2. What is distribution?
Distribution is otherwise known as the process of getting a product to the
consumers and in film, it is the way in which the producers get the movie out to
the target audience. This could be by deciding when it is going to be shown,
where abouts it is going to be shown, the release date of the film and the
marketing strategy in order to build up a good atmosphere about the upcoming
film so they will get more viewers.
When the film is being released, the producers can either choose to directly
distribute it to the public via the cinema or by home viewing e.g. DVD
However, if the producers decide to choose the cinema route then they will
have to send it off to the cinemas for approval, which can be tougher rather
than directly streaming it to the public, without approval.
3. Distribution companies
I have carried out some research and have seen that there would mainly only be 3 distribution companies
that would be best for my film due to what they have distributed before. These are:
Lionsgate - Lionsgate has produced films such as Saw and this has been a wide hit in the UK. Although
Saw is known as a horror, I think they could distribute our film well too.
Warner Bros pictures - Warner Bros would be another distributor that may work with my film because it
is the top film distributor meaning it would get a lot of publicity. They have distributed many
psychological thrillers including 88 cats and Insomnia so they will know how to sell it probably, although
because they are so popular, this may be far stretched.
Rogue - Rogue pictures would also work with my film because they have, in the past, distributed thrillers
including The Strangers and The Unborn, both popular films in the UK. Knowing that these films are
popular would give me the sense that they would be able to promote our film in the right way in order to
receive the most publicity.
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4. Self distribution
Self distribution is an option to take for my film instead of working with a film distributor, however I
would personally prefer to opt for a distributor due to the high budget in my film and I would like to
earn the money back myself. Also with self distributing it can be very time consuming because I would
have to chase up different buyers for my film and fill in a lot of paperwork. There are also many legal
aspects that I would have to be careful of which can become annoying and I may get something wrong.
I may also make less money due to having to limit the options for sales as the distributors. However,
there are some positives to self distributing:
-I will remain in full control and rights over the film
-I will make any decisions on where and when the film is produced
-I won’t have to give a cut of the profit to a distributor.
Another way to self distribute is by putting teaser clips or trailer on social networking sites. This would
work well with my film as the majority of my target audience use social networking sites.
5. Marketing strategies, release
strategies and exhibition options
These strategies will help give the film publicity and create a ‘hype’:
-Trailers, behind the scenes, teasers
-Interviews in magazines, newspapers and on the TV
-Adverts on billboards, buses, target audience websites and target audience magazines
- A premier in a busy location
-Website for the film
-Publicity stunt
-Merchandise
There are 2 type of marketing strategies, the blanket and the platform strageties. The blanket is where
you distribute the film to a lot of cinemas at once and the platform is when you gradually distribute
your films to different cinemas starting off with a few small ones.
6. Appeal to a UK/international
audience
My film will mainly attract UK and
American viewers due to where it is set and
the language barrier being English. I am also
using a mainstream company, meaning I
will have funds to distribute this in the UK,
USA or internationally so it can go world
wide.
7. The 6 big film studios of Hollywood
These 6 are the leading film distributor companies in Hollywood who have
distributed all of the well-known films that are known world-wide.
-Walt Disney Pictures
-Warner Bros Pictures
-Universal Pictures
-20th Century Fox
-Columbia Pictures
-Paramount Pictures
8. My film
My film is a psychological thriller and is aimed at both men and females in the
age band 15-24 year olds, but more at females as they tend to watch
psychological films. However I am not blocking out any other ages other than
under 15 as there may be swearing and alcohol and drug abuse shown.
My production company is called ‘Perplexity Pictures’ and is a mainstream
company and therefore has a large budget allowing me to have a better
distributing and marketing system. Having a large budget also means that I will
be able to promote it internationally.
The only downfall to distributing my film worldwide is that other non English
speaking countries will have to use subtitles.
