Film Distribution Video Notes

Release of a Film:

• The distributors have to see who the movie is best going to appeal to, and then create an advertising campaign aimed at that group.
• The budget of the advertising has to be decided on.
• The distributors then consider partnerships with various media, who can then promote the film.
• The stars of the movie can actively promote their film, by creating publicity for it. A premier of the film is an option, often with the stars of the film turning up in public to watch it.
• The film can be promoted through outside posters, or on the television/ radio, depending on what will reach the chosen audience best.

Positioning and Audiences:

• The film's genre and target age-group have to be defined.
• If the director is a big name, this should be advertised to people who are likely to have heard of them.
• 15-24 year olds are the most avid movie-goers- many films are targeted at them.

Target Audience:

• Data as to who went to past films helps to define a target audience's gender, age, lifestyle and type of media consumption, but it is never certain if the predicted target audience is correct.
• Different groups of people are reached through diffferent media. Some age groups need to be promoted to repeatedly before making a descision.
• The film must be promoted to as wide an audience as possible, but still with main focus on the target audience.

Competition:

• The film must be more appealing than other films on offer.
• School holidays are the busiest times of year, and the weather at that time of year is also a factor.
• Posters and billboards are more useful than television promotion in hot weather.

Budget:

• The budget includes the cost of buying the original prints of the film and their shipping cost and costs of advertising.
• The advertising budget can go to TV or radio commercials, poster design, online banners.
• The budget has to be divied wisely between different things.
• TV advertising costs much more than other forms of promotion, and sometimes doesn't reach that big an audience.

Word of Mouth:

• If the distributors have the movie in time, and think it will have an impression great enough to cause word of mouth, they can show free advance screenings.
• People can win the chance to watch these screenings through media such as magazines or television shows, and will then tell people about the film and encourage them to see it.
• The prospective audience increases in this way.
• People are more likely to believe their friend's opinions on a movie as opposed to the wider media's opinion.
• The film's duration in cinemas depends on the word of mouth. If the general opinion is a bad one, the movie will cease to be shown.

Marketing Plan:

• The film can be advertised on the TV and radio and through posters. This is more expensive.
• The film can also be promoted through stories about the production and interviews with the cast and crew appearing in newspapers.
• Interviews with the stars can appear on television programmes.
• Younger audiences can be reached through advertising on websites, bus shelters, and on the radio.

Film Trailers:

• Trailers in the cinema are useful because you are in the environment in which you will eventually see the film.
• The audience gets a closer sense of the experience than through any other advertising.
• The sound and special effects, as well as the concept of the film must be clearly portrayed through the trailer.

Digital Marketing:

• Viral marketing is when something related to the film is sent to people. This thing, e.g. a humourous or exciting clip, a quiz, etc must be so good that the people who recieve it then send it on to othr people.
• Word of mouth is a form of viral marketing, as knowledge of the film spreads across the prospective audience. Digital marketing can inspire word of mouth.

Test Screenings:

• Poster ideas, film ideas and trailers are test screened before release to make sure that they live up to people's expectations.
• It is important to make sure that the central ideas are coming across.
• An audience, often from the target audience is shown the film, and focus groups are interviewed as to the strengths and weaknesses of what they have seen. This can lead to parts of a movie being changed.

Persuading Cinemas:

• The cinemas must be convinced to show the films.
• Some independent films are more difficult to offer to cinema chains.
• The release is a joint venture between the distributor and the exhibitor.
• Blockbusters can be booked into several cinema chains at once.
• The maximum advance booking for a cinema is two weeks, after which it can be taken off the screen.

The Opening Weekend:

• The audience figures over the opening Friday, Saturday and Sunday decide what happens to a film. On the monday morning, the descision is made whether or not to keep the film on.
• If the film has recieved the lowest ratings in that cinema, it is not shown again.
• The distributor and exhibitor share the profit, and distributors usually recieve only 30-40% of the gross receipt.

Profit:

• Pirated DVDs account for around 20% of UK sales.
• Pirate DVDs often seem like a bargain, but possess inferior quality.
• The money made may end up funding more serious criminal activities.