These were the preferred brands by many top studios worldwide up through the mid-1990s when digital recording equipment became the standard.

Warner had been the top studio for the past three years, but Paramount managed a worldwide total of $5.17bn (£3.32bn) in 2011 to take the No 1 spot.

He has lived in Los Angeles since the early 1970's and works in Los Angeles's top studios.

One big draw, it says, is that all the top studios have signed on.

And while profit margins are eroding, the top studios are still profitable.

But Mr. Shapiro said he was negotiating with "multiple top studios and TV networks" to show their clips as well.

She said one top studio marketing executive told her: "We don't talk about marketing.

It quickly became one of the top independently-owned studios in England.

Despite lots of talk about cutting costs, each of the top studios currently has at least one money-losing blockbuster on its books.

A top studio like Warner Brothers has endured failures in the last year.