Public funding: Media products can explore different types of funding, one being public funding which is a fund paid by the tax payers there purpose is to support and encourage film production. An example of a media product that relies on public funding is the BBC license fee. The BBC license fee is an annual cost which is around £169.50 this money is used to fund the BBC for the uses of it’s online services. On ITV the radio station Good morning Britain has a debate which states that 122,000 people were prosecuted for not paying the licence fee – 90 people went to prison. In the modern day of streaming the public should not be forced to pay funding for the licence fee to watch BBC. An example of an alternative could be a government annual grant to fund it which is like the Australia’s national broadcaster, the article that stated that the Australian broadcasting corporation, is ‘funded primarily by an annual grant from the government.’ However, some people disagree with the not optional BBC license fee as they believe that the fee should be voluntary like other streaming platforms such as Netflix and Disney+. This means that people can have a choice of opting into paying the BBC licence fee or not.
Private funding: Media products can explore different types of funding, another one being private funding which is where the funds comes from individuals or organisations funding into producing a product in the media. In private funding there is a large risk of losing your investment the magazine 91 . In one of the articles from November 15, 2019 from the editor of 91 Magazine Caroline Rowland shares the reality of publishing an independent magazine. In her article she says that ‘Every business, there is risk involved, which is something I’ve found I’ve had to get to grips with.’ Every privately funding business have to think about how much printing would cost, the need for articles, how much profit they would get. They is a risk in private funding this is that the investors in any privately funded media are not able to provide along term.
Another example of private funding is the film Riddick the star of the film Vin Diesel ‘leverage his own house to help finance the film’ . The reason why Vin Diesel but his our on leverage was because he film Riddick was ‘financed independently on a budget of around $40 million’ this wasn’t enough money for the production of the film. Diesel look at massive risk with investing in the film as it could easily go out of production. Diesel was passionate about the film so he took the risk and it paid off. Some other people have done this when being part of a film or other form media they take a massive risk and sometimes it works and other it doesn’t.
Crowd funding: Crowd funding is the practice of funding a project by raising money from a large number of people who contribute small amounts of money by the internet. An example is a Kickstarter is a global platform that is used of crowd funding. It connects millions of people with businesses and individuals to get funding for creative products such as films, event and other media products . Another example is Indiegogo which allows people to fund for an idea such as charity, or start up a business. An example of crowd funding is the board game Gloomhaven which was funded on the Kickstarter platform. The creator Isaac Childres uses his personal passions and preferences in board games when he designed his own game set in a fantasy world. The project’s funding stands at just $4 at the time of writing was . The benefits of crowd funding is able to avoid bank loans which would create interest costs, funding from multiple sources, credit score not required and feedback and engagement. Crowd funding is used to conducted an online through a fundraising site to gain support for a set goal .
Charity funding: The donations come from individuals through fundraising as well as legacies. Donations can come from companies or other charitable trusts and foundations. The benefits of charitable funding is gift to charity It can reduce the income of tax liability of the individual. Different charities can claim gift aid on donations made by a private individuals long as the donation is not in exchange of any goods . The British Film Institute (BFI) ‘is the lead organisation for film in the Uk and use Lottery fund to support films production, distribution, education and audience development’ . A successful British Film institute project is the film Blackout is a raw, unflinching and honest short film that gets under the skin of a seemingly content gay relationship and how one event can pull apart all that someone knew in an instant.
Regulations
The media is regulated for the consumer and the producers if there is an issue within the media you need somewhere to complain for the problem to be solved.
An example of regulations for the consumer and the producers is Ofcom. ‘Ofcom is the regulator for the communication services that we uses and rely on each day’ . The job of Ofcom is to make sure that people are able to get the best for their ‘broadband, home phone and mobile services as well as keeping an eyes on Tv and radio’ . An example of Ofcom solving problems in the media is in the article from ITV’s Good Morning Britain where Ofcom cleared over ‘Piers Morgan’s comments about Meghan’ . Around 63,000 of all the complaints were made across 28 episodes that were aired in 2021. The source revealed that 57,121 report were made regarding the episodes that featured Piers Morgan’s remakes of Megan Marke’s interview with Oprah Winfrey about the comment of Megan’s mental health and how this was ‘potentially harmful and offensive.’
When making a television program it is important to consider the regulations of OFCOM so that your production is not taken off air or receives complaints. You can look at the OFCOM website to check this before beginning production.
Another example of regulation for the consumer and the producers is IPSO. IPSO stands for the independent Press Standards Organisation it is the independent regulator of most of the UK’s newspapers and magazines within the industry. They regulate ‘over 1,500 print and 1,100 online titles and comprising 95% of the national daily newspaper’ . In the article by the Press Gazette ‘Mail online tops press regulator IPSO’s 2022 naughty with 15 rulings against it.’ The IPSO report highlighted the case of the actress Lily James ‘who argued that Mail online had harassed her in commissioning freelance journalists to wait near her home after she had asked for restraint. She also said to the press that regulator that mail online breached her privacy with photos of her dining at a London restaurant .
Another example of regulation for the consumer and the producers is PEGI. PEGI is legally enforced by the government. PEGI are age rating retailers cannot sell or hire games to those who are below the ages category for example if the game was a PEGI 16 anyone below the age of 16 can’t buy the game . The role of PEGI is to inform consumers about the content and age suitability of games prior to the purchases, this is to try and protect minors from unsuitable content for there age. This system is also used in the film industry of age ratings on the film to make sure minors don’t watch anything that isn’t suitable for there age. In a Guardian article from July 2012 the article is PEGI video game ratings become law .
The age ratings are PEGI 3,7,12,16 and 18. The reasons for these is that the content varies between the games and that some games uses violence, blood, sexual content and others this is inappropriate for some age groups to watch. So the PEGI age ratings warn people what content is shown in the game.
ASA stands for Advertising Standards Authority this is the Uk’s independent advertising regulator. The ASA makes sure ads across the Uk media stick to the advertising rules . Cap is the sister organisation of the ASA CAP stands for committee of Advertising Practice they are responsible for writing the Advertising codes. ‘are committed to regulating in a way that is transparent, proportionate, targeted, evidence-based, consistent an accountable’ . In 2017 there was 29,997 complaints received by the ASA and CAP. 755 complaints where about an ad produced by KFC which featured a Dancing chicken. The article from the guardian said that it was ‘disrespectful to chickens and distressing for vegetarians, vegans and children’ . The aim of the ad was to focus on the quality of KFC chicken.
BBFC is the British Board for Film Classification focus is to hep children and families to choose well by providing them with the guidance they need to help them choose what’s right for them and avoid what’s not . This is similar to PEGI but for films, so for example a 12A rating means that the film is suitable for children aged 12 and over. However, the age rating 12A means that children under the age of 12 can watch the film with parent permission or with a parent.
In conclusion, Ofcom is needed as it help promote competition between different industries communications in the UK it also helps to protect the public from harmful or offensive material. IPSO is needed to managed what is printed in magazines and newspapers in the UK. PEGI is to help consumers make a decisions when they are buying video or apps to see the age recommendations of what the game or app shows. ASA is to regulate the ad’s in the UK to make sure companies are advertising apparently. The BBFC is also needed to help people to understand what the is and isn’t age appropriate for children to watch.
Risk Assessment
A risk assessment a form that address risks that might occur per scene and filming location. A risk assessment is needed it allows to identify potential hazards, it also decides who is more at risk and how they might be harmed it allows the producers to reduce the dance of injury. The risk assessment involves evaluating the potential risks associated with the production for example finical losses to heath and safety issues by performing a risk assessment it allows there to be steps to minimises the risks. Risk assessment also have to be done in the music industry as there are the risks of physical hazards, trip hazards in the venues as well as a risk of fire as they is a lot of equipment that has to be plugged into the wall. An example of when an actor did get injured even know a risk assessment was done. On the set of the film Maze Runner: The Death Cure Dylan O’Brien got a injury. The stunt that he was performing was where he had to ride on top of a moving vehicle (he was harnessed in.) However, this stunt didn’t go to plan the director called ‘action’ but something went wrong. Which caused O’Brien to be yanked from the vehicle and thrown onto the ground directly in the path of an out of control motorcycle. It left O’Brien with the right side of his face damaged and caused some neurological trauma .
Legal and Ethical Issues
Copyright: Copyright is a type of intellectual property that will protect original works of authorship as soon as the author’s fixed the work in the tangible from of expression. This means by copyright Law, that other people can’t uses that property without the author’s permission otherwise it is copyrighted . An example of copyright is Apple V. Microsoft in 1988 Apple sued Microsoft they said that the Bill Gates led company stole Apple’s graphical design for windows 2.0. It was explained as a misunderstanding. As Microsoft technically head permission for Apple the court rules in favour of Microsoft .
Defamation: A defamation is a statement that cases harm to the character of the person or there concerns. It also is an important statement which can causes a business or individual to start the legal proceedings . An example of a defamation is shown in an article from the BBC ‘US Navy veteran wins $5m after defamation case with CNN’. The US navy veteran who helped Afghans escape after they have takeover Taliban in 2021 he has won at least $5m after a jury which said that he was defamed by the American Broadcaster CNN. Zachary Young ran a private security firm which helped to extract people from Afghanistan in exchange for fees paid for by sponsors. The CNN report aired in 2021 where Mr Young was described as a alleged “black market.” A jury in Florida rules in favour of Mr Young and ordered the CNN to pay millions in compensatory for the damages .
Broadcasting: Broadcasting is a electronic transmission of a radio and television signals that are intended for general public reception which are distinguished from private signals . Example of Broadcasting are television, radio, internet media which includes websites, blog and podcasts and online services. In 2006 an article was released from ABC News the article was named ‘Third Frat Boy says ‘Borat’ Tricked Us.. and it was ‘Fun’’. Daniela Bilotta said that he was paid $200 to drink with “Borat” for a sequence in the film in which he students at a South Carolina university appeared drunk and made racist and misogynistic comments .
Clearance: It is an important to get a written consent to film them, uses they voice and the locations on the film. It is important to film out the appropriate forms otherwise you could be sued or your project of your production could take longer to be released. An example is the Top Gun actor Barry Tubb is suing Paramount picture for having a unauthorised use of his image in the film’s 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick. Tubb played the character lieutenant junior grade henry ‘Wolfman’ ruth in the original 1986 blockbuster. However Tubb did not act in Top Gun: Maverick, but his likeness did appear in a sequence in which the camera zoomed in on a photo of the fictional Top Gun class of 1986. Tubb is shown along with the fellow cast members of Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer .
Blasphemy is anything that is published which ‘contains any contemptuous, reviling, scurrilous or ludicrous matter which is relating to God, Jesus Christ or the Bible or about the formularies of the Church of England . The court case Whitehouse V Lemon was a case where in 1976, a gay news magazine published a poem that as the subject of high profile blasphemy trial a year later. Whitehouse was given a copy of the June 1976 Gay news her attention was drawn to the poem ‘The Love that Dares to Speak its Name’ by the poet James Kirkup. The poem has details in graphic language, crucifixion of Christ seen through the eyes of a homosexual Roman centurion. When the case went to trail the court of Appeal quashed Denis Lemon’s suspended prison sentence but upheld the convictions on the basis that that law of blasphemy had been developed before men a ‘guilty mind’ which later became an essential element of a crime .
Conclusion
There are many different types of finance funding when producing a product the producer needs to think clearly on what type of funding would be best for the product/project. As well as thinking about what the impact and what could go wrong with a type of funding before making a decision. There are four types of funding Public, Private, Crowd and Charity. The four different types of funding will give you different amounts of money and some better for some projects but not others. For example if you were going to make a film that requires funding there is a few funding ways that you can uses one being Public funding. If your film is being produced through an organised through a company like Netflix, Disney+, prime video and more. This companies are examples of Public Funding. Each of this apps/companies uses the public to fund there films, by charging people money to watch there films they are making money from people signing up to uses the app and then they uses the money to fund their films to give the views more content to watch. You can also uses Private Funding however private funding it less reliable as it is more likely to fall through for the producer of the movie but their also is a high risk for the investors to lose there investment if the film doesn’t work out or has to stop production completely.
Regulation in another important thing that producers need to think about. There are 5 types of regulations that could be needed to be considered but this depends on what type of product you are producing. The 5 regulations are OFCOM, IPSO, PEGI,ASA and BBFC. It is important that you look and consider the regulations that is required so your project as it is important to make sure you are following the regulation that are required so you can be sued. If you were making a film you would need to follow and consider to the regulations of BBFC which stands for the British board for film classification this the regulations of the age ratings for the film. This is important as it tells the audience what content will be shown in the film as well as tell parents what is the advised age to watch that film. This is really important to consider and is a requirement for every film in the UK to have.
Risk assessment in another important thing that producers need to think about. As it addresses the risks involved when producing a film. This is important to be able to keep the actors, producers and other people safe from being injured as it allows the producers to see what they can do to reduce the risk of injury. As well as it is important because the actors understand the risks of the filming and they can’t sue the producers for having a injury if they knew about the injury when they signed the risk assessment. It is also really important as it allows you to see the risks to which people, how it is a risk and it means that you can try and reduces the risk as much as possible to make sure everyone is safe as possible when acting / performing the stunt. This is also why producers uses stunt doubles as they are professionally trained to perform stunts as they know how to involved getting injured as much as possible.
The final thing that is important for the producers needs to think about is the legal and ethical issues of the project. They is 5 and more types of legal and ethical issues they are Copyright, Defamation, broadcasting, clearance, Blasphemy and many more. These are really important as they need to be thought about as people can be sued if they uses any of the above. When producing a film you need to think about weather they will be copyright such as have you got permission to uses a song in the film as well as making sure the storyline isn’t coping anything else it needs to be completely original. As well is the broadcasting good for people to hear on the age recommendations for the film.
