The term film distribution is used to describe the process of making a movie more accessible for the public to view. A film distributor’s profession is to strategically market a film, through the means of media, they decide the viewing platform of the movie, the release date and how the audience will view all of this information. Films can exhibited in a variety of ways, popular, mainstream films can be viewed at the cinema, along with these are usually an upscale premier, which will often attract a lot of press, therefore, more public acknowledgement. Smaller films, often with a lower budget will sometimes go straight to DVD release, often this means less marketing and promotion takes place; nonetheless they are still advertised, for example, TV adverts from high street stores advertising the latest film releases on DVD. More recently, films are being released straight onto new platforms such as Netflix, this attracts a wide range of audiences, in particular younger audiences, as often new releases are advertised on social media, some films are made exclusive to the online streaming services, whilst others are added to them a few months after release. This way of viewing films is becoming more and more popular; therefore, film distributors have the responsibility of encouraging an audience to watch films on all of these platforms, in order to make as much profit from the film as possible.
Some examples of advertising exposure a film distributor would use include, social media, magazines, television, films trailers (one of the key places for a trailer to be viewed is before another film at cinemas, this is effective because the audience watching the trailer are most probably film advocates already, therefore, are more inclined to watch films)
The reach of a film relates to how many people are exposed to the marketing, such as trailers, posters, billboards etc. It doesn't mean those whom actually watch the product, just those who know about it through advertising; this is a very important aspect of marketing as its important to the statistics of the film- the ratio of how much is spent on marketing with how much the film makes can be told through this data. For example if a lot is spent on marketing and distribution, a wide range of people will see it, therefore, the more people will see the film and the more profit it will make. Contrasting this, if less money is spent on marketing there is a chance less people will watch the film; therefore, less profit. Sometimes having a big reach, can have a negative effect, for example the 2016 children film The BFG, had a large reach and was expected to be hugely successful, as it was also a Spielberg, which was one of the main marketing points; however, the reach didn't pay off therefore ended up surprisingly, unsuccessful.
Marketing plans are how the marketing team produce efficient means of advertising, these plans will outline the actions the company takes to advertise the product, such as the time frame, which is a very important aspect of the planning, the company will need to stick to the time frame, plus contingency plans, in order to achieve synergy. The marketing plans always begin taking into consideration the consumer, by creating a plan according to the consumer needs the company can ensure they make profit (if it all goes to plan). Other aspects the marketing plan take into consideration include budgeting, as this is important when achieving a profit and sales forecasting, this along with other organisations help to detect the strengths and weaknesses in the plans, which the company can then document- so they realise what weaknesses are likely to happen next time- and overcome to make sure they promote the product as successfully as possible.
Alongside this plan, is the distribution plan, its similar to marketing as it looks at time frames; however, distribution plans are specifically to find out when the film should be released. This is important because the team would need to do research on what day of the week people are more likely to go and watch as film (if its being released at the cinema); as well as this they need to research other films coming out, that are either of similar genre or would attract the same audience demographic, and ensure they release it on a different date to this (preferably just before) as this is going to effect viewership; therefore, profit.
Advertising, promotion, distribution and publicity are all factors which work together to ensure the film is successful, by persuading an audience to go watch it. This can be achieved through many media outlets and platforms, including, posters, magazines, social media and trailers. The more attention brought to a film through publicity and promotion, such as the press covering articles on it or news outlets advertising the marketing products, the more likely the highest ‘reach’ will be achieved, meaning people will watch it resulting in a profit.
An example of a successfully marketed and distributed horror film is The Conjuring, released in America and Canada on 19th July 2013, at $20 million to produce, the film was a major hit with $318 million worldwide, making it one of the most profitable and highest-grossing horror films in history. The first promotional images were released in November 2012 on Facebook, which was an image of the two main characters; therefore, introducing them to the audience. One of the most important aspects of the marketing plan was to push that it was ‘based on a true story’ as this would attract a lot of viewers; to enforce this the trailers began to include clips of the real-life family this was based upon, the Perron family.
The film played in 2903 theatres on its opening weekend, and on its first day earned $17 million, in the opening weekend it grossed $41.9 million. This meant that the film beat The Purge (which was released one month before) to the biggest opening for an original R-rated horror film.
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