Mark Cuban Case Study

In 2001 Magnolia Pictures was established by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles. In 2003 it became a subsidiary of 2929 Entertainment, and has grown to become a leading force in the digital distribution movement. Magnolia specializes in “foreign and independent films;” a specialization that puts them in a market that has undergone many changes and especially benefited from the rise in new technologies. As a fraction of the 2929 Entertainment, Magnolia is heavily intertwined with the entertainment group’s co-founders, Mark Cuban. Cuban is the ‘Tony Stark’ of today’s business world. Minus a heavy metal suit he is, “an American businessman, investor, film producer, author, television personality and philanthropist.” He is worth $3 billion, and …show more content…
Magnolia Pictures, with Cuban, took the opportunity in 2005 to chance riding the new wave of Video-On-Demand (VOD) platforms. Originally this concept was shied away from and considered to be a “scheme [that] would destroy moviegoing.” Within a few years it became clear that the opposite was occurring. Online platforms give movies more exposure, which increases theatre (and by extension DVD) sales. Magnolia’s first Day-and-Date release was not specifically debut on an online platform, but “Bubble” was premiered twice on HDNet (another subsidiary of 2929 Entertainment), the same night it opened in theatres on. Since then they have partaken in numerous day-and-date release. Some titles of such films are: “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”, “The Architect”, “Flawless”, “Melancholia” and “Whitey: United States of America V. James J. Bulger”. This method has proved to be lucrative. Ramin Setoodeh and Brent Lang have been credited with pioneering day- and-date strategies as we know them today. The previous Senior VP and Head of Legal and Business Affairs (respectively), have branched out from Magnolia and the indie sector to incorporate many films in the growing phenomenon of having the option to watch new films in any setting. In addition to fiscal success, the perceived threat to theatre profits has also been debunked. In the case of “Flawless,” the VOD sector made about “multi-six figures” (rumored to even go up to …show more content…
“The digital distribution revolution is… a dynamic and multifaceted process, affecting almost every aspect of film and television industries.” Distribution has become a top concern and the most profitable area of the industry. As Time Warner’s CEO has indicated, “he no longer considers digital delivery simply an ancillary aftermarket.” Digital delivery systems can no longer take the back burner to theatrical, DVD, television, and other traditional forms of distribution. Michael Curtin, Jennifer Holt, and Kevin Sanson assert in their book Digital Revolution: Conversations about the Digital Future of Film and Television that “technological innovation has been the driving force of change in the new millennium… technology [is] a determining force, even though technology is, by definition, an instrument, a tool for achieving human goals.” Shifts in technology have given the impression that it gives consumers the power to demand a more individualized experience, leaving the film industry to respond by adapting their strategies. Curtin, Holt, and Sanson argue that “the digital distribution revolution emerged in part as a consequence of corporate maneuvers” and that “…commercial competition took place in the context of common perceptions about the role of media in society and political struggles about free expression and the public good.” However it came to be, the digital

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