Film Company Case Study

The Fox Film Company

• Started in 1915 by William Fox• He was born Vilmos Fried in Hungary• He was a poor child immigrant to New

York• He worked from the age of 8 • Started his first nickelodeon at 24

The move to Hollywood

• Set up a West Coast studio in 1917• Early success with the cartoon Gertie the

Dinosaur

The Wall Street Crash

• William Fox lost most of his money and ended up in jail• Merger was the only solution• 1935 merger / take over by 20th Century company• The new company called 20th Century-Fox

The Golden Age

• Daryl F Zanuck ran the studios• Studio specialised in musicals and biopics• Their biggest stars on contract were:• Shirley Temple and Betty Grable

The Post War Decline

• Law forced the company to sell cinemas• No more guaranteed block booking• TV replacing cinema as most popular

entertainment

Classic Film Success

• 1965 The Sound of Music

Recent success

• Avatar• Taken• The Simpsons movie• Titanic• Alien• Rocky• Die hard• They have made 3178 films

The Current Owner : Rupert Murdoch

• One of the biggest media moguls in the world

• Australian born now US citizen• Started by buying newspapers in UK• He owns Sky tv and myspace• Owns The Sun and The Times• Uses his media empire for cross-

promotion