2. Distribution
Distribution is the competitive business involved in the launching and
keeping films in the movie market place.The film business is evidently
product driven, meaning it is the film that has to sell itself in order for people
to go and watch.The distribution sector work hard at gaining the largest
possible audience for each film they release. Often film distributors spent
hundreds of millions of pounds on film releases each year, to ensure they
raise enough interest and awareness of audiences.
3. Distribution Companies
• Twentieth Century Fox Corporation – are a subsidiary company, owned by
21st Century Fox.They are one of the top distribution companies in the
US.They have distributed famous films, such as: Avatar, StarWars,
Titanic, Night inThe Museum and Mr & Mrs Smith.
• Columbia Pictures – are a distributor part of Sony Pictures Motion Picture
Group and a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment.They are one of the
biggest film distributors in the world.They have been distributors to films
such as:The Smurfs, Surfs up, Spider Man and 21 Jump Street.
• Lions Gate Entertainment – is a public distribution company, distributing
films through Lions Gate Films.They release and distributed their first
film in 1997, and since them have release many famous films including:
Saw, Bridge toTerabithia, Hostel, Cabin in theWoods,The HungerGames
andTwilight.
4. Distribution Companies
• Paramount Pictures Corporation – are a subsidiary distributor ofViacom. It
is one of the biggest film companies in the world, and is the fifth oldest
surviving film groups in the world.They have distributed films including:
Transformers, Iron Man, StarTrek, Mission: Impossible and Indiana Jones.
• Summit Entertainment – are a subsidiary distributing company owned by
Lions Gate.They work alongside Lions Gate in the distributing process for
some films produced by Lions Gate. Films they have been involved in
distributing include: Step Up,TheTwilight Saga’s and Mr & Mrs Smith.
• Universal Studios – are a subsidiary distributor of Comcast. Universal is the
oldest surviving film company in the US, and one of the biggest film
distributors.They have produced films including: JurassicWorld, Pitch
Perfect, Despicable Me, Jaws,Ted and E.T.
5. Our Film and Distribution
Our film is aThriller. It is about a teenage boy who writes a blog about the
regular nightmares he gets about a man slaughtering devil.The twist is that
in reality, the teenager is actually possessed and is the devil himself. In our
teaser, we will use montage editing in order to separate the evil devil and
teenage boy characters.
From doing research into the top film distributing companies, and the film’s
they have produced, I definitely think the most suited distributor to our film
would be Lions Gate Entertainment and Films. A lot of the films that they
help to distribute are thrillers or horrors, and therefore that would fit our
film’s genre.
The most similar film of theirs, which could compare to our film ‘The Devil In
My Head’, is the film ‘Hostel’.They both have themes of murder, evil, and
include horror based twists.
6. Audience
Primarily, I think our audience will be UK based.This would be due to the
film being set in England and the UK school system.This makes it more
interesting and applicable for UK audience members. Additionally, the
use of an English actor and therefore voiceover, makes it relatable for the
UK. Furthermore, that could be an aspect that creates excitement in over
countries over the ‘love’ of the English accent. However, because it is a
Thriller and includes internet based themes, the audience could be spread
across the world. Everyone loves aThriller, no matter where it is set.The
factor of using a online internet blogger also makes it of interest across
the world, as social media and online content creation is now becoming
so popular.
7. Marketing and Release Strategies
For our media project this year, the most important marketing points for our films are our teaser
trailer, film poster and magazine poster. However, putting those aside, if we were to do a complete
film release here are some other marketing forms we could use upon release of our film.
• Official website for the film: this will be the source of information for the upcoming film. Any
potential audience members that have any queries or want more information on the film, can go
straight to website for official information. It will hold information about release, interviews,
various versions of trailers, free wallpapers, ringtones etc.
• Press Junkets: this is an event usually spread over a weekend in a specific location, where any
press, journalists, movie critics (etc…) can fly in to get official time with the creators of the film
and actors involved.These interviews are always one on one with companies, assisted by a
publicist to make sure the topics are always positive.
• Publicity Blitz: these come out closer to the release of the film, and basically bombard all forms of
media and advertisement with information and promotion of the film.The idea is to put these
advertisements everywhere, so that the film becomes ‘unmissable’ and targets everyone to
ensure they know about the release.