ll come to set and they’ll be some ridiculous contract, when I was told the contract would be very limited originally. I know what I am signing so I’ve spoken up before to the chagrin of the ADs and producers who talk to me like some crybaby actor. Most other actors just go along with anything because they are happy to work. I get that. But without our union to protect us we’ll just get fucked left and right and because of the recession they dropped our rate considerably or want us to work deferred and now that the economy is getting better the rates aren’t changing. An individual isn’t going to negotiate on their own to any success. And execs aren’t really thinking about all the “little” people working on their tv shows and movies. Sure they’ll pay Tom Cruise 20 million but the day player with 2 lines or the camera assistant and workers of that sort are pretty much non-existent to them.
On that note, I’m joining back up with the union, because even though I need the money, it’s not worth the disrespect and being taking advantage of every single time I’ve worked non-union.