Film DistributionsHeather Larkin

Distribution: when a film is launched into the market and aims

to sustain public interest.

Distribution Companies

To distribute a film, the distributor has to have the

specific rights to a particular film, which can be done in

three ways: investing in a film’s production, buying the

rights to a film after it’s made or if they are already part

of the larger organisation they are automatically made

the distributor.

Examples of Distribution Companies include: Paramount,

Warner, Disney, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal,

Working Title and Film 4.

Positioning

Positioning is the decision at the hands of the distributor of how and

when a film should be released.

If a film gets released during a ‘slow period’ or if it is up against

intense competition, this causes financial disaster.

Films rarely breakeven from just cinema release and the success of a

film relies on word-of-mouth so that it gains DVD/Blu-Ray sales.

Distributors use target audience statistics and test screenings to view

who decide who to target as their audience.

Distributors have to decide whether to do a ‘saturation release’,

which is mainstream cinemas or an ‘art-house release’, which is an

art-house cinema.