The document discusses potential distribution options for a low-budget British crime thriller film made by a student filmmaker. It suggests that Film4 or Entertainment Film Distributors would be suitable UK-based distribution companies given their experience with similar niche films. It also proposes that Cinema City cinemas would be a good exhibition partner as they target student and older audiences through clubs that would appeal to the film's intended demographic. Digital technologies like social media and YouTube could also help in distributing the film to younger audiences. The main difficulties identified are the filmmaker's inexperience, lack of recognition, and the low budget nature of the production.

1. Thriller opening sequence – Evaluation: Question 3
‘What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?’
The thriller opening that I have created could be is intended for a more smaller audience,
rather than a mainstreamone. The reason it could be considered a mainstream film is that
most the cinematography, sound, mise-en-scene, and editing conforms to the thriller genre
itself. Because of how it conforms with the genre itself it may have an appeal to a
somewhatlarger audience. However, my thriller would be better suited to the title of a
more independent film as it is specifically a crime-thriller, rather than a thriller that
conforms to all sub-genres. To make myself clear, an example of a thriller that does
conformto more than one sub-genrewould be any of the Batman films. Whereas my
crime-thriller has more of an appeal to a specific audience.
Distributioncompanies:
The thriller would be considered a low-budget, British, crime-thriller. Because of this it
would be a UK based distribution company. The firstthe comes to mind is Film 4. Film 4 is a
UK based distribution company who have produced somelow-budgetfilms, such as
Inbetweeners2. The fact that Film4 is sister company to UK TV channel would suggestthat
they have experience with how to appeal to a British audience and that the company will
have lots of knowledge on the British film industry. Although the question is about
distribution it would be worth mentioning that Film4 haveexhibited smaller thrillers such
as Old Boy, as well as better known thrillers such as Se7en. I havementioned this to show
the experience and knowledgeof thrillers the sister-companies have. In terms of
distribution our film matches with the ethos of the company, which is that the company is
trying to develop new British talent. Therefore, making it more likely for them to be the
company that distributes our film. Another company that could be the distributor would be
the, again, UK based company Entertainment Film Distributors. Thecompany itself has
been known to release more ‘niche’ films such as Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. LikeFilm4
(production company) the company itself has distributed what mostwould consider ‘bigger
films’ which shows a great promise, as it is a great proof of knowledgeabout the industry,
as well as the genre itself. Out of the two companies, it would be Film4 who I think would
be more likely to distribute our film, as they are a company who focus moreon the smaller
films and would be able to cater to all the needs.
Which cinemas wouldexhibit the film?
Realistically, Cinema City would be the cinema to exhibit our film. As I have previously
mentioned our film has moreof an appeal to more specific audiences. Oneof these
audiences are students, who are studying media. The reason this is relevant to who would
exhibit our film is that Cinema City are known for having a variety of features that could
appeal to this target audience. The first would be the ‘Slackers club’ at Cinema City. This is a
club which is targeted at all students, which would allow us to access one of one of our
target audiences. Another target audience would be an older audience. The reason being is

2. that our film is a crime-thriller and this subgenrehas a specific appeal to older audiences.
Again, at cinema city there is a club that appeals to the older, more mature audiences. This
is the no popcorn club, the club appeals to an older audience and shows films that appeal
to them, although some of the films shown aremore arthouse, thrillers and crime-thrillers
are still exhibited. A moremainstream cinema who could exhibit my film would be Vue.
Although it is very unlikely, the idea that the thriller conforms with common thriller
conventions suggests it could be considered mainstream, which a cinema such as Vue are
known for exhibiting. This would allow a wider audience to access the film. The idea of
putting the film straight to DVD release wouldn’tbe practical as it wouldn’tallow me to
access the target audience of which I would like to access the film.
Opportunities for distributionbeing astudent filmmaker:
I don’t wantto sound as if I am repeating myself, but being a student film maker would
make it likely that Cinema City would be the company to distributethe film. The reason
being is the interaction between Cinema City and students. Cinema City, as of late has
adapted to distribute and exhibit more popular films, the company in Norwich is known for
focusing on the smaller films that have an appeal to a morespecific audience. Another
proof of the connection between students and the company would be the slackers club, but
also that it allows for screens to be rented and this is commonly used by teachers and
students to exhibit films. Itmay not be directly relevant to the distribution side, but it’s
showing the connection between students and the company itself, in which gives the idea
that being a student provides opportunities for distribution.
How could digital technologies offer opportunitiesfor distribution?
Since the proliferation in useof digital technologies from laptops to tablet devices social
media has become a platform which a wide variety of ages have access to. Social media
advertising has become increasingly popular and would be most appropriatefor our thriller
as the most common users of it are those of the age of one of the target audiences.
According to the 2013 BFI reportmostof the users of digital technology, more specifically
social media are those of the age 16-24. This is the age of A-level students and most of
those studying a degree within media, overall this means we can gain easier access to one
of the target audiences. Another platform within the realms of digital technologies that
could provideopportunity would be YouTube. YouTube is a platform that is accessible to
everyoneand used by mostages, but more specifically a younger audience. I don’t wantto
repeat myself but YouTube would allow access to the younger, studentaudience rather
than an older audience. Overall, digital technologies provideus with an opportunity to
distribute to a younger audience rather than an older one as the technology is more
popular amongstthem.
What difficultiesmight youface when bringing your filmto market?
The first, most obvious difficulty to overcomewould be the lack of experience that I have
when it comes to distributing a film, considering the fact that this is my firstproduction. I

3. have no proper knowledgeof how the industry works and thereforeto overcome this issue
would have to research into making a systematic plan, as well as getting advice from
companies and people within the industry. Another difficulty would be the lack of
recognition in which I as well as my production partner has. The lack of recognition would
be difficult for any distribution company to overlook when deciding to distribute. Or even if
I choseto distributemyself, even more so would the lack of recognition hurt my chances of
successfulrecognition. The final difficulty that I would face would be the fact that my film is
a low-budgetfilm, which would mean it would have no chance of ever having any
mainstreamattention, so to speak, payed to it. To resolvethis Cinema City or Film4 would
be the distribution company that I would turn to in order to distribute.