Distribution

Target Audience

• A demographic and psychographic understanding of a films audience is needed to be able to distribute a film efficiently. Gender, age, lifestyle, social networks and media consumption influence where a film will be promoted in order to reach its audience.

• Although distribution concentrates on attracting the films core audience, it also aims to attract as wide a audience as possible, successful promotions bridge the gap between mainstream and niche audiences.

• 15-24 year olds are the age group that most frequently visit the cinema, half of the people in this age group go to the cinema at least once a month compared to the overall population average of 2.7 visits a year.

• Distributors can gage the target audience for a film by conducting market research to probe audience reactions to pre-release test screenings. This allows the to promote and distribute a film in the correct manner.

Competition The film industry is an unpredictable product-driven business. There are a few “sleeper” hits a year,

however many films do not make a profit on theatrical showings. The success of a film is often based on its individual qualities, not on whether the genre is popular etc. This means there are many factors that need to be considered when planning a release to create a success:

• Competition- distributors need to consider which films are likely to be released around the same time as their film especially if they are aimed at a similar audience. They need to ensure that appropriate screenings will be available for their film.

• Type of film- consideration needs to be placed on whether the film is an event film, a mass market blockbuster or a specialised film, so that they can give the correct budget to the distribution of the film.

• Star power- distributors look at how well received a star has been in previous films and exploit they’re fame to promote the film. Named directors is another production value that should be considered. The cast members availability is crucial as premiers can raise public awareness.

• Time of year- competition increases in holiday periods, however holiday periods vary globally, when should the film be released?

• Franchise- distinguishing elements should be picked up on to ensure it is perceived as better than the previous film

• Awards- there can be a bottle-neck effect as films race to be released in time for award ceremonies .

Satisfying Anticipated Demand

• Some releases occur at “cinemas everywhere” on 1000 screens uk-wide, this distribution techinique is used for films that are safely predicted as profit earning films such as large scale sequels or star –led holiday releases. A large number of screenings is needed in order to cater for the mass audience, it ensures that as many as possible of the people who want to see the film as soon as it is released are able to.

• Some specialised releases such as films in a foreign language may initially be released in selected London cinema’s only as they is a diverse population living there. This helps distributors gage the success of a film and therefore decide on the budget that should be spent distributing it.

Digital Regeneration• Today, many films are released digitally as well as on

35mm celluloid prints as the disks that are despatched to cinemas (to ingest onto a server to be projected)are significantly less expensive to duplicate that 35mm copies.

• There are many benefits to digital cinema for distributors and cinema operators. Digital images appear on the screen in pristine quality and do no deteriorate over time. Digital re-mastering means that timeless classics can return to screens in the quality audiences come to expect. Digital projectors also allow for 3D films, the next generation of cinema.

Budgeting

• The distributor views the finished film and confirms a release plan, the distributor has to draw up a comprehensive budget.

• In the UK the distributor pays all the release costs including marketing and the duplication of prints (35mm or digital).

• Investment and projected returns can be reassessed when the film is releases based on its commercial performance week by week.

Distribution plays a huge role in the success of a film. Distributors have to assess target audience, promotion, competition, production values, digital regeneration, budgeting and more….