What is distribution?
What is a distributor?
Marketing and distribution.
Tony Angellotti believes:
- The audience influence how the film is made
- Audience decided who is used e.g stars etc
Toby Miller believes:
- Power isn't with the audience but with Hollywood.
My opinion:
I think that Tony Angellotti is correct, a film would be a flop if it didn't include things the audience wanted to see in it.
What is distribution?
- Film distribution describes everything that happens in between the making of the film and the screening of it.
- Distribution involves all the deals done to get films shown
- "Above the line" advertising is funded by the distribution company and involves billboards, trailers and various spin offs
- "Below the line" is free advertising e.g fan site and interviews with stars.
Is it all fair?
- Do distributors treat all films equally and ensure fair play in getting films to the public attention?
- The big companies who control much of the industry control the distribution of their own products and others. E.g 20th Century Fox and Avatar.
- Films are released to cinema's for a finite period of time. Release deals are done to get access to a certain number of screens.
Five major distributors dominate the UK film industry, they are:
- United International Pictures
- Warner Brothers
- Buena Vista
- Twentieth Fox
- Sony
Key points
- Roughly 9/10 films seen in the UK are Viewed as a result of the five major distributors.
- In most cases these distributors have direct links to Hollywood production companies, who make films AND exhibitors who prioritise Hollywood films over others for profit.
- Usually Blockbuster films are released by "blanket release." So even if a small UK company releases a film they have to compete with Blockbusters.
- One of the outcomes of the above distribution arrangement is that half of the films released go to half the country.
Problems smaller companies face
- Every film shown in a cinema is a print on a reel. Every cinema it is being showed at needs separate reels for each screen, this costs a lot.
- Major companies can afford far more prints than smaller companies
- This is improving due to the use of digital.
The dominance of Hollywood marketing
Does marketing a film really matter?
Pirates of the Caribbean had awful reviews yet still made of over £50 Million in the UK box office. 1.5million DVDs were brought after 10 days of release. Marketing made the film a success.
The Dark Night compared to
This is England
The Dark Night was the first big blockbuster in viral advertising.
It cost £185million to make
It was shown on 4336 screens
This is England was made by Film Four
In comparison to The Dark Night it was only shown on 62 screens.
Piracy problem and the film industry
- Piracy is a major concern of all distributors. Hollywood investigators claim a 10% increase each year in revenue lost due to illegal distribution.
- Major problem in the UK. The UK film council recommendations include a strategy for responding to Internet distribution and reminding the public that it hurts the UK film industry-effectively using the guilt trip
Digital distribution advantages
- Promises to reform the film industry more than any technological change since the advent of sound.
- Once it becomes the norm to digitally download legally via broadband a new type of "blanket distribution" is obvious-not only o you no longer need multiple prints but you can also bypass the cinema.
- Digital films offer identical versions. Meaning no wear or tear copies and better qualities.
- Control and security and the eradication of the pirate cinema-goer with a hidden camera. Normal cameras cannot film in 3D.
- Simultaneous global distribution via the Internet will put an end to the "time gap" of releases in different places and thus its exploitation by pirates.
Release of a film
Marketability-Identifying target audience and devising a strategy to approach them.
Media-You have to decide who best to link up with Web/TV/Radio
Planning a release
Are the audience you're releasing to consumers? E.g know the director from previous films. Are they a Niche audience?
Target audience
If the film being released is a small title then it really has to advertise to the target audience.
It has to advertise to certain age groups in certain places e.g 15-16 year olds will turn up to the cinema for something to do whereas elderly people will plan for up to a week what they want to watch before going to the cinema. Younger audiences are more spontaneous.
Marketing plan
A company will need to find places to advertise E.g Newspaper.
There are a number of different ways to advertise:
- Free form advertising-Press interviews. "Below the line" advertising
- Outdoor advertising-Buses/shelters/billboards
- Word of mouth
Word of mouth is important because it can make or break a film, it is very important for small films when they cannot advertise as much as larger ones and when they appeal for niche audiences.
- Screening programme-Show public a showing free to try and impress and spread news via word of mouth.
Competition
October half term is important because teenagers and children are off school and the weather is bad so they are looking for something to do.
TV advertising is a winter form of advertising because more people are inside
Outdoor advertising is a Summer form of advertising because more people are outside.
Companies still have to be careful about what films they are releasing against.
Word of mouth
Advanced screenings can promote word of mouth.
If 100 people go to an advanced screening and then this 100 people talk about the movie in a positive way, word will spread quickly. It makes and breaks a film and therefore builds the life expectancy of it.
Budget
- Television advertising is very expensive
- Radio is cheaper
Viral marketing
This is the use of the Internet to pass on information. Such as entering a competition or doing a quiz and then sending it on.
Piracy
Piracy is commonly poor quality and a rip off.
20% of DVD sales are pirate DVDs.
