What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
As I will be making a film opening, I would need to work with a distributor to have my film opening distributed across social media, as social media is free and has a great reach. I have researched distribution using the sources; the FDA website and the Future Learn’s Business of Film course.
Distribution is the process of getting the finished product to the theatres that will show the film, broadcasters that will increase attention, video stores that will distribute the product and video on demand services, i.e. Netflix. These distributing companies gain access to these products via a sales agent, employed by the producer, that licence the product to the distributors outside of the producer’s own country. Distributors ensure that the product reaches the intended audience via cinema exhibitions, DVD sales and screenings of the film online, this is all in an attempt to promote awareness of the film.
The research I have done into the different distribution companies have lead me to choose Vertigo as my distributor for my microbudget production. This is because Vertigo’s mantra is “Create and distribute commercially driven independent cinema”. They also cater to actors and actresses who are trying to get into independent films, which I find to be apt for my microbudget production.
As I will be making a film opening, I would need to work with a distributor to have my film opening distributed across social media, as social media is free and has a great reach. I have researched distribution using the sources; the FDA website and the Future Learn’s Business of Film course.
Distribution is the process of getting the finished product to the theatres that will show the film, broadcasters that will increase attention, video stores that will distribute the product and video on demand services, i.e. Netflix. These distributing companies gain access to these products via a sales agent, employed by the producer, that licence the product to the distributors outside of the producer’s own country. Distributors ensure that the product reaches the intended audience via cinema exhibitions, DVD sales and screenings of the film online, this is all in an attempt to promote awareness of the film.
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The research I have done into the different distribution companies have lead me to choose Vertigo as my distributor for my microbudget production. This is because Vertigo’s mantra is “Create and distribute commercially driven independent cinema”. They also cater to actors and actresses who are trying to get into independent films, which I find to be apt for my microbudget production.
To gain more information about distributors I watched a series of interviews of Stuart Williams, Marketing Director and Managing Director of Sony Pictures Releasing on the FDA website called www.launchingfilms.com.
The distribution tactics between larger budget films produced from one of ‘The Big 6’ such as The Avengers and smaller budget films such as I, Daniel Blake are radically different; big budget blockbusters usually employ the use of P&A frequently, advertising on buses, on Ad-shells, massive billboards and paying for television adverts however smaller budget productions, such as the one I am making, often use social media to spread awareness as it is free, and can reach a staggering amount of people with relative ease however, for example, Tortoise in Love used funding from the BFI to fund the P&A for the film and relied on people raising awareness of the film by talk both online and offline.
Distributors Raising Awareness
Distributors typically raise awareness of their products via social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram however another method of distribution is trailers and teaser trailers, the slow drip feed of information to audiences, especially for franchises with dedicated fanbases, can be extremely good at stoking the fires of excitement and to get people talking about your product, for example the use of teaser trailers and trailers for Star Wars the Force Awakens. Star Wars, being a household name, needed only to use a few trailers and teaser trailers and the media was clambering to be the first to dissect or to simply comment on them. It is also said that 2.34 billion network users have social media, meaning that to distribute via social media is also extremely cheap and it has a reach of just over a third of the population of earth.
The Difference Between High and Low Budget Distribution
From my newfound knowledge on 'the Big Six', having just researched them, I can recognise how these studios and numerous other large studios have a plethora of distribution methods such as; billboards; ad shells; posters; trailers; social media. These methods of distribution will affect lots of people as, for example the posters on the sides of buses in cities, will be seen numerous of times a day by hundreds of thousands of people however ads on social media can be viewed from anywhere in the world, giving it a much greater reach than any other method of distribution.
Alternatively, for a low budget film such as mine, the distribution methods are a lot more limited. As previously mentioned, small budget movies can appeal to the BFI to fund the Prints and Advertising for the movie.
The distributor we will be working with to distribute our film is Vertigo Films, they have an extensive list of clients and films that have been successes, Vertigo Films also prodominantly feature a lengthy paragraph describing themselves and their work; The company’s mission is to create and distribute commercially driven independent cinema and since inception it has produced 28 films and distributed a further 35. The Films span a range of genres and audience taste and include the box office smash hit Streetdance 3D, the biggest independent UK DVD of all time The Football Factory, the multi award winning Monsters, Vertigo co-production Ajami (nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film), smash hit family film Horrid Henry The Movie, audience favourite The Sweeney, and the hottest director of the moment, Nicolas Winding Refn's first English-language film, Bronson.
Championing new talent has been key to Vertigo Film’s production strategy and it continues to pride itself on being at the forefront of breaking new talent, including Tom Hardy (Bronson), Scoot McNairy (Monsters), Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist), Gareth Edwards (Monsters), Paul Andrew Williams (London to Brighton), Ben Gregor (All Stars) and Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson).
Digital Distribution
Digital distribution includes any digital format for television shows or movies to be distributed to consumers, examples include Hulu, Netlfix and Amazon Prime Video. The advantage of digital distribution over the older, better-established distribution tactics are that it is incredibly cost effective, as instead of sending tons worth of film reels, all that is needed is a weightless file that can be distributed amongst the UKs hundreds of cinema theatres almost instantly.
UK Film Council
The UK Film Council has been a great support of independent cinemas, chains or otherwise, and financially supporting the improvement of accessibility to cinemas for people with disabilities.
The distributor we will be working with to distribute our film is Vertigo Films, they have an extensive list of clients and films that have been successes, Vertigo Films also prodominantly feature a lengthy paragraph describing themselves and their work; The company’s mission is to create and distribute commercially driven independent cinema and since inception it has produced 28 films and distributed a further 35. The Films span a range of genres and audience taste and include the box office smash hit Streetdance 3D, the biggest independent UK DVD of all time The Football Factory, the multi award winning Monsters, Vertigo co-production Ajami (nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film), smash hit family film Horrid Henry The Movie, audience favourite The Sweeney, and the hottest director of the moment, Nicolas Winding Refn's first English-language film, Bronson.
Championing new talent has been key to Vertigo Film’s production strategy and it continues to pride itself on being at the forefront of breaking new talent, including Tom Hardy (Bronson), Scoot McNairy (Monsters), Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist), Gareth Edwards (Monsters), Paul Andrew Williams (London to Brighton), Ben Gregor (All Stars) and Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson).
Digital Distribution
Digital distribution includes any digital format for television shows or movies to be distributed to consumers, examples include Hulu, Netlfix and Amazon Prime Video. The advantage of digital distribution over the older, better-established distribution tactics are that it is incredibly cost effective, as instead of sending tons worth of film reels, all that is needed is a weightless file that can be distributed amongst the UKs hundreds of cinema theatres almost instantly.
UK Film Council
The UK Film Council has been a great support of independent cinemas, chains or otherwise, and financially supporting the improvement of accessibility to cinemas for people with disabilities.
Very sound.
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