Distribution and Marketing Plan

It is the role of the distributor to identify and deliver the largest possible audience for each film against competing films and companies.  This is highly competitive field as there are over 500 films released per year to be launched and sustained usually from scratch.  However while the distributor makes the films available, it is the consumers call to what they want, and most decide before they even go to the cinema showing the impact and influence the distributor has on shaping our opinions and intentions as usually our choices are based on their promotion efforts.  Sir Alan Parker notes that films “only exist when they are experienced by an audience” showing the relevance of the audience as they must distribute films in relation to their audience and develop this with the producers and studio also.  They market the film usually through genre, specifically to an audience, known as audience-focused distribution which  Lord Puttnam, President of the Film Distributors Association believes “is, and will remain, vital to the prospects of individual films, and to the industry as a whole”.  However due to the surge in modern technology and technological convergences which continue to change how the industry functions, there are more ways for the distributor to promote films.  The internet is home to free and continuous advertising aimed at a younger audience through social networking sites like 

 and 

This means that the traditional approaches to promotion fade away and are reinvented to stay efficient and current.  The distributor plays on the effects of the media to influence our lived and culture, shown clearly in the Americanised lifestyle many teenager relate to, using American spellings, dialect and fashion mainly through Hollywood cinema as well as through music.  Music, fashion, games and lifestyle all influence us and distributors use this to launch their films.

Once they have identified their audience they begin working on a distribution plan.

Distribution plan

Every film has a unique distribution plan which is produced usually by the study and/or film company once the entire film is available to view.  The film distributors must consider the potential earning of the film, so that they can then settle on a budget, the idea is to make the biggest profit, and spend as little as possible without damaging the overall product. Once the budget is in place they must again address the audience and decide who they are going to target to maximise its success.  They must have a great understanding of their audience and be aware of the demographic they are aiming to attract through their marketing campaigns to determine how to promote the film.  However, they must also attempt to ‘break out’ of the ‘core target audience’ and attract as wide an audience as possible from niche interest groups to broad mainstream groups across a vast age range.  To gain insight into the audience, often market research is conducted before a film is released.  Part of this often includes test screenings and questionnaires so that they can gain feedback and estimate box office tickets.  Test screenings are shown to a small audiences and is only part of the film. Because of this technique 'sleepers’ are more common as an audience can see films which may have gone straight to DVD.  A well-known example of this is Slumdog Millionaire (2008) which was a small British Independent film directed by Danny Dyer which won 8 Academy Awards, 7 BAFTA’s and 4 Golden Globes .  These types of films are on for longer and earn more than anticipated, showing that perhaps their audience research wasn’t as accurate as they

thought.

As well as audience research, they also look at similar films or similar genres to get an idea of the potential audience. For example a new romantic comedy might look at how Love Actually  and Valentines Day were distributed and marketed as they are relatively new popular romantic comedies.  However overall the most popular audience is 15-24 year olds who visit the cinema at least once a month, and advertising and distribution is more widely available to this age range due to the nature of it. Once the budget and potential audience is agreed on, they then begin to think how and when to release it.  This is very tricky as they want to give the film the best chance to succeed and make the most amount of money to at least cover the costs of the production.  In the UK, the marketing and distribution of both 35mm and new digital (D-cinema) prints and other parts necessary for the release are paid for by the distributor so it is in their interests to make sure that the film will be successful otherwise they are out of pocket.

The release date is also is part of the distributors role. The release date must be carefully planned considering competition, especially if they are appealing to the same demographic, or similar genre.  However release dates are often changed due to this, especially in popular times like the summer holidays, Christmas and Halloween as they compete each week for the top position.  The main components which make for a popular opening week is the star power (stars/ directors/producers), type of film (blockbuster/specialized) and publicity.  Films like ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘Avatar’ were huge this year due to media hype.  'Paranormal Activity' had a huge viral campaign and ‘Avatar’ worked by word of mouth and reviews anticipating another hit for James Cameron and nominations for countless awards and nominations.  Other aspects which the distributor often pick up on are whether it is a sequel or part of a franchise, based on a book, or a true story, for example 'Bridget Jones Diary' was based on a best selling novel by Helen Fielding and so was a huge success when it was turned into a film, and its sequel also had huge worldwide success also.

The type of release is also a consideration for the distributor. There are two main types of releases: a saturation release is usually reserved for a blockbuster and is available in all cinemas nationwide simultaneously taking over many screens in each cinema.  However specialized films which appeal to niche markets, are only shown in selected cinemas in a maximum of only 25 screens mainly in university towns.  The distributor must decide the type of the release which would be most effective for each individual film.

The marketing plan is key in a films success.  No matter how good the film is, it can’t be successful as it won’t have an audience if it hasn’t been marketed successfully.  The idea of the market plan is to raise awareness, interest and visibility within it’s target audience.  There are three main areas:

Advertising- posters and trailers are the most common forms of advertising for films and will attract an audience through visuals which often include a USP like cast, producers and genre.  Posters become the ‘face’ of the film and are scattered everywhere from buses to billboards.  There is often more than one poster in the marketing of a film, mainly so that the public don’t get bored but also to show other aspects of the film.  Blockbuster films which are shown worldwide often edit their posters to apply to local and national audiences.

Trailers and teaser trailers are perhaps even more effective than posters as it uses a mix of visuals and sound to intrigue the audience into the plot of the film by showing key shots and characters.  Teaser trailers are around 1 minute long and are shown a few months before the release and are short mainly to intrigue the audience but tell little about the plot, usually just production values and genre and a variety of interesting shots.  The main theatrical trailer is shown shortly before the release in cinemas, on TV and more commonly now online.  A good example of this is 'Paranormal Activity' which used a viral campaign highly effectively http://www.paranormalmovie.com/ having it’s trailer and merchandise on the website and the opportunity to buy the DVD and used social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to spread the message.  Websites are more common for bigger budget films which attract large audiences, yet small niche films also use these effectively.  Independent filmmakers like Sally Potter have used the surge in technological convergences to create, market, distribute and exhibit her work http://www.sallypotter.com/ distributing it online and on mobiles.  Big budget films sell merchandise, advertise other films, show extra footage and sometimes even games to promote the film.

Publicity- this includes interviews, reviews, premieres, TV and press.  The main idea of publicity is to put the actors and the film in the public view to get the film talked about.  Reviews are available in magazines, newspapers and online through blogs whereas premieres and interviews are usually televised.  Premiers create a media frenzy with many celebrities there to celebrate the official launch of a film and to give a chance for more interviews and other publicity like photos and meeting the fans.  Shows like ‘Friday Night with Jonathon Ross’ publicize many films and actors putting them in the spot light and giving them a high-profile launch and attract attention.

Promotion- competitions and merchandise are the main forms of promotion.  Merchandising is a way of getting characters into the public eye and creates enormous revenue.  McDonalds and other fast-food places put merchandise of children and family films in ‘happy meals’ which works for both the sides as it helps promote the film and sell McDonalds food.  Other types of merchandise use synergy, for example Hannah Montana began as a programme on the Disney Channel, became a movie, had a successful soundtrack and the main actress Miley Cyrus then went on to be a pop star touring and having top ten hits.  As well as all of this, Hannah Montana also has games, a fashion line, posters, games and much more.  Merchandise creates a huge amount of profit.

Competitions also promote films through TV, magazines, newspapers, and mainly through the internet. Sometimes they win money, tickets to the premier, get to go behind the scenes and meet the cast, or get free merchandise, but all get the public interested through exposure.