+

Production company

research

+Introduction

When making our film, one of the considerations we must take into account is the producing of our product, and this is the job of film production companies.

Such companies will often designate a producer to act as a representative for them and go out and observe the production of the film.

A producer will oversee the filmmaking process and often provide financial support as well as help get the film to market and distribute it to appropriate film distributors.

More specifically, a line producer would be helpful for our movie because this kind of producer is one with a much more hands-on role than an executive producer. However, over recent years, these roles have become interchangeable with a lack of distinction between the two.

+With this in mind, I have decided to

research 3 categories of Film

companies in order to decide which

is most appropriate for our

production.

+ These companies are the six largest in

the world and have extremely large

budgets to produce the likes of

Transformers, Harry

potter, Batman, Lord of the Rings and

many more.

Such massive companies seem rather

unattainable for our small budget

film, therefore our film would not be

looking to become a

blockbuster, especially considering it is

our first production. Labels such as

these generally don’t take risks with

first-time filmmakers.

+ These companies are some of the

biggest in the U.K and have produced

the likes of The King’s

speech, Slumdog Millionaire, Hot fuzz

and more.

These companies seem more

attainable than the big, American

companies because the British film

industry is far smaller. Seeing as our

film is about the pressures of a

teenager based in London, these

companies seem to be very

appropriate for our film, not to mention

the fact that we do not require a

particularly high budget.

+Such independent film companies

have produced: The Grey, Silent

House, The Girl with the Dragon

Tattoo, The fighter, 127 hours and

Black Swan.

This seems to be the most appropriate

route to go down for our ‘no budget’

film, because we are appealing to a

very niche market and these

companies specialize in routing out

unknown talent and movies with great

potential.

In particular, these companies like the

idea of boosting the image of small

British films, which is exactly what we

are making.

+Assessment of options

In terms of our film being a thriller, Hammer Films would be the

obvious choice in terms of the British film companies because

they specialize in the horror and thriller genre, being most

recently involved in the production of The Woman in Black.

However, as our film is supposed to be a modern take on a

thriller, this company may not be that suitable because it

generally goes for the more traditional looking thrillers, perhaps

this is why it is nowhere near as successful as it was in the

1960s and 70s. We are looking for a company that has

ambitions for the future and Hammer Films doesn’t seem to be

moving with the times unfortunately.

Hammer Films

+Assessment of options

Much like Hammer Films, Open Road films also specializes in the thriller and Horror genre but the distinct difference between the two is that Open Road is a very new company, founded in 2011, making it a very attractive option for our film which epitomizes the modernity of the thriller genre and the way in which it is changing and becoming more realistic.

In such a short amount of time they have already proven to have a good track record, with the production of The Grey and Silent House.

Being an extremely modern and evolving company, it is very impressive to learn that they have signed a deal with ‘Netflix’ to allow the distribution of their films to the ever-growing online audience.

Open Road

+Assessment of options

Perhaps the most modern and increasingly popular way of funding an indie film is in the form of a user-backed website like ‘Kickstarter’. In this method, films are entirely funded by the general public where a target budget is set and in return, backers will receive rewards, e.g. personal script, T-shirts etc.

The concept is fantastic for really small filmmakers like ourselves who realistically may not be able to get an actual company on board our project, but with donations we can reach the budget and it creates a unique, consumer/filmmaker relationship which has never been seen before.

However, being our first production, we felt as a group, this was quite radical and a little too risky because we wouldn’t really be receiving any financial or distributing support, on top of the fact that for our first production, we would very much be keen to get an experienced producer on board our project.

Kickstarter

+Final Decision

In the end, we have decided to opt to team up with Open Road

films and give them the role of co-producer, along with my

group member’s personal company and our own group’s

company specifically founded for this film, leaving the project in

a position with three production companies, which we believe

to be the best form of maximising its potential.

Open Road would be the main producer of the three because

they have the most experience and would be extremely

beneficial in the distributing process.