Film distribution is the process of making a film available to the public through different platforms of media. Examples of this would include Cinema, TV or DVD's.
What does a film distributor do and how do they reach their audience?
A film distributor is responsible for the marketing, advertising and distribution of a film from its digital format to the public for viewing. To do this, the film distributor has the task of figuring out and working with the film creators to know who the target audience is, what rough demographic size they range and how the best method of media would suit the film for advertising and marketing.
There are many different methods of marketing that film distributors might use. The purpose for these methods is to create 'hype' or awareness of the product that is going to be released, to attract a particular target audience. Some examples of ways film distributors might advertise a product includes outdoor advertising, which includes billboards, bus posters, bus stop posters or building canvas'. Digital advertising can include sponsored website ads like on YouTube or on a news site, radio adverts, TV trailers or adverts in the cinema itself before a featured film. However, depending on a particular demographic or target audience determines on what type of advertising the film distributor might invest more time into. For example, if the demographic is for a younger target audience in their teens, they would be more likely to do web and TV adverts due to younger people using the internet more than their older demographic counterparts.
Another example is if there is a new action film coming out like James bond that can apply to a large demographic and as mass audience then a film distributor might equally invest in bus posters, billboards, TV adverts and radio plays.
This is why it is extremely valuable for film distributors to know their target audience and can invest a lot of money in understanding how and what they want to see from a film, this means that they can then appeal to the target audience and gratify their needs through the advertising and sell them the product they have been assigned to market and distribute. This is why there is a lot of money in the film distribution business because essentially if a film is not marketed properly and does not hype the target audience enough then the product is not going to reach the audience it needed to.
What is meant by a distribution plan?
A distribution plan is the strategic plan on how the film when released can optimise reaching its target audience and secondary audience through them purchasing the product. This is then planned through proposing a plan on how they can promote the film and both distribute the film.
What is meant by a marketing plan?
A marketing plan is a comprehensive document in which the distribution company will pitch their ideas and strategic outline on how they will spend in achieving the reach on the target audience, what they will do to try and appeal to a wider secondary audience and what will create hype for the upcoming release of a film. The marketing plan is important because it allows the marketing team to understand where the money is best spent for the type of target audience they have because different demographics are more likely to use particular platforms of media and certain methods would therefore be more promising and money better spent. Therefore this is all laid out in a big spreadsheet like the example below which shows how one might go about displaying all this information.
What is the difference between advertising, publicity and promotion?
Advertising is the concept where the distribution and marketing company has actually paid for posters, adverts or trailers to be shown and displayed to the public in an order to get reach on their target audience and secondary audience to get their product to appeal to them. This could be in the form of a 30 second TV trailer, a radio advert, a newspaper print, a bus stop poster etc. These are all paid for to try and reach an audience who might want to go and see the film and buy into the product. The difference between advertising and promotion is that promotion is typically free. For example, in traditional media like in newspapers there might be a short write up about a new film if it has an interesting ideology or if its controversial the editor might add it which then also advertises the product to the public reading it. In digital media you have free ways of promotion such as social media, TV interviews or uploads. For example, an actor starring in a new film might go on a talk show for their TV personality but then the host asks them about their upcoming film or work, this is then when they can add in information about the film which is free promotion because it allows the actor to get more recognised and reputable from the films success, therefore being advantageous for actors to tweet to their thousands or millions of followers when they have a new film and to go and see it. This is a successful form of marketing but is typically free and considered promotion rather than advertising. Publicity is similar to promotion but less obvious. The definition of publicity is when the media gives attention or information about a particular product. Therefore promotion is considered publicity but advertising is paid for so would not be considered publicity. Publicity is notable in new films that show new concepts or horror films that have pushed the boundaries of what is considered tolerant of what can be viewed on screen and therefore may have articles or blogs written about it online. Some say there's no such thing as bad publicity but if a film oversteps its mark and all publicists right up about it, yes it could be watched by more people as its a free form of promotion for the film but at the same time it may increase negative responses to the film and give it bad reviews, despite the film making more revenue.
Find a teaser poster, teaser trailer, main poster and main trailer for a horror film and put them on your blog - who was the distributor and in how many countries was it released? can you find out how many screens it was shown in on opening weekends?
The conjuring is a horror film that was published by film distributors Warner Bros. On its opening weekend it was shown in 2,903 theatres. Which was surprisingly low in comparison to how much it grossed in its first weekend screened alone. It was estimated to have been released in around 30 countries but i could not find a definitive figure.
On the left is the main poster for The Conjuring and on the right the teaser poster.
Here is the teaser trailer for The Conjuring:
What is meant by a distribution plan?
A distribution plan is the strategic plan on how the film when released can optimise reaching its target audience and secondary audience through them purchasing the product. This is then planned through proposing a plan on how they can promote the film and both distribute the film.
What is meant by a marketing plan?
A marketing plan is a comprehensive document in which the distribution company will pitch their ideas and strategic outline on how they will spend in achieving the reach on the target audience, what they will do to try and appeal to a wider secondary audience and what will create hype for the upcoming release of a film. The marketing plan is important because it allows the marketing team to understand where the money is best spent for the type of target audience they have because different demographics are more likely to use particular platforms of media and certain methods would therefore be more promising and money better spent. Therefore this is all laid out in a big spreadsheet like the example below which shows how one might go about displaying all this information.
Advertising is the concept where the distribution and marketing company has actually paid for posters, adverts or trailers to be shown and displayed to the public in an order to get reach on their target audience and secondary audience to get their product to appeal to them. This could be in the form of a 30 second TV trailer, a radio advert, a newspaper print, a bus stop poster etc. These are all paid for to try and reach an audience who might want to go and see the film and buy into the product. The difference between advertising and promotion is that promotion is typically free. For example, in traditional media like in newspapers there might be a short write up about a new film if it has an interesting ideology or if its controversial the editor might add it which then also advertises the product to the public reading it. In digital media you have free ways of promotion such as social media, TV interviews or uploads. For example, an actor starring in a new film might go on a talk show for their TV personality but then the host asks them about their upcoming film or work, this is then when they can add in information about the film which is free promotion because it allows the actor to get more recognised and reputable from the films success, therefore being advantageous for actors to tweet to their thousands or millions of followers when they have a new film and to go and see it. This is a successful form of marketing but is typically free and considered promotion rather than advertising. Publicity is similar to promotion but less obvious. The definition of publicity is when the media gives attention or information about a particular product. Therefore promotion is considered publicity but advertising is paid for so would not be considered publicity. Publicity is notable in new films that show new concepts or horror films that have pushed the boundaries of what is considered tolerant of what can be viewed on screen and therefore may have articles or blogs written about it online. Some say there's no such thing as bad publicity but if a film oversteps its mark and all publicists right up about it, yes it could be watched by more people as its a free form of promotion for the film but at the same time it may increase negative responses to the film and give it bad reviews, despite the film making more revenue.
Find a teaser poster, teaser trailer, main poster and main trailer for a horror film and put them on your blog - who was the distributor and in how many countries was it released? can you find out how many screens it was shown in on opening weekends?
The conjuring is a horror film that was published by film distributors Warner Bros. On its opening weekend it was shown in 2,903 theatres. Which was surprisingly low in comparison to how much it grossed in its first weekend screened alone. It was estimated to have been released in around 30 countries but i could not find a definitive figure.
On the left is the main poster for The Conjuring and on the right the teaser poster.
Here is the teaser trailer for The Conjuring:
Here is the Main trailer for The Conjuring:
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