AS MEDIA STUDIES

G322 Institutions and Audiences

Production

Involves the creation of the media product and is the responsibility of the production company.

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

1. Development2. Pre-production3. Production4. Post-production

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

In 1993 Clerks was bought by distribution company Miramax for just over $2million

Distribution

Film Distribution

Is the process of launching a film into the market place and sustaining public interest in the film.

World-wide distribution is dominated by US Companies such as Paramount, Warner, and Universal.

Distributors may be involved in a film in any or all of the following three ways: It may invest in the film’s production. The distributor might buy the rights to the film once

it is made. If the distributor is part of a larger organisation that

has made the film, then it will automatically distribute films made by the parent company.

Film Distribution: Key Elements Positioning:

Involves how and when the film should be released. Elements to be considered are the time of year, other film releases and the target audience.

Circulation: how many copies of the film should be

circulated to cinemas. Each print costs around £1000. The distributor should decide whether the

film requires a ‘saturation release’ (700-1000 prints) or an ‘art-house release’ (around 20 prints)

Film Distribution: Key Elements Release:

Timing is crucial. School holidays are a prime time within the year for the release of blockbusters.

If the film is a potential award winner, then it will be released during the traditional season of awards competition: January to March.

Competition must also be considered. Marketing:

Can often cost as much as making the film!!! Main aim is to create a ‘must see’ feeling about the

film. Word-of-mouth is a powerful marketing aid for a film.

Film Distribution: Marketing: Key Features

Several elements can be used in marketing to generate interest in a film.

Posters: Contain standard elements that are used to sell

the idea of a film to the potential viewer. The main image will often echo a key moment in

the film. Any stars or possible key personnel, will have

their names featured. Posters usually have a Unique Selling Point. This

is the element that offers something special or different about the film.

Some blockbusters use a ‘teaser’ poster campaign. The teaser posters offer a few key elements of a film to generate interest.

Film Distribution: Marketing: Key Features

Trailers: Need to present a number of key elements to the

audience. The genre – through key scenes, iconography, dialogue,

or other sound elements. Narrative elements have to be introduced, being careful

not to ruin the film though. Is there is a star, then they will likely be featured.

Again a USP will be created this could be: Images of an actor playing a different role to what the

audience expects A location that differs from that which is conventional

within a particular genre The presentation of a story not told before.

As with posters, there may also be a teaser campaign.

Film Distribution: Marketing:Key Features:

Media Advertising: Using other media texts to promote the film.

Posters in magazines and newspapers, and on billboards and bus stops.

Trailers on TV and radio (depending on the budget) Stars and director appear as guests to be interviewed about the

film.

The Internet: A ‘buzz’ about a film can be generated in an internet chat

room, for example. If positive word of mouth spreads this is good promotion, however, there is the other side of the coin too.

Individual films have their own website, which feature clips, images, interviews and so on. This helps create public awareness.

E.G. The Blair Witch Project. The film’s website provoked great debate about whether the film was based on a real incident or not. This created a large amount of publicity for a low budget film.

Film Distribution: Marketing:Key Elements.

Promotions: Big films often have tie-in promotion campaigns. E.G. toys given away in fast

food outlets, displays in shop windows. Merchandising:

A large potential for profit lies in this area. The distributor will oversee the sale of licenses to approved companies to allow

them to use film images and logos. Star Wars was perhaps the first film to profit through merchandising.

Premieres: Are a carefully organised promotion tool. They generate articles in newspapers,

magazine articles about those who attended, and T.V. interviews with stars. Press Junkets:

The endless short interviews given to the members of the press. It is an official element of the publicity campaign.

Preview Screenings: Free tickets might be given away or won in competitions. Distributors are careful

to attract to the preview the intended target audience for the film, in order to try and generate a positive word of mouth.

Festivals: Film festivals have a dual function. They are competitions in which if a film wins

an award or receives critical acclaim, it will provide positive publicity for the film. Secondly they are a promotional tool where reviews are created and interviews conducted.

The Premiere

Fame helps sells films and stars have loyal fan bases.

The biggest stars are those who can ‘open’ a film – guarantee that it will do well in it’s opening weekend.

Star power can extend to big name directors like Tarantino.

Working Title retain great popularity with the fans from the type of films they are associated in making eg Rom coms.

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.

Exhibition/exchange

Film Exhibition

UK Cinemas Prints and Logistics Box Office Performance Revenues Recoupment

The major revenue that exhibitors gain comes from popcorn sales, drinks sales etc.

They are dependent on the popularity of the film they show and the work of the distributors marketing team, to sell more popcorn and increase their profits.

Therefore they are very selective about the films they show.

British films can struggle when competing against big Hollywood films but niche exhibitors can afford to show British and International films.

Prints and Logistics Making so many prints of films requires

substantial investment from distributors. They will try to reduce costs by making a smaller number of prints and releasing the film in waves.

This is the chief reason why many films are released in the UK and Europe some months after their US release: to save the distributors money on reproduction costs.

Other important Issues and Key Terms

Proliferation – the increase of films in a genre or the use of technology, etc.Are your focus films in a particular genre? Are they benefitting from new technology, including software in their production, editing and distribution? Are they available for downloading from the Net.

Synergies – the involves the benefits of working within a larger organisation or working in co-operation with other companies. Does, for instance, how does Film4 benefit from being part of being Channel 4?

Cross media convergence – how does the institution and its film(s) benefit from the coming together of other technologies, i.e. the internet, digital downloading, television, cinemas, mobile phone promotions, Youtube, play-station 4, digital games, etc.

Other terms and words you think are important for production issues and are topic specific.

Digital Technology

Convergence and new technologies in production, distribution and marketing & its importance for institutions and audienceshow important was new technology such as CGI, blue or green-screen, etc. important for the film and its audiences?how important is digital technology for the distribution of the film? (in cinemas,how significant is internet, digital downloads, DVDs, high definition, CGI, digital television, etc for distributing the institution’s film? Again, what are the issues?

Digital Revolution has been transforming film distribution in two key ways.

1.

Piracy has lead distributors to ‘day and date’ releases, in which the film is released in all territories simultaneously.

This requires a great deal of investment and is usually reserved for big blockbusters.

2. The development of digital data storage and

transmission via the internet has made digital film distribution a serious possibility for the future.

50% of US and UK cinemas will be capable of digital projection by 2010 so distributors of low budget films can distribute films digitally at a reduced cost.

In the future distributors will be able to distribute their films via electronic prints.

Box Office Performance

Data about film attendance is collected continuously, and used by the cinemas to decide which films o cancel and which to prolong.

Some films that flopped in the cinemas can find their audience on DVD and can make a healthy profit some years after their initial release.

Revenues

The box office gross is the starting measure for what everyone involved will make from the film.

In reality most of this money will go back to the exhibitors who screen the film and the distributor to pay for the marketing costs.

Recoupment

The profits for the film will come from other distribution ‘windows’ such as DVD sales and broadcast.

The length of time it takes to sell the film in all the available windows means that it may be several years before all the investors receive their money – and even longer before the producer can get paid.

When writing the exam essay - candidates should look for modern examples in their industry and be able to write a paragraph about:the processes of production – how the product is created

the methods of distribution – how does the product reach its audiencemarketing

methods, and processes of marketing as they relate to the institutions

the way audiences consume the product

the relationships between audiences and institutions

issues raised by media ownership within your topic

convergence and new technologies in production, distribution and marketing and its importance for institutions and audiences

issues raised by global institutions targeting British audiences

The Boat that Rocked Review http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/

86395/the-boat-that-rocked.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/apr/07/richard-curtis-boat-that-rocked-box-office

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-boat-that-rocked-15-1660783.html