The document discusses the distribution of musical films, noting that while large American studios like Paramount Pictures and New Line Cinema often distribute popular musicals, the British film "Walking on Sunshine" was distributed by the UK company Vertigo Films. It proposes that a new British musical film about a teenage girl could be distributed by Vertigo Films due to its cultural specificity to Britain yet universal themes. The film aims to appeal to both musical fans and broader audiences by being a comedy as well as diversion from everyday life through its singing and dancing.
2. The films that we analysed tended to be distributed by big American
conglomerates, for example, Paramount Pictures who distributed the film
‘Grease’ which is one of the most classic musicals. ‘Hairspray’ was
distributed by New Line Cinema which is an American company which
started as a film distribution company but later became an independent
film studio. However, the film ‘Walking on Sunshine’ was distributed by
Vertigo Films which is a British film production and film distribution
company; they could have distributed this film because it used an almost
completely British cast. The distributors for the musical genre are
interchangeable as some will be large companies and some tend to be less
well known, for example, Screen Gems which is a division company of
Sony. Large blockbuster film companies may be less tempted to create
less popular genre films such as gritty realism as not all audiences would
appreciate films that act as a harsh reminder of reality but would instead
want something to act as a diversion to their everyday lives. They would
tend to make blockbuster films as they would be able to include bigger
and better technology that other films may not have the funds to include,
for example, CGI which had a large part in the film ‘Jurassic World’ and
was extremely popular with all audiences.
3. Our film would be distributed by a British company like Vertigo Films as
it is a large but not dominating production and distribution, and it has
also distributed ‘Walking on Sunshine’ which is a musical that is also
culturally specific to Britain. The film itself is set in Britain and so if it was
produced and distributed locally it would help with it being culturally
specific to Britain, however, the content could translate internationally as
Elizabeth conforms to the stereotype of the British upper-class which is a
stereotype that is commonly associated with the British. The key theme in
this film is self-appreciation and staying true to who you are while still
being able to keep status (compromise and change) and this is an issue
that affects young people all over the world (which is what we will be
drawing attention to as a film like this would typically be set in America)
and so the narrative itself is interchangeable and the story can be told
anywhere in the world.
4. We were aiming for a high production value as a musical doesn’t come
out very often unlike other genres that can be easily churned out of
production companies. Musicals will take time with choreography and
soundtrack needing to be given special attention as that is what holds the
key to a successful musical film. We were aiming for a mainstream
audience which is why we also wanted to make it a comedy so that there
was more than one unique selling point for our film. However our film
would also appeal to the niche audience who are big fans of musicals
which would mean that there is more than one type of audience that
would enjoy this film. We were aiming for our film to be a diversion for
people from their everyday lives to allow the viewers to relax and take
some time out of their regular lives to sit back and enjoy a singing and
dancing film.
5. International film companies, especially those in America, would be less
tempted to distribute this film as it may not appeal to American or an
international audience as it wouldn’t reference the lives of the Americans
and will only feature British actors which may be unknown to an
American audience. Though this can be easily overlooked as the film
could be translated into other languages and remain the same for English
speaking countries, International audiences may even be more tempted to
go and see the film because of the accents or to see what British life is like
(surveillance purposes). The production value would be higher if the film
appealed to an international audience and that is why we made the
themes for the film translatable for all audiences to understand and relate
to. It is possible that Paramount Pictures would be tempted to distribute
our film as they not only distributed ‘Grease’ which is a musical, but they
also distributed ‘Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging’ which is a classic
teen film and is culturally specific to Britain.