Task 3What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

What is distribution?

NounThe action of sharing something out among a number of recipients.

The way in which something is shared out among a group or spread over an area.

A film distributor is the company or responsible for the marketing of a film. They will influence how and where the film is viewed. They may choose this

to self-distribute the film, or distribute it directly to the audience.

The Big 6

• Paramount • Warner Brothers• Universal • Fox • Sony • Disney

These are ‘The Big 6’ distribution companies. These relate to the major

production and distribution companies. To be considered within this bracket the

company must release a substantial amount of films annually and maintain a high share of the box-office revenues within a specific

market.

Examples of Distribution Companies

Sony - Sony distribute under the name Mirimax. Founded in 1979 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein and headquartered in New York City and Cambridge, Massachusetts, Miramax was a

leading independent film motion picture distribution and production company before it was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 1993.

Our own distribution company

Our own distribution company that we made, is called Nebula inc. I have talked about some of the decisions we made when producing it in question 1. We found that a lot of production companies often produce a lot of films within the same genre, therefore we

wanted ours to appear as if it looked suitable to the thriller genre. To do this we kept the colours quite dark and wanted to combine the colour, appearance and affects together to

create quite an exiting and powerful start to our opening sequence.

Comparison to distribution companies

The film we have produced is a crime thriller, therefore when looking for a company to distribute our film, we would want one that predominantly focuses on that genre. I

have decided to search distribution companies.

“Kaleidoscope Film Distribution (KFD) is an expanding International Sales outfit based in Soho, London. Approaching its second birthday, KFD is a one stop shop offering full UK and international distribution and sales capabilities, and is one of the fastest growing independents in the market. Having fully or partially financed ten titles from pre-production so far, supporting independent film and filmmakers, is a key mission”

KFD have released a small amount of films, all focusing on thrillers. I believe this would be a suitable distribution company for us, due to this film “i Against i” being similar to ours. Although the storyline is quite unique, like ours it is a crime thriller involving detectives. Their films seem to range across different thrillers, with some bordering on horrors. Also, because they are a small distribution company they are likely to not be overly expensive and are based in London meaning it may be better as our film, because it’s British, with British actors will probably appeal more to a British audience. They may be interested in our film as they pride themselves on “supporting independent film and filmmakers”.

Target audience

Our film is likely to mainly appeal to a British audience. This is because of the location, and because of our actors being British too. This means that a British audience is far more likely to relate to our

characters. Despite this, our genre may still appeal to a wider audience due to the success of previous crime thrillers. This is because our thriller is still going to maintain the main features of a film like this with action and suspense. These universal themes will appeal to everyone therefore a lot of our audience are likely to base weather they see the film or not on weather it has these key

features. An example of how well a British film is abroad that is slightly similar to ours is James Bond.

SKYFALL: • Budget $150−200 million• Box office $1,032,863,000

Possible Marketing StrategiesTeaser TrailerOne thing we could do is release a teaser trailer. This is affective as it gives the audience a small snippet of what the film could be about. These are far more anticipated if the film or company is well-known. This may mean it’s important to promote the company, by doing things such as attending film festivals, and maybe even trying to win some kind of award.

TrailerA full trailer is the main influence on weather someone will end up going to see the film. This is because this is what will give the audience the best idea about the content of the film. As our company isn’t well known it might be necessary to release a full trailer earlier than a lot of other films so that we can try and attract more people, and reach out to a larger audience.

YouTube ChannelThese can be very affective during promoting a film. An example is how big movies like James Bond have kept a steady steam of videos throughout the build up to their film. This was to try and ensure no one forgot about the release of the film and to build up the anticipation for it by giving the audience snippets of things such as filming, being on set, the actors etc. As a less well known film, it may be even more important to try and build up a fan base before hand to ensure people are awaiting release.

Further Possible Marketing Strategies

One of the main marketing strategies that would could do is by taking our film, before release, to one of the major film festivals. This would be likely to be either the Toronto film festival, or Sundance. The benefits of this would be getting critics to review it early. This means if it is a good review it will increase the anticipation for the film, meaning the film is likely to become much more well know. Also, the film would gain strong media coverage, again adding to the anticipation for it, if it were to win one of the awards they have at these festivals. It would also get a lot of recognition from people regarded highly in film, who could again be a key part in letting others know about the film.

Self DistributionThis is a program that has been set up, helping independent filmmakers to self distribute their films. This is one option that we could take. “The 4-WALL SELECT PROGRAM offers independent filmmakers the opportunity to have their feature, documentary, or foreign films shown in our celebrated theater (40 years old this year), in the heart of Greenwich Village. Participating filmmakers retain all rights to their films, including all DVD, online, and streaming sales. 4-WALL SELECT HIGHLIGHTS: (1) GUARANTEED OPENING. No ifs, and, or buts. Your film will open on a specific date and will run for an entire 7-day week. (2) SIMPLICITY. No complex distribution agreements to muddle through. No need for an expensive entertainment lawyer. (3) YOU'LL RECEIVE 100% OF THE BOX OFFICE INCOME. No hanky-panky. No deductions for overhead expenses and long waits. You'll receive your check within 7 days after the close of your film. (4) EASY ENTRANCE TO DVD/ONLINE SALES: With minimum fuss, and no extra expense, we'll encode, package, and submit your film to the major DVD outlets and digital platforms like Netflix, iTunes (Apple), Amazon, Hulu, Vudu (Microsoft), Zune (Walmart), You Tube, Sony Playstation and Google Play.”

If we were to do this we would have the benefits of self distribution:

You can retain full control and rights over your film, giving you the choice over where your film is shown.You don't have to give a cut of the money made from any sales of your film to a distributor.