Film distribution involves marketing and releasing a film to make as much profit as possible. The distributor is responsible for setting the release date, deciding how the film can be accessed, and advertising campaigns. They aim to make the film well known by targeting specific audiences and using different media like magazines and TV. The size of a film's reach, or audience, depends on its potential for profit. Distributors take risks by spending heavily on widespread advertising, which could lead to large profits if the film is popular, or losses if it is not well received. Their distribution plan identifies the target audience and budget to determine how and where the film is promoted. The marketing plan describes goals and strategies for creating awareness of the film

2. 1. What is meant by the
term film distribution?

- A film distributor is a company or individual
responsible for the marketing, including things such as
advertising and release of the film. The aim is to make
as much profit from the film as possible. The
distributors job will be to expose the public to the film
and therefore increase the chances of the film being
successful.

3. 2. What does a film distributor
do?

- A distributor may set the release date for the
film and decide how the film will be accessible
by the audience. They will make a campaign to
make the film as well known to the public as
possible. This would include advertising; they
may choose to advertise in a specific area to
target a certain target audience or they may
choose to advertise so that a wide range of target
audiences take note. They will also decide in
what media devices they will advertise for
example, magazines, TV etc.

4. 3.How does reach relate
to film distribution?

-Reach relates to film distribution as the size of the reach can depend on
how much profit the film makes. If the distributors of a film decide to
have a big reach and advertise to a wide range of people it will be very
expensive although it could allow for them to make more money.
Distributors may decide to have a large reach by advertising everywhere
which can increase the amount of viewers of the film however, it can be a
risk as if the film is not popular a loss/smaller profit may be made. An
example of this would be ‘The green lantern’ which had a massive reach
but after a number of critics gave negative feedback on the film it was not
very popular at all. This was a shock as they had the big reach and a big
star (Ryan Reynolds) so they would’ve expected to be successful. On the
other hand, films like ‘The woman in black’ which also had a huge reach
was very successful due to the effective advertising and Daniel Radcliffe
promoting the film.

5. What is meant by the
term ‘Distribution Plan’?

-This is a plan created by the management team where their aim is to
transfer their product to retailers and then consumers. They nay do this by
deciding the release date so it will appeal to consumers. For
example, releasing a Christmas film around Christmas time. They will also
identify the films target audience so that they can expose their audience to
the film effectively through advertisement and promotion. They may have
to take into consideration the genre of the film and what target audience
this genre usually appeals to. The distribution plan will also have to
consider the budget for distribution. If the film has a low distribution
budget they won’t be able to spend a vast amount of money on
advertising and promotion etc. Likewise if the budget is high they may be
able to spend a lot of money on raising awareness of the film and even
aiming their product at another target audience. Distributors usually sign
a contract with producers which includes rights to promote their product
in all media before and during the release.

6. What is meant
by the marketing plan?

The marketing plan is designed by the company which describes the
plan to achieve their specific marketing objective within a certain time.
The plan will usually start with the identification of what the
consumers would like, this can be identified through market research.
The plan will also include analysis of the current market situation. The
marketing objective will be to create visibility, raise awareness and
engage interest in the product. There are many ways to market the film
such as the use of posters, trailers , online and mobile apps so that the
film can be as accessible as possible. The film may also have critics
watch the film so that they share their opinion and hopefully this will
sway the public to watch the film if they give good feedback. They may also
use social networking sites to market their product as there are a big range of
audiences that use Twitter, Facebook etc.

7. What is the difference between
advertising, publicity and
promotion?

Advertising tends to be the materials in which the company decides to
market their brand with. For example they may choose to advertise
in magazines and newspapers, radio or television. The company will
choose advertising methods they believe will be most effective way of
getting the product across to the consumer.
Publicity is the methods that may be used to gain publics attention to the
product. Examples would be premieres, interviews and actors appearing
on TV shows. An actor may go onto a TV show to promote their latest
movie to the public.
Promotion is a way of raising awareness of the product/film, for example,
selling merchandise with the films title or actor’s on it. Magazines/newspapers
may include a free T-shirt or mug with the film on it to promote the movie.