Evaluation Question Three

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Distribution of media products is the ways in which people become aware of a media product this is often done through larger companies that have a larger access to ways of distribution, this in the past would mainly have been access to cinema chains however in house distribution is becoming more and more accessible to smaller film companies due to the digitalisation of the media market. Social medias becoming more and more popular in reaching target audiences and sites such as YouTube and Netflix now mean people have access to millions of short films and full sized films at their fingertips meaning some ways of distribution have become a dying substance.

Most media products do not make it into cinemas due to the cost of marketing the  which in industry would be considered the most profitable way in which your film can be viewed. It allows an audience to experience the film in its full glory in a unique experience which as a film maker makes getting into cinemas a very desirable way to distribute the media product which is why often competition for box office slots is very high so most media products do not make their way onto the big screens. In the past media products were marketed using posters in cinemas incising people to select their next film venture. Distributors would pay large amounts of money for huge inner city billboards and in some cases flyers would be handed out. As technology progressed TV ads dominated media marketing and with the evolution of the internet we now find the majority of media marketing done through online media channels such as social media and through online sites such as Netflix or AmazonTV giving companies with a range of budgets the ability to get people to watch their media products through the advertising campaigns you can buy into on social media allowing a greater outreach to potential audience and its now becoming a development of these campaigns allowing companies to tailor the type of people their film creating greater interest and interaction percentages from these smaller campaigns meaning huge distribution institutions are becoming less and less popular with only the big companies remaining such as Disney and Comcast being huge media conglomerates who are able to control all stages of creating and marketing their media produce through vertical integration allowing them to become so successful as less cost is used on outsourcing out of house companies to distribute their films.

My media product is a micro budget indie product without any established stars or professionals involved in production. The genre of my product is a crime thriller and due to its violent nature and extensive use of profanity would have an older target audience therefore the marketing of the product would have to be tailored to suit the age of my target audience. It shares similarities with films such as "Goodfellas" and more recently "live by night" which both made for a very poignant cinema screening. The most recent "Live by night" was marketed mainly on social media using ad campaigns before videos on sites such as YouTube it also had a Facebook page in which potential audience could interact with the film being fed frequent teasers and outtakes of the film ensuring their seat in cinemas. I found through research that most of the best selling films in 2016 used big media institutions which are mainly involved in vertical integration in order to achieve the maximum audience interaction with the film.  The film "Arrival" which net grossed over $100,000,000 in the worldwide market was distributed by Paramount one of the leading five distributors which it could be said was responsible for initiating audience interest which lead to the huge success of the film making it one of the best sellers worldwide in 2016.  Another film which was recently distributed by a big institution was "Live by Night" which was distributed by Warner Bros another one of the main 5 distributing institutions. Live by Night was less of a financial success after being handed for critics to tear into its flesh, the film however still managed to net gross over $10,000,000 which shows its distribution had impact on many people. I personally became aware of the film through social media marketing after seeing its trailer for the first time during my crime film research ( it played before a video) and being that it had a target audience of people age 15+ the internet and social media was most likely the best place to set marketing campaigns as it already narrowed down the people who would see it to those who were most likely old enough to view the full feature film.

I found hardly any evidence of the film being advertised elsewhere and therefore assume the primary source of marketing was through online campaigns which suggested the target audience of the film was not elderly people despite the setting of the film being in the 1900s.

I feel the complete budget of my film should it be made into a feature film would be around the same as very successful indie film "Kidulthood" being around the £500,000 mark as both films require little special effects or incorporate famous actors. They are both set in a rural and modern time in urban environment so location cost and set design would not be as expensive as films set in the past such as Live by Night. Kidulthood due to its low budget nature was not distributed by a huge institution and instead was picked up by Lionsgate a common choice for the more low budget films. The low budget indie film did not have immediate impact on the audience through marketing campaigns and more traditional methods such as word of mouth soon became a greater part to play towards the success of the film. Similarly low budget British film "Four Lions" was not distributed by a large institution and instead was marketed by StudioCanal a small UK based distributor leading to its relative success.

If I was to choose a big distributor for my feature film it would be Warner Bros due to its success with recent films such as Man of Steel. I found Warner Bros has been responsible for many action successes found  here

Warner Bros films

However due to the high risk involved as an indie film maker with blowing a large proportion of the already low budget in order to distribute the film could prove fatal to the production its self leading to a less well made film which would not be masked through advertising campaigns and would be destroyed by critic reviews. I feel if I was to market my film with such a low budget I would opt into social media campaigns which may not have as large of an outreach as huge distribution institutions however with tactical placement of ads and attempting to create a fan base around the film it could have a lower success rate leading to decreased profits however would not require as great a financial risk as using an institution such as Warner Bros as leading to a lower chance of bankruptcy and would leave funding for another project which would be able to reach a whole new different audience widening the companies variety and increasing appeal towards the company as a whole.