2. PRODUCTION PRACTICES
• CAST – Famous British stars, such as Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, as seen
in other big British films. Since they have a big fan-base even before the film was
made, meaning that people would anticipate to see these actors’ next film.
• BUDGET - $15 million, which is very limited for a film.
• THEMES – The film is surrounded around the monarchy or England, and the King
trying to deliver a speech in time. This would appeal to an American audience, due
to the fact that the monarchy is something exclusive to England, and in general,
the Royal Family has quite an international following.
• DIRECTOR – The film was directed by Tom Hooper, who started off creating short
films at the age of 13. After the success of The King’s Speech, he later directed
other films that also became a success, such as Les Miserables.
In this context, it is not so much the director or the production budget that earned
the film a box office taking of $$414,211,549. Rather, it is more of the cast and the
theme behind the film that establishes a sense of “Britishness,” which would appeal
to a patriotic British society, as well as other countries, such as America.
3. DISTRIBUTION STRATEGIES
• FILM FESTIVALS – Considering the fact that The King’s Speech is an
independent film, it was dependent on marketing for it to compete with
other leading production companies, such as 20th Century Fox. The film was
entered into many film festivals around this time, and the reception was
popular, meaning that journalists were positively reviewing the film even
before its cinema release.
• POWER OF THE STUDIO – Considering the fact that the creation of the film
was of a very low budget, marketing was more of a priority. By introducing
the films into renowned film festivals, more of a hype would have been
created before the film was even released, and so British audiences would
have begun to take an interest. As popularity increased, along with the
growing theme of the Royal Family, American audiences also became
interested.
• MARKETING – Posters and trailers for domestic appeal, but there are also
various YouTube trailers to appeal to a mass audience and create a hype
with all of the trailers being shown.
