Curran and Seaton’s power and media industries theory states that media products are owned by large conglomerates, resulting in a lack of creativity and thought. Blinded by the Light is an exception to this. It is an independent film, produced by Bend It Films, who aim to deliver “moving, inspiring and commercial” films to a global audience and “invite them to see the world from a new perspective”, especially from those “characters who are normally on the margins”. As Hesmondhalgh states, media is a risky business, and so one way in which Blinded by the Light attempts to reduce risk and maximise profit is through vertical and horizontal integration. They partnered with Levente Films, an independent motion picture company which develops, produces, and finances projects, as well as Ingenious Media which is “one of the largest independent investors in the UK’s creative sector” with an impressive record in financing critically and commercially successful films. Blinded by the Light premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, this showcased their work to critics and most importantly distributors; New Line Cinema acquired US distribution rights while the UK rights were bought by Entertainment One. 

PSB

James Curran

Jean Seaton

Conglomerates

Vertical Integration

Regulation

Diversity

Interactivity

Diversity

Merger

BBC

Noam Chomsky