This document discusses film distributors and the differences between major distribution companies and independent distribution companies. Major distributors like Universal, 20th Century Fox, and Warner Bros. release many big-budget films each year and command a large share of box office revenues. Independent distributors like Film4, Entertainment One, and IFC Films release films with lower budgets that are often screened at festivals first before distribution. While major studio films make more money overall, independent films can still be profitable and allow for more creative control over smaller niche audiences. The document uses examples like Avatar from 20th Century Fox and Juno from Fox Searchlight to show these differences.

2. WHAT IS A FILM DISTRIBUTOR?
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing
films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing.
You can get major or independent companies which are very different
and tend to distribute different film types.

3. WHAT IS A MAJOR DISTRIBUTION COMPANY?
A major film studio is a movie production and distribution
company that releases a substantial number of films
annually and consistently commands a significant share of
box-office revenues in a given market.

4. EXAMPLES.
-Universal
-Columbia
-20th Century Fox
-Warner Bros.
-Paramount

5. FILMS DISTRIBUTED BY MAJOR COMPANIES.
20th Century Fox
Universal A-Team, The
Jaws, Jurassic Park, Chronicles of Narnia,
American Pie, Bourne Avatar, Night at the
Identity and Fast and Museum,
Furious Transporter and
Warner Brothers Cheaper by the
Inception, Sex and the Dozen.
City, The Hangover, Harry
Potter, Invictus and The
Dark Knight
Paramount
Puss in Boots,
Columbia Kung fu Panda,
Men in Black, The Girl Captain America,
with the Dragon Tattoo, Shutter Island
The Karate Kid and 2012. and Iron Man

6. WHAT IS AN INDEPENDENT DISTRIBUTION
COMPANY?
• An Independent film is a professional film production resulting
in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside
of the major film studio system.
• Independent films are sometimes distinguishable by their
content and style and the way in which the filmmakers'
personal artistic vision is realised.

7. • Usually, independent films are made with considerably lower film
budgets than major studio films.
• Independent films are often screened at local, national, or
international film festivals before distribution.
• An independent film production can rival a mainstream film
production if it has the necessary funding and distribution.

8. EXAMPLES.
THE FOLLOWING STUDIOS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE THE MOST PREVALENT OF THE MODERN INDEPENDENT
STUDIOS
-Film4
-Entertainment One
-IFC Films
-Fox Searchlight Pictures

9. FILMS DISTRIBUTED BY INDEPENDENT COMPANIES.
IFC Films
Film4 Human Centipede,
Shaun of the Dead, Strangers, Chalet
127 Hours, Girl and My Big
Inbetweeners Movie Fat Greek
This is England
Wedding
Fox Searchlight
Entertainment One Juno, Black
The Bridge, Swan, (500) Days
Our Brand is Crisis and of Summer, Whip
The Official Story. It, History Boys
and Napoleon
Dynamite.

10. RESEARCH
Box Office We did research into the Independent
Revenue film ‘Juno’ which was distributed by Fox
4 Searchlight and the Major film ‘Avatar’
distributed by 20th Century Fox on there
2 Box Office revenue. As you can see
0 Avatar made around $2 billion on the
Juno Avatar box office alone compared to Juno who
accumulated $2 million from box office.
These results show that majorly distributed films tend to make more money
as an end result as they are targeted to a much wider audience and are
marketed on a much larger scale than independent films.

11. RESEARCH
8.2 We researched the two films using the
8 ‘Rotten Tomato’ review website and
7.8 found that Juno (the film independently
7.6 distributed) scored 8.1/10 from critics.
7.4 Whereas Avatar (distributed by a major
7.2 company, and with a much higher
7 budget profit) only scored 7.4/10.
Juno Avatar
This goes to show that as Independently distributed films are used to target a
niche audience the overall reception will be much greater. Whereas majorly
distributed films are shown to a much wider audience with completely different
interests when it comes to film, this is evidently shown in these results where
Avatar which has spent millions on its production, scored less on reviews as not
all of the public may have liked it.

12. OUR DECISION...
When asked what institution might distribute our media
product, we had a long discussion about it and after
our research we decided that we would want an
independent distribution company to issue our final
media film.

13. Click on speaker icons for explanations
WHY?
• more creative control
• more of an overall profit
• low budget
• target a niche audience
• more rewarding process

14. SUMMARY
So overall, an independent distribution company would be the most suitable
choice for our thriller as our individualistic style and genre would be able to
relish unlike with a major company who may change or manipulate our idea
in order to reach a bigger target and make a bigger profit.
Although film distributed by Major companies tend to make more overall
box office revenue and profit we feel as we have a very low budget even by
going independent our profit will be huge in comparison to our starting
costs.