Marketing and Distribution

Marketing and distribution

What does a film distributor do?

A film distributor is responsible for the marketing of the film. The distribution company is usually different from the production company. Distribution deals are important part of financing a film. The distributor may set the release date of the film and the way that the film is viewed by the public in the cinema or at home. If the distributor owns cinemas or film distribution networks then they may do this direct through these so they come through their own systems. They will make a campaign to make the film as well known as possible, this will include advertising in specific areas to target certain audiences or they may choose to advertise so they get a wide range of audiences.

How does reach relate to film distribution?

Reach relates to film distribution as the size of the reach can depend on how much profit the film overall makes. If the distributor of the film decides to have a big reach and target lots of audiences around the world, then this will result in it costing more money to do so, however it could have a positive effect on the success of the film when it does finally get released as more people would have originally heard of it. This links in with how they advertise, if they have a large advertise reach then more people will notice and see about the film before it release date which could attract more people to come and watch the film when it finally gets released in cinemas and on DVD. This can be a risk though as spending all this money on advertising could back fire as people not find the film interesting and may not come and watch it, resulting in the distribution company losing money as of a drop in overall sales of the film. A film that did become very successful which had a very large reach was 'The Women in Black' this has turned out to be a very successful film all because of how efficiently the distribution team marketed the film and of course the effect Daniel Radcliffe had on the audience, especially drawing all the Harry Potter fans to this film as of how iconic he has became as an actor.

What is meant by the distribution plan?

This is when a plan is created by the management team where their aim is to transfer their product to retailers and then to the consumers. They will identify the films target audience so that they can then find ways to effectively promote and advertise this film to this specific target audience. When doing this they may have to consider the genre that the film is and what target audience is generally associated with that type of film. If a film distribution company has a low budget then they won't be able to go wild on the amount of advertising as they wont be able to fund it all.

What is meant by the marketing plan?

A marketing plan is when the company describes the plan to achieve specific marketing objectives within a specific time scale. The plan usually will start with the identification of what the consumers would like, this can be identified through market research. The plan will also include analysis of the current market situation so they know how things are looking at the moment and what demands they will need to meet in order to have success. There are so many ways to market a film, this can be done through posters, trailers, magazine adverts, social media accounts and mobile apps so it reaches a wide range of target groups.

What is the difference between advertising, publicity and promotion?

Advertising is the materials that they company decides to market their brad with. This for example, could be to advertise in magazines, TV and radio stations. The company as a whole will decide on what methods of advertising they think are most effective in order of getting this film out their and getting it to the right target audience for them to then buy and watch. Publicity is the way it gains the public attention towards the product (film). This could be done with actors from the film appearing on TV shows and talking about how good the film is going to be, and showing some clips from the film to give the audience a sneak preview of what is to be expected. Promotion is the way of raising awareness of the film. This could be done by selling merchandise with the films title on it or the films main star on it, this could be done by giving away posters in certain magazines and newspapers or doing give aways on social media which will result in a wide range of people, due to how many people have social media accounts now a days.