2. What is Film Distribution?
• The process that the film distributor, a company that deals
with marketing, carries out to get their product out to an
audience
3. Rentals
• A rental fee is a percentage added onto to the exhibitor’s
fee that they charge to their customers. The distributor
then estimates the total amount they will receive from
rentals and this helps to create a picture on how big their
budget will be.
4. Audience Research
• A sample of the population is selected and will represent it
in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, and the likes. Afterward,
they will be asked their preference on the film and this will
be used to gauge the audience they will market their film
toward.
• In some cases, such as World War Z, films have had to
have been changed in order to suit an audience.
5. Certification
• The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) are in
charge of classification in the UK. It relies on their age
rating on the scope of the audience they will be able to
screen toward, for instance, if the film were given an 18
then it will be largely restricted to those legally able to
view it as oppose to if it were given a PG.
6. Cast and Crew
• The majority of conglomerate made films are able to gain
attention due to popular actors and directors that are
assigned to the production. This creates marketing in
itself.
7. Timing of Release
• The timing of a film’s release can create buzz around
it, too. For example, Christmas themed films are released
around Christmas as people are feeling most festive at
this time, family films are released in the school holidays
as this is when they have the most amount of time to view
them in, and films that want to gain notoriety through
awards will release through award season.
8. Film Prints
• For exhibitors to show their films, they must own a film
print. Distributors need to understand how many prints are
in demand and then create and ship that amount to the
desired companies.
