Q3
- 1. Q3: What kindof mediainstitutionmightdistributeyourmediaproductandwhy? Our thriller,‘Torpidity’,isanindependentfilmaimedata niche market.Withthisin mind,we wouldoptfora smallerdistributioncompanywhoare successful atdistributionforsmall budgetfilms. Takingthisintoconsideration,Iwouldconsidertwodistributioncompanies,the firstof these companies bringFilm4. Film4isrenouncedfordistributingsmall,independentfilms.Film4hasdistributedthe film‘F’,whichisalowbudget film,(around£150,000) Britishfilmwhichismade byan independentfilmmade by BlackRobe, but distributedbyFilm4.Thisisexactlythe kindof distributionwe wantourfilmtohave.Another filmdistributedbyFilm4whichmatchesthe genre of ourfilmis‘Children of the Corn’,whichisa lowbudgetfilmdistributedbyFilm4.Anotherfactorof choosingFilm4isthe synergyithaswith the TV Channel.Thiswould produce more revenue forourthrillerandallow ittoget distributed to a largeraudience,thusincreasingthe moneywe wouldmake fromthe thriller.The othercompanywhichwe wouldconsiderPicturehouse EntertainmentPictures.Picturehouse are acompanywhodistribute small, independentBritishfilmsanddoitextremelywell.Whenyouconsidersmall documentariessuchas Ronaldo,were distributedonalimitedrelease butdue tohighdemand, got distributedonamore global scale.Theyspecialise innon-mainstreamfilms,whichof course appliestoourthrillerfilm. Film4isa companywhichwascreatedin1998 byChannel FourTelevisionCompanyinthe hope of expandingtheir channel tothe filmindustry.Theyworkatdistributingfilmsthroughbothtelevision,ontheirchannel,whichcreates a synergythat hasseenfilmssuchas The Inbetweeners become amassive bigscreenhit. However,theyalsospecialiseinthe distributionof Britishfilmssuchas‘F’ anddue toour filmbeingBritishandnon-mainstream, Film4‘skeyethosagreeswiththe aspectsof our filmwhichmeanstheyare a viable optiontodistributeourfilm.Notonlythis,the synergy of Channel 4and All 4 allowsusto exploitthe BritishtelevisionmarketthroughChannel 4 but alsoensuringourfilmisavailabletothe constantlygrowingmarketof VoD,whichAll4 allowsusto do.All these factorsmake Film4a credible candidate todistribute ourfilm, and I thinkourfilmwouldbe incrediblyattractive tothemdue tothe independentBritish marketwe are targetingwithourfilm. Picturehouse Entertainmentisthe “distributingarm”of Picturehouse’scompany.Picturehouse aimtodistribute small,independentfilmswhooperate onasmall budgetandoften,theyare filmstargetedata niche market. Bearingthisinmind,our filmwasproducedona shoestringbudgetandwas independentlymade byaproductioncompanywhoare unknown. Picturehouse Entertainmentare renouncedfordistributingsmall,niche films but doingitina successful waywhichmake profit;ultimatelythe aim.Not onlythis,butthe amount of cinemasownedacrossthe UnitedKingdom wouldallowforusto aimat a niche marketacross the country,inNorwich, the place in whichourproduction companyisbased,Picturehouseowned CinemaCityisinthe heart of the City. CinemaCityisownedbyPicturehouseandisthuslikelytobe distributedourfilm.Notonlythis,butourfilmis tailoredtomore of an independentcinemaaudience due tothe low budgetourfilmhas had accesstoo, notonlythis,butthe localnessof ourproductioncompanymeansit’s more relatable topeople inNorfolk,particularlyinareas whichwere filmedinareaswell knownto people inNorwich.Filmssuchas La La Land have beenappealingtoCinema City’saudience due tothe technical aspectsandaestheticsinthe filmwhichhasseenit winmultiple awards.Ourfilmisbeautifullyproduced,withaestheticsbeingthe focal pointand whenyoucombine thisfactorwiththe disequilibriumpresentatthe start of the film,itengagesthe audience andallowsfilmbuffstoimmerse withourfilmwhich appealstothe sort of audience CinemaCityare responsible for. CineworldownPicturehouse,whichmeansthere is
- 2. opportunityforourfilmtobe distributedtoamore mainstreamaudience of amultiplex cinemaaudience.However, exhibitingourfilminmultiplex cinemassuchas Cineworldcouldleadtoemptytheatresof peopledue tothe unknownnature of our film,productioncompany,directorandactorswhichmeansitcost us more moneyto play the filmtoone personasoppose tofillingthe theatre atCinemaCity,whichwouldcostlessmoneyandallowusto getmore income fromthe film,sothere are huge risks. Digital technologiesofferlotsof newdistributionopportunities.Forexample,due tothe proliferationof Video-On- Demandand siteslike Netflix andLoveFilm,we couldopttoshow our filmona service like thistoensure we are conformingtoa youngeraudience whoperhapsdon’tactivelygooutand visitthe cinema.Thiswouldaidour distributionasitwouldallowustoeasilymake ourfilmgloballyaccessiblewhilstmaintainingsome income forour film.A downside of thisthoughisthe problemof piratingwhichmeansourfilmwouldn’tmake income andwe couldlose moneyfromthe film,whichwouldbe adisasterfora small, independentproductioncompanylike ourselves.Anotherdigital technologyplatformwe could considerisYouTube.YouTube wouldallow ustodistributeour filmtoa large audience which givesitgreatopportunitiestoexhibitittoa youngeraudience whowouldn’twatchthe film otherwise.YouTubeisslowlybecomingamainstreamoutpostformediaandvideocreation which,if gottenright,couldleadtobigmoneythroughadvertisingandaudience.However,if our filmwasmade accessible onYouTube, income wouldn’tbe presentdue tothe lack of advertisingwe would receive.Nobodywouldadvertiseonsomethingthatisn’tguaranteedtogetan audience thatwouldincrease the profile ontheirproduct,Torpiditydoesn’thave the famousactoror directorthatis needed.Also,the abilityto convertYouTube videosinMP4 filesmeansit’seasytopirate andthe lack of advertisingmeansprofitsimpleisn’t possible. Socialmediacouldbe vital tohowwe distributeourfilmassiteslike Facebookhave justshortof 2 billion monthlyusersandthuswe couldstart a page for our filminhope of creatinga substantial followinggettingourfilm a large followingtoexhibitandadvertise through.We couldrelease snippetsortrailersforourfilm. As student’sfilmmakers,ourfilmwouldbe opentonew distributionopportunities,suchasstudentfilm competitions.Forexample,the NorwichFilmFestival hasacategoryfor Best StudentFilm.Thiscategorywouldbe a great place todistribute ourfilminasbiggercompaniesanddistributioncouldwatchthe filmandlooktoprogressit further.CinemaCityshare apassionforfilmandare keentodistribute the workof studentsattheircinema. One example of aneventthatCinemaCitydoisCreative Futures;whichallowsstudentsaged15-19, whoare interestedinfilmtoshowcase their workto distributorsandthengoon to work inthe industry,competitionsandschemes like this strengthwhyourproductioncompanywouldbe greatwhenworkingwithCinema City. However,asan independent,studentProductionCompany,we wouldfinditdifficulttodistribute ourfilmbecause of the lackof knowledgearoundourcompany,low budgetof the filmandthe costs of filmmakingwithnoguarantee of thatmoneyeverreturning. . The age of us iscrucial to,as itcan leadto exploitationandvulnerabilitytothe industry,meaningbiggercompaniescoulduse ourworkand notpay us whattheywoulddue toage, sowe have to be careful.