On July 16, viewers around the world will eagerly tune into the premiere of the seventh season of Game of Thrones.
That phrase – “viewers around the world” – hasn’t applied to television premieres before. For most of its history, television has been a profoundly national medium. While shows like <a href="http://www.ultimatedallas.com/dallas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dallas</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096542/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Baywatch</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Simpsons</a> all drew large global audiences, international television trade required delays: A television series could air in different countries, but it often happened months – even years – after it would air in its country of origin.
As I explore in <a href="http://www.amandalotz.com/we-now-disrupt-this-broadcast/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">my book</a> “We Now Disrupt This Broadcast: How Cable Transformed Television and the Internet Revolutionized It All,” many of those practices have changed in recent years. It’s now possible for a series to release new episodes for viewers around the world, and the result is a global watercooler – a shared media culture that transcends national boundaries.
While you might think that <a href="https://www.netflix.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Netflix</a> or <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/getstarted" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Amazon Video</a> would have an advantage, it’s an <a href="http://www.hbo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HBO</a> show – <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Game of Thrones</a> – that’s at the forefront of this phenomenon.
<h2>Building a global fan base</h2>
Even in <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-has-tv-storytelling-become-so-complex-37442" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a golden era of television production</a>, Game of Thrones stands out. HBO <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2016/04/22/game-of-thrones-season-6-costs-10-million-per-episode-has-biggest-battle-scene-ever/#62c056eb11bb" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spends lavishly</a> on the series – beyond what most other networks can afford – and the result is a visually breathtaking product.
Its fantasy setting takes place in a world that isn’t geographically or culturally distinctive to the U.S., which also broadens audience appeal. Television shows that aren’t country-specific – miniseries such as <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118414/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Odyssey</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115195/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gulliver’s Travels</a> – tend to be among the most successful in international trade. There was also a built-in global fan base from <a href="http://www.georgerrmartin.com/grrm_book/a-game-of-thrones-5-book-bundle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the popular series of novels</a> that inspired the show.
Game of Thrones, however, didn’t start out as a global blockbuster.
HBO debuted the show in 2011 for its U.S. cable channel. Following standard practice, the network sold the series to channels around the world that would air the series with the typical delay. For example, Canal+ airs it in France, Sky Atlantic airs it in Italy and Foxtel airs it in Australia. There are also several HBO branded channels around the globe such as HBO Canada, HBO Central Europe, and HBO Asia. Some are owned fully or in part by HBO’s parent company; others just license the name.
By 2014 Game of Thrones had become <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2014/06/game-of-thrones-now-hbos-most-watched-show-ever.html#" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the network’s biggest hit</a>. But as the show’s popularity grew, so did its rates of piracy. While unauthorized access of video is difficult to measure with certainty, many called the series <a href="http://time.com/4618954/game-of-thrones-pirated-2016/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the most pirated show in the world</a>.
<h2>How HBO pulled it off</h2>
We’d expect changes wrought by the internet to have played a key role. They did, but not in the way you’d expect. HBO didn’t use the internet to distribute Game of Thrones to subscribers around the world <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-unique-strategy-netflix-deployed-to-reach-90-million-worldwide-subscribers-74885" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">like Netflix and Amazon Video have done with their series</a>. Instead, the internet was important to the series’ global growth because of the opportunities it gave fans to interact with one another.
The intricate, surprising storylines on Game of Thrones inspired instant dissection and analysis on social media feeds. This encouraged fans in TV markets outside of the U.S. to seek out unauthorized video sources: It was the only way they could avoid spoilers. While <a href="http://ew.com/article/2015/04/21/game-thrones-piracy-record/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">news stories</a> about the high rates of piracy highlighted the popularity of the series – a form of free promotion – HBO certainly would prefer viewers to watch through authorized channels. Eliminating the delay in access was one solution.
In 2015, just before the start of its fifth season, HBO <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-season-5-set-780377" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced that it had deals</a> in 170 markets around the world to air new episodes simultaneously with its U.S. broadcast. This was not unprecedented. Dr. Who did the same in 2013 with a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/10470879/Doctor-Who-breaks-simulcast-world-record.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">94-country simulcast</a> in honor of its 50th anniversary – a one-time event.
Arguably no network other than HBO could have pulled it off.
Because HBO is both the producer and distributor of the series, it can adjust the timing of its international availability. Making shows (the job of studios) and presenting them to audiences (the job of channels) are two different businesses, and their interests don’t perfectly align. If a different studio produced Game of Thrones for HBO, the studio might be too concerned that the simulcast would diminish its ability to sell the series to other distributors. Moreover, HBO had significant international reach and relationships that provided it with a direct pipeline to viewers outside the U.S.
<h2>Not the new normal – for now</h2>
While HBO has shown that global TV blockbusters are now possible, they aren’t likely to become common practice. Internet-distributed services that are building a global subscriber base – such as Netflix and Amazon Video – have a clear advantage in this regard. They have customers around the world and can act as the producer and distributor of their series or negotiate for worldwide rights. It’s notable, however, that neither has succeeded in creating a true blockbuster hit. For example, Netflix’s “<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2189461/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Marco Polo</a>” had a huge budget and a premise that appealed to audiences around the world. <a href="http://deadline.com/2016/12/marco-polo-canceled-2-seasons-netflix-1201869350/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">But it never caught on</a>.
While <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/blockbusters/anitaelberse/9781429945325/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">blockbusters can be incredibly lucrative</a>, there’s no magic formula for making one. The odds of success are far greater when making series that speak specifically to the cultural experiences of people in individual countries or with particular tastes.
Once Netflix and Amazon Video have firmed up a strong subscriber base outside of the U.S. with local programming, look for them to also wade into the risky – but rewarding – business of global blockbusters. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/amanda-lotz-154746" target="_blank" rel="author noopener noreferrer">Amanda Lotz</a>, Fellow at the Peabody Media Center and Professor of Media Studies, University of Michigan
This article was originally published in <a href="https://theconversation.com/africa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Conversation</a>
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How Game of Thrones became TV’s first global blockbuster

It is a gathering of geeks that could be made into a Hollywood blockbuster; an eight-year-old Thor struggles to carry a hammer the size of her head; Pokémon’s Misty throws a Poké Ball for her dog painted as Pikachu; and a deadly life-size Blood Raven Space Marine poses patiently as he towers over a fan.
This is the scene as 5,000 geeks queue on a warm winter Saturday morning for what is called GeekFest, at Huddle Park Golf Course, Johannesburg.
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“This is the era of the geek. We will inherit the earth,” says Anré van Rooyen, one of the hundreds dressed as villains and heroes from comic books to computer games.
A year ago, it would have been unheard of. For some, it came through eyes glued to the television, others from cramped hands over the keyboard. It’s born out of the urge to identify with characters that don’t exist in real life. But hey, who cares about real life?
They call it cosplay. If the cape fits or a suit of armor swaggers, then so be it. It is an idea born in Japan and took off in America at comic book conventions. In Malaysia, at a recent conference, the queues stretched for miles as fans waited to get into a convention. In Africa, it’s growing in the south.
“We’re between the golden age and silver age of cosplay. In the rest of the world, the silver age of cosplay has died out; people are very rarely wowed by what they see. However, in South Africa, we’re all still learning and experimenting, trying to find local solutions for international problems. We’re still getting called freaks; we’re still being called weird. But most of all, we are still growing,” says Van Rooyen.
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Dressed as one of the characters from the Japanese anime Attack on Titan, Van Rooyen is more than your average cosplayer on the greens of Huddle Park. On this day, the woman who has been dressing for six years is one of the judges at the Cosplay Competition. Van Rooyen’s tough task is deciding which of the 70 entrants is the best dressed on the day. They are judged according to accuracy to character, craftsmanship skill and their performance.
“There was a general hike in attention to detail and crafting. The winners, Tayla Barter, Christopher Griesel and Chantélle Cridland, they absolutely blew us out of the water. For Tayla it was her crafting and amazing paint job; with Christopher it was the fact that he built his entire Blood Raven armor without a pattern and it just&#8230; wow; Chantélle had a bald cap on so good, that I freaked out for a second that she shaved her head. Her detail in her outfit was astounding, as well as impeccable sewing, (so good I hid my war-crime-sewing under the table). I’ve attended all three years of GeekFest now, and every year it just keeps getting better. I can’t wait to see what next year has to offer.”
The South African gaming characters rarely fail to turn heads. The only problem is getting hold of your own wigs and colored contact lenses in the post. Unsurprisingly, because of this they make their outfits instead – at least their armor gives better protection than postal tracking codes.
So, cosplayers band together, from Johannesburg to Cape Town, to help make their dream outfits with nothing but thread, needle and drills, PVC piping, and industrial glue.
“Have you seen any other international cosplay picnic where the cosplayers hiked in full cosplay halfway up a mountain in boiling temperatures to get photos by a waterfall? Our community is special and amazing and growing by the minute,” says Van Rooyen.
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“If you look at South Africa’s biggest cosplay group, Cosplay SA, they have 2,004 members, but we’re quite sure there are more than that. Its growth over the past 10 years has skyrocketed. We used to see all of 10 people at most events, and the same people at that, but now there are hundreds in each city,” says Ray Whitcher, a lecturer in multimedia design by day and Legion Ink Cosplay organizer by night.
It is a hobby for young and old, according to Van Rooyen.
“I am so excited to be part of this; to be part of what will soon be our silver age in cosplay. This is how we express ourselves; this is how we have fun. We’re all part of one family. Sure we got drama, sure we have the occasional bullying, but we have freedom to become someone we can’t be in everyday life. I can be Wonder Woman for a day and I can be Harley Quinn for a day. I can be a hero, a criminal, a crazy person, a boy, a girl. For one day, I can make the impossible a possibility. Oh, and I have way cooler profile pictures than muggles (non-geeks),” says Van Rooyen.
The defining factor is celebrating the love of your favorite character – they say imitation is the sincerest and sweetest form of flattery.

The Geek Will Inherit The Earth

This is the story of businessman Ronnie Apteker, his money and his expensive passion. A man sharp enough to get in early on the internet boom in Africa’s biggest economy; a man wise enough to have sold out before the market became crowded, three years later, for $55 million. He doesn’t know how much he is worth, but does admit he never has to work again.
This is also a man who has lost nearly $7 million in 11 years, chasing the elusive dream of fathering a blockbuster movie.
“I would be far wealthier if I had done nothing for the last 11 years, but my life has been richer for the risks I have taken… I love story telling. I love magic and I love trying to inspire people,” he says.
This month will see the release of a film he thinks is a winner that will compensate for the years of pain and losses. It is a low-budget film called Material, set in the gritty inner-city district of Fordsburg in Johannesburg and starring South African stand-up comedian Riaad Moosa. He says it could be a cheap and cheerful international hit like Bend it Like Beckham or Billy Elliot.
It all started in the early 1970s in Cape Town, when Apteker’s father won a 16mm film projector in a game of backgammon. From then on, Sunday night was film night at the Aptekers.
“The whole neighbourhood in Cape Town used to come in and see them. You remember those leather cases with the handles. In our rented house we used to watch Dirty Harry, The Dirty Dozen, The Guns of Navarone, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. I grew up in a movie-watching home. I watched more movies by the time I was 13 than most people watch by the time they are 30,” he says.
Apteker’s working life took a different turn. It was the internet, not movies, that became his bread and butter. In 1993, he founded Internet Solutions in the days when 99.9% of South Africans didn’t know even what it was.
“People used to phone us and say the internet is broken, or they used to ask who they can email. I used to give them my email address and they used to email me because they had no one else to email!” he laughs.
The internet made Apteker a fortune before he was 30. Then he tried a much harsher business—movies.
“If you build a cheap house, you can sell it for half price and get some money back. If you make a bad movie, you may not sell one ticket and lose everything. You can even end up owing money. It is not a normal business, it’s like a casino.”
Apteker started writing scripts in 1996 and the first film came in 2000—a 95-minute movie shot in Los Angeles called Purpose, the tale of the battle for the soul of a young entrepreneur working in California’s Silicon Valley.
“A lot of people said it reminded them of The Social Network, but sadly, it wasn’t as good,” says Apteker.
The film didn’t do well. It cost $8 million and Apteker was lucky enough to claw back $3 million by selling it to distributors Lakeshore International.
A string of homegrown movies with limited success followed, including: Jerusalema, The Flyer and Crazy Monkey: Straight Outta Benoni.
Fast forward to the latest offering, Material, starring South African comic flavor-of-the-month, Moosa. In many ways, the film mirrors his own life. In a nutshell, Material is the story of a father who wants his son to stick to his day job—that is, running the family store—instead of telling jokes on stage.
In real life, Moosa also gave his day job the slip. He trained as a doctor at the University of Cape Town and carried out his internship at Natalspruit Hospital, near Johannesburg, before settling down to practise as a GP in Cape Town for a couple of years.
The draw of the stage proved too strong and in the evenings, Moosa was cracking around the small theatres of the Western Cape. He had no illusions and already knew what it felt like to “die”—as the actors say—on stage.
“It used to happen a lot when I was younger. The most difficult time was when I was doing magic in high school. It was comedy magic. I had studied at the College of Magic in Cape Town. I was supposed to make a ball fly across the stage—there was a wire involved. There was a dude taking photos with flash and every time the flash went off, you could see the washing line across the stage. I was trying to make it dramatic and it was obvious. I heard one little girl say: ‘There is a wire there, mum!’ At that moment, I thought ‘I had another eight minutes to go of this sham.”
Material is Moosa’s first foray into film and he identifies with his character. “I am really proud of it. I think when people watch, they will laugh and cry. They will be challenged.”
So what happens if Moosa makes it to Hollywood and the big time? He pledges not to let success go to his head.
“What is this fame thing? One minute you are normal, the next minute you are shaving your head on the cover of Heat magazine. One minute you are normal, the next you are getting an 18-year-old pregnant. I prefer driving home at night and getting shouted at by my wife… I shouldn’t let it go to my head; I think through medicine you face reality head on.”
Apteker believes any success would be a good thing and refuses to give up his movie quest, whatever the cost.
“It is an obsession. I have got to get this right. It is like you either get this right or die trying. There is no middle ground in love, there is no middle ground in art. There is no middle ground when you are an entrepreneur—you either win or go home in a coffin,”  he says.
<h3>Well, Is It Any Good?</h3>
There is mistrust when it comes to homegrown cinema. Everyone has waited long for the great African movie—maybe, just maybe, Material is it. So says Rea Bantseke, who went to the preview screening in Sandton, near Johannesburg.
The story is simple. A young Muslim man wants to become a stand-up comedian, but has to do it behind his family’s back because it clashes with their culture. The movie examines clearly the struggle of a Muslim family to uphold its traditions in 21st century South Africa.
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I was looking for the mistakes and the glitches, but there was nothing. The movie is shot beautifully and it makes you feel like you are part of the family. The story flows and is well told.
Everyone will have something that they can identify with in this movie. It will make you laugh, it will make you question, it will bring a tear to your eye.
This unique movie is hard to classify as a genre because it fuses drama, romance and comedy. It is likely to appeal to all ages. Material will leave you with hope that if this story can see the light of day, there must be many more.
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Tag: blockbuster

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How Game of Thrones became TV’s first global blockbuster

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