A film blog for students of my classes at Santa Clara University. Use this blog to discuss the films we are studying, classic films, current releases or production issues you encounter while making your own films.
Monday, February 02, 2015
Creativity vs. Profits
What is more important to the film and television industry: creativity or profits?
As in many industries, the most important thing is most definitely profit, however, in the film and television industry I think creativity and profit go hand in hand.
The reason why re-makes do so well in the industry is because people recognize the title or certain characters and are immediately drawn to it. Some re-makes are guaranteed a profit because people either want to follow the story or people want to spend money on something they know will entertain them. This is especially true in the movie industry.
However, in the television industry, I think creativity is more important. The importance for movies is to get people to the box office, buy their tickets, and endure. In television, people have the option of changing the channel or choosing a new netflix obsession. Therefore, creativity is extremely importance. Television requires writers and creators to hook an audience and maintain the same amount of viewers. This will ultimately lead to a better profit.
For movies however, it is much different. People are drawn to movies that they are familiar with and are less inclined to spend time and money on something that is not guaranteed to please them. This is why often, remakes do better in theaters.
I agree with Lizzie that profit and creativity are equally important in the film and television industry.
The bottom line is that the industry is based on creativity. Film is a form of art and its primary reason of popularity came from people doing new and innovative things. There is a difference between a block buster success and an artistic success that is what makes the two sometimes hard to achieve together.
If a studio makes a romantic comedy with Justin Timberlake it will most likely be a success at the box offices, but it will most likely not win any awards. It will be easy to market because people generally know what to expect, helping the over all budget of the film.
On the other end, every year, during award season, people sit on their couch to find out who wins, and often times their response is "I've never heard of/seen that movie." These are the movies that the critiques deem to be creatively successful, but did not do as well financially.
For most studios I believe it is a choice, whether intentional or not, to be creative and push the boundaries of film, or to go with what they know will make a profit. That is not to say that a film can't do both. But the past has shown us that the majority of films are one or the other.
I feel that creativity is the most important aspect of the film and television industry because it creates profit. The problem is that the powers at be in those industries focus too much on profit and not enough on creativity. When they find a creative idea that works they stick to it till they suck all the life out of it, this is where remakes come into play. If the first movie or TV show was a hit they are often remade over and over again until they stop making money.
I agree with Lizzie’s point that creativity is more important in television then film because there are so many more options for viewers when it comes to television, but I believe creativity plays a bigger role in film then she gives credit. It is the creativity that creates the profits. The creativity can be from the famous directors ideas or the big name movie stars playing the same role over and over again or even repeated plot lines, and all that is simply an example of the industry juicing the creativity for all it is worth. Once those creative tactics stop working they will have to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new creative idea to make money.
The goal of the film and TV industry is to make profit, but it is the creativity that creates that profit, making it more important than profit in a way.
I agree with the above comments that creativity and profits go hand in hand, and it can be hard to concretely state which is more important. Creativity is what produces new exciting content that people will want to pay to see, driving profit. That being said, creativity isn’t always necessary to make a huge profit. Another typical romantic comedy can be made with two actors with star power, and it will easily make a reasonable amount of money in the box office.
The desire and need to make profits can stifle creativity, as studio execs/producers will choose to go the safe way that is known to make money. There can be a lot of risk involved with releasing content that is new and innovative, as it can be hard to gauge if it will appeal to audiences. So while creativity may result in a huge television or film hit, it could also lead to major profit losses. I think (and hope) that we are moving in a direction where writers, producers, and directors take more risk creatively, but I think there will always be the profit driven who choose to take the safe route.
I wish to say that creativity is more important, but I truly believe that profit is what is considered most important nowadays. As Mike has told us, the goal of Hollywood is to make money. That's it. I wish it were the case that the main goal was to put out the most creative material out there, but we've had so much shit dished out to us as consumers that I find it hard to believe that it's about the quality of the creative content.
Personally, I feel that art (creative side) and business (monetary side) don't go together, because they have completely different objectives. When a television show is being written, a writer is not thinking about "How much money is this going to make?" They're thinking about making the best content that they possibly can. The executives, on the other hand, are thinking "will this bring in money for us?" I think they're two completely different things.
I’d like to disagree with some of the previous comments and say that profits are undoubtedly more important to the film and television industry than creativity. Profits are what drive the industries and keep them in business. Without profits, they wouldn’t be able to operate no matter how creative the content is. However, it is true that profits and largely controlled by us, the consumers. But our small culture of intellectual, creative college students is a minor segment of the market. In today’s culture, the film and television industry have aims at reaching the masses, domestic and abroad. For example, the countless superhero movies the the film industry creates isn’t at all creative. They remake the same movie, over and over, knowing that they will make of profit. That is their only motive. Even when Spider-Man 7 comes out, and gets horrible reviews within the U.S., it will produce enormous profits from international markets and enable them to make another one. And another one. The only goal in mind is profit.
I do agree that creativity and profit go hand in hand and play off of one another, but sometimes, I feel like it is difficult for outsiders to see that.
Media executives have to be incessantly creative in order to make their content and business the most lucrative it can be. In this, I think that the two play hand in hand and are equally as important. However, I feel that this is a different type of creativity in that it is being creative for the sake of being different and stimulating profit, and not for the sake of purely being creative to establish an art form.
Overall, I think that profits are more important to the film and television industry. However, the book mentions that there is a lot of variability in the approaches of industry executives, which makes it impossible to generalize the influence that they have in a consistent way. In particular, there have been a lot of movies being released that are sequels or reproductions of films that have been done in the past. Many industry executives are repeating these trends, because they know that they will be making money. Film and television is so unpredictable that executives would rather spend their money on making an unoriginal movie that would make money versus a risky film or TV show that might not be a hit. I think that once these new shows and movies come out and prove that they are successful, then more executives will be more willing to copy the norm. Ideally, we want to have more creators that produce “art for art’s sake” so we can have new TV shows and films. However, I think that there needs to be a good balance between creative vision and profits.
I would say the most important thing is profit. The TV and film industry is a mega, multi billion dollar global business and the purpose of a business is profit. However, creativity makes it richer, better, attracts more viewers, and ultimately brings in more profit if it gets a good word of mouth which attributes to actors, production, direction, and perhaps most importantly screenwriting. Despite how important creativity is to making a good product, profit will always outweigh its importance in the industry.
Personally I think that the need for profits will always trump creativity. Especially now, with the growing overseas film market, I think that studios are more likely to fund projects that they believe will make the most money, over what they deem as the most creative. Hollywood is a business, and they exist to make money. That is not to say that creativity is unimportant, it is very much a factor that plays into what audience want to see, yet as we discussed in class hollywood tends to base their new content on formats and ideas that have worked in the past. Like Jacob mentioned, the superhero movies recently are almost endless. Big studios are not producing these because they are innovative or creative, they are making them because they know they will generate the most money.
I think that first and foremost, profit is the most important thing to the film and television industry, as indicated by the for-profit mandate to which a majority of organizations adhere. Companies, firms, studios, and networks seem to strive to achieve monetary success rather than artistic or creative success. However, creativity and innovative ideas in film and television have that potential to generate profit, and can therefore also be considered important to the industry. Sometimes, it’s evident that creativity in the industry isn’t the primary focus of many organizations, as audiences see a large number of sequels and franchises being supported and built upon. There comes a point though, when a television show or movie series has way too many sequels or seasons and stops being interesting or funny, almost as if the writers have completely exhausted their creativity and new ideas (as seen in the the last few seasons of The Office and How I Met Your Mother that were so bad I couldn’t keep watching them). Creativity, however, especially in television, involves pushing boundaries and incorporating more risque and often-unseen ideas and concepts into scenes and plots, which audiences in today’s society appreciate. That being said, I think that the proper balance of emphasizing both creativity and profit are important to the industry to keep audiences interested while also generating money.
As much as I'd love for creativity to be most important to the film and TV industry, I'd have to agree with Jacob and Katelyn that the focus is on profits. Once we first realized how much money the TV and film industry in the US and overseas could generate, the market became less about creativity and geared towards how to make more money. Although it is really hard to come up with unique and successful stories, I feel as though creators are pressured to create content in a certain type of way that they purposely choose to keep creative stories on the back burner. Stories go through such a long process from screenwriter to the screen and people need to make money to survive so they choose the stories that will make the most money (i.e. remakes, sequels). It's impossible to have a career in the industry if no one is backing up your work. At some point people began realizing that not every story is going to sell so they might as well start backing up/continue creating the ones that do. I agree with Lizzie though that TV might allow for creativity more than film. While you must find ways to please the viewers and make profit, once the TV show becomes a success it's a little bit easier to play around with ideas and take things a different route as long as it's mainly consistent with what they're used to seeing. Also you need to maintain their attention for a longer amount of time (amount of episodes, seasons, etc.). Creators and workers in the industry definitely have more power than they think to be creative but they have learned from past films and mistakes what works and what doesn't, and for some people its better to play safe.
I believe that both profit and creativity have to be considered in the film and television industries because they are both important. The film industry has primarily become about profits. How can studios spend money if they don't have any because their films aren't producing profits. Networks and filmmakers want people to watch what they produce. Even though a tv show idea may seem like it should do really well, the industry is so unpredictable. Producers want to invest in things that they are confident will make a profit. The profit-driven business is why there are so many spin-offs and remakes to popular shows.
However, there is the argument for creativity that those most of spinoffs and remakes never do as well as the originals and don't make it out of the first or second season for television. For example, after the highly popular TV show, Friends, went off the air, there was a spinoff series on NBC called Joey, based off of the Friends character Joey Tribbiani. The spinoff was pretty unsuccessful and didn't even finish the complete second season.
Creativity is important because film and television are art forms. Creativity done well can produce massive profits. The film industry won't really continue to grow if there is never any new material. I don't personally believe that a movie is good just because it makes a lot of money. Transformers 4 is a perfect example because it grossed over a billion dollars, but the movie was absolutely terrible. I think movies become classics when they take creative risks. But then the problem comes back to profits and whether this new creative idea will make any money, thus making profits ultimately more important in the long run because that's how the industry runs.
I think it depends on what you are in the industry for. Some people go into the business to get their ideas out to the world. They want to create products that they are interested in making or that they think other people would be in to seeing. Some of the ideas may be successful and make them lots of money, but others will not be as successful. Others go into the business to make a profit. They know that not every idea that comes in is going to be successful, and so they screen these ideas until they find the ones that they think will make a lot of money. Although, they may pick up and create products that they aren't passionate about it. For me, I think creativity is more important than profits. I would rather be passionate about what I am making than only doing it for the money. Creative ideas can potentially make a lot of money, and can lead to a lot more fun in the business. I feel like if you aren't passionate about what you do, you are in the wrong business.
It would be great to see an industry that focused on creativity and art for arts sake, however I think that profits are always going to come before creativity because the entire Hollywood industry is driven by profit. Without profit there is no industry at all. While some form of creativity is necessary, it is only creativity to slightly change what has been there before. This connects back to Jacobs point- the successful structure is already in place, the industry knows what films are going to make money and so they use the same basic story line over and over and just add a small twist to ensure consistent success. This is the general theme in Hollywood, unless someone like Christopher Nolan, who Katelyn mentioned in her presentation, comes around with a creative story that he knows will also make money. In these rare instances art for arts sake and art for profits sake come together, but this is the rarity and generally speaking profit will always come before creativity.
I think that profit is equally important to both. In order for either industry to survive and continue to create new content, regardless of its level of creativity, the production companies have to make a profit. The reason that TV may seem to be more creative is because it operates under a different business model. TV operates under a flow model meaning that you are paying for the content and your eyes are being sold to advertisers. In comparison Film follows a publishing model. This means you are paying for the content, the film, and there is not this flow between what you are paying for and you being sold. This explains a little bit about where TV and Film get their money from. Production companies in film tend to look for a constant in the constantly changing world of production and media. What will be successful? Because the film industry costs so much to make a film, they also have more to loose. Since they also do not receive money from advertisers they must make all of their money back through selling movie tickets. However, they can also rely on turning the film into a franchise and selling products like action figures but the movie must be successful in order to do so. TV gets money from taxes as well. These varying sources of income allow for TV to be more daring. Also since TV can more easily find its niche populations this may explain why they can be daring. It is important to note that TV has a much longer time to let a show run and regain its money therefore, it has a longer time having daring content try to move with culture and culture with this content. Whereas in film money needs to be made pretty much in the first weekend it comes out and may have difficulty finding a large audience that is willing to pay and to see something against their values whereas they may be willing to watch a show "for free" (although they are paying for cable or broadcast) in the comfort of their homes and give it a chance or watch out of curiosity. This still increases the shows ratings. Creativity is still important for both TV just seems to have a model that better supports the ability for risks to be made without as much detrimental loss.
Profits are more important to the media and television industry. Money drives the business. Without profits, there is no film and television industry.
I agree with Hannah that both film and television require creativity to produce quality content. However, without the money the creativity cannot be funded, produced, and distributed to the audience. There will be some exceptions, primarily in the form of artistic videos. Often times, these films and television shows fail to produce financially. They simply get overshadowed by other products that fit within a safer, more formulated approach.
I think this relates to what Miguel was saying about the way iTunes chooses films. They look for the highest rated films, which oftentimes means the films that have generated the most revenue. These films are designed for profit. They use well-known actors and story lines that are safe and predictably popular. The creativity in these plots is minimal.
And, as Hannah argued, the majority of the films that push the boundaries and come out with artistic, creative content aren't the films that are generating a lot of media attention and revenue. They get some attention in the award show scene, but the general public rarely chooses to watch these films, and therefore, companies like iTunes are more likely to choose the simple plots to grace their marketplace.
This is feeding a system that doesn't allow for lesser known, auteur filmmakers to come out with something new and different and have it really make an impact on the film scene.
So, to answer the question, I think that profit drives the industry right now, but I hope that there is someday room for that to change.
I think that there needs to be a balance in the industry that does not exist presently between creativity and motivations of profits. Right now we are driven by profit, which is detrimental to the originality of content. If a show or movie is being proven to succeed, you can bet that more will crop up just like it—or the movie will become a franchise, which is why we have had so many superhero movies out in the past couple years. I think though that audiences can become saturated and that there generally is a backlash when people can't really stand the same formulas for success: I think there is a tipping point. So every once in a while I think there will be spaces for innovation and times where the industry will take more chances creatively. However, I think those windows are small.
And that being said we can't all be Christopher Nolans who can push something entirely original and new through, like Interstellar. People want jobs and incomes that are stable.
I personally believe that tim and television should value creativity more than profit. While yes, it is a business and there needs to be a return on the money invested on projects, there is still a need to be innovative, creative, and imaginative.
It is my belief that a creative and revolutionary concept for a show will bring in more money than the routine, mundane material that we've all seen. Viewers like to see something new that gets them hooked.
In addition, the film and television industry is an art form no matter what. The purpose of art is to capture the human experience in an engaging, emotional, and exciting way. When companies do routine sequels of movies, that won't inspire anyone. But when a film tries something new and isn't afraid to take risks that create a great story, that's when art has the power to change the world.
I think that in order for Hollywood to even exist there had to be profits obviously, but also an emphasis on creativity. With that being said, once the ball got rolling creativity became less and less important for the content being made. The film and television industry discovered a framework that would consistently make them profits so why would they want to change that? That's why remakes and spin-offs continue to be produced even when they sometimes flop. The profits normally outweigh the flops, therefore no one in Hollywood will truly risk going out of the box.
Even though, I wish creativity were at the forefront, it's nearly impossible to see something fresh and exciting on tv or in theaters. I think that the audience can also be blamed partly for this lack of creativity because we gravitate towards the familiar. Even if it's not as impressive as the first movie or show, people want to see what they once loved anyways.
I know profits will always be the leading influence of film and television but it's nice to see some creativity break through and be a success every once in a while.
23 comments:
As in many industries, the most important thing is most definitely profit, however, in the film and television industry I think creativity and profit go hand in hand.
The reason why re-makes do so well in the industry is because people recognize the title or certain characters and are immediately drawn to it. Some re-makes are guaranteed a profit because people either want to follow the story or people want to spend money on something they know will entertain them. This is especially true in the movie industry.
However, in the television industry, I think creativity is more important. The importance for movies is to get people to the box office, buy their tickets, and endure. In television, people have the option of changing the channel or choosing a new netflix obsession. Therefore, creativity is extremely importance. Television requires writers and creators to hook an audience and maintain the same amount of viewers. This will ultimately lead to a better profit.
For movies however, it is much different. People are drawn to movies that they are familiar with and are less inclined to spend time and money on something that is not guaranteed to please them. This is why often, remakes do better in theaters.
I agree with Lizzie that profit and creativity are equally important in the film and television industry.
The bottom line is that the industry is based on creativity. Film is a form of art and its primary reason of popularity came from people doing new and innovative things. There is a difference between a block buster success and an artistic success that is what makes the two sometimes hard to achieve together.
If a studio makes a romantic comedy with Justin Timberlake it will most likely be a success at the box offices, but it will most likely not win any awards. It will be easy to market because people generally know what to expect, helping the over all budget of the film.
On the other end, every year, during award season, people sit on their couch to find out who wins, and often times their response is "I've never heard of/seen that movie." These are the movies that the critiques deem to be creatively successful, but did not do as well financially.
For most studios I believe it is a choice, whether intentional or not, to be creative and push the boundaries of film, or to go with what they know will make a profit. That is not to say that a film can't do both. But the past has shown us that the majority of films are one or the other.
I feel that creativity is the most important aspect of the film and television industry because it creates profit. The problem is that the powers at be in those industries focus too much on profit and not enough on creativity. When they find a creative idea that works they stick to it till they suck all the life out of it, this is where remakes come into play. If the first movie or TV show was a hit they are often remade over and over again until they stop making money.
I agree with Lizzie’s point that creativity is more important in television then film because there are so many more options for viewers when it comes to television, but I believe creativity plays a bigger role in film then she gives credit. It is the creativity that creates the profits. The creativity can be from the famous directors ideas or the big name movie stars playing the same role over and over again or even repeated plot lines, and all that is simply an example of the industry juicing the creativity for all it is worth. Once those creative tactics stop working they will have to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new creative idea to make money.
The goal of the film and TV industry is to make profit, but it is the creativity that creates that profit, making it more important than profit in a way.
I agree with the above comments that creativity and profits go hand in hand, and it can be hard to concretely state which is more important. Creativity is what produces new exciting content that people will want to pay to see, driving profit. That being said, creativity isn’t always necessary to make a huge profit. Another typical romantic comedy can be made with two actors with star power, and it will easily make a reasonable amount of money in the box office.
The desire and need to make profits can stifle creativity, as studio execs/producers will choose to go the safe way that is known to make money. There can be a lot of risk involved with releasing content that is new and innovative, as it can be hard to gauge if it will appeal to audiences. So while creativity may result in a huge television or film hit, it could also lead to major profit losses. I think (and hope) that we are moving in a direction where writers, producers, and directors take more risk creatively, but I think there will always be the profit driven who choose to take the safe route.
I wish to say that creativity is more important, but I truly believe that profit is what is considered most important nowadays. As Mike has told us, the goal of Hollywood is to make money. That's it. I wish it were the case that the main goal was to put out the most creative material out there, but we've had so much shit dished out to us as consumers that I find it hard to believe that it's about the quality of the creative content.
Personally, I feel that art (creative side) and business (monetary side) don't go together, because they have completely different objectives. When a television show is being written, a writer is not thinking about "How much money is this going to make?" They're thinking about making the best content that they possibly can. The executives, on the other hand, are thinking "will this bring in money for us?" I think they're two completely different things.
I’d like to disagree with some of the previous comments and say that profits are undoubtedly more important to the film and television industry than creativity. Profits are what drive the industries and keep them in business. Without profits, they wouldn’t be able to operate no matter how creative the content is. However, it is true that profits and largely controlled by us, the consumers. But our small culture of intellectual, creative college students is a minor segment of the market. In today’s culture, the film and television industry have aims at reaching the masses, domestic and abroad. For example, the countless superhero movies the the film industry creates isn’t at all creative. They remake the same movie, over and over, knowing that they will make of profit. That is their only motive. Even when Spider-Man 7 comes out, and gets horrible reviews within the U.S., it will produce enormous profits from international markets and enable them to make another one. And another one. The only goal in mind is profit.
I do agree that creativity and profit go hand in hand and play off of one another, but sometimes, I feel like it is difficult for outsiders to see that.
Media executives have to be incessantly creative in order to make their content and business the most lucrative it can be. In this, I think that the two play hand in hand and are equally as important. However, I feel that this is a different type of creativity in that it is being creative for the sake of being different and stimulating profit, and not for the sake of purely being creative to establish an art form.
Overall, I think that profits are more important to the film and television industry. However, the book mentions that there is a lot of variability in the approaches of industry executives, which makes it impossible to generalize the influence that they have in a consistent way. In particular, there have been a lot of movies being released that are sequels or reproductions of films that have been done in the past. Many industry executives are repeating these trends, because they know that they will be making money. Film and television is so unpredictable that executives would rather spend their money on making an unoriginal movie that would make money versus a risky film or TV show that might not be a hit. I think that once these new shows and movies come out and prove that they are successful, then more executives will be more willing to copy the norm. Ideally, we want to have more creators that produce “art for art’s sake” so we can have new TV shows and films. However, I think that there needs to be a good balance between creative vision and profits.
I would say the most important thing is profit. The TV and film industry is a mega, multi billion dollar global business and the purpose of a business is profit. However, creativity makes it richer, better, attracts more viewers, and ultimately brings in more profit if it gets a good word of mouth which attributes to actors, production, direction, and perhaps most importantly screenwriting. Despite how important creativity is to making a good product, profit will always outweigh its importance in the industry.
Personally I think that the need for profits will always trump creativity. Especially now, with the growing overseas film market, I think that studios are more likely to fund projects that they believe will make the most money, over what they deem as the most creative. Hollywood is a business, and they exist to make money. That is not to say that creativity is unimportant, it is very much a factor that plays into what audience want to see, yet as we discussed in class hollywood tends to base their new content on formats and ideas that have worked in the past. Like Jacob mentioned, the superhero movies recently are almost endless. Big studios are not producing these because they are innovative or creative, they are making them because they know they will generate the most money.
I think that first and foremost, profit is the most important thing to the film and television industry, as indicated by the for-profit mandate to which a majority of organizations adhere. Companies, firms, studios, and networks seem to strive to achieve monetary success rather than artistic or creative success. However, creativity and innovative ideas in film and television have that potential to generate profit, and can therefore also be considered important to the industry. Sometimes, it’s evident that creativity in the industry isn’t the primary focus of many organizations, as audiences see a large number of sequels and franchises being supported and built upon. There comes a point though, when a television show or movie series has way too many sequels or seasons and stops being interesting or funny, almost as if the writers have completely exhausted their creativity and new ideas (as seen in the the last few seasons of The Office and How I Met Your Mother that were so bad I couldn’t keep watching them). Creativity, however, especially in television, involves pushing boundaries and incorporating more risque and often-unseen ideas and concepts into scenes and plots, which audiences in today’s society appreciate. That being said, I think that the proper balance of emphasizing both creativity and profit are important to the industry to keep audiences interested while also generating money.
As much as I'd love for creativity to be most important to the film and TV industry, I'd have to agree with Jacob and Katelyn that the focus is on profits. Once we first realized how much money the TV and film industry in the US and overseas could generate, the market became less about creativity and geared towards how to make more money. Although it is really hard to come up with unique and successful stories, I feel as though creators are pressured to create content in a certain type of way that they purposely choose to keep creative stories on the back burner. Stories go through such a long process from screenwriter to the screen and people need to make money to survive so they choose the stories that will make the most money (i.e. remakes, sequels). It's impossible to have a career in the industry if no one is backing up your work. At some point people began realizing that not every story is going to sell so they might as well start backing up/continue creating the ones that do. I agree with Lizzie though that TV might allow for creativity more than film. While you must find ways to please the viewers and make profit, once the TV show becomes a success it's a little bit easier to play around with ideas and take things a different route as long as it's mainly consistent with what they're used to seeing. Also you need to maintain their attention for a longer amount of time (amount of episodes, seasons, etc.). Creators and workers in the industry definitely have more power than they think to be creative but they have learned from past films and mistakes what works and what doesn't, and for some people its better to play safe.
I believe that both profit and creativity have to be considered in the film and television industries because they are both important. The film industry has primarily become about profits. How can studios spend money if they don't have any because their films aren't producing profits. Networks and filmmakers want people to watch what they produce. Even though a tv show idea may seem like it should do really well, the industry is so unpredictable. Producers want to invest in things that they are confident will make a profit. The profit-driven business is why there are so many spin-offs and remakes to popular shows.
However, there is the argument for creativity that those most of spinoffs and remakes never do as well as the originals and don't make it out of the first or second season for television. For example, after the highly popular TV show, Friends, went off the air, there was a spinoff series on NBC called Joey, based off of the Friends character Joey Tribbiani. The spinoff was pretty unsuccessful and didn't even finish the complete second season.
Creativity is important because film and television are art forms. Creativity done well can produce massive profits. The film industry won't really continue to grow if there is never any new material. I don't personally believe that a movie is good just because it makes a lot of money. Transformers 4 is a perfect example because it grossed over a billion dollars, but the movie was absolutely terrible. I think movies become classics when they take creative risks. But then the problem comes back to profits and whether this new creative idea will make any money, thus making profits ultimately more important in the long run because that's how the industry runs.
I think it depends on what you are in the industry for. Some people go into the business to get their ideas out to the world. They want to create products that they are interested in making or that they think other people would be in to seeing. Some of the ideas may be successful and make them lots of money, but others will not be as successful. Others go into the business to make a profit. They know that not every idea that comes in is going to be successful, and so they screen these ideas until they find the ones that they think will make a lot of money. Although, they may pick up and create products that they aren't passionate about it.
For me, I think creativity is more important than profits. I would rather be passionate about what I am making than only doing it for the money. Creative ideas can potentially make a lot of money, and can lead to a lot more fun in the business. I feel like if you aren't passionate about what you do, you are in the wrong business.
It would be great to see an industry that focused on creativity and art for arts sake, however I think that profits are always going to come before creativity because the entire Hollywood industry is driven by profit. Without profit there is no industry at all. While some form of creativity is necessary, it is only creativity to slightly change what has been there before. This connects back to Jacobs point- the successful structure is already in place, the industry knows what films are going to make money and so they use the same basic story line over and over and just add a small twist to ensure consistent success. This is the general theme in Hollywood, unless someone like Christopher Nolan, who Katelyn mentioned in her presentation, comes around with a creative story that he knows will also make money. In these rare instances art for arts sake and art for profits sake come together, but this is the rarity and generally speaking profit will always come before creativity.
I think that profit is equally important to both. In order for either industry to survive and continue to create new content, regardless of its level of creativity, the production companies have to make a profit. The reason that TV may seem to be more creative is because it operates under a different business model. TV operates under a flow model meaning that you are paying for the content and your eyes are being sold to advertisers. In comparison Film follows a publishing model. This means you are paying for the content, the film, and there is not this flow between what you are paying for and you being sold. This explains a little bit about where TV and Film get their money from. Production companies in film tend to look for a constant in the constantly changing world of production and media. What will be successful? Because the film industry costs so much to make a film, they also have more to loose. Since they also do not receive money from advertisers they must make all of their money back through selling movie tickets. However, they can also rely on turning the film into a franchise and selling products like action figures but the movie must be successful in order to do so. TV gets money from taxes as well. These varying sources of income allow for TV to be more daring. Also since TV can more easily find its niche populations this may explain why they can be daring. It is important to note that TV has a much longer time to let a show run and regain its money therefore, it has a longer time having daring content try to move with culture and culture with this content. Whereas in film money needs to be made pretty much in the first weekend it comes out and may have difficulty finding a large audience that is willing to pay and to see something against their values whereas they may be willing to watch a show "for free" (although they are paying for cable or broadcast) in the comfort of their homes and give it a chance or watch out of curiosity. This still increases the shows ratings. Creativity is still important for both TV just seems to have a model that better supports the ability for risks to be made without as much detrimental loss.
Profits are more important to the media and television industry. Money drives the business. Without profits, there is no film and television industry.
I agree with Hannah that both film and television require creativity to produce quality content. However, without the money the creativity cannot be funded, produced, and distributed to the audience. There will be some exceptions, primarily in the form of artistic videos. Often times, these films and television shows fail to produce financially. They simply get overshadowed by other products that fit within a safer, more formulated approach.
I think this relates to what Miguel was saying about the way iTunes chooses films. They look for the highest rated films, which oftentimes means the films that have generated the most revenue. These films are designed for profit. They use well-known actors and story lines that are safe and predictably popular. The creativity in these plots is minimal.
And, as Hannah argued, the majority of the films that push the boundaries and come out with artistic, creative content aren't the films that are generating a lot of media attention and revenue. They get some attention in the award show scene, but the general public rarely chooses to watch these films, and therefore, companies like iTunes are more likely to choose the simple plots to grace their marketplace.
This is feeding a system that doesn't allow for lesser known, auteur filmmakers to come out with something new and different and have it really make an impact on the film scene.
So, to answer the question, I think that profit drives the industry right now, but I hope that there is someday room for that to change.
I think that there needs to be a balance in the industry that does not exist presently between creativity and motivations of profits. Right now we are driven by profit, which is detrimental to the originality of content. If a show or movie is being proven to succeed, you can bet that more will crop up just like it—or the movie will become a franchise, which is why we have had so many superhero movies out in the past couple years.
I think though that audiences can become saturated and that there generally is a backlash when people can't really stand the same formulas for success: I think there is a tipping point. So every once in a while I think there will be spaces for innovation and times where the industry will take more chances creatively. However, I think those windows are small.
And that being said we can't all be Christopher Nolans who can push something entirely original and new through, like Interstellar. People want jobs and incomes that are stable.
I personally believe that tim and television should value creativity more than profit. While yes, it is a business and there needs to be a return on the money invested on projects, there is still a need to be innovative, creative, and imaginative.
It is my belief that a creative and revolutionary concept for a show will bring in more money than the routine, mundane material that we've all seen. Viewers like to see something new that gets them hooked.
In addition, the film and television industry is an art form no matter what. The purpose of art is to capture the human experience in an engaging, emotional, and exciting way. When companies do routine sequels of movies, that won't inspire anyone. But when a film tries something new and isn't afraid to take risks that create a great story, that's when art has the power to change the world.
Creativity over profit, always.
I think that in order for Hollywood to even exist there had to be profits obviously, but also an emphasis on creativity. With that being said, once the ball got rolling creativity became less and less important for the content being made. The film and television industry discovered a framework that would consistently make them profits so why would they want to change that? That's why remakes and spin-offs continue to be produced even when they sometimes flop. The profits normally outweigh the flops, therefore no one in Hollywood will truly risk going out of the box.
Even though, I wish creativity were at the forefront, it's nearly impossible to see something fresh and exciting on tv or in theaters. I think that the audience can also be blamed partly for this lack of creativity because we gravitate towards the familiar. Even if it's not as impressive as the first movie or show, people want to see what they once loved anyways.
I know profits will always be the leading influence of film and television but it's nice to see some creativity break through and be a success every once in a while.
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