INSTITUTIONS AND AUDIENCES

FILM INDUSTRYINTRODUCTION TO

PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION AND

MARKETING

AIMS

• To understand the focus for the Audience and Institutions section of your Exam

• To understand the structure of a Media Triangle

• To understand the different sectors of the film industry

KEY TERMS

Audience

Institution

Production

Subsidiary

Distribution

Marketing

Exhibition

Horizontal Integration

Vertical Integration

THE EXAMSection B: Institutions and

Audiences Candidates should be prepared to understand and discuss the processes of production, distribution, marketing and exchange as they relate to contemporary media institutions, as well as the nature of audience consumption and the relationships between audiences and institutions. In addition, candidates should be familiar with:

•the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;

•the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing;

•the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange;

•the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;

•the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;

•the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions;

•the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.

This unit should be approached through contemporary examples in the form of case studies based upon one of the specified media areas.

Film Four

• Trainspotting

• Looking for Eric

• Slumdog Millionaire

MEDIA TRIANGLES

Institution

Target Audience

Media Text

Who has produced the

media text

What they have

produced

Who it is produced for.

THE FILM PROCESS

PRODUCTION

DISTRIBUTION

EXHIBITION

There are three distinct areas of the film industry.

Each one of these could be viewed as a type of media institution.

What would you expect to happen at each stage?

PRODUCTION

DISTRIBUTION

EXHIBITION

IDE

A

(Pre

-pro

duct

ion)

FIL

MIN

G (

prod

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(in/o

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of

sets

)

ED

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post

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MA

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ET

ING

DIS

TR

IBU

TE

TO

CIN

EM

A

(prin

ts)

EX

HIB

ITE

D (s

own

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INE

MA

DIS

TR

IBU

TE

TO

D

VD

/SH

OP

S

EX

CH

AN

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(TV

, on

line

(itun

es,)

, do

wnl

oadi

ng (

net

flix)

pira

cy e

tc)

• Production involves the creation of the media product and is the responsibility of the PRODUCTION COMPANY

• This includes all pre-production, production & post-production processes.

• Before that the writer/director/producer must find finance for a film – which may come from one or many production companies (a co-production)

Figment Films is the production company who made Trainspotting.

Channel 4 (film 4) financed the film

•Film distributors are responsible for prints and marketing:PRINTS – producing physical copies of a film for cinema/home release and finding the exhibitors/retailers to sell the filmMARKETING – raising audience awareness and anticipation of a new release

•A distributor may:-Be a part of the same parent company as the production company-Have a long term arrangement with a production company and provide financial assistance for many of their productions-Provide financial assistance for a single film by a production company-Acquire a film after it has completed production

•A film will likely have different distributors for:-Releases in different countries-Cinema Release-Home-Video Release

Miramax distributed Trainspotting and bought the rights for $750,000 – in your case study look carefully at how it was marketed and distributed.

• Exhibition is divided into two sections:- Cinema – the distributor is paid by the cinema for a copy

of the film- Home – the distributor is paid by the company who is

selling the film for a copy

• A film’s success is often decided on the amount of money it makes during it’s cinema release. This is known as the Box Office Takings

• Home Exhibition is becoming an increasing valuable and varied source for distributors to increase profits.

WHAT METHODS OF HOME EXHIBITION CAN WE THINK OF?

FilmFour made its reputation with films such as Trainspotting in 1996, which made £23m at the box office but cost only £2.4m and was the highest grossing British film in 1996.

However, it was far more successful on DVD, spawning numerous versions and special editions

Why would this film be more successful on DVD than in the cinema?

HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL INTEGRATION

PRODUCTION

Often a single parent company will own multiple companies in the film industry.

This is divided into two types of ownership:

PRODUCTION PRODUCTION

HORIZONTAL

The parent company owns multiple companies at the same stage of the film industry. A smaller company, owned by the parent is a subsidiary.

VERTICAL

The parent company owns multiple companies across different stages of the film industry.

What are the advantages for a parent company of each type of ownership?

EXHIBITION

DISTRIBUTIONFor example Walt Disney also owns:

•Miramax Films

•Hollywood Pictures

•Pixar Animation

For example Warner Bros owns:

•Warner Bros Studios (Production)

•Warner Bros (Distribution)

•Used to own Warner Bros Cinemas in the UK (Exhibition)

RECAP

What do the following terms mean in relation to the film industry?

• Production

• Subsidiary

• Distribution

• Marketing

• Exhibition

• Horizontal Integration

• Vertical Integration