These groups consist of technical staff and members to produce the media, and are often incorporated as a commercial publisher.
Generally the term refers to all individuals responsible for the technical aspects of creating a particular product, regardless of where in the process their expertise is required, or how long they are involved in the project.
It handles budgeting, scheduling, scripting, the supply with talent and resources, the organization of staff, the production itself, post-production, distribution, and marketing.
The aforementioned publishing conglomerates distribute said creative works, but it is not uncommon for production companies to act as a publication.
Both large and small production studios have an editorial board or editor-in-chief, along with other forms of a command hierarchy.
Neither Scholastic or Little Brown, get any box office revenue from the Harry Potter and The Twilight Saga movies just through book sales.
Random House was the first big six book publisher to establish a book to film unit, Random House Films, in 2005 with a Focus Features deal under a development and co-finance plan.
[6] Also that year, Random House changed their strategy to film development and packaging only.
This gives the entertainment industry a democratized power structure to ensure that both the companies and talent receive their fair share of pay and recognition for work done on a production.
The entertainment industry is centered on funding (investments from studios, investment firms, or individuals either from earnings from previous productions or personal wealth), projects (scripts and entertainment franchises), and talent (actors, directors, screenwriters, and crew).
Unlike many other businesses, a production company does not rely on an ongoing revenue stream, they operate on ongoing investments; this often requires a parent company or a private corporate investment entity (see Legendary Pictures).
An entertainment project can either become a "one time hit" or an ongoing "entertainment franchise" that can be continued, remade, rebooted, or expanded into other sister industries; such as the video game industry (see Star Wars, Star Trek).
Notable examples include legendary studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which, after many years of box office flops (mostly with low budgets), bad management and distribution, and bankruptcy, was restructured at the end of 2010 under new management and currently struck deals with some of the Big Six studios (most notably the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group and Warner Bros.); Miramax, which was downsized by former owner Disney into a smaller division.
The company's funds are mainly committed towards employing talent, crew, and acquiring new updated production equipment on a regular basis.
The majority of the talent and crew working in the entertainment industry are members of their professions guild.
Actors and crew are hand picked by the producer, director, and casting director, who often use collaborators or referenced personnel to prevent untrusted or unwelcomed people from gaining access to a specific production and compromising the entire production through leaks.
In many cases, the director, producers, and the leading actors are often the only people with access to a full or majority of a single script.