THE MOVIE MAGAZINE

INDUSTRY

Existing Movie Magazines

Having researched the movie magazine industry, I came across 4 different movie magazines that seem to be the most popular to date. Often movie magazines feature stars of the movie in character e.g. Empire, Total Film and Entertainment Weekly, however I came across a movie magazine called The Hollywood Reporter which often focuses on the actress out of character. This is something I definitely want to keep in mind when deciding on what kind of route I want to go down when creating my own movie magazine front cover. In this presentation I have researched the existing movie magazines in today’s industry and have presented the USP’s and areas which has helped them become as successful as they are today.

Empire

Empire is a British film magazine published monthly byBauer Consumer Media. The first issue was published inJuly 1989 by Emap, and was edited by Barry McIlheney, anIrish jounalist, broadcaster, publisher and editor who wenton to edit the first 44 issues. Bauer then purchased EmapConsumer Media in early 2008. Empire tries its best tobranch out to all consumers, reviewing both mainstreamfilms and art films of all genres.

Empire is the biggest selling film magazine in the UnitedKingdom and known in many countries around the world,being published and relatively popular in the UnitedStates, Australia, Turkey, Russia, and Portugal. Themagazine is quite well-respected in the industry, withguest editors such as director Steven Spielberg.

Empire also organises the annual Empire Awards whichwere sponsored by Sony Ericsson, and from 2009sponsored by Jameson. The awards are voted for byreaders of the magazine.

Total Film

Total Film is a UK-based film magazine published 13times a year (every four weeks) by Future Publishing.The magazine was launched in 1997 and offerscinema, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews andfeatures.

Each month, Total Film provides a range of features,from spotlight interviews with actors and directors,to making of and on-set pieces for new and futurereleases. Each issue always includes the Total FilmInterview, which is a six-page in-depth chat with anactor or director, along with a critique of their bodyof work.

Total Film is extremely innovative in terms of theiruse of today’s advanced methods of digitaltechnology, having the magazine available both inprint and interactive iPad editions. They also havetheir own website, as well as an online forum,Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly differs from the previous twomagazines as it covers a wider range of areas suchfilm, television, music, Broadway theatre, books andpopular culture. It is an American magazine,published by the Time division of Time Warner and ishighly respected in the movie magazine industry.

Different from celebrity-focused publications like UsWeekly, People Weekly and In Touch Weekly,Entertainment Weekly primarily concentrates onentertainment media news and critical reviews,whilst targeting a very wide-ranging audience.

The magazine features celebrities on the cover andaddresses topics such as television ratings, moviegrosses, production costs, concert ticket sales, adbudgets, and in-depth articles about scheduling,producers, showrunners, etc.

There are typically four to six major articles (one totwo pages each) within the middle pages of themagazine. These articles are most commonlyinterviews, but there are also narrative articles aswell as lists.

The Hollywood ReporterMuch like Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter is amultiplatform American media brand founded in 1930 andfocuses on numerous areas such as the Hollywood motion pictureindustry, television, entertainment and Hollywood's intersectionwith fashion, finance, law, technology, lifestyle and politics.

The magazine is headquartered in Los Angeles, and is part ofGuggenheim Digital Media, a group of properties that alsoincludes media entities Billboard, Adweek, Back Stage, Sonicbids,the CLIO Awards and the Film Expo Group. Under currenteditorial director Janice Min, The Hollywood Reporter wasrelaunched in 2010 as a weekly large-format print magazine witha revamped, continuously updated website as well as mobile andtablet editions.

The Hollywood Reporter also provides readers with amplecoverage of entertainment-industry awards, both in print andonline. The magazine handicaps all the races, profiles thecontenders and analyses the business impact of nominations andwins. The magazine also offers special print editions, such as itsannual Oscar and Emmy issues, during respective awardsseasons.