What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?By Jess Prentice, Jordan Carter and Harry Foord

Institution

The institution we chose to distribute our film is Curzon Artificial Eye. It is an independent film company that specialises in distributing low-budget, independent films. This is the ideal distributor for us as our film is a low budget production and would benefit greatly if a smaller distribution company released our film. They have distributed films such as ‘The Unknown Girl’ and ‘The Clan’.

Our second choice is Film 4. They are also an independent film distributor. They were not our first choice though, because the films that they release are relatively known throughout the UK and some have very big production values.

Where will our film be distributed?

Our film will be distributed across the UK, USA and even in select countries in Europe. This is because the plot of the film is understandable in applicable to these countries and so will draw a larger audience. By only releasing in certain European countries, it saves money by not wasting the distribution budget on places where not a lot of people will go to see the film.

Methods to distribute the film include; cinema, straight to DVD or by streaming on the internet. The more successful means of distribution recently are the straight to video or on the internet, and so this would be the preferred way to release the film. This way will also appeal to our target audience as the majority of internet and online watchers are in the 15-25 age range. It is well known knowledge that smaller film productions tend to do much better in terms of sales and viewers when utilising these new methods as opposed to the more typical cinema release method that big-name productions use.

Examples of independent successes

Some examples of films that were successful by being released online instead of in cinemas include ‘Beasts of No Nation’ and ‘Mascots’. Both of these films were initially released on Netflix and gained popularity. ‘Beasts of No Nation’ includes some high profile actors, which is an element as to why it was so successful but even without very famous people many movies tend to do well by releasing on online streaming services. This is because of the accessibility of the content.