WHAT MEDIA INSTITUTION WOULD

DISTRIBUTE MY MEDIA PRODUCT? QUESTION 3

WHAT IS A FILM DISTRIBUTOR?

A film distributor is responsible for the marketing of a film. The distribution company is usually different

from the production company. The film distributor may set the release date of the film and the method

of which it is to be exhibited, for example, home viewing or in the cinema.

There are many film distributors and in fact there are more distribution companies than ever. The chart

below shows the largest and most successful distribution companies in the world. As you can see

Warner Brothers and Walt Disney are said to be the largest, however these statistics are from 2013.

This next graph shows the top UK independent film distributors in both the UK and Ireland. I believe

that my independent production would not be able to budget having a larger distribution company to

help distribute and advertise my production. I could afford this with a budget if a larger production

company were to take the reign and help fund it, however, this is very rare for independent films.

I would choose a smaller and more independent distributor due to budget as opposed to much larger

distribution companies such as Warner Brothers and Universal Pictures. I would not be able to reach the

budget to allow to have a large distribution company and therefore I think a smaller company such as

Focus Features or Picturehouse would be the best option.

I feel that Focus Features distribution company would be a better company to distribute my production

as they distribute many low-budget films that become huge successes such as The Theory of

Everything, The Danish Girl and Pirate Radio. I believe using this company my production could become

a good success, even though it is extremely low-budget. The production would fit in with the

distribution company due to the nature of the different genre’s and subject matters such as The Danish

Girl, they tend not to stick to one genre either. All the films that they distribute seem to be very low-

budget films, but yet they become very successful due to the brilliant cast. Also, the films that Focus

Features distributes are produced by much smaller companies too such as October Films and Working

Title Films.

Picturehouse distribution may even be a good source for distributing my production. Picturehouse

Entertainment has worked with renowned British directors and has distributed an eclectic range of

theatrical releases such as Dark Horse and The Imposter. As Focus Features they distribute many

English award-winning yet low-budget films. But they also distribute high-profile alternative content to

cinemas throughout the UK and internationally such as hit productions from the Royal Shakespeare

Company and the National Theatre. Much of these are musicals and playwrights and therefore I still

believe Focus Features would be the best distribution company.

I think that due to the production being low-budget online streaming may be more effective due to the

cost to exhibit productions in the cinema, whether it be 35mm film or digital. The expense of having a

production offline distribution would mean that the budget would need to be higher, and having the

production on DVD or in the cinema may not hit my target audience correctly. Those that are said to

visit the cinema more now are families with young children, younger couples and film fanatics that

enjoy traditional films such as James Bond and other trilogies. Therefore, I believe if I were to distribute

my production with online streaming such as Netflix, Now TV and TV broadcasting then it would be less

cost-effective. Although, I do believe this has some cost issues too, but not nearly as much as to provide

it in a cinema. If I had the budget I would have liked to distribute my production in smaller budgeted

cinemas such as Cinema City, this would increase popularity and awareness of the production as a

whole. I could do this if a production company were to invest in the production, however as I said

before, this is very rare for an independent film.

If I choose online streaming including Netflix then the production may reach the target audience much

better, as less people are purchasing DVDs now. It is now cheaper to pay for an online streaming system

each month and be able to watch box-sets and unlimited films as opposed to spending over £10 for a

single film itself. However, as the target audience is white males that are between the ages of 30-45,

left wing and have a social status of either C1 or C2 I believe that many of these may not have online

streaming unless they have a family and therefore may have it for younger children or box-sets for

younger adults. Those that are younger in the 15-25 region would have more experience and

knowledge on online streaming and technologies and thus would be more likely to have these

accounts. Netflix and NOW TV have categories for especially for independent films for their audiences,

this means that they are more likely to take on independent films and they seem not to wonder as to

whether it is popular or how it is rated either. By using online streaming it can be rated with stars and

can be shared via Facebook and other social networks thus being a free advertisement from the

audience on how they felt about the production.

With all this being said, I feel that Focus Features and Picturehouse Entertainment would more likely be the distribution companies that would think about distributing my independent production. I believe cinemas could get very expensive to exhibit and therefore I would advertise using social networking devices and posters. I would contact Netflix and other online streaming networks and discuss exhibiting my film on there.