Question 3 of my media studies course.

1. WHAT MEDIA INSTITUTIONWOULD
DISTRIBUTE MY MEDIA PRODUCT?
QUESTION 3
WHATIS A FILMDISTRIBUTOR?
A film distributor is responsible for the marketing of a film. The distribution companyis usually different
from the productioncompany. Thefilm distributor may set the release date ofthe film and the method
ofwhichit is to be exhibited, for example, home viewing or in the cinema.
There are many film distributors and in factthere are more distribution companies than ever. The chart
below showsthe largest and most successfuldistributioncompanies in the world.As youcansee
Warner Brothersand Walt Disney are said tobe the largest, howeverthese statistics are from2013.
This next graphshowsthe top UK independent film distributors in both the UK andIreland. I believe
that my independent productionwouldnotbe able to budgethaving a larger distribution companyto
help distribute andadvertise my production.I couldaffordthis with a budget if a larger production
companywere to take the reign andhelp fundit, however,this is very rare forindependent films.

2. I wouldchoosea smaller and more independent distributor dueto budget as opposedto muchlarger
distribution companies suchas WarnerBrothers and Universal Pictures.I would notbe able to reachthe
budgetto allow to have a large distribution company and therefore I think a smaller companysuchas
FocusFeaturesorPicturehousewouldbe the best option.
I feel that FocusFeaturesdistribution companywould be a better companyto distribute my production
as they distribute many low-budgetfilms that become huge successessuchasThe Theory of
Everything, The Danish Girl and Pirate Radio. I believe usingthis companymy productioncouldbecome
a goodsuccess,even thoughit is extremely low-budget.The productionwouldfitin with the
distribution companydue to the nature ofthe different genre’s and subjectmatters suchas The Danish
Girl, they tendnot to stick to onegenre either. All the films that they distribute seem to be very low-
budgetfilms, butyet they become very successfulduetothe brilliant cast. Also, the films that Focus
Features distributes are producedby muchsmaller companies toosuchas OctoberFilms and Working
Title Films.
Picturehousedistribution may even be a goodsourcefor distributing my production. Picturehouse
Entertainment has workedwith renownedBritish directors andhas distributed aneclectic range of
theatrical releases suchas Dark Horseand The Imposter. AsFocusFeaturesthey distribute many
English award-winningyet low-budgetfilms. Butthey also distribute high-profile alternative contentto
cinemas throughoutthe UKand internationally suchas hit productionsfromthe Royal Shakespeare
Companyand the National Theatre. Muchofthese are musicals andplaywrights and therefore I still
believe FocusFeatureswouldbe the best distribution company.
I think that dueto the productionbeing low-budgetonline streaming may be more effective due to the
costto exhibit productionsinthe cinema, whether it be 35mm film or digital. The expense ofhaving a
productionofflinedistribution wouldmean that the budget wouldneed to be higher,and having the

3. productiononDVDor in the cinema may nothit my target audience correctly.Those that are said to
visit the cinema more now are families withyoungchildren, youngercouplesand film fanaticsthat
enjoytraditional films suchas James Bondandother trilogies. Therefore, I believe if I were todistribute
my productionwithonline streaming suchas Netflix, Now TV and TV broadcastingthen it wouldbe less
cost-effective.Although,I do believe this has some costissues too, butnot nearly as muchas to provide
it in a cinema. IfI had the budget I wouldhave liked to distribute my productioninsmaller budgeted
cinemas suchas Cinema City, this wouldincrease popularity andawareness of the productionasa
whole. I coulddo this if a productioncompanywere toinvest in the production,howeverasI said
before, this is very rare for an independent film.
IfI chooseonline streaming includingNetflix thenthe productionmayreach the target audience much
better, as less people are purchasingDVDsnow. Itis now cheaper to pay foran online streaming system
each monthand be able to watch box-setsand unlimited films as opposedto spending over£10 fora
single film itself. However,as the target audience is white males that are between the ages of30-45,
left wing andhave a social statusof either C1 orC2 I believe that many ofthese may nothave online
streaming unless they have a family and therefore may have it foryoungerchildren or box-setsfor
youngeradults. Those that are younger in the 15-25region wouldhave more experience and
knowledge ononline streaming and technologies andthus wouldbe more likely tohave these
accounts.Netflix andNOW TV have categories for especially forindependent films fortheir audiences,
this means that they are more likely to take on independent films and they seem not towonderas to
whether it is popular orhow it is rated either. By usingonline streaming it can be rated with stars and
canbe shared via Facebookandother social networks thusbeing a free advertisement from the
audience onhow they felt aboutthe production.
With all this being said, I feel that FocusFeaturesandPicturehouseEntertainment wouldmore likely be
the distribution companies that wouldthink about distributing my independent production.I believe
cinemas couldget very expensive to exhibit andtherefore I wouldadvertise usingsocial networking
devices and posters.I wouldcontactNetflix and other online streaming networksand discussexhibiting
my film onthere.