2. Role of the distributor
The role of the distributor is a company or
individual responsible for the marketing of a
film. The distributor may set the release date of
the date of the film and the method by which a
film is to be exhibited or made available for
viewing. An example of this is either directly to
the viewers so at the cinema or home viewing
so a DVD or video on demmand.
3. Film marketing
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After spending millions of dollars on making a movie, the studio spends millions
more on letting audiences know about it. Marketing a big product like a movie can
be a very expensive business, especially when that product has a limited shelf life.
Movies have to be a hit on their opening weekend, often on their opening day,
otherwise they tend to disappear very quickly, and the studio stands to make a loss
on their investment.
Most blockbuster movies already have an audience. The studio has greenlit a huge
budget for the movie because they already know people will go and see it - often
because it is based on a media text that already has an audience. This may be a
previous film (eg insidious 1 people may go and see insidious the second chapter) ,
This is why remakes and reboots are so popular. Original movies like INCEPTION
and AVATAR are the exception to the rule, and represent a huge risk for the studio
backing them. Studios have a huge operating overhead, and put out a lot of flops
that make no money at all, so they need a guarantee that a blockbuster movie is
going to be make not just a small profit, but a comfortable one. After spending
$100 million dollars on a movie they can spend 50% as much again on marketing.
4. Word of a mouth
Word-of-mouth has always been main factor in a movie's success or
favour, but in today's socially networked world, it has become vitally
important. People tweet, post status updates on facebook and blog
reviews as soon as they leave the cinema , and their reactions spread
globally and instantly. If the nation spreads that a movie is bad, it can
have an immediate impact on ticket sales, even for screenings later
that same day. BRUNO (2009) was the first movie to suffer this
phenomenon - early screenings were booked out, thanks to the buzz
created by the studio and the success of Sacha Baron Cohen's previous
movie, BORAT (2006), but ticket sales took a nose dive once the first
audiences tweeted their negative reaction. Equally, positive tweets
and social network comments can promote a movie which works out
a lot cheaper and it builts up exitment for the viewers.
5. Selling a movie and a brand
Most cinema tickets are always one-off purchases. You don't normally
buy a cinema ticket in the same way as you would buy a particular
brand of soft drink, knowing that you will go back to this brand again
and again and again (ie you have brand loyalty). You base your
decision to buy a ticket on the basis of the marketing you have seen for
an individual movie. You might be quite loyal to that brand while it
lasts (you might buy a t-shirt, a soundtrack CD and the DVD when it's
released), but in most cases, it's a short-lived loyalty. And that's a
loyalty that is very expensive to purchase. With each new movie
release, a studio has to create a new brand. Studios like genre movies
(romantic comedies, horror) that already have a form of brand identity,
as they can market them to a specific audience. This is also why they
like sequels and franchises so much — a string of movies all based
around the same brand are easy to market.
