Notes On FDA Videos

These are notes on the distribution of film, after it has been through the production phase. It is based on the information found on the clips on: http://www.launchingfilms.tv/

1. Release of a film:
First, consider its marketability (who is it going to appeal to and who its audience is).
Then develop a campaign that will best communicate and appeal to that audience. Start by calculating how much money will be spent on marketing the movie.
From that they can set an appropriate budget that will enable them to reach the box office potential that they believe the film has got.
Then plan the methods of marketing. Considering options such as whether they will develop working with 3rd party promotions, media partners in radio, newspaper, publicity angles for them eg. is the talent in the movie, are the actors willing to work to help promote by travelling, speaking to the media, doing interviews. Will there be a premier.
Advertising – media spend, eg. outdoor posters, television advertisements, newspaper, radio, internet. There are many options open.
Choosing primarily who will this appeal best to and what are the best communication routes to reach these people in the most effective way.

2. Positioning and Audiences:
Define who the audience is.
Identify the specific genre of the film, eg. thriller, horror, action, comedy etc.
Decide whether it appeals to a certain age group eg. child, teenagers, adults etc.
Who directed the film, eg. in specialised films, they appeal to a more cine-literate audience, therefore they tend to know a lot more about whom certain directors and actors are. Therefore you would specifically target your film to that audience.

3. Target Audience:
Being very clear who your target audience is is important.
People know how to identify their target audience, by using past films that are similar as examples and doing large amounts of research to gather information about this audience.
There is an element of risk as you only have a certain amount of money, and you must use this correctly to appeal to that audience in the right way that will urge them to watch the film.
Different audiences and different age groups react differently and need to be targeted differently. Their whole decision making process, what film they will see and when they will see it, is very different.

4. Competition:
Film distribution is based around competition.
There are many films out there, therefore you need to ensure that your film will stand out beside them, to make yourself noticed.
You have to consider why people will want to watch yours and why is your poster more exciting than the others.
There are many different factors that need to be considered, for example holidays, weather, audience patterns. You have to consider what the audience are most likely to be doing, for example in the winter they will watch more TV, however in the summer, they will see more advertising posters outside.

5. P&A Budget:
This consists of the cost of all of the prints of the film itself, technical elements of the film, shipping it to other places. As well as this, they must also consider what is regarded as the most important part of the budget, which is marketing. This includes everything from designing posters, press ads, gaining television spots, producing trailers.
Then the location of the advertisements must be decided, thinking about who is the target audience and where are they going to see it.
The distribution of the money must be considered carefully.
Television advertising is very expensive, therefore people can use other methods of marketing their film, for example radio advertising is a lot cheaper and still reaches many people.

6. Word of Mouth:
Word of mouth is critical. When you want word of mouth to happen will depend on the movie.
Sometimes word of mouth can be very strong - if the film is early, then lots of screenings can be done before releasing the actual movie. Also if it is early, and they believe it will play very well for the target audience, then they will work with media partners, eg. newspapers, radio, television programmes, cinema chains, and will run advanced screening programmes, which will develop word of mouth. Word of mouth in films that have their screenings very late means distributors have to rely on their advertising money.
Word of mouth is seen to be the most important and credible as it will be your friends’ opinions that you are more likely to believe.
Opening the movie at the opening weekend, then it is down to word of mouth of the public. This determines how long the movie is going to play for. Word of mouth is extremely crucial in marketing, as it can simply ‘make or break’ a film.

7. Marketing Plan:
There are many methods used to publicise a film, the main ones through advertising and through press.
Advertising is the more expensive method. Adverts would be placed into magazines, newspapers, on the television, radio and on the internet. Then there are more free forms of advertising, which is done through publicity and the press, where you look to get the support from the director and the cast of the movie.
Features and stories about the film can be placed into newspapers and magazines. Interviews can be set up with the directors which can take place on television shows or over the radio.
There is also outdoor advertising which is also an expensive way to advertise a film. This includes methods such as big billboard advertising, adverts on the side of buses or bus shelters etc.
Word of mouth, developed through screening programs, which is a better form of free advertising.
The internet can also be used through email - viral campaigns where you can use something interesting to provoke an interest in the film’s subject matter and again enticing people in to watch the film.

8. Film Trailers:
In the movie industry, the trailers are the most important key for selling the film.
It’s the public’s first and only exposure in the cinema to what they are actually going to buy into - the audience’s first ‘taster’ of the film.
They would be in the same environment that they would see the film in, and on the same size screen that they would watch the film on, so it’s very important that the trailer has the right impact and conveys the right message, including graphics, sound and the concept of the film.

9. Digital Marketing:
Digital marketing can help build word of mouth.
Viral marketing is simple. It is where you create something in the element of a game, a piece of video, a quiz etc. and that because of its nature and the fact that it is good enough, will ensure that when it is sent to someone, they send it on to someone else.
This causes people to talk about it and means the most effective marketing of word of mouth can be used. This is because it is the best piece of communication that will mean more to the person and they find it more reliable.

10. Test Screenings:
Research is important and can be done well in advance of testing materials such as poster ideas, trailers, concepts of movies, ideas of visuals for the trailer, making sure it is meeting people’s expectations and delivering to the audience what you want it to, in the way of communicating the things that you want it to.
When the movie is finished, test screenings of it can be done in advance, where they get a recruited audience of what they believe is the target audience, to see the film and then fill in questionnaires at the end. They can also stay to talk about the film in more depth about some of the issues, and what they liked or didn’t like. Then the studios may look at this and can change parts of a movie to apply to peoples thoughts about the film.

11. Persuading Cinemas:
The exhibitors – the actual cinemas must be convinced to take the film, especially if it is one of the more difficult films, like an independent film.
You must use persuasion to find somewhere to put the film.

12. Opening Weekend:
In the cinema industry, the exhibitors work on the important 3 day figure, your opening day which is always on a Friday, and the Saturday and Sunday figures.
By the Monday morning, the film has to have been successful and made more money than others, it’s the ‘make or break’ period. If it makes the least money, the film is removed from the cinema. This is called a holdover and is usually why some films are only shown in the cinema for one week.
Therefore the money made and how successful the film was in the opening weekend is extremely important and determines whether your film will have another play date.

13. Piracy:
Piracy in the UK has increased in the last five years.
In 1996, piracy accounts for 20% of all DVD sales in the UK. This is a huge number of illegally sold films to the British consumer.
It’s a big problem, despite the fact that the British consumer may feel they are getting a bargain, in many cases they are not getting their money’s worth due to the poor quality of the films.