MEDIA STUDIESFilm distribution and viral marketing

What is distribution?Distribution, the third part of the film supply chain, is often referred to as “the invisible art”; a process known only to those within the industry, barely written about and almost imperceptible to everyone else. Distribution is the most important part of the film industry, where completed films are brought to life and connected with an audience. Distribution is about releasing and sustaining films in the market place.

NZ Film IndustryGovernments have funded film making in NZ since 1978 through the NZFC (NEW Zealand Film Commission). The NZFC has the statutory responsibility "to encourage, participate and assist in the making, promotion, distribution and exhibition of films" made in New Zealand by New Zealanders on New Zealand subjects.

As in the practice of Hollywood, the phases of production, distribution and exhibition operate most effectively when “vertically integrated”; where the three stages are seen as part of the same larger process, under the control of one company.

IndependentIn the independent film sector, vertical integration does not operate so commonly. Producers tend not toh ave long-term economic links with distributors who, likewise, have no formal connections with exhibitors. Here, as the pig-in-the-middle, distribution is necessarily a collaborative process, requiring the materials and rights of the producer and the cooperation of the exhibitor to promote and show the film in the best way possible. In this sector, distribution can be divided into three stages – licensing, marketing and logistics.

Logistics of distributionThe distributor will enter into an agreement with the cinema to screen the film on certain ‘play-dates’. It is the responsibility of the distributor to arrange the transportation of the film to the cinema, as part of its wider coordination of print use across NZ. Logistics represents the phase of distribution at its most basic - supplying and circulating copies of the film to theatres, of tapes and DVDs to shops and video rental stores, and managing the effectiveness of the supply. Cinemas spend their money publicising film play-dates and times in local papers or through published programmes. So there’s an imperative for the distributor to deliver the film on time.

DistributorThe distributor typically handles 35mm film prints. Each print can cost around £1,000 - or twice that if subtitled - so a degree of care is required of everyone involved in handling the print. In NZ, prints are generally broken down for ease of handling into smaller reels, each lasting around 18-20 mins when run through a projector at 24 frames per second. So a feature print, in its physical form, will usually be 5 or 6 reels, stored and supplied in a single hard case, weighing in at 20-25kgs. Prints are hired by the exhibitor for the duration of their play-dates, and therefore each print is made for repeat use.

Cost35mm theatrical prints invariably suffer cumulative damage as they pass through different projectors, and the hands of various projectionists. There are also overheads incurred by the distributor for the storage of prints at the NZ’s central print warehouse in Wellington. Each theatrical print has a finite lifespan. The distributor will invest in sufficient prints to provide optimum coverage through the first period of theatrical release, usually lasting up to 6 months.

Digital distributionIn distribution terms, the advantages of digital technology are even clearer, though perhaps longer term. Digital technology is seen to offer a more cost effective and logistics-light alternative to the tried and trusted, but unwieldy model of 35mm print distribution described above. It will, eventually, be cheaper and much less stressful to send films as computer files to cinemas across the UK, than to transport 20-25kg tins of film in the back of a van.

For more on film distribution have a look here:-http://www.launchingfilms.tv/marketing.php

Viral MarketingGrowth of the internet has lead to a new form of marketing.....

Viral MarketingCreative ways to get people to talk about the products they are promoting using the internetDo you know any examples?

Viral Marketing DefinedViral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence. Like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message to thousands, to millions.

Viral MarketingOff the Internet, viral marketing has been referred to as "word-of-mouth," "creating a buzz," "leveraging the media," "network marketing." But on the Internet, for better or worse, it’s called "viral marketing.“

For a recent interesting article read:-http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/nov/14/2012-roland-emmerich-viral-marketing

Three successful viral marketing campaigns...

Threshers (wine merchants) 40% Off VoucherIn 2006, shortly before Christmas, Threshers leaked a voucher worth 40% off wine and champagne via the internet. Apparently the voucher was only intended for suppliers and the belief that Threshers had mistakenly released the voucher made it spread faster and faster around the world via email, social networks and blogs. Threshers pretended to be worried about losing money on the promotion but no doubt ended up making a huge profit and getting publicity in a month than they got for the whole year. A company spokesperson said: “It was never intended to get this big.”

Dark Knight

This started out withonly a simple teaser page featuring thisimage.

Dark Knight

Fans were ecstatic when they proceeded by clicking the image and found themselves redirected to a page that featured a District Attorney Election promotional poster for a known character from the Batman Universe named Harvey Dent. This page again sent us to the real trick of the campaign (a site which is no longer active), another promotional poster, only this one defaced and seemingly mocking Harvey Dent. This page would also let users interact with the campaign by entering the email address which would give them a code that would reveal a few pixels of an image hidden “under” the defaced campaign poster.

Dark KnightOf course people immediately spread the word in order to get the full image revealed, and within hours the page instantly became popular on various forms of social media, and generated a lot of interest from online publications including blogs and newspapers. Naturally it didn’t take more than a few hours before the entire image was exposed, and it contained a somewhat creepy rendering of Heath Ledger portraying The Joker, which is another character in the Batman Universe.

Blair Witch ProjectInitial Budget: $20,000Final Budget : $500,000 - $750,000Gross Over : $ 248 MillionFirst widely released film marketed primarily on the internet

The Classic Hotmail.com ExampleThe classic example of viral marketing is Hotmail.com, one of the first free Web-based e-mail services. The strategy is simple: Give away free e-mail addresses and services, Attach a simple tag at the bottom of every free message sent out: "Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com" and, then stand back while people e-mail to their own network of friends and associates who see the message, sign up for their own free e-mail service, and then propel the message still wider to their own ever-increasing circles of friends and associates. Like tiny waves spreading ever farther from a single pebble dropped into a pond, a carefully designed viral marketing strategy ripples outward extremely rapidly.

Viral marketing is a powerful tool. It can promote an offer, build a database, and even propel a brand from obscurity to global fame. Read more about Viral Marketing - The Top 10 Viral Marketing Campaigns Of All Time by Blogstorm:

http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/the-top-10-viral-marketing-campaigns-of-all-time/

Teaser campaigns

Teaser Trailer for Inception:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5VDKVqvo8M

Teaser Poster What do you think is the name of this film?

Teaser Poster

This is the first official teaser poster for Rodrigo Cortés’ Buried starring Ryan Reynolds and only Ryan Reynolds trapped inside of a coffin, buried alive, in the middle of the desert. After its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Lionsgate bought Buried and it went to theatres in October 2010. This is their first official teaser poster for the movie (shown April 2010) and they decided to take a very bold step in marketing by showing nothing but Reynolds buried alive and that’s it.

Homework –Choose a horror film released recently, and try to track the marketing campaign for the film. Key ideas to consider: Find the film poster, analyse it and attach it– who is it targeting? What key features define the genre(s)?Was there a teaser campaign? Either through trailers or posters? Where was the premiere held? Did they release a viral campaign? Is there any merchandising attached to the film?