The global film entertainment industry captured revenue of $286.17 billion in 2015, which is expected to grow to $324.66 billion in 2020 (Irvine). The film industry is dominated by the US, China and the UK, who each have a considerable amount of influence in this market growth. The North American box office, consisting of Canada and US, led ticket sales in 2015 at $11.3 billion (McClintock), followed by the China box office at $6.78 billion and the UK box office at $1.9 billion (Brzeski). While the US has managed to stay a leader in the film industry for more than 100 years, many argue that Hollywood has failed to address economic and racial inequalities that plague this very successful industry. If we scrutinize the economic inequalities of
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The Walt Disney Company, an entertainment conglomerate, purchased Marvel Studios back in 2009 for $4 billion (Vejvoda). When conglomerates eliminate industry competition, it can produce negative externalities in an industry. Marvel Studios has been committed to producing superhero movies since 1993 and recently has been criticized for its predatory business strategies. This can be shown through the salary dealings from its production of the Avengers series. The lead cast of the Avengers consists of Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johannson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, and Mark Ruffalo. In the second sequel to the Avengers series, lead cast members received significantly different salaries for an equally joint effort. It 's no surprise that Robert Downey Jr attained the highest salary, but $40 million was an exorbitant amount considering how much his fellow leads got. Scarlett Johansson received $20 million, despite that this was half than what her male counterpart got it was a monumental take away for an actress. Evans, Renner, Hemsworth, and Ruffalo respectively received $6.9, $6.1, $5.4, and $2.8 million (Schwerdtfeger). These figures show that the average salary among lead characters was $13.5 million. However, the difference between the highest and lowest salary was $37.2 million. Marvel Studios has …show more content…
Given its influence, Hollywood has a duty to set a positive example for film industries around the world. This duty starts by ensuring that all stakeholder interests in the film industry are protected. So far, Hollywood has failed to openly address the critical social issues of a growing industry. As a result, US production companies have taken advantage of these economic inequalities and behaved unethically. This was reinforced when we analyzed the pay gap from Sony Pictures Entertainment and Marvel Studios. My three recommendations will benefit and change the current inactive relationship between production companies and their
The Walt Disney Company, an entertainment conglomerate, purchased Marvel Studios back in 2009 for $4 billion (Vejvoda). When conglomerates eliminate industry competition, it can produce negative externalities in an industry. Marvel Studios has been committed to producing superhero movies since 1993 and recently has been criticized for its predatory business strategies. This can be shown through the salary dealings from its production of the Avengers series. The lead cast of the Avengers consists of Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johannson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, and Mark Ruffalo. In the second sequel to the Avengers series, lead cast members received significantly different salaries for an equally joint effort. It 's no surprise that Robert Downey Jr attained the highest salary, but $40 million was an exorbitant amount considering how much his fellow leads got. Scarlett Johansson received $20 million, despite that this was half than what her male counterpart got it was a monumental take away for an actress. Evans, Renner, Hemsworth, and Ruffalo respectively received $6.9, $6.1, $5.4, and $2.8 million (Schwerdtfeger). These figures show that the average salary among lead characters was $13.5 million. However, the difference between the highest and lowest salary was $37.2 million. Marvel Studios has …show more content…
Given its influence, Hollywood has a duty to set a positive example for film industries around the world. This duty starts by ensuring that all stakeholder interests in the film industry are protected. So far, Hollywood has failed to openly address the critical social issues of a growing industry. As a result, US production companies have taken advantage of these economic inequalities and behaved unethically. This was reinforced when we analyzed the pay gap from Sony Pictures Entertainment and Marvel Studios. My three recommendations will benefit and change the current inactive relationship between production companies and their