EVAL Q2b - Distribution

IS MY FILM DATED?

My cousin Will Holmes said that it would not be a mainstream film today, but rather in the 1990s. So with the 1980s being the golden age of teen romantic comedies and other teen/high school films, the 1990s will have expanded that, but by the 21st century, mainstream young adult fiction has developed into fantasy, sci-fi and dystopias: Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, all having massive intellectual property with secured audience. The rest of the box office hits are with adults

The Media Students Book states that a media production can be outlined in six stages.

These can be simplified in the film industry into the film cycle There are three steps: Production, Distribution and Exhibition. This is all followed by the audience's consumption. When a film is produced, the money needs not just for the production but for the marketing so that an audience can be targeted. Often a film cannot go ahead without guarantee of a production. 

 John Hartley , in his Key Concepts in Communication, Cultural and Media Studies (3rd edition), gave a definition of two forms of distribution:
 - broadcasting, which is "continuous, with a content of linear narratives, and distributed from one to many"
-  datacasting, which is "the distribution, or streaming, of digital data""allows for interactive services (such as the internet), data which you might request on demand (such as weather reports or stock quotes) or pay-per-view subscriptions to giant audio-visual archives, e.g: "Ti-Vo".
(since then many more platforms have been introduced)

With the impact of digitisation, a film that wants to only distribute itself through broadcasting, by the norms of a cinematic release and a screening on one of the main, public TV channels (BBC, ITV, Channel 4), will be severely limiting itself. This is something the film companies.

FORMS OF DISTRIBUTION

CINEMATIC

• Wide Release
• Limited Release

ONLINE LEGAL STREAMERS

• Netflix
• Amazon
• iTunes

ILLEGAL ONLINE STREAMERS

• bit.torrent
• putlocker.is
• kinox.to
• watch-series.eu

Monopoly of the Big Six

These count as the Big Six. They are all owned by multimedia conglomerates, they don't just distribute films but are responsible for TV, publishing, video games, and even theme parks as can be seen below. Three have indie/arthouse subsidiaries as well.

• Walt Disney Studios (owned by the Walt Disney Company)
• Universal Pictures (owned by NBC-Universal, which is owned by Comcast)
• Warner Bros. (owned by Time Warner)
• Sony Pictures Motion Group (owned by multinational company Sony) 
• Paramount Pictures (owned by Viacom)
• 20th Century Fox (owned by 21st Century Fox). Rupert Murdoch owns Fox among other newspapers and TV networks. He is an example of a media mogul 

Vertical Integration

When a company controls all three cycles of production, distribution and exhibition. 
The film companies used to hold much more power as they also owned cinema chains, but the court case United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. U.S. 131 in 1948 made the companies sell their theaters and thereby illegal for them to own cinema chains which until then had given them an immense monopoly.
However, with the impact of convergence and digitisation, cinema isn't the only medium for audiences to consume films. So the example of NBC-Universal, it's subsidiaries such as Working Title and Focus Features produce films (and television more and more now), they are distributed by Universal Studios, NBC-Universal's film branch, they will cover the marketing costs. Then the final part of the film cycle, exhibition, is handled on the NBC channel. 

Horizontal Integration

Similar to a symbiotic connection between species, where both provide benefits for each other through their cooperation. 

EXAMPLES

AVATAR
produced by 20th Century Fox, whjch is owned by Rupert Murdoch. His newspapers get exclusive access to the film, it's mentioned multiple times in The Sun and The Times. This benefits Avatar by getting promotion but also these newspapers as they have a popular story to cover which they have been given primary access to.
Then as the release window ends, Sky Movies 3D broadcasts the world TV premiere.

CASINO ROYALE
Multiple product placement by Sony, who owns all the production companies. This is part of the benefit the Bond films get for being made, and Sony markets its brand throughout the production.

LEGEND
Duffy sings and acts in it. Her record labels are owned by Universal Music Group, the music subsidiary of NBC-Universal. She is benefitting from appearing in the film as audiences of a crime film would not all be fans of her music, so she is expanding her audience. At the same she is promoting the film through the release of her song, as can be seen in the Spotify sight. 

My film, similar to Warp, would have one of its companies, Cosmic Heat Productions, be owned by an indie record label, Cosmic Heat Records. James Reilly would be one of their artists, benefitting the film through his niche audience maybe wanting to watch CrossWord, but arguably benefitting more from promoting his music to a potentially wider audience as it is quite commercial.

Interview with the rising indie musician, James Reilly

I: Salut, madams et monsieurs, maintenant nous chansons en anglais. Now we're switching to English. I am very pleased and excited to have today with me today a rising indie celebrité, James Reilly. He is at the moment visiting France, not in grand tours like Ed Sheeran, but to give small gigs to his devoted fans here. I am going to talk to him today about his new upcoming single, Lipstick, from his second album, "Us Vagabonds", which is also at the same time the soundtrack of a new upcoming film, CrossWord.
JR: Well it's just a great piece of film from a new talent. I was approached by Joe and Nira, and I was like, soundtrack for a film, woah. It seemed a bit daunting at first, but after they said I could do some covers, I thought, there's one classic I need to. Ans immediately there was one track that sprung to mind, I Want Candy, a version byfrom a classic indie cult, don't know if you've heard of it, Napoleon Dynamite?
I: Ah oui, the one with the funny hair? Who gets his friend to be prefect with some ace moves, formidable.
JR: Yeah, talk about a feelgood moment.
I: And this a sort of typical chick flick, romantic comedy, a teenie film.
JR: Well yeah it does fit that category, it's got a sort of 10 Things I Hate About You feel to it, as well as of the classic teen romance films of the 1980s, by the late John Hughes. You I do feel the down to earth teen film is making a come back in recent years Like last year we had The Edge Of Seventeen. Not a rom-com but one of the most well-written protagonists, great script. So it won't just be big budget fantasy/sci-fi blockbusters with kids as the main characters.
I: I unfortunately have yet to watch the film you just mentioned. But this film, it's not your typical boy meets girl, it's toutes les femmes, hein? (all girls, no?)
JR: Well there's more to it than that, all I can say watch it, the plot and its characters play out very nicely.
I: And did he issues this film talks about convince you into taking part? I mean I think this will be quite an important film for the LGBT+ community, because, sadly, it seems when Hollywood has a go with these issues it always ends dans le grand mort. Either they die tragically, or they're just a joke.
JR: But there you see, you call it an issue. What I like about the film is it doesn't treat it as big issues, its subtler than that. And yes, while I think a film like that is important with its choices of sexuality, I think it would be unfair to make a big drama out of it, to keep bringing it up. At the end of the day it's a rom-com like any other, bit a cheesiness, but come we love that. And I'd say it has a chance to make ya cry.
I: Ok, well can you reveal the other track you have covered.
JR: I won't reveal the exact track, but I can reveal the artist, a certain Starman, who has a special plâce here in France as well.
I: Ah, Monsieur Bowie? That does make me interested. But don't worry, I won't ask further.  So, we're now going to take un petit break before we get back to talking about what got   James into the music industry, but just to leave you without, watch out for the trailer of the film, and maybe in the future for it appearing on some screens here dans la France. And for some entertainment in the break and for those listeners maybe not familiar with James's work, we are going to play his first single, What Makes You Tick?.

Let's look at the top 20 films of 2016 to see the pattern of the film industry.

1. Rogue One - spin-off of a franchise with household names DISNEY, PG-13
2. Finding Dory - sequel to a children's animated classic DISNEY
3. Captain America: Civil War - an all-cast Marvel film, also some more IP due to being based on a well-known comic book story DISNEY Stars: Robert Downey Jr.
4. The Secret Life Of Pets - animated children's film UNIVERSAL
5. The Jungle Book - remake DISNEY
6. Deadpool - X-Men franchise, comic-book IP (but quite original take on the superhero format) FOX
7. Zootopia - animated children's film DISNEY
8. Batman Vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice - comic book franchise WARNER BROS.
9. Suicide Squad - franchise WARNER BROS.
10. Sing - animated children's film UNIVERSAL
11. Moana - animated children's film DISNEY
12. Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them - spin-off with rising star Eddie Redmayne
      WARNER BROS.
13. Doctor Strange - other big MCU release this year, with Benedict Cumberbatch DISNEY
14. Jason Bourne - sequel in a franchise where previous lead star Matt Damon was not present FOX
15. Star Trek Beyond - third entry in a rebooted franchise
16. Hidden Figures - IP, based on New York Times No.1 bestseller and on real-life story
17. X-Men: Apocalypse - 8th Film in a Franchise FOX
18. Trolls - animated children's film and A-List star Justin Timberlake
19. La La Land - Ryan Gosling close to A-List star, LIONSGATE
20. Independence Day: Resurgence - franchise, 20 year come back. 

So the pattern is this: 

The box office is dominated by the franchise system, standalone, one-off films are making it less and less to the top. This puts forward a clear message: The film industry does not like originality. While several viewers seem to seek more originality in the film industry, the ticket sales demonstrate that the franchise system still pulls in a huge audience. Especially when the series has been quiet for a while, such as Star Wars, nostalgia plays a huge role in appeal. Like Bridget Jones's Baby and Trainspotting sequels after long gaps are becoming more and more frequent.

...

Why none of the Big Six or other mini-major studios would not distribute my film:

• No A-List stars or actors well-known from other media, not in USA, UK or internationally
• Teen films especially rely on big stars to look up to, and either want IP (intellectual property)
• Non-heterosexual protagonists is not a complete taboo anymore, but films such as The Imitation Game, The Danish Girl, Freeheld are very serious films about past and present dangers LGBT+ characters face, and almost always end in the deaths of the protagonist. (though upcoming film 3 Generations dealing with a transgender protagonist might be an exception if it gets a mainstream reception)

TEEN ROM-COM CONTEXT 

Looking at the highest-grossing romantic comedy films, one can see that adult rom-coms are more dominant than teen rom-coms, as I already found out when I looked at Wild Child for my mock exam blog and how it was the only teen rom-com Working Title have produced while they have brought out a number of adult rom-coms, one of which is their most successful film and also their only franchise at the moment. Wild Child wasn't even given a theatrical/cinematic release due to not enough faith in the film's marketable potential.

In Falling In Love Again, [Theorist] claims that teen rom-coms can attract adult viewers due to nostalgia, giving examples such as....

However, that is evidently not the case for the main box office demographic. 

Adult characters give younger viewers sth to aspire to as well something to empathise for adult viewers. It is a common trait generally in audiences that they do not engage well with protagonists who are noticably younger than them, teenagers will often not be able to empathise well with child characters as it is often a past they wish to leave behind during that time and focus on "growing up". Just like the protagonist in 13 Going On 30 aspires to be mature in body and spirit, that is the main appeal the idealised, emotionally and physically mature adult protagonists have for (primarily) the audience demographic of their same gender. But also in the case of Bridget Jones

Also, one essentially important factor for the American market is hostility towards an unhappy ending, especially if it is in a genre that is seen as light-hearted. British films dealing with big social issues such as Billy Elliot and Slumdog Millionaire, which is usually off-putting for a mainstream international market, fared well at the box office due to their feel-good nature. This supports the ideal of the American Dream, giving the audience a protagonist who is the underdog in the narrative and beats all odds to achieve success, the escapism motive in the Uses and Gratifications Model.
While my film doesn't necessarily have to end with two girls, Billy and Rachel, coming together, I would definitely have it end with a feel-good moment despite no romantic ending, and have the antagonist, Hugh Curtis, be humiliated in the end to give both the protagonist and the audience a feeling of satisfaction , similar to Andrew Keenan's character in 10 Things I Hate About You.

The marketing strategy by giving the orange quote the largest billing next to the film, especially the words "feelgoused in this poster for Slumdog Millionaire demonstrates the pull factor of the feelgood narrative 

POSSIBLE US DISTRIBUTORS:

- A24 Films

Quote from the IMDb's Summer

"A24, the hottest indie studio around."

- Destination Pictures

POSSIBLE UK DISTRIBUTORS

- Film4

I however think it is more likely that while when going to film festivals and contacting indie distributors (which more and more is being done through digital means, such as Corrie Greenop did with Twitter), and get a limited release between 50 and 100 screens, I think if it gets any release it will be through straight-to-DVD and maybe Amazon Instant Video. I do feel it has a chance as I was thinking commercially when choosing an American protagonist, which will appeal to a US audience along with the stereotype of a posh-accent Englishman that has been seen multiple times through Hugh Grant's characters in Working Title, but also some positive representations of other UK regional areas which will be of benefit to appealing to wider UK audiences, especially teenagers of the regions I have represented.

Marketing

This is also how I would advertise and also give a direct link for purchase my film if a trailer was made.

Chances of Distribution

Depending on actors can also be varied, for example Zac Efron seemed to able to pull in audience with The Awkward Moment, however We Are Your Friends massively came in under on box office figures

POSSIBLE PRODUCT PLACEMENT?

The few phones that were seen were not shown in close-up to reveal the brand, so they were just accessories. 

Sequel?

Rom-Coms are not as often up for sequels such as the superhero genre nowadays or the horror genre for decades, exceptions do exist, but as the ending often is that the star-crossed lovers come together.
There are exceptions, like Bridget Jones, and it seems to be more teen rom-coms that do this, such as 10 Things I Hate About You, which only ran for one season though.

If there were a possibility for a sequel on TV or online, then as the audiences from 12-14 that the 12 rating encouraged will have gotten older, and I would make it more mature and also let it focus, thereby being a more niche audience.