CIE EVALUATION Q2b DISTRIBUTION

you can find more on the Evaluation overall in this hub post. 

OCR Q3 DISTRIBUTION: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

- CIE Q2b 'how would it be distributed as a real media text'

**I've just added a lengthy post specifically using the horror distribution example...**

This is a key Q for exam prep, not just coursework, so obviously keep going back to the WT/Warp comparison with specific examples (but you'll be drawing on more for wider contexts). I've given a new (2019) 8-part stepped guide, but retained 2 older versions below as well. Use cinema blog tags etc to find useful posts, but also make use of handouts, not least the WT + Warp distribution packs, which have distributor, budget etc etc listed + brief distribution summary paragraphs. There are multiple tags + links list screenshots at the end, + some good egs of past student vids.

'how would it be distributed as a real media text'

A (2019) STEPPED GUIDE TO ANSWERING WHO WOULD DISTRIBUTE YOUR FILM

A NOTE ON THE CREATIVE ASPECTS

I highly recommend using the ...Millionaire quiz template for this as the creative part of the answer (perhaps add a director Q+A at festival or Curzon member screening). Then clearly address the question in any combination of blog post, ppt/Prezi, video, following the points below. We'll look at an example in a lesson.

1: SHOW YOU UNDERSTAND THE TERM
How is distribution distinct from the other parts of the film cycle (production, exhibition)? What does a distributor do that is different from what a production company, or a cinema, does?

2: IF IT WAS A TENTPOLE MOVIE; BIG 6...
Before exploring how it might work for your (presumably) low budget film, look at who dominates film distribution. Look for a graph/stats on the big 6 (7? 5? its a fluid industry: Lionsgate; Universal/20C Fox merger) and their share of UK, US, global box office. Explain the tentpole strategy, what Elberse calls the Blockbuster strategy (any quotes from her book would be good, she does include a film industry case study).

Screenshot UK/US/global current weekly or annual top 10 that includes a column for distributor to help establish their utter dominance as an ongoing fact. Make sure you check ownership of any names you're not familiar with (they'll probably be a big 6 subsidiary!!!).



3: THE GANT RULE; DYER'S STAR THEORY; FRANCHISE
Again, before you look specifically at yours, break down what a distributor will consider before risking marketing + prints money on a release campaign that could fail, including stars.

Dyer argues they are the dominant factor in marketing, and therefore production decisions and how the public consume/choose films, BUT films like Avatar and Star Wars suggest that this model may be less dominant than before, with spectacle through CGI/SFX (think Michael Bay movies like the vacuous, near narrative-free Transformers flicks) and franchise (Marvel cinematic universe! James Cameron hopes Avatar...), plus IP (Les Miserables, Bohemian Rhapsody, Mamma Mia all good egs), increasingly key.

Again, use screenshots of annual top 10s to reinforce the point.

Give egs from recent/current UK/US top 10 to show how accurate the Gant Rule still tends to be; explain why Bridget Jones' Baby and its prequels don't fit this rule (see my post).

Now put your film into context: would it reflect the Gant rule? Does it boast distributor-friendly features like A-listers, huge IP etc?

4: CHINA, IMAX/3D
Now discuss the growing importance of China - you've already made clear how important the US market is in point 3 above (or should have) drawing on WT knowledge/examples (why do they usually centre on white middle-class southern English characters, or Americans). Evidence your further grasp of how the industry works with a brief overview of China:

• where it ranks (#1 or #2 depending on which figures you look at, only US is anywhere near it)
• their quota system
• how Hollywood routinely includes content to target the Chinese market in tentpoles (filming different endings: World War Z, using as a key location, featuring a Chinese character, even in sci-fi showing future Chinese military/space force contributing to preventing some global threat)
• examples of the types of films which do get distributed in China
• be clear on what type won't
• so, basically, compare WT + Warp releases, using boxofficemojo screenshots
• be clear that your low budget film has zero hopes

A similar point: cinemas have used IMAX/3D (and also now the laser-ultra screen eg in Utopolis) to help combat home cinema. Both are expensive production (or post-production; for about $10m a 2D film can be made into 3D) choices, and attract premium ticket prices - is there really an audience for watching the Tyrannosaur protagonist kick his dog to death in IMAX 3D? So, once more give some figures, quotes to show your grasp of this - you can include the failure of 3DTV (quite a boost for cinema) - and how it favours tentpole/big 6; is unrealistic for yours.

You could also mention Prima, Universal's $35k set-up, $500 per movie streaming service.

5: THEATRICAL DISTRIBUTION OF INDIE/GENRE FILMS
Look at a range of examples, being clear on the budget/box office links BUT also looking for outliers (eg Billy Elliot, Halloween, Saw). Do these tend to get big 6 distribution (the outliers/exceptions often do, but generally no). Use Tyannosaur as a great case study.
Go through Warp's distributors, and firmly conclude which distributor (ideally, give UK and a US distributor) would distribute yours IF it got a cinematic release/

6: COZ GREENOP, HARRY MACQUEEN
2 great case studies which highlight alternatives - Coz' use of social media to get distributor meetings at Cannes + subsequent hiring of a London cinema for an industry screening, leading to DVD distribution, including in Wal-Marts ... MacQueen was part of the package Curzon cinema members get: some monthly director Q+A with screenings. I saw him at a film festival, a further key potential for limited distribution/seeking a distributor. Simon Pegg + Edgar Wright did a vlog series for The Guardian from Toronto where they were pushing Hot Fuzz.
Greenop/MacQueen are both micro-budget, so very relevant to you.
Be very clear that straight-to-TV or straight-to-DVD are valid choices for low/micro-budget production.

7: FAANGS FOR THE MEMORIES; SELF-DISTRIBUTION
Netflix, Amazon: key non-theatrical possibilities for low budget productions, essentially self-distribution. YouTube, Vimeo and more can be used by anyone to charge for streaming. GoogleMovies is another option, and Apple is set to be another too. Look up a range of lower budget (eg Warp!!!) movies on these platforms to evidence this does take place. Either read a few articles and/or just skim through listings to find obviously (very!) low budget productions - there's something awful stuff on there!

Don't forget to reference DDC/web 2.0: digitisation, disruption, convergence.
You could get into the ongoing row between cinemas/festivals/Netflix over the release window. You could propose a specific release date for yours, maybe counter-programming (eg at Xmas when the market is dominated by PG/U family comedies and sci-fi tentpoles). Saw + Paranormal Activity made smart use of a specific release date.

Take careful note of 2 Warp X productions: All Tomorrow's Parties and Le Donk + Scor-Zay-Zay to aid evidence on self-distribution (and, with '71, the importance of generating newspaper reviews - even if you put out a cinematic trailer knowing it won't be released in cinemas...).

8: AGE RATING, CONCLUSION
Wrap it up, but make sure you include a likely age rating and be specific on why it would get this, + give specific ratings egs (explaining impact on box office potential + likely harshness on Indies). Sum up your findings - theatrical release is unlikely, but if it was it would be company x because; these are our realistic alternatives...


SUGGESTED APPROACH
I'm giving you 2 versions of this - a simplified and a longer version. You'll find more tips and hyperlinks in the longer version which will help you make better use of the short one!

1: Define/explain distribution. Discuss age ratings (BBFC, MPAA and Lux/other EU if you wish).
2: Detail what companies dominate this part of the industry (big 6...)
3: Give specific examples from your genre; look for both high and low budget; US and UK (or other) productions. Use hyperlinks, give budgets and box office (UK, US, world)
4: Discuss the impact of digitisation (wider opportunities for distribution BUT big 6 STILL dominate; self-distribution is a real option: eg Le Donk.... Netflix/Amazon pay for lots of low budget features; Amazon/Google/Apple/YouTube are also platforms for digital movie sales. DVD editionalising. Reduced impact of age ratings). Digitisation also makes micro-budget production possible - see my links list [screenshot above]!!! Coz Greenop is a great case study of using social media to create distribution opportunities...
5: Conclusion: probably sensible to argue you'd most likely NOT get a theatrical distributor, BUT you still name to name an actual distribution company, justifying your choice with clear examples of movies they have distributed. HINT: Look for a recurring company name with Warp's UK distribution. You could name different distributors for different territories.

1. WHAT IS DISTRIBUTION? HOW DOES IT FIT WITHIN THE FILM CYCLE (+ PRODUCTION +EXHIBITION)?
2. WHAT MODES/TYPES OF DISTRIBUTION ARE AVAILABLE? (straight-to-DVD/TV, DVD/Blu-Ray and editionalising (vanilla DVD, SE, Collector's Edition, Unrated Cut, Director's Edition, Ultimate Edition, Boxsets...), VoD + streaming/rental [Amazon Prime, Netflix...], Prima, YouTube [ad-funded or with fee], theatrical: limited v wide release and arthouse v multiplex ... and Curzon as eg of member special events: Harry MacQueen Q+A (Four Lions...). 
3. IS THERE A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR INDIES + STUDIOS/THEIR SUBSIDIARIES? IS INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION ANY EASIER/MORE LEVEL? (here's where you bring in the big 6; tentpole movies; very specific examples of budgets, number of countries for theatrical, box office - flops + hits [useful to focus on exam egs]; Tyrannosaur a great Indie eg : look at the specific US Indie distributor it got - '71 too; franchising an issue you could leave to point 7)
4. HAS DIGITISATION CHANGED DISTRIBUTION? IS DISTRIBUTION VIA PIRACY SIGNIFICANT? (VoD + self-distribution, reduced costs ... but marketing still key? What is disruption? BitTorrent and many other online filesharing or illegal streaming outlets; industry claims of lost revenue - falling DVD revenue? You can reflect on YOUR experience/habits)
5. DOES THE RELEASE WINDOW STILL MATTER?
6. ARE AGE RATINGS FAIR + EQUAL ON INDIES/STUDIOS? [you've likely covered this in Q1b/2a but worth repeating to be clear]
7. WHAT INGREDIENTS DO YOU NEED FOR GOOD NATIONAL, AND/OR INTERNATIONAL, DISTRIBUTION PROSPECTS? [precisely the sort of question you might face in the exam, and should have blogged on: production practices]
8. COULD YOUR FILM QUALIFY FOR ANY GOVERNMENT AGENCY FUNDING? (eg UKFC/Film Council [now BFI], Screen Yorkshire; see this post!)
9. WHAT MODES OF DISTRIBUTION MIGHT YOUR PRODUCTION COMPANY MANAGE TO NEGOTIATE WITH DISTRIBUTORS? WHICH DISTRIBUTORS? JUSTIFY YOUR CLAIMS. ARE YOU LIKELY TO HAVE PRODUCED A HIT? ESTIMATE A BUDGET - DOES YOUR FILM NEED TO BE A BOX OFFICE SMASH (OR EVEN GET INTO CINEMA) TO BE PROFITABLE?
10. NAME AND JUSTIFY AN ACTUAL COMPANY - you could also name distributors for different territories...

UK-EQUIVALENT STUDENT EXAMPLES
Tilly: blog post that needs more illustration but is fairly detailed.

Molly: blog post; good, detailed response.

Poppy: a Prezi that lacks detail, and doesn't use the tools available within Prezi (embedding, autoplaying etc) as well as she might, but gives a clear, succinct response:
http://harrisprouds.blogspot.lu/2015/01/q3-distributor.html

Here's an example of a creative approach from the 2016-17 AS:



Use exam notes and blog posts linked to exam work, but also BritCinema blog

- from March 2016 alone here are SOME of the distribution linked posts:

There is an especially useful links list just below the tag cloud:

You can quickly browse using http://mediabritishcinema.blogspot.lu/search/label/distribution

There are multiple other tags too: VoD, self-distribution, Tyrannosaur (individual film case studies are very useful), '71, release window, UKFC/Film Council [now BFI] US distribution, StudioCanal;