1. Evaluation
Question 3
By Kirsty Steward

2. Definitions
Production company: Provides funding and recognition of the
specific film it produces. It handles budgeting, scheduling,
scripting, post-production and some larger companies even help
with distribution (www.wikipedia.com .
Distribution Company: A film distributor is a company or individual
responsible for the marketing of a film. The distributor may set the
release date of a film and the method by which a film is to be
exhibited or made available for viewing: for example, directly to
the public either theatrically or for home viewing (DVD, video-on-
demand, download, television programs through broadcast
syndication etc.). A distributor may do this directly, if the distributor
owns the theatres or film distribution networks, or through theatrical
exhibitors and other sub-distributors. A limited distributor may deal
only with particular products, such as DVDs or Blu-ray, or may act
in a particular country or market. -(wikipedia.com)

3. What production companies
may be suited to my
production?
Three production companies that would be suited to fund my thriller film are:
 Universal Studios
 Warner Bros Pictures
 Lionsgate
This is because all had produced top 10 thriller films in 2012
, as I found in my research (boxofficemojo.com),which proves their success which is what I would
want to experience with my film. In particular Lionsgate produced the highest grossing thriller film of
2012 with ‘The Hunger Games’.
Referring back to my research, all three companies have good reputations with blockbusters they
have released such as:
Universal- E.T, Jaws, Schindler’s List etc.
Warner Bros- Inception, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and the Dark Knight Rises etc.
Lionsgate- The possession, The Expendables etc.
The films are significant in the companies reputation as Steven Spielberg directed both E.T and
Jaws which are both well renowned timeless films and Harry Potter includes a well liked class of
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watsonm, as well as being adapted from the multi million
selling book series. This is also the case with The Expendables which includes the famous actors
Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham as well as many others.

4. What Film Studio Production
I’d like to choose
The film studio I would choose to produce my film, if the
opportunity arose, would be Universal Studios as they had
three films in the top ten top grossing thriller films of 2012
therefore they show they produced a range of successful
film rather than just have one bit hit. Also they are a big
company meaning my film would be more recognised and
be considered more prestigious in industry terms.

5. What Film Distributor I would
choose
I feel as though 20th Century Fox would be suitable to
distribute my film as they are a household name and have
distributed a large quantity of successful TV shows as well as
films. Furthermore, they are the company that distributed
the film, Taken, in which we took a lot of inspiration from,
thus it makes sense to use the same distributer as ‘Taken’
had such a great success therefore I feel I could achieve
the same by choosing this company.
However Universal Studios isn’t usually affiliated with 20th
Century Fox (as I found in my research) as both are big
corporate companies. Yet Universal studios does have its
own means of distribution so I would still gain the
recognition I desire as well as having my film widely
available to the general public.
Further referring back to my research; Universal studios
commonly works with Columbia Pictures which is also
another successful distribution company therefore if
Universal Studios didn’t provide the distribution, I could try
and pitch my idea to Columbia Pictures in hope that they
would agree as they are associated with Universal Studios.

6. However …
Although I'd like to choose one of the big conglomerates
to fund and distribute my film, as a minor film producer
with no previous experience they would be unlikely to buy
into my idea. This is also because the conglomerates
dominate every aspect of marketing and are purely out
to make money as a business rather than allow artistic
interpretation and would likely want to change aspects of
my film to fit to their worldwide audience.
Therefore realistically, I'd approach Film 4 as they are an
independent film production and distribution meaning my
idea would likely to be more suited to their ethos as they
look for films that 'demonstrate innovation, experiment
and creativity in the form of content' and 'appeal to the
tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society' (as
stated on the Channel 4 remit). By pitching my idea to
them, I'd have more of a chance as my film can fit into
the category of films they're looking for based on the
content and themes and it will still allow my own creative
input as well as having some success in the film industry as
Film 4 is a highly recognised name in the UK.

7. Funding
With my film that I produced, all funding was
accounted for by my team as well as myself
although the budget would have been small as
most items featured in the sequence were pre-
owned by the actors or my team. However if I
did have the opportunity to export a finished
film I would try to gain funding for the BFI. This is
because in my research I found that the BFI are
a big company who gladly fund films that
display British traits that would fit into their niche
market. My opening sequence displays easily
identifiable British traits and there is originality in
regards to my storyline so if I had the
opportunity the create a whole film, I would
make sure the have the theme present
throughout the film. Also I found that the BFI are
well recognised, they would be the most
successful in getting my film viewed by the
public hence the sequence will gain more
recognition and will be more widely distributed.

8. Titles
In terms of creativity, what my production titles
held was limited. In my first production
company title ‘LKS Productions’ the acronym
was simply my production team’s name’s
initials (Leo, Kirsty and Shannon) and with the
second, MS Media, it simply stood for
Manshead School Media. Yet even though I
feel the title names are not very creative, they
are original. Also the black background, dark
blue fading mist and metallic looking writing
give the company a sense of individuality and
recognition. Moreover the genre of film that
the titles accompany is a thriller so it also
displays the conventions of the genre e.g.
eerie mist and low key lighting.
However we would only have to use this titles if
we could not receive funding from bigger
companies such as the ones that were
previously mentioned or from lower scale
companies such as the BFI or national lottery.
But the titles are sufficient enough in terms of
originality and the actual display of the titles fit
with the conventions of the film therefore
overall they’re successful.