Motion Picture,TV & Video Production
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 14,700 motion picture, TV, and video producers in the US produce a variety of video content, including movies, videos, TV programming, and commercials. Major revenue categories include domestic licensing rights; sales of copies of audio/visual works, international licensing rights; contract production services; and merchandise licensing. Movie and video production companies may specialize in a particular category, such as animation, commercials, films, music videos, or TV programming.
Delayed, Uneven Cash Flow
Productions incur the majority of expenses months to even years before realizing a single dollar of revenue.
Piracy
Video piracy is a growing problem, particularly internationally, where copyright protection is lax and illegal activity is more likely to go unnoticed.
Industry size & Structure
The average motion picture and video production company operates out of a single location, employs 11-12 workers, and generates $5 million annually.
- The motion picture and video production industry consists of about 14,700 firms that employ about 171,200 workers and generate about $75 billion annually.
- The industry is highly concentrated; the top 50 firms account for 75% of industry sales.
- Large firms with production operations include the Walt Disney Company and Twenty-First Century Fox, Lions Gate Entertainment, and Comcast (Universal Pictures). The major studios produce and distribute the majority of movies released in the US.
- Large firms may be vertically-integrated. For example, some companies are involved in production, distribution, and broadcasting of content.
Industry Forecast
Motion Picture,TV & Video Production Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Nov 5, 2022 - Movie Premiers may Move Back To Theaters
- Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zaslav recently cited the importance of theatrical releases as opposed to producing expensive, blockbuster-sized movies solely for streaming. Experts say that it marks a turn for a studio that, under previous management, dumped nearly its entire 2021 movie slate onto HBO Max on the same day as its theatrical releases. Zaslav added that movies sent directly to streaming have done “almost nothing for HBO Max in terms of viewership, retention, or love of the service.”
- A multiyear boom in film and TV production, driven by media companies racing to sign up subscribers for their new streaming services, may be over, according to Bloomberg News. “The very foundation that the streaming business sits on has been devolving on sand,” Walt Disney Company Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek said. “It’s all been shifting.” Netflix has let go hundreds of employees and vacated office space. Warner Brothers, which completed its merger with Discovery in April, has been in cost-cutting mode, with CEO David Zaslav working to deliver a promised $3 billion in savings from the deal. Executives at other studios are canceling projects even with stars attached or putting them on the back burner. They’re also regularly asking for 20% reductions in budgets for series, according to talent agents Bloomberg News spoke with.
- TV and broadcast viewing saw an October uptick while streaming volume grew slower than in past months, according to The Gauge Report from Nielsen. Time spent watching television increased 2.2% month over month in October, marking the second consecutive month that TV usage increased. Broadcast viewing increased 10% compared to September. Streaming increased 3.3% month over month. Streaming accounted for 37.3% of TV viewing in October, cable’s share dropped to 32.9%, broadcast TV captured 26%, and other categories captured 3.8%.
- Movie and TV production companies have begun setting sustainability goals. Netflix has set a goal to reduce internal emissions by 45% below 2019 levels by the end of 2023, NBCUniversal has a plan that will make them carbon neutral by 2035 and Sony is working to have no environmental footprint throughout the life cycle of their products and activities by 2050. Production companies are also taking steps to cut back on travel by using virtual reality to create production studios and sound stages. They use LED walls and green screens to bring different locations to a set and help replace physical props.
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