Film Distribution

Film distributors are in charge of all aspects of releasing a film, from marketing the product to secondary releases. As film studios handle the funding of projects and production companies produce the final piece, distributors fulfil a vital role within the industry. Firstly, distributors acquire the rights to the film; this allows them to sell the product, use copyrighted material within ancillary texts and change content within the film itself to better cater to the target audience, all without legal issues such as breaking copyright laws or the DMCA. The particular contract and deal that is made to acquire the rights is different for every project, and is between the three companies involved (studio, production, distribution). Secondly, the distributors must market the film ready for primary release. A budget is set for this task (often 30% of the films production costs, although this is not a steadfast rule) which establishes the financial parameters of this task. The company will try and market using as many media as possible in an attempt to get the attention from the target audience (who may not all be engaged or reached through a singular medium) and thus increasing the success of the release. To do this, distributors produce ancillary texts such as trailers and posters (often outsourced to specialised companies) which utilise content from the film itself. It is important that all ancillary products and the film maintain a consistent aesthetic and theming so as not to cause confusion in the consumer. During this, singular or plural USPs (Unique Selling Points) will be established and used throughout the marketing as a way of separating the product from similar films. In recent years, social media has become a more popular way of marketing a film due to its effective cost-to-reach ratio, and as a means of increasing the interaction the audience has with the product (which is essential in social media marketing), actors are often made to market the film on their Twitter and Facebook accounts. An optional step for distributors is licensing merchandise, which is an additional revenue stream that can lead to both increased profit and the establishing of a fan-base that will buy further products within that series, or a waste of time and finances that results in a drop in profit. Generally, film series are the only times that mass merchandise is produced. Before release, the distributors evaluate the product for the level of cultural appropriateness; if there are any legal issues (such as the depiction of minors in a sexual manner) or cultural issues (e.g. religious references) with the film, the product will be adjusted. Translations for other countries and regions will also be funded and implemented. The final (and potentially most important step) of the distributor is releasing the product so that the audience can buy it and profit can be generated. The primary release is in cinemas, where the first week of sales is the most important and indicates the success of the film – there are exceptions to this (known colloquially as “sleeper hits”), but they are few and far between – and the distributors decide which cinemas and how many get the cinema cut of the product. After this, secondary releases are produced and sold (e.g. DVDs, Blu-Rays, digital streaming cuts, etc.) with numbers based on the success of the primary release.