This case study examines the independent British film "Wild Bill" directed by Dexter Fletcher. It had a low budget of under £700,000 that was raised through private investors. The film was Fletcher's directorial debut. It was distributed in UK cinemas through Universal Pictures and The Works UK, but only grossed £60,430 in its first weekend, which was disappointing. It received critical acclaim but failed to do well at the box office. The marketing focused on the genre more than the narrative and faced competition from larger films. It was later released on DVD and online.
2. Context / History
• The ‘baby’ of actor-turned-director Dexter Fletcher
• Fletcher, then in his 40s, had been acting since the
age of 10
• This was his directorial debut
• His original idea was turned into an initial screenplay
by his friend Danny King, and then ‘polished’ by
Fletcher
• Started talking to Danny King in Jan 2010, completed
filming in Jan 2011.
3. The Film
• On its first weekend of release, the film ‘Wild
Bill’ grossed £60,430 in 108 cinemas, in the
same weekend as the release of The Hunger
Games
• This made it the 16th highest grossing film in
the UK that week, but was much lower than
hoped for
• No other box office figures
have been published
4. • The box office
figures were
disappointing.
Many people in
the industry
regard Fletcher
with great
respect. The film
was released to
almost universal
critical acclaim,
but failed to do
good business.
•This presentation aims
to examine some of the
factors that the film’s
producers would have
tried to consider during
this project to make it a
success.
5. Production
• The company involved: 20ten Media
• Fletcher spoke to producer Sam Tromans
who liked the idea
• She brought in business partner Tim Cole
• They raised the budget through ‘private
equity’ (private investors paying money
directly into the company)
• Budget is suggested to be under £700,000
6. 20ten Media
• 20ten Media, based in London and founded in
2010, had two directors listed: Sam Tromans
and Tim Cole
• 20ten entertainment, based in Liverpool and
also founded in 2010, has one director:
Steven Fletcher (brother of Dexter Fletcher).
Steven Fletcher is listed in some places as
one of the investors in “Wild Bill”
• 20ten Media have one film to their name:
“Wild Bill”
7. Production 2
• The funding is said to have come from
‘non-cinema’ people
• They gave the freedom of ‘here’s some
money - go and make it’
• Sam Tromans has a history of working
with private investors to finance films
8. Production 3
• With such a low budget, Fletcher got a
lot of his acting friends involved in the
film, at low cost
• Real locations were used, rather than
sets
• Filming took 5 weeks
9. The Works UK Distribution
• Filmed from Nov 2011 to Jan 2012
• Film completed by mid 2011
• Touted around film festivals, as no
distribution deal had been struck
• Dec 2011, Universal Pictures UK acquired
distribution rights. They have an alliance
(called IndiVision) with The Works UK who
handled the cinema distribution
• Film was released in 108 cinemas in the UK
on Mar 23 2012
10. Distribution
• Indivision works mainly with the multiplex
chains of cinemas
• An independent film like this might have been
better released in the arthouse cinemas
• This might have needed a different release
date and fewer cinemas in the initial release
11. DVD rights
• Universal Pictures UK also
had the DVD rights
• DVD was released July 23
2012, exactly 4 months
after cinema release
• IndiVision tends to be used
to get theatrical (cinema)
release for films that are
expected to do better
business on DVD after
cinema exhibition
12. Primary audience
• The film was promoted using its genre, which would
attract 15-35 year old males primarily
• The film is about a father-son relationship, and
coming-of-age moments for both of them - fits with
the audience for the genre, but also with a female
audience
• Released on 23 March 2012, same as The Hunger
Games. Showing in mainstream cinemas, it could not
compete
• Audience reviews were very good. Rotten Tomatoes
give it 100% in the critics poll, and 84% in the
audience poll
13. International audiences?
• Wild Bill only has distribution companies
listed for the UK (cinema and DVD) and for
Australia (DVD only)
• It was released in cinemas in the UK, Ireland
and Norway (5 April 2013)
• It had previously been seen in film festivals
across Europe
14. Marketing and use of web 2.0
• Publicity for the film was handled by DDA
Public Relations limited
• Ironically they also handled the publicity for
The Hunger Games (and The Wrath of the
Titans that came out a week later)
• The marketing was skewed towards the
overall genre of the film - gritty, British
gangster - rather than its narrative
• This was perhaps more about DVD
audiences than cinema audiences
15. Trailers
• Only one trailer was created
• This emphasised the genre and fitted
with the posters that were released -
one landscape and one portrait
16. Other platforms
• Cinema - 3 April 2012
• DVD and Blu-Ray - 23 July 2012
• Online release - 19/20 July 2012
• Sky Movies from 1 Feb 2013
17. Marketing
• The role of the marketing department is
to:
• Create visibility
• Generate a buzz
• Get poster designed
• Produce the trailers
• Get the film to exhibitors
20. Strategic DVD release
• The film was released on DVD on 23
July and online on 19 July, just at the
start of the summer holidays
• Was this a good time for the target
audience?
22. Synergy
• A ‘Behind the Scenes’ documentary was created and
posted on YouTube in two parts - it was created by
Graham Fletcher-Cook, brother of Dexter Fletcher
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO2fKFQonPo
• No soundtrack CD was released, but a soundtrack
playlist has been put together by a fan on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL53B490A20FE64EB
23. Cross-media publicity
• The film was promoted using the one trailer
and the Behind the Scenes featurette
• The trailer was uploaded to YouTube in Feb
2012, and shared on sites such as the Daily
Record and the Daily Motion straightaway,
and on others such as The Guardian as late
as 16 March 2012
• The documentary was posted on July 29
2012, just after the DVD and online release of
the film
• The film was covered on ‘Film 2012’ on the
BBC on Mar 20 2012
24. Publicity
• The film was taken around film festivals and won
several awards prior to release
• Posters were created for the film while on the festival
circuit, asking interested people (distributors…) to
contact 20ten Media
• Publicity mostly depended on the famous names
involved with the film and on Dexter Fletcher himself
