1. Producers and Audiences
9. The major selling points of films

2. Objective
• Understand what the major selling points of
films are, and how institutions like film
companies use them to make the film more
appealing to the public

3. Let’s look at a film poster
How does the
poster sell the film?

4. Let’s look at a film poster
Villain of film
Love interest in the
background – she’s
not too important
Watson’s cane and
haughty expression
indicate
pride/contempt
Holmes and Watson centre;
Holmes has a smug smile (he
will win)
Credits tell us finer details
Tagline – play on words
Stars at the top – famous!

5. Film posters are the end product
• They are made long after a film is cast and are
therefore a feature of post-production
• Pre-production is where a film is deemed to
be viable by a studio
• We will look at this process first before
returning to post-production and marketing

6. The film pitch
This is when the idea of a film is presented to
commissioning executives at a film company.
Someone might have a very short time, sometimes
5 minutes, so the pitch needs to contain all the
details of the film:
• Brief summary of the plot
• Similarities to other films
• Potential stars for the film
Merchandising and franchise opportunities might
be discussed too – depending on who is pitching
the idea

7. What might a studio executive go for?
• We will look at the possible selling points of
films in depth now
• Be aware though that this might not always be
a guaranteed formula for success (we will see
why films fail in a later lesson)

8. 1. “[Star] is in it!”
• Believe it or not, film stars often decide they
want to do a project before the film is actually
made.
• Their agent will send them a script.
• Sometimes, a star just being on board makes it
more likely that the film will be made
(especially if they are a big box-office draw like
Tom Cruise or Johnny Depp)

9. 2. “It’s been written by [writer]!”
• Writers are usually the last to get paid, but
depending on how successful they have been in
the past, they might guarantee success
• Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby)
• Joss Whedon (Buffy/Angel)
• Kevin Smith (Jay and Silent Bob, Dogma)
• Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (Oscar!)
• Joe Eszterhas (trashy hits – Basic Instinct,
Showgirls)
• Nora Ephron (romantic comedies with Meg Ryan)

10. 3. “It’s just like [mega-hit]”
• The public know what they like, and they like
what they know
• That’s why so many films are similar to one
another
• Vampire films, horror films, romantic
comedies, pirate films, wizard and magic films.
Christmas films…

11. 4 “[Director] has made it”
• Some directors get on board very early; they
may even write the screenplay under a
pseudonym
• If the director is known, he or she will often
sell the film because the public has a track
record of seeing their films
• Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino, David
Fincher…

12. 5. “[Famous person] likes it and is
willing to put their name to it”
• Necessary when you are trying to sell your
film in America
• “Ben Stiller presents” [Submarine]
• “Steven Spielberg presents” [Super 8]
• Use a bigger name to sell a smaller name
• You often make more money as a producer or
through a production company

13. 6. “Everyone else is watching it.”
• Word-of-mouth (particularly when your
‘mouth’ happens to be the Internet and your
Facebook page!) is a great way of encouraging
other people to watch a film
• Of course, this can also generate negative
publicity around the film so those who are
doing so often work within the parameters of
the film and production company.
• Twitter hash-tags; Facebook pages; BBM?

14. So, what’s next?
• Once the film is made, film studios create
marketing materials (like film posters)
• Often a film company sets aside an equal
amount of money to that of the film’s budget
to market the film
• Usually it works…
• Sometimes it doesn’t…

15. Marketing Strategy
• Film posters
• Personal / press appearances
• Television appearances
• Websites
• Press interviews
• All of this will emphasise the selling points of the
film
• But this doesn’t necessarily mean the film will sell
tickets!