1. Film Distribution and Marketing
The distribution of a film is the process through which a movie is made available to watch for an
audience by a film distributor. A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for the
marketing of a film. It is the task of the distributor to identify and deliver the largest possible
audience for a film. This task may be accomplished in a variety of ways; for example, with a
theatrical release, a home entertainment release or a television program for broadcast syndication
and may include digital distribution.
The reach of a film is in relation to the way it reaches its audience. For example Hollywood films such
as ‘Avatar’ (2009) had a large worldwide reach and were released all over the world. It has since
become the most successful film of all time, and this could be down to its reach. However, films with
a smaller reach, such as the niche film 'Colin' (2008); it won't have quite an impact. Colin was made
using only £60, and ended up with a profit of almost £800, this just shows how even with Niche
films, if you market them well enough even they can become popular.
The marketing plan is to create visibility, raise awareness and to engage interest, cutting through the
blizzard of competing messages. Distributors use various methods to market a film. Word of mouth:
a personal recommendation from a friend. Posters: the main image or artwork distilling the appeal
and position of the film, also tell people who stars in it, who it’s directed by and what genre. Trailers:
film clips to entice people to go see the film. Online and mobile: make a fan base website and social
network accounts for a film, also online advertising on popular websites. Publicity: magazine or
newspaper articles about the film or interviews with a cast member. These are the main ways
distributors market a film.
They also work with a 'Distribution plan'. This is where the distributors decide who their target
audience are, and research them to find out how best to reach them and when to release the film.
For example, they might do private test screenings of a film several times before hand to see how it
reaches the audience best. They also might wait to release the film until a certain time which helps
promote the film best. For example, if it's a Christmas film it will be more popular at Christmas
rather than mid-summer. Or a romantic comedy film around Valentine’s Day. Distributors must also
take into account current events and the context of the film, as if something is quite large in the
media at one point, it may be either perfect timing to release the film, or it could end in disaster as it
is disrespectful to whatever happened. For example, movies, documentaries and TV programs about
9/11 were not released until several years after as it is a very sensitive subject.
Although very similar, advertising, publicity and promotion each mean something different. They are
all about making people aware of the film, but publicity is where the actors of the film, or directors
etc. are seen everywhere around the time the film is released, for example interviews in every
magazine and on TV. This adds subtle hints to the audience who then want to see the film.
Advertising is literally just advertising the film, through posters and trailers etc. Promotion is where
other companies work with the distributors to promote the film or the film sponsoring something
popular on TV, meaning it'll get a large viewing.