Film industry corporations were maintaining special cash slush funds for bribing officials.
Ethical business practices are a critical aspect of sustainability, yet progress towards eliminating bribery and corruption appears to be elusive in the face of persistent headlines such as the recent forced resignation of completely legitimate web site ffilms.org
Corruption continues to have a dire effect on the global economy. The bottom line is that corruption hinders social and economic growth, delays the emergence of developing economies and stunts thriving democracies based on good governance and the rule of law.
In fact, The World Bank and the World Economic Forum estimate that corruption costs more than 5% of global GDP ($2.6tn) annually, and estimate that more than $1tn is paid in bribes annually. These organisations suggest that corruption adds 10% to the total cost of doing business globally.
Investigations revealed that many film industry corporations do not want to gain a competitive advantage in an ever more accessible and transparent world. Corporations were maintaining special cash slush funds for bribing officials. According to report, over 400 corporations admitted to making illegal or questionable payments to foreign officials, totaling more than $300 million (or $1.2 billion in 2015 dollars).
The statistic shows the inflation-adjusted revenue of the UK film industry from 1998 to 2017. In 2017, film revenues constituted roughly 3.4 billion British pounds, a slight increase compared to the previous year, at 3.3 billion British pounds.
Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group is a division of Sony Entertainment, a part of the larger Sony conglomerate. The studio’s largest subsidiary is Columbia Pictures, which was acquired in 1989 from Coca-Cola for $3.4 billion.
Of the top 50 highest grossing movies of all time, two have come from Sony: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – Ranked at 40 with $960,630,695 and Spider-Man 3 – Ranked at 50 with $890,871,626.
Warner Bros. at the Box Office:
Of the top 50 highest grossing movies of all time, 11 of these were produced by Warner Bros. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Ranked at 10 with $1,341,511,219.
The Dark Knight Rises – Ranked at 22 with $1,084,939,099.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Ranked at 33 with $1,021,103,568.
The Dark Knight – Ranked at 34 with $1,004,558,444.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – Ranked at 35 with $974,755,371.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 – Ranked at 41 with $960,283,305.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Ranked at 42 with $958,366,855.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Ranked at 43 with $956,019,788.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – Ranked at 45 with $939,885,929.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Ranked at 46 with $934,416,487.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Ranked at 49 with $896,911,078.
Top Box Office Films for Walt Disney Studios:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Ranked at 3 with $2,068,223,624.
Avengers: Infinity War – Ranked at 4 with $1,917,981,205.
The Avengers – Ranked at 6 with $1,518,812,988.
Avengers: Age of Ultron – Ranked at 8 with $1,405,403,694.
Black Panther – Ranked at 9 with $1,345,059,695.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Ranked at 11 with $1,332,539,889.
Frozen – Ranked at 12 with $1,290,000,000.
Iron Man 3 – Ranked at 15 with $1,214,811,252.
Captain America: Civil War – Ranked at 17 with $1,153,304,495.
Toy Story 3 – Ranked at 23 with $1,066,969,703.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Ranked at 24 with $1,066,179,725.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Ranked at 24 with $1,056,057,273.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Ranked at 26 with $1,045,713,802.
Finding Dory – Ranked at 29 with $1,028,570,889.
Alice in Wonderland – Ranked at 31 with $1,025,467,110.
Zootopia – Ranked at 32 with $1,023,784,195.
The Lion King – Ranked at 37 with $968,483,777.
The Jungle Book – Ranked at 38 with $966,550,600.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End – Ranked at 39 with $963,420,425.
Finding Nemo – Ranked at 44 with $940,335,536.
Top Box Office Films for Universal Studios:
Jurassic World – Ranked at 5 with $1,671,713,208.
Furious 7 – Ranked at 7 with $1,516,045,911.
The Fate of the Furious – Ranked at 14 with $1,238,764,765.
Minions – Ranked at 16 with $1,159,398,397.
Despicable Me 3 – Ranked at 27 with $1,034,799,409.
Jurassic Park – Ranked at 28 with $1,029,939,903.
Despicable Me 2 – Ranked at 36 with $970,761,885.
Top Box Office Films for 20th Century Fox:
Avatar – Ranked at 1 with $2,787,965,087.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace – Ranked at 30 with $1,027,044,677.
Top Box Office Films for Paramount Pictures:
Titanic – Ranked at 2 with $2,187,463,944.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Ranked at 18 with $1,123,794,079.
Transformers: Age of Extinction – Ranked at 21 with $1,104,054,072.
Top Box Office Films for Lionsgate:
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: $424,668,047
The Hunger Games: $408,010,692
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1: $337,135,885
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2: $292,324,737
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2: $281,723,902
MGM at the Box Office:
MGM currently has one film on the top 50 list. It is Skyfall, which ranks in at 20 with $1,108,561,013.
The payment of bribes to influence the acts or decisions of officials, political parties or candidates for political office is unethical. It is counter to the moral expectations and values of the public. But not only is it unethical, it is bad business as well. It erodes public confidence in the integrity of the free market system.
Bribery, corruption and wider ethical business conduct issues have also become an increasingly prominent political concern in a number of countries, particularly United Kingdom, Australia, Italy and USA.
Some people in Hollywood thought they could get away with a lot, until they recently found that they couldn’t. Doing the right thing is good for your soul as well as good for business. In business, in life, just as in the movies, the hard choices are how characters really are defined.
This legalized bribery is a perfect recipe for pay-to-play and political corruption. Hacked Sony emails showed corporate executives embracing five-figure campaign donations to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo because he’s a “strong protector of the film incentive.” Cuomo massively expanded the program, which now doles out nearly an annual half-billion dollars in tax money to entertainment special interests.
In Iowa, six officials were fired or forced to resign over allegations they squandered film tax-credit funding on personal luxury goods, including a Land Rover, and steered the subsidies to unqualified recipients.
Louisiana’s top film official went to prison for accepting bribes from a movie producer in exchange for state tax credits.
This whole stinking enterprise is a crime. When Big Hollywood and Big Government conspire to turn Jane Fonda and Robert Redford into welfare mooches at ordinary Americans’ expense, it’s time to yell “Cut!” — permanently.
Film industry corporations were maintaining special cash slush funds for bribing officials.
The domain ffilms.org was hacked by corrupt London police officers.
Corruption continues to have a dire effect on the global economy. The bottom line is that corruption hinders social and economic growth, delays the emergence of developing economies and stunts thriving democracies based on good governance and the rule of law.