Possible Distributors for our film

We believe that our film would be best suited for a national audience rather than a niche audience because drama films have a large viewing audience. Therefore we would want our film to be distributed by a well known, high budget company. Because of this reason, an independent company would be inappropriate for the distribution of our film because we will need a high budget company for advertisement and exhibition to make our film well known and appealing to our target audience.

An example of a drama film to be advertised and distributed with the blanket technique (the technique we would like our film to be distributed with) is:
Twilight (2008)
Certificate:12A
A teenage girl risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire.

Official Poster:

Theatrical Poster:

Twilight was distributed using a blanket release advertisement by Summit Entertainment.

The film was funded massively by Summit Entertainment and so several posters, trailers and teasers were released (blanket advertisement). If we were to get a distributor for our film this would be appropriate for our film advertisement. To have Summit Entertainment distributing our film would be beneficial in advertisement and distribution due to their popularity, experience and funding.

However, even though they have distributed many films, particularly drama films, they are not well known for distributing short films so it may be more appropriate and effective for us to find another company.

When researching for an appropriate distributor, we should be looking for a company who can make our film stand out from others, we need a company with a fan base to make it look appealing for our target audience. 

Here is a link to the Warner Bros. Pictures website explaining their role and experience with distributing films: http://www.warnerbros.com/studio/divisions/motion-pictures/pictures.html

Warner Bros. Pictures distribute around 20 films every year. They would be an ideal company to distribute and advertise our film because they have a massive fan base. Also, they have many subsidiary companies such as Time Warner, New Line Cinema and DC Comics. Warner Bros. Pictures own almost half of the CW Television Network. This is ideal for our film and for most films that need a distributor because the subsidiary company of 'Time Warner' have a magazine which is popular within people who watch films regularly. The magazine rates and advertises new films and tells the reader whether they would recommend the film. This means they will be biased towards the films distributed by Warner Bros.  Pictures (they will give their films a higher rating and a bigger space to advertise the film, therefore creating a wider audience.) They have been distributing films since 1918 and obviously have had huge success for them to still be in demand to this day. They have distributed films for all ages and genres including cartoons. Having Warner Bros. to distribute our film would be ideal for us because they know the most effective techniques to attract our target audience. 
Because Warner Bros. have experience with distributing many genres and targeting different audiences, it will be appropriate for distributing our short film. This is because even though it is only a five minute film, they have distributed many cartoons which are this length. However, we would have to have a huge budget to able to afford the company. Which is impossible for us to achieve. Moreover, it may be more appropriate for us to find a distribution company for independent films as this would be cheaper. On the other hand, our film will be less recognised by the public and with an independent company distributing it, it will only attract a niche audience rather than a national audience which is our ideal target audience. 

An example of blanket release would be 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2' which was a massive success. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. They began distributing the film when they released the first trailer in March 2011 when the world premiere wasn't until July 2011. Following the trailer was a series of posters with a caption of 'It all ends 7.15' referring to its international release date. Each poster illustrated one of the characters in the film with the battle in Hogwarts in the background. These were shown at bus stops and billboards. Trailers were shown in cinema's, on TV and on the radio. And in June 2011, Emma Watson, one of the female protagonists, presented a sneak peak of the film during the MTV Movie Awards.




Warner Bros. have also had mass successes when distributing romantic drama films:

 'The Lucky One' 2012- 12A is Warner Bros. most recent romantic film that they have distributed.
A Marine travels to Louisiana after serving three tours in Iraq and searches for the unknown woman he believes was his good luck charm during the war.

The Lucky One was distributed with the blanket method as where ever you walked you could see posters or billboards of the film. It was an extremely successful film for Warner Bros. pictures and it has similar dramatic conventions that we have in our film such as new love and the struggle to be together and therefore, it shows that Warner Bros. have experience and success with distributing the drama genre and sub-genres making them an ideal distributor for our film.

20th Century Fox is a popular American film distributor. They have had many successes when distributing films such as X Men and What Happens in Vegas. In addition, 20th Century Fox have also distributed many short films as well so they have experience with short films which is ideal for our film. When researching into possible distributors it is cructial that we find a company who have experience with distributing drama films:

27 Dresses (2008)- 12

After serving as a bridesmaid 27 times, a young woman wrestles with the idea of standing by her sister's side as her sibling marries the man she's secretly in love with.
27 Dresses was a huge success at the box office displaying that 20th Century Fox are exteremly goo dat distributing drama films. It is a light-hearted film which is how we want our film to be with a target audience similar to ours and the success of the film is what we aspire to have with our own so it would be beneficial to have 20th Century Fox distributing our film.









If we were to find a company to distribute our film it would be inappropriate for Warner Bros. or Summit Entertainment to distribute our films because they mainly distribute feature films. So I researched some independent distribution companies and found that 'Metrodome Distribution' would be an appropriate company for us because they are well known for distributing films made by independent companies. They have worked with and distributed lots of popular films that have even won awards.
They advertise Cinema and DVD releases. These would be appropriate for someone in our situation because they are experienced when distributing short, independent films therefore they know how to advertise films for a niche and a national audience. Metrodome is a British distributor of films, TV and digital content. They have distributed films such as Shifty which has done external well in cinemas and on DVD releases. However, they would be ideal in some ways as said before but they wouldn't be able to blanket release our film due to them being an independent company- their budget wouldn't be large enough. Therefore, without distribution methods such as trailers, posters and billboards we will only attract a niche audience.

However, they distributed Shifty very well and as you can see in this poster they used the colours black and yellow which suggests that the film is dangerous which will make the individual viewing the poster want to know what the film is about and why it is dangerous. Furthermore, the yellow stands our from the black background because they are contrasting colours which is very eye-catching, drawing attention to the film.



Here is a link to their website, giving you background information and also their success's.
http://www.distribution.metrodomegroup.com/

Furthermore, Metrodome aren't a distribution company which normally distribute short films therefore a company such as... *find an independent company