The Role of The Distributor

It is the task of distributors to identify and deliver the largest possible audience for every film.

A film distributor has a huge job when you consider the other entertainment options out there, particularly options which are in the same area - for example DVD's and games. Not only this, but a distributor will have to compete against other distributors to try and ensure their film is the one which everyone wants to watch. Despite this, research shows that the vast majority of people going to the cinema know what they want to see before they get to the cinema, which is a potential success for film distributors - although if you wanted to be more cynical, you could say that people just look at what's on at their local cinema and pick whichever sounds best because they like to know what they're going to see. One of the ways a person sitting on a computer might work out if a film is 'for them' or not would be to watch the trailer.

It is important for distributors to creat and awareness of their film, and one of the ways of doing this is via popular websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. For example, a company could buy a promoted trend spot on twitter and tweet about their trailer on YouTube and link to their Facebook page. If the name of the film is trending on twitter and people are clicking on it, they may well go on to watch the trailer and like the Facebook page. If they like the Facebook page, the persons Facebook friends may see that they like the page and click on it - then in turn they may watch the trailer and follow the twitter feed and so it goes on. This is a great way to create an awareness of your film. Of course though, this depends on your audience, since the type of method I just explained would only really be suitable for a young audience (although it is arguable that most films at the cinema are watched by young people anyway).

Other ways to generate interest and publicity for your film could be posters - posters can be located in places which your taregt auidence are likely to see them such as billboards along busy roads and in busy city's, on buses and bus stops, or inside magazines  and giving your film to magazines, websites, newpapers, radio stations and other media for review. Of course, this could potentially have the opposite effect if they do not think the film is good, but even then, bad publicity is still publicity.

As I have mentioned, distributors have incredibly difficult jobs. This is of course a very competitive business and they need to ensure that their film is a talking point or an option when people talk about what they want to see at the cinema. They must bring films to the market by identifying its audience, estimating revenue potenttial across all sales (Not just cinema, DVD or game releases, memorabilia etc) and deveoping plans and partnerships to build awareness of the film, as I mentioned in paragraphs 3/4. But of course, they also still need to convert as much interest as possible into cinema visits, but before that they need to presuade cinemas to play the film. This may be no problem for large film companies such as Warner Bros, but it could be a problem for smaller companies.

But of course, before the begin the promotion of a film, distributors need to actually aquire the films in the first place. This can be acheived through:

•A third party sales person, acting for the producer of the film.

•The flow of new content from a parent studio

•A production company of studio with whom the distributor has negotioed a deal with covering certain titles.

• A singular title aquired at any stage before, during or after production.

A distibutor will look to the qualities and selling points of the film before the aquire it. It may be something original and different, it may be 'with the times' so to speak, a film about something which people are currently interested in, or perhaps it simply has a famous actor or director whom people always want to see. Of couse how good the film actually is (playability) and how well it can be promoted and sold (Marketability) are completely different things, as a film could have had a lot of money poured into it with big directors, actors and actresses, be very well publicised but actually be a poor film. People are still likely to go and see it because of the way it is publicised with the big names who star in it. A personal example of this for me would be the film "Goon," starring Seann William Scott, which I would class as one of the worst films I have ever seen(See critic reviews rather than user reviews.

Of course when it comes down to it - this is business, so a films marketability will often be more important than it's marketability. A technically great film could be released, but if the distributor doesn't think it will make any money, they are not going to back it.  Every week in the UK, around 10 films are released into cinema so there is big competition not only between different films, but sometimes for distibutors to acruire one particular film - if they think it has good marketability. There are huge risks in distibution, as nobody can be 100% sure what will be a hit and what won't. Market reseach may be conducted to find out what the audience think of their film in things such as pre-screenings. These test screenings and the feedback gained can help the disturbutor guage the prospects of the film, which in turn can help to prepare the budget with their business plan.

 Every film will have a business and distribution plan put in place, which the distributor will develop alongside the producers or studio associated with the film. Of course, the business plan is about recovering the costs and then making a profit - and films are very expensive to make, even 'low budget' films are in the millions - The Inbetweeners Movie was £3million and was considered very low budget. This means that launching films is very risky, and a lot of films do not make a profit during their cinema time alone, but instead roll over into profit upon DVD sales and other merchandising. This means that the distribution plan cannot be based on guesses and general assumptions, research has to be carried out. This brings me back the pre-release screening which I talked about in the previous paragraph.