A film distribution company that is smaller than a major studio but larger than an independent distributor would be best suited to distribute our film. While our target audience is older adults over 35, choosing a mid-sized distributor would allow the film to be shown in multiplex cinemas as well as some independent theaters catering to niche audiences. With a budget of around $7 million, on par with American Psycho, we could afford marketing through magazines and movie trailers but not television ads. Additional online and social media marketing would help expand our potential audience.

1. QUESTION 3
What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why?

2. What is a distribution
company?
A film distribution company decides when and how a film is
released. For example, contacting cinemas so they can show
the film and also when the film will be released on DVD/Blue
Ray.
Film distributors also sometimes work on the marketing of a film
so will work to have ads on a number of different places such as
websites, TV adverts, buses in cities, and at the beginning of films
being shown in cinemas.
The distributor also decides when and where a film will be shown
on TV so will decide what network it will first be shown on and
how far after its release its is shown.

3. Target audience?
Our target audience are people over 35 in all social classes. This could change
the type of distribution company we would choose.
Older audiences generally have areas of people who are large fans of niche
films and also have areas of people who are fans of the larger budget films.
Having our primary audience not all liking one type of film means we will have to
meet in the middle by using a bigger but not major distributor for our film in order
to please as much of our audience as possible by having the film in multiplexes
as well as maybe some independent cinemas that more of an older audience
go to.
This varied popularity is prevalent in most other audiences too so choosing to find
a middle ground for in distribution would be better for the film even if other
audiences watch the film as they would also probably enjoy it. Also having a
bigger distributor could benefit the film after being in cinemas as it would be
easier to have the film put onto streaming services as licencing for the film would
probably cheaper due to the more niche audience of the film and the fact its a
not as major distributor that would distribute it.
What is my target audience and what type
of distributor would get the film shown to
them.

4. Budget?
As our film does appeal to quite a mainstream audience, there are niche and less run of
the mill features that are in our film and film opening, one being a likable killer and having
the killer known right from the beginning. These kind of features could attract a more niche
audience. As the film is mainstream in audience but niche in some of the style would
probably lead a studio to give us a relatively good sized budget but not as large as it could
be without the niche aspects of the film.
Also as the film is a thriller and takes place in quite generic settings (as thriller films work a lot
better the more realistic they are) means we would not need as much of a budget for our
settings, props, and costumes.
A film I have based some of the ideas for our film opening is American Psycho as I wanted
to have some comedy in my opening but it still had to be a thriller so American Psycho as a
‘Psychological black comedy’ is a very for inspiration for the kind of thing I wanted. As I was
aiming to have a film opening like American Psycho I found the budget that they used of
$7 million so I think a budget close or probably less than American Psycho as we would
have more common sets and less props and practical effects like the explosion at the end
of American Psycho.
A budget of $7 million (£4629644) would leave us with less money to use a major distributor
so having to use a smaller distributor instead would be better for the budget.
What budget would we need to make the
whole film and why?

5. Marketing?
As our film has quite a mainstream audience advertising in quite mainstream places
would be the most beneficial way of marketing our film as we would be directly
marketing to the kind of people who enjoy our type of film. These kind of main
stream places of marketing would be TV adverts, magazines, newspapers, film
trailers, and buses/billboards.
However as we wouldn’t have a very large budget it would be hard to market in all
these places. So if we were to market we would only use one or two mainstream
places of marketing, for example, magazines and pre film trailers.
As we would not have that much mainstream marketing we would have to use
cheaper and more niche marketing like marketing on websites. This could be very
useful in expanding our audience as younger people use the internet a lot more
frequently than the older population. While over 35s still use the internet its not as
often as under 35s.
To conclude we would pay for some mainstream marketing in magazines and
trailers at the beginning of films. TV adverts could be a possibility but it is a lot more
expensive. To make up for less mainstream marketing we would market on the
internet which can expand our audience and in turn make the film more popular.
Where would we market and why?

6. Conclusion
To conclude, we would not need a major distributor but
would need something closer to a major distributor as we
would want some mainstream marketing due to our
mainstream audience. We would also want our film in
cinemas so a distributor would be needed but a less major
one due to our lower budget. We would have a lower
budget due to the quite simple aspects of our film such as
settings, props and costumes. Our marketing would be
relatively minimal due to the lower budget so we would
have to also market on the internet with social media and
some banner ads. This could also help us expand our
audience by appealing to the youth that use the internet
more than our primary target audience of over 35s.