DISTRIBUTION AND EXHIBITION & CONSUMPTION RESEARCH

By Tom Coome

Distribution

Who distributes social realism films?

Pathé Pictures International

ThinkFilm

Verve Pictures

What does the style of the promotion and publicity tell us about the kinds of audiences distributors are trying to reach?Where do they advertise and what does this tell us about who they see as their audience?

There are a lot of aspects that tell us which type of audience Adulthood is aimed at. As we can see to the right, are three images that I found on the internet, in every single image we can see somebody with their hood up. This could connote that the film is associated with and aimed at the younger generation as people that wear their hoods up are generalised as young people. The film itself is a sequel to ‘Kidulthood’ which is a film about teenagers who grow up in a rough part of London and a lot of characters continue into Adulthood which is good for the audience as they will get attached to characters. From my own knowledge, a substantial amount of young people know a lot more of this film than what older people do. I found this information out by asking my friends if they had seen this film and the large majority said yes, whereas none of my family had even heard of it. The style of promotion is the normal way that you would think a film would be promoted, posters and trailers. In the trailer all of the characters are still very young which once again will appeal to the younger generation. Another point, is the point of which class the film would have been aimed at. In my opinion the film would have been aimed at a lower class group as none of the characters live in the nicest areas and do not have much money and this would mean that similar people would be able to relate to this which entices the audience even more. Pathé Pictures International, the distributers of Adulthood have done all of these things so that the target audience of younger, lower classed people are reached.

Pathe has a major influence on the British film industry, the film Adulthood that has been used as an example was mainly advertised around London as the film was based In London and there is no better place to advertise than the capital. Also, in London, although it is the capital, there are a lot of run down places which have the issues of the film in them. For example, drug abuse, gun crime and sex abuse. All of this ultimately tells us the type of audience Pathe are looking to get to watch their films.

Question Four What format is the advertising? Posters Trailers Sponsors

Art HouseArt house is a cinema that specialises in showing films that are artistic or experimental, rather than merely entertaining.

Art films (films exhibited through Art houses) are usually aimed at a niche audience rather than a mass market audience and rarely receive financial backing. Art films will usually contain unconventional or highly symbolic content that differs from mainstream Hollywood Films and include elements of social realism, focusing intently on characters and dreams, thoughts

Independent Cinema Independent cinemas screen independent films, an independent film is a film

that is completed mostly or completely filmed outside a major film studio.

Some examples of independent cinemas are as follows: National Film Theatre – The leading repertory cinema in the UK. Specialising is

seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films and is operated by the British Film Institute. Another example of a specialised art house is the chain of cinemas known as Picturehouse. They too, like the National Film Theatre show independent films. The cinemas are located in City centres and are architecturally unique, operated by Picturehouse cinemas Ltd and owned by Cineworld. The company also runs its own distribution company, Picturehouse Entertainment. Such cinemas are located in places such as Hyde Park and Leeds.

The Businesses present themselves prestigiously and market their films via the use of social networking sites and their own websites which audiences may join by creating a membership. A membership allows audiences to be contacted via e-mail with regard to upcoming films and other productions that they may be interested in, this insinuates they are attempting to target a niche audience.