Traditionally, films are distributed by a professional distributor, who uses their expertise to optimally market and distribute a film.
A producer rep usually acts as a middle man between the film maker and the distribution companies. Typically they are payed by the film maker a percentage of the movie sales made after distribution. Their job is to advertise and represent a film maker's movie so that distributors will sell it to theaters, DVDs, and streaming services. But this is not the case for all movies; Usually, a producer rep will sell movies in bulk instead of individually, so film makers can be disappointed with their sales. However, as indie films become more popular, the need for this middle man in this process is slowly being fazed out, so film makers might eventually work directly with distributors in the future.
Once the movie gets to a distributor, the movie is usually showed in movie theaters around the country for 90 days, then it gets put onto DVD and other VODs after the first 3 months. However, this 90 day time window has been shrinking, and some new movies have requested to go to VOD sooner than 3 months. Occasionally, a movie will show in theaters and on VOD simultaneously, or eliminate a theatrical release altogether.
To summarize, traditional distribution of a film consists of giving the movie to a producer rep who advertises it to distributors who hopefully release it in theaters and VOD.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Marketing Plan
Due to this film's violent and mature themes, our marketing strategy will center around advertising to adults. To do this, we will utilize several mediums through which we post and share ads, and focus on technology to transmit them. Our goal is to develop an effective procedure to maximize movie rentals, streams, and sales.
Our first plan of action for marketing would be to create movie posters to put in movie theaters and on billboards around big cities. We have seen that posters are an effective way to capture viewers' attention, so we would artistically formulate a few of them to showcase the film's story without giving away too much detail. This would intrigue others but leave them in suspense so they will be urged to watch it.
Our next plan would be to make a trailer of our film. This would likely be a short compilation of some scenes from the movie arranged together to leave the audience in suspense, similar to the posters. In order to do this, we would have to film the rest of the movie and then select parts from it that are important to the theme but do not take away from the surprise of watching the actual film.
Our final plan would be to create a social media page, such as an Instagram account. This would allow us to promote our product to people all over the world, and allow others to share it with each other. Below is a mock Instagram page, made to approximately show what one would look like if we made one. Our page would clearly show the name of the film, and would give suspenseful posts to instill interest.
Monday, February 10, 2020
Audience Engagement Research: Joker
Joker is a thriller about Arthur Fleck and his mental transition into the Joker. The movie is violent and has mature themes, and is also about an evolving character, which is similar to our film.
The movie advertised posters with the Joker being the focus point of them. The point of these posters was to get people's attention for the new movie while not giving away too much information about the plot.
A teaser trailer was released by the producers on YouTube, which racked up 62.1 million views. The trailer consisted of short scenes from the movie to make sure the story was not given away, but enough to get peoples' interest. After that, they released two more longer trailers that were similar to the first one.
The movie's website consisted of basic advertising and trailers.
The producers released banner ads on other websites, which sparked controversy on the internet about the movie. This was because of the recent shootings in the media, which people cited as evidence that America was not ready for a movie like this. Nonetheless, it was released, and the dissension over the movie only added to its popularity.
Based on Joker's success, it is clear that posters and trailers are an effective way to advertise a movie. We could implement these strategies in our own film, like creating a main character poster or a short teaser trailer, to maximize our publicity. Although a risky idea, finding a controversial time to release our film - possibly during a drug or crime epidemic - could also raise the attention of the media. However, this could hurt our film as we would likely be seen as cynical for doing something like that, so we will stick with conventional methods.
The movie advertised posters with the Joker being the focus point of them. The point of these posters was to get people's attention for the new movie while not giving away too much information about the plot.
A teaser trailer was released by the producers on YouTube, which racked up 62.1 million views. The trailer consisted of short scenes from the movie to make sure the story was not given away, but enough to get peoples' interest. After that, they released two more longer trailers that were similar to the first one.
The movie's website consisted of basic advertising and trailers.
The producers released banner ads on other websites, which sparked controversy on the internet about the movie. This was because of the recent shootings in the media, which people cited as evidence that America was not ready for a movie like this. Nonetheless, it was released, and the dissension over the movie only added to its popularity.
Based on Joker's success, it is clear that posters and trailers are an effective way to advertise a movie. We could implement these strategies in our own film, like creating a main character poster or a short teaser trailer, to maximize our publicity. Although a risky idea, finding a controversial time to release our film - possibly during a drug or crime epidemic - could also raise the attention of the media. However, this could hurt our film as we would likely be seen as cynical for doing something like that, so we will stick with conventional methods.
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Audience Engagement Research: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is a movie by Quentin Tarantino, and is set in Hollywood in 1969. It follows Rick Dalton and his stunt devil Cliff Booth as they make their way through an industry that has progressed passed them.
Both this movie and ours have mature themes, so it is similar to ours in that matter. The also revolve around a main character struggling to find their way in a new world.
The movie made a website that showcased stills and trailers of the film, and offered tickets.
They also used their cast as a selling point for the movie. With actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, they generated a lot of excitement about the movie because of their high profiles. They also made appearances on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. This would not work with our film, however, because our cast members are not well known like these ones.
For our movie, our best bet would be to make a website. This doesn't require a big budget and doesn't need a high profile cast.
Both this movie and ours have mature themes, so it is similar to ours in that matter. The also revolve around a main character struggling to find their way in a new world.
The movie made a website that showcased stills and trailers of the film, and offered tickets.
They also used their cast as a selling point for the movie. With actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, they generated a lot of excitement about the movie because of their high profiles. They also made appearances on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. This would not work with our film, however, because our cast members are not well known like these ones.
For our movie, our best bet would be to make a website. This doesn't require a big budget and doesn't need a high profile cast.
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Audience Engagement Research: Get Out
Get Out is a mystery thriller film that is rated R and was released in 2017.
Get Out would have a similar audience as The Rise because they are both rated R and both have a thriller aspect to them. This makes it a good movie to analyze in regards to marketing.
The film used ominous posters showing scenes from the movie to get people's attention, and including menacing quotes about the plot. They also included the director's name, Jordan Peele, because he is well known in the entertainment industry.
Get Out also advertised trailers on YouTube. The trailers, while not too plot revealing, gave viewers an idea of what the movie would be about and how good it would be. Putting the ads on YouTube was important because the director has a fan base that correlates to that of YouTube content, so his target audience would be exposed. Ads were also run during sporting events to help broaden the viewer base of the movie.
Get Out also employed their own website, with spoiler-free synopses of the film, trailers, an art gallery, tickets, and a share feature so that people could send it all to each other and gain a larger audience.
Get Out would have a similar audience as The Rise because they are both rated R and both have a thriller aspect to them. This makes it a good movie to analyze in regards to marketing.
The film used ominous posters showing scenes from the movie to get people's attention, and including menacing quotes about the plot. They also included the director's name, Jordan Peele, because he is well known in the entertainment industry.
Get Out also employed their own website, with spoiler-free synopses of the film, trailers, an art gallery, tickets, and a share feature so that people could send it all to each other and gain a larger audience.
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