SONY TO CUT BACK FILM PRODUCTION

Reeling from such recent flops as After Earth and White House Down, Sony Pictures Entertainment said on Thursday that it will cut its feature slate from 23 to 18 movies per year and focus more on the “higher margin” TV business. During a conference with investors, company executives also said that they plan to cut the budgets of films that have already been greenlighted. Analysts by and large approved of the company’s plans. “Why wouldn’t they put their resources in that direction?” Brian Wieser, a senior analyst with Pivotal Research Group, remarked in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “The theatrical business is not one that is particularly liked by investors. There is still a lot of growth to be had and a higher degree of profitability in television in general.” Major stockholders in other media companies have similarly urged that studios cut their feature-film risks and use the savings to develop less risky TV shows, which are thriving on booming demand from overseas.