Distribution in media AS

What is distribution? • A film distributor is

responsible for setting a release date, marketing and deciding if a film goes into the cinema or other platforms such as DVD.

How is a film distributed?

• The studio makes a licensing agreement with a distribution company.• The distribution company determines how many copies of the film to

make.• The distribution company shows the movie (screening) to

prospective buyers representing the theaters/ cinemas• The buyers negotiate with the distribution company on which movies

they wish to lease and the terms of the lease agreement.• The theater shows the movie for a specified number of weeks

(engagement).

Film distribution companiesLIONSGATE

• Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is an American distribution company.

• As of 2013, Lionsgate was the most commercially successful independent film distribution in North America.

• In some respect, Lionsgate films are seen as too controversial for other major companies as they have distributed films such as the Saw franchise.

• Recent releases include hunger games and The Cabin in the Woods.

PARAMOUNT• Paramount Pictures is

often ranked as the top grossing distribution company.

• Paramount is horizontally integrated, owning cinemas and studios.

• Paramount is known for its blockbusters such as ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ and the Shrek franchise.

Our film distribution What kind of film have we produced?

• We have produced a paranormal thriller film about a young girl who killed herself haunting her bullies. Our film is a UK film but with the conventions it follows, it could very easily be shown in other major countries such as the USA.

Who would distribute our film?• In my opinion, Lionsgate would be the best distribution company

to distribute our film because of its history in distributing similar genres of film such as Cabin in the Woods and Buried. Lionsgate also produces more films aimed at our target audience so therefore has more experience in marketing for our audience.

• Although Paramount is one of the highest grossing distribution companies, it is more well known for its Hollywood blockbusters and family films. However, there are some thrillers distributed by Paramount such as Shutter Island and Paranormal activity 2.

• Based on my research, I would choose Lionsgate to distribute my film as it has more experience in attracting our target audience and fans of the thriller genre.

Self distribution? • In the case that we could not get a distribution

company to release a film, we would have the more difficult option to self distribute our film. This would be a difficult route to take and the most popular way to do this would be too enter our film into a film festival. Although many films such as Saw and the Blair Witch Project have been successful through film festivals, it would be extremely hard for our film to be seen by any companies because our target audience do not often take part in film festivals.

Marketing our film• The most successful way we could

market our film would be through the use of social media. As our target audience is mostly young people, this would be the easiest way to attract our audience.

• With the 14 million people using Instagram, 39% of UK users are aged 16-25, which is our main target audience.

• Similarly, Facebook’s most popular age group is 25-34 which could still attract some of our target audience.

• With the rise of internet stars and you tubers, if we were to do a screening of our film we could invite young you tubers such as Joe Sugg and Alfie Deyes to come and watch our film and review it on their channels who’s audiences are mainly the same audience for our film and they could promote the film in order to get more people to come and see the film.• We could also use ads to pop up on

other networking sights such as twitter to keep it open to all audiences and ages.