2. WHAT IS A DISTRIBUTORS?
A distributor is a dynamic sector which works to deliver the largest possible
audience to every film release.
They are very different from the production process, which is in charge of
money, planning, filming and editing.
Whereas, a distributor of a film comes up with a release strategy which
includes when the film will be released to the public (date and what time of
year), what is the films competition (will it effect sales of their film tickets) and
also will the film be advertised and released locally or nationally.
Other factor that they need to think about it exhibition deals, this has to do
with what cinemas will show their film their marketing and if they will show it
at all. This has to do with how many people will actually pay to see the film.
And finally a distributor company’s main job is to market the film, to catch the
eye of the public. The most successful ways to do this is through posters
displayed on busses and boards, talking about it over social networks and
finally creating movie trailers on TV and YouTube. This creates hype and buzz
to entice more customers to see it.
3. EXAMPLES OF DISTRIBUTORS
Universal
-Universal Studios Inc., is an American
motion picture studio, owned by Comcast
through its wholly owned subsidiary NBC
Universal, and is one of the six major
movie studios.
-They create a diverse slate of films, from
classics like E.T and Jaws, comedies like
The 40 Year Old Virgin and Pitch Perfect.
They also create franchise like, back to the
future and meet the parents.
-They put all of money and resources into
distributing a film, all of their films are
nationally marketed, including having A
List Hollywood actors involved and
putting millions into the films.
4. EXAMPLES OF DISTRIBUTORS
Axiom Films
-An independent film company, who
don’t spend allot of money on films.
-This is a world cinema, meaning it
produces films based all over the
world and different genres of films,
like documentary's, opera and dance.
-Some films that were made include,
About Elly made in Iran and another
example is a film called À l'aventure
made in France.
5. MY FILM
My film that we have made the opening sequence for is very similar to the film, the
Breakfast Club. This film was distributed by the company ‘Universal Studios’.
As the film is so similar to ours they may produce ours as well but, however due to them
usually spending millions on their films they would be unlikely to want our film, as ours is a
very low budget movie.
Therefore a more likely distributor company for our movie would be an
independent one.
An example of a company that could be interested in our film would be,
‘Soda Pictures’.
A bit about them- recent releases have included Norwegian Wood, Meek's
Cutoff, Barbara, Bullhead and Woody Allen: A Documentary.
Soda pride themselves on releasing challenging films, with a particular
focus on independent children's titles and a commitment to new British
Cinema.
Therefore I think that this company would be perfect to produce my film
‘The Text’ as it is a British based company (our film was based and filmed
in England), distributes independent films like ours .
6. AUDIENCES
I think that our films main audience is the UK market, this is because it is based and
set in England, meaning it will relate to allot of people there, influencing them to
buy a ticket for the film. Another reason for it mainly being a UK based movie is due
to the independent film company’s don’t have allot of money or recourses to
distribute the film over seas as well as UK.
However as the film is very similar to the very popular film made in 1985 ‘The Breakfast Club’
which was made in America, having a re-make, but an English version, may entice some of the
company's with more resources to help distribute the film overseas to a larger market. The
film was very successful in many countries, which suggests that our film could do the same.
-our film will also appeal to a wider audience due to it being based around teenagers at
college having problems with a day to day life. Everyone in their life goes through this
therefore everyone who watches this film will have something to relate to. This meaning a
more well known distributor may want to pick up this film due to the fact is it so relatable .
Our film will attract both male and females which proves it will have a large target audience,
meaning higher viewers therefore it will have a higher chance of being having a national
audience.
Overall, I feel that the likely hood would be for a independent company like ‘Soda Pictures”
would take on my movie and therefore have an audience of the UK population.
7. MARKETING
We would choose to distribute our film mainly in the UK, if it is successful then
we would distribute the film further to other parts of the world like the USA. To
let our audiences know when to watch our film we will need to market our film.
We will firstly produce a trailer, this will be shown on during commercials that
relate to the TV on the television. The trailer will also be able to be watched on
social networking sites like, twitter, YouTube and Facebook. This is a good place
to market our film as allot of teenagers spend allot of time on these particular
sites, so will likely see our film previews and be interested to see it.
Another way we will advertise our film is through posters that will be displayed
around the UK, on buses, billboards, cross tracks extra, this will let people know a
bit about the film. It does not tell the audiences allot about the film, however it
will make them want to find out. This is also a cheaper way to advertise, which is a
likely option for this movie, due to the fact that it is from an independent
distributor..
8. RELEASE STRATEGIES
If our film is successful, our distributor
company may think to bring out the film to
other countries like the rest of Europe and
the USA. Another way to further the success
is to bring the movie out to DVD and Blue Ray
or even make a sequel to the film.
9. EXHIBITION OPTIONS
To help promote our film further before the
opening, the distribution company may decide to
organise public relations. This involves organising
interviews and premiers with the actors and crew
members. This will help to create hype from the
audience to get more customers to watch the
film.
