A Hollywood conglomerate would be an unsuitable distributor for the film "Tracks of Damnation" because they aim for large global audiences with high budget films, whereas "Tracks of Damnation" is a low budget British independent film with a niche national audience. A UK distributor would be more appropriate as they invest in Category A British films and have a target niche national audience. Funding options in the UK include Film4, the National Lottery, or the BFI.

1. Question 3 – What kind of media
institution might distribute your
media product and why?
By Katie Wright

2. What do distributors do?
• A distributor is an organisation who handles
the theatrical release of a film in a particular
country.
• They also organise the marketing and
circulation of films for home viewing (DVD,
Video-On-Demand, Download, Television etc).

3. Who are the distributors?
• In America, they have big Hollywood
conglomerate institutions that distribute films
worldwide.
• The big 6 studios are;
• 20th Century Fox
• Warner Bros.
• Paramount
• Columbia
• Universal
• Walt Disney Studios

4. What kind of films have Hollywood
conglomerates made in the past?
• An example of a Slasher film a Hollywood
conglomerate has distributed is The Shining.
• The Shining is a 1980 British-
American psychological horror
film produced and directed by
Stanley Kubrick, co-written with
novelist Diane Johnson and
starred Jack Nicholson.
• The film was distributed by
Warner Bros and earned $44.4
million at the box office.

5. What kind of target audience are
conglomerates aiming for?
• Hollywood conglomerates aim for a tent-pole
audience.
• This means that their audiences are global
rather than aimed towards a national
audience.

6. Do all Hollywood conglomerates have
the same target audiences?
• The target audiences do vary between the Big
6
• For example, 20th century fox have distributed
for horror films such as “Alien” (1979) and
“The Shining” (1980) both which are rated an
18.
• However, Walt Disney have distributed for
films such as “Frozen” (2013) and “Toy Story”
(1995)

7. Do all Hollywood conglomerates have
the same target audiences?
• So if you were to ask a Hollywood
conglomerate to distribute a 15 rated
horror/slasher film, Walt Disney wouldn’t
distribute it as their target audiences are more
family orientated.
• Whereas 20th Century Fox would be more
likely to distribute it as their target audiences
are more varied.

8. What kind of budgets do the films who are
distributed by Hollywood conglomerates have?
• To appeal to tent pole audiences, a film has to be
high budget.
• Tent pole audiences love films that use all the
latest tech, actors or directors to add to the
“wow-factor”.
• To invest this “wow-factor” in films, you need to
be able to afford it, which would require a big
budget.
• A Hollywood conglomerates target audience is a
tent pole audience; and so if they invest in a film
they need to have a big budget to attract a tent
pole audience

9. What kind of budgets do the films who are
distributed by Hollywood conglomerates have?
• An example of a film invested by a Hollywood
conglomerate to appeal to tent pole audiences is
Gravity (2013)
• The film was distributed by Warner Bros. pictures and
had a budget of $100 million.
• The film starred Sandra Bullock and George Clooney,
who are global stars.
• The film also had incredible visual effects; which took
the company Framestore more than 3 years to create.
• These visual effects were new, exciting and modern to
tent pole audiences.

10. Would a Hollywood conglomerate invest in
my film “Tracks of Damnation”?
• It is very rare that a Hollywood conglomerate
would invest in an indie UK company.
• And even when it does, the film needs to be
high budget to appeal to a tent pole audience.
• Also, as already mentioned, certain
conglomerates such as Disney have certain
target audiences in which a Horror/Slasher
would be inappropriate for.

11. Would a Hollywood conglomerate invest in
my film “Tracks of Damnation”?
• American conglomerates also tend to invest in
American film companies, as British traditions
and humours don’t appeal as much to tent-
pole audiences.
• Tracks of Damnation is a low budget, British
independent made film and therefore
wouldn’t be invested by a Hollywood
conglomerate.

12. Who are the UK distributors?
• In the UK, there is the British film industry
which is made up independent film companies
and companies that are either partly or
entirely funded by the big 6.
• These film companies can either get invest
from the big 6 or investment charities.
• Examples of UK investment charities include
The National Lottery and The Bfi

13. How do UK distributors invest in these
films?
• The National Lottery offer grants to help fund
the British film Industry, which the UK film
council used to award to British film makers
but now the BFI do.
• The Bfi make in the region of 25 major
productions each year and provide
development support for approx 100 feature
films.

14. Who are the UK distributors target
audience?
• The UK distributors buy content that would
suit a Niche audience.
• This means the film is national rather than
global.
• It also means that the budget is a lot smaller
as Niche audiences are suited to content that
uses local locations, national actors and less
known directors.

15. What films have the UK film industry
made?
• Film4 not only support UK independent film-
makers, but have their own production company.
• In 2011, Film4 productions produced the
Inbetweeners movie, a spin off of the popular TV
show.
• It grossed £2.5million on the first day of realise
and set records for most successful film opening
weekend ever.
• However the film didn’t translate to US audiences
where it had a limited theatrical realise, as the
humour used within the film was aimed at niche
audience.

16. What counts as a true British film?
• The British Film Institute has an official method of
categorising British films;
• Category A – Films made with British money, personnel
and resources.
• Category B – Films co-funded with money from Britain
and from foreign investment, but the majority of
finance, cultural content and personnel are British.
• Category C – Films with mostly foreign (not US)
investment and a small British input, either financially
or creatively.
• Category D – Films made in the UK with (usually)
British cultural content, but financed fully or partly by
American companies.
• Category E – American films with some British
involvement.

17. Which Category would Tracks of Damnation be
classed as and would it be funded by a UK
institution?
• Tracks of Damnation would be classed as a Category
A film as it was made using British actors, producers,
resources and the Location was also British.
• Because of this, Tracks of Damnation would be likely
to be distributed by a UK film distributor.
• It has the potential to be distributed by Film4, who
are supportive of UK independent film companies, as
well as funded by the National Lottery or the Bfi.