Distribution

Film Distribution

Process Of Attaching A Distributor

Distribution is fundamental for a film to make profit, or even break even on its costs. A distribution company may be attached to a project during pre-production, especially for Studio productions for which the distribution company will most likely be a sister company of the production company. However, in the independent industry getting distribution can be a significant challenge. Sometimes a distribution company will be attached from the outset; this will significantly help the independent production company attract financiers. Often though, the film will be taken to film festivals in the hope that a film buyer will purchase the film. Independent film companies often employ a sales agent whose role it is to seek out distribution companies for the film.

In our contemporary society, so reliant on digital media, online distribution is a growing area, however using media sharing sites such as www.youtube.com to distribute a film attracts no profit (though it may attract distributors if enough hype is built). There is profit to be made in selling and renting the film via Lovefilm.com and iTunes, though the advertising campaign for the film will have to be strong in order for audiences to be aware enough of the film, to know to download it.

The Distributor’s Job

The distribution company is in charge of getting the film out to audiences, this involves organising for the film to receive an age certificate by regulation bodies, such as the BBFC and MPAA; arranging exhibition outlets globally and DVD/Television rights; arranging for prints of the film; and marketing, publicity and promotion of the film.

The Distribution Process

These latter tasks form the process of alerting audiences to the films’ existence. There are several critical things the distributor must consider in order to create a productive campaign:

A. Who is the target audience?

The distributor will think about the demographic and psychographic profile of the target audience.

Demographic profile includes: gender, age, socio-economic class and ethnicity. There are many measures used for identifying psychographic profiles, however that most commonly used by advertisers is Young and Rubicam’s 4Cs (Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation): www.4cs.yr.com

B. What do the target audience do?

What magazines and newspapers do they read? Where do they travel and how? What are their interests? What other films are they likely to watch?

The distributor will aim to define everything about the audience, in order to maximise profit for the film, by targeting advertising in the most appropriate places. For example, if the audience is unlikely to take public transport, but likely to purchase political magazines the distributor can avoid tube station posters and instead buy advertising space in The Economist.

The distributor will find out about their audience through surveys and data analysis and will divide their data into three areas:

1. Who the audience is

2. What they think

3. Their media

C. Is there a wider audience this film could appeal to?

Major studio projects are so successful because they are mainly family films. Distributors will look for secondary audiences or whether a film has mass audience appeal, they may create a number of different poster campaigns for example in order to appeal to these different audiences. This means they could advertise the film in trailers and posters as Action/ Adventure (mass appeal), then Science Fiction and Romance (secondary audience) if there are elements of these genres in the film.

D. What major cast or crew are involved in the project?

The distributor will consider how to maximise the exposure of key cast and crew, measuring the successful of their most recent productions will not only allow the distributor to see what audience/s particular stars attract and perhaps widen the audience appeal in the marketing campaign, but it will also allow them to see which stars or crew (mainly the Director/Producer) should feature prominently in the advertising campaign.

Viki Walden | Sunday August 28, 2011

Categories: Hot Entries, Film Distribution, Film Marketing, Film Publicity, Film Promotion