A production company is responsible for the physical production of media like films, television, or radio. They raise funds for productions and aim to sell their products to film studios. Castlefield Productions is one such company created by students to produce their film. Universal is a major film production company they partnered with due to its experience and success producing thriller films. Film distributors are responsible for releasing films to the public through cinemas or other releases. They have input into the filmmaking process and work to sell films to buyers who will lease them. Universal was also chosen as the distributor due to its experience and reputation distributing successful thrillers in both the US and UK. Isle of Man Films is a popular UK film funding company that

1. What does a production company do ? A production company is the company that is responsible for the physical production of media, this could include areas such as film, radio or television. The company could also be responsible for raising the funds needed for the production. There are both large and small production companies around, and they both aim to sell their product to a film studio.

2. Film Production Companies One of the film production companies that we used in our film opening is Universal, this is a very well known film company and has made a vast number of thrillers since it was established in 1912, some of their previous thrillers have included, The Bourne Identity, Jurassic Park and Back to the Future. We used this company because of its vast knowledge about thriller movies. We also came up with our own company called, Castlefield Productions, we named the company because of its connection with Reigate College. The logo we created is made to clearly look like a company to do with television and film.

3. What does a distributor do ? A film distributor is either a company or an individual who is responsible for releasing their companies films to the public, this can be either done via the company or through exhibitors and other companies. The films can either be released through the cinema beforehand or can go straight out for general release for the public to enjoy. The film distributors can have a big say in the way that the film is made, they can assist the director and producers on what they think the public will like. They can have their say on the actors and whether they think the public are going to take to themand make any changes that they think will help the film to sell. They have to decide on how many copies (prints) of the film they are going to make and then show the film (screen) to the buyers in the hope that they are going to buy their film. The buyers will then negotiate with the buyers which films they wish to lease and their terms of agreement.

4. Universal We chose Universal as our distribution company because it has made a lot of successful films in both the USA and the United Kingdom. Another reason we chose this company is because it is now very well known and people know that they make good films, this would help us to sell the film because a lot of people know that Universal is a company that they can trust. Also if Universal decided that they would help to distribute our film then they would believe that it has the ability to do well. Universal has a lot of experience in distributing thrillers, their previous films include, Bulletproof, Twister, Blues Brothers and State of Play. I think Universal would be interested in distributing our film because it contains all the features that a good thriller needs, this includes, the main character experiencing their “Achilles heel”, which in this case appears to be because the character is female and not very strong meaning that they are no match for the kidnapper. There is to be several experiences of the main character in peril., one example of this would be when the character turns around and sees someone following her. There is also a shot showing the character trapped in a room unable to get out which shows that the antagonist has them ensnared into a web.

5. Funding The way in which we planned to get our film funded is by getting in touch with the film funding company, Isle of Man Films. This company has a lot of experience with funding British thrillers and has been established since 1995, it has previously funded films such as, Fade to Black and Trial and Retribution. Isle of Man films is one of the most popular funding companies in the United Kingdom and have currently produced over 90 films and television programs. I think our film meets this companies criteria as it conforms to the traditional conventions of thrillers therefore the public should take to it meaning the company would be making a good investment.