Q3 evaluation 'Homeless' - To accompany video

1. Q3.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and
why?

2. ‘Homeless’
Low Budget
Independent
Non mainstream
Targets a niche
audience
No star marketing
Filmed on
location in UK
Communicates a message
about British/Youth
culture
British

3. ‘This is England’
Low Budget
Communicates
a message about
British/Youth culture British
Independent
Filmed on
location in UKNon mainstream
No star marketing
Targets
a niche
audience

4. ‘This is England’
(2006)
-Limited Release
-Opening Weekend 62 UK screens
1 US screen
- Now occasionally exhibited
Broadway Cinema, Nottingham (Picturehouse) – The film was shot in Nottingham
The Ritz Cinema, Lincoln, Lincs – The film was shot in some areas of Lincolnshire.
-Distributed on DVD by ‘Optimum Home Releasing’ (‘Studio Canal’) in UK. This label distributed many
other productions for Independent British film companies. In Europe, ‘Studio Canal’ has deals with
‘LoveFilm’ for online distribution of films. As a result these niche productions are able to reach a wide
audience.
- Exhibited on television by Channel Four.

5. As our thriller opening ‘Homeless’ is similar to ‘This is England’ in that it is a British, non mainstream
production focussing on real life issues in society, like racism, it is most likely that the exhibition would
be similar. ‘This is England’ also features a very vicious attack, in which ‘Milky’, a British Caribbean, is
attacked by ‘Combo’ who is British, similar to the attack portrayed in our thriller opening in which
Sam, who is of an ethnic minority is attacked by Norma, a white British female. This similarity may also
be a factor in the ways that our thriller opening ‘Homeless’ is distributed.
Due to the low budget of the production, the film’s release would be limited, as not only would we be
unable to fund a wide scale blanket release like a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster, but also due to
the niche audience that it is targeted at, there would not be a large demand to see the film.
Furthermore, the large chain cinemas such as ‘Vue’ and ‘Odeon’ would be least likely to exhibit the
production, because their profit driven stance means that only the biggest mainstream films which are
likely to attract the largest audiences are scheduled across the network of cinemas. Instead, our
production would be more likely to be exhibited by the ‘Picturehouse’ network of cinemas, and more
specifically ‘CinemaCity’ located in Norwich, the setting of our thriller opening. ‘Picturehouse’
specialise in exhibiting non mainstream films and as a result attract a niche audience, the target
audience of our production. ‘CinemaCity’ has regularly exhibited films about troubled young people
such as ‘Dead man’s shoes’ (2004) and ‘Somers town’(2008) both directed by Shane
Meadows, showing how our thriller opening fits in with the type of content that they show, making it
very likely to be distributed by this institution.

6. When looking at ‘This is England’, I found that it is still occasionally exhibited at a
few independent cinemas; notably at ‘Broadway’ Picturehouse in Nottingham and
‘The Ritz cinema’ in Lincoln. ‘This is England’ still attracts attention in these two
locations due to the fact that it is where shooting took place for the film. From this
we can deduce that audiences are greatly attracted to films which use a setting
that is familiar to them. This is also evident with the 2013 release of ‘Alan
Partridge: Alpha Papa’ which, similar to our thriller opening, was filmed in
Norfolk, and as a result received great attention in the area including having its
premiere at ‘Hollywood Cinema’ in Norwich. Considering these factors, I believe
that our thriller opening would be most likely exhibited at ‘CinemaCity’ in
Norwich.

7. Taking information from how ‘This is England’ was distributed, I believe that our
thriller opening would be most likely to be distributed widely on VOD services such as
‘LoveFilm’ due to the wider audience that it will be able to reach. As a non
mainstream film, ‘Homeless’ would greatly benefit from the greater attention that
being available through online streaming services would bring it, as well as the fact
that the proliferation of hardware and content in the home means that audiences
prefer to consume films in this way.
Channel Four regularly exhibits British films such as ‘This is England’ and funds
independent film producers such as ‘Warp Films’ (‘This is England) meaning that this
television channel, or its sister ‘Film4’ would be most likely to show it. Other UK
broadcasters who exhibit thrillers tend only to target a mainstream audience, most
likely due to the fact that they are profit driven, and targeting a mainstream audience
is likely to attract the highest viewing figures. For example, on 22 March 2014, ‘Sky
Movies Crime/Thriller’ showed ‘All Good Things’, ‘Get Carter’, and ‘Swordfish’, all high
budget, mainstream films starring Hollywood actors, meaning that it would be very
unlikely that this, or similar television networks would ever exhibit ‘Homeless’.