Question threeWhat kind of media institution might distribute your media

product and why?

group

Who might your film secure a distribution deal with?

While both of the films we researched were produced by independent companies (‘Funny Games’ being produced by Film 4 and ‘The Strangers’ by Vertigo Film) neither were distributed independently. ‘Funny Games’ eventually granted distribution rights to Warner Bros. Independent, a subsidiary of the Time Warner conglomerate. ‘The Strangers’ with a budget of $9 million was distributed by Rogue Entertainment, part of Universal Studios and made $82 million at the box office

Because of this is would seem preferable to be distributed by a subsidiary of a conglomerate such as Warner Bros. Independent, this is because of many positive factors that come with it being part of an international conglomerate

When giving distribution rights to Warner Bros. money funded towards distribution of the product will increase along with the possibilities for both synergistic and symbiotic promotional activity through the many other subsidiaries Time Warner owns such as Warner Bros. Games and Time Magazine, these subsidiaries can also be used to advertise and start spreading word of mouth and reach a mass audience. A company such as Warner Bros. Independent will also have connections to multiplexes such as VUE where the production can be exhibited

What might be their strategy in connecting your film to an audience?

The Time Warner conglomerate encompasses many forms of media, including TV stations, magazines and cinema chains which allow cross-media convergence in our advertising campaign. From this, Warner Bros. Independent would be able to virally advertise our film in such a way that people would have to be aware of it

Trailers and TV spots on channels such as HBO and TNT would be a good way of attracting a mass-audience. CNN, a news channel, would also be able prioritise advertisement of this film

Perhaps a disadvantage of this particular conglomerate is that most of it’s subsidiaries lie in the United States, which limits the market territory. However, this is resolved through the use of web 2.0 (sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook) which we believe would be useful for this type of production as social media would allow us to reach a mass audience worldwide of the age group targeted through a blanket release. However, this does open up the issue of piracy

Where might the distributor choose to try and exhibit your film?

Our film would be exhibited in multiplexes, as well as independent cinema chains due to our distributor (Warner Bros. Independent) having connections with the VUE Cinema chain. These distribution methods would be appropriate for our film as it reaches a mass market as well as mainstream audiences. On the other hand because our film does not address meaningful specialist topics it may not appeal so much to the Art-house cinema goers.

For a similar reason, we believe that large film festivals such as Cannes would be inappropriate for our production, and that festivals such Fright Fest, as it would appeal to far more people. That said, funding from the distributor could allow a mainstream audience