Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Production

We needed a production company to produce our film. As is typical of many independent films, we decided to make out own company called Alma Gavon Studios. Alma Gavon Studios is a British, independent production company that specializes in making small, indie, low-budget films like our one.

Production companies such as Film 4, Warp Films and Fox Searchlight produce similar films to 'Michael' and so we based Alma Gavon studios on these companies.

Warp Films:
Produced



Popular Films Produced/Distributed by These Companies

• This Is England '86 and '88
• Four Lions
• Submarine

Fox Searchlight:
Distributed

• 127 Hours
• 500 Days of Summer
• Slumdog Millionaire
• 28 Weeks Later

Produced

• Arrested Development
• Little Miss Sunshine
• 127 Hours
• 500 Days of Summer

Film 4:
Produced

• 127 Hours
• Attack The Block
• How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Submarine
• This Is England
• Trainspotting

These films mostly had a relatively low budget. Most of them are British indie films and all of them are popular in the UK. We wanted our company to be similar to these ones as they are very good at targeting British audiences.













Distribution

We needed a company that really knew how to target a British audience. We researched companies that have been responsible for and effective at distributing British, teen, indie films. In particular we wanted companies that could specifically target males aged 16-24 as this was our core audience. However they also needed to be able to target our other secondary audiences. In addition to this, we
were aware that larger companies like Universal or Fox Searchlight are vertically and horizontally integrated and would be able to target audiences that are broader than just the UK, greatly increasing the potential for our film's success.

Marketing Campaign



Marketing and Releasing Our Film

Marketing
Our film would be mainly marketed online as this is a very cheap method of marketing and it aslo has the capability of targeting very specific audiences. Also, our primary target audience use the internet a lot. Teenagers use social media and sites like Youtube very frequently so releasing a trailer for our film on Youtube and advertising it on Facebook and Twitter will raise awareness for the film. There is also a chance that people will share the trailer with their friends, allowing it to go viral. This is free and effective marketing.
Universal is a huge company that can afford pretty much any form of advertising if it is appropriate for the film. Universal may choose to put up posters on some school busses or at bus stops around schools. This will be another very effective way of targeting teenagers, even if it is more expensive than relying on the internet. By advertising online and on buses, synergy will be created between the advertising on the two platforms.

Releasing
Our film will be released in cinemas around London as the film has quite a strong London feel to it. It will be shown in major cinemas like Cineworld. Our film has no SFX and is not in 3D or anything like that so it doesn't need to be shown on a massive screen. It can be shown once or twice a day in small screens with 50-100 seats. It will be released at the start of the Easter holidays (around April) and will continue to be shown throughout the holiday. I think this would be a more suitable time to release the film than around christmas as this is when huge films like The Hobbit are usually released and I don't want too much competition so that the film does well.


Exhibition Platforms

Cinema
Our distributor, Universal, is one of the 6 largest film studios and has distributed hundreds of films, including 'Scott Pilgrim vs The World', 'Ted' and 'Kick Ass 2'. Therefore, we expect that they will be able to have our film exhibited in many large cinemas throughout Britain. Cinema chains like Cineworld or Vue are places that I would expect 'Michael' to be shown at due to the power and influence that Universal has. Typically, films that are disctributed by a major film studio screened widely throughout the country and there is no reason why our film should not follow this trend.

TV
After being shown at cinemas, it is likely that our film would be shown on channels like Film 4 or perhaps BBC3 as it is an independent and, more importantly, British film. It is unlikely that it would be shown on a major channel like BBC1 or at prime time because it is only an independent film.

Online
It is very likely that our film will be streamed on websites like Netflix and Film4 as this is how many 16-24 year olds now watch films and TV shows. This may increase the popularity of the film as it is very easy to share things with friends online via social media sites.

It is almost inevitable that our film will end up being streamed illegally on sites like Putlocker or Project Free TV. While this does not generate any revenue for the film, it does still spread awareness for it. Illegal streaming sites like these are also starting to be blocked by ISPs and it is becoming harder to watch films in this way so perhaps this will not be as much of a problem as it has been previously for other films.

Conclusion

It is likely that after a year or two, our film will mainly be seen online, either legally or illegally. It may be shown occasionally on TV on channels like BBC3 or Films 4. Although this is less likely, there is a chance that, if the film does well at the cinema, it will be sold on DVD or Blu Ray at some major stores like Sainsburys and HMV.