Research on distribution

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/distribution/distribution1.html

Distribution

Distribution, is the third part of the film supply chain. It is often referred to as 'the invisible art'. It is a
process known only to those within the film industry. Distribution is the most important part of the
film industry, where completed films are brought to life and connected with an audience.
Distribution is about releasing and sustaining films in the market place. In the practice of Hollywood
and other forms of industrial cinema, the phases of production, distribution and exhibition operate
most effectively when 'vertically integrated', where the three stages are seen as part of the same
larger process, under the control of one company. In the UK, distribution is very much focused on
marketing and sustaining a global product in local markets.

Licensing

Licensing is the process by where a distributor acquires the legal right to exploit a film. In
distribution, licensing itself can take place on two levels. Local distribution involves the distributor
acquiring the licence to release and exploit the film in a particular country. The distributor will
usually pay the producer a minimum guarantee for the licence. This fee will vary depending on the
status and perceived commercial potential of the film. A distributor will usually be offered
theatrical rights, for showing the film in cinemas; video rights, for video and DVD exploitation; and
TV rights, if the distributor is able to sell the film to a broadcaster. In addition to paying a fee to
secure the film, the licence will stipulate that the distributor will also pay royalties to the producer,
taken from the profits that the film makes. A local distributor will conventionally share profits
equally with the producer, pay back higher royalties for broadcast rights, and lower for video/DVD.
Once the licence has been agreed, it is then the distributor's job to launch the film. In the UK,
feature films are released initially theatrically (in cinemas). A theatrical opening is seen as the most
effective way to create interest in a new film.
Marketing
In the UK, new films are released theatrically on Fridays. The schedule for forthcoming releases is
coordinated and published by the Film Distributors Association. A distributor will assess this
schedule to identify a Friday release date where there are only a few films scheduled for release.
Finding a 'light' week will ensure that there will be both screen space and adequate review column
inches in the press allocated to any potential release. A further consideration for scheduling a
release is the seasonality of the film. Finally, the distributor will try to position the film distinctively
and avoid a release date occupied by other films with similar traits (story, subject, country of
origin). In recent years in the UK, these two aspects of release planning have become increasingly
difficult, as the release schedule has regularly featured over 10 new releases in a week. After
setting a release date, the distributor works towards the theatrical release, investing in the
materials and the marketing campaign to support it.
Marketing- printing and advertising
The key elements of Prints and Advertising (P&A) that a distributor must consider at this stage are:
 The quantity and production of release prints and trailers
 Press materials, clips reels, images, press previews, screener tapes
 The design and printing of posters and other promotional artwork
  Advertising campaign - locations, ad size and frequency
 Press campaign / contracting a PR agency
 Arranging visit by talent from the film
 Other preview screenings
The logistics of distribution
The distributor will enter into an agreement with the cinema to screen the film on certain 'play-
dates'. It is the responsibility of the distributor to arrange the transportation of the film to the
cinema, as part of its wider coordination of print use across the UK. Logistics represents the phase
of distribution at its most basic - supplying and circulating copies of the film to theatres, of tapes
and DVDs to shops and video rental stores, and managing the effectiveness of the supply. The
showing of films in cinemas is a time-pressured activity. Cinemas spend their money publicising
film play-dates and times in local papers or through published programmes. It’s imperative for the
distributor to deliver the film on time. For UK theatrical exhibition, the distributor typically handles
35mm film prints. Each print can cost around £1,000 - or twice that if subtitled - so a degree of care
is required of everyone involved in handling the print. In the UK, prints are generally broken down
for ease of handling into smaller reels, each lasting around 18-20 mins when run through a
projector at 24 frames per second. So a feature print, in its physical form, will usually be 5 or 6
reels, stored and supplied in a single hard case, weighing in at 20-25kgs. Prints are hired by the
exhibitor for the duration of their play-dates, and therefore each print is made for repeat use. It's
easy to see from this that, during the course of even a short theatrical release period, any single
print needs to be moved many times from the main print warehouse, onto a delivery van, to the
cinema, onto an assembly bench, through the projector and then back through the process and
onto the next cinema. 35mm theatrical prints invariably suffer cumulative damage as they pass
through different projectors, and the hands of various projectionists. There are also overheads
incurred by the distributor for the storage of prints at the UK's central print warehouse in West
London. For these reasons, each theatrical print has a finite lifespan. Distributor will invest in
sufficient prints to provide optimum coverage through the first period of theatrical release, usually
lasting up to 6 months. From this point on, many of the now used release prints will be destroyed,
leaving only a small number to be used for second-run and repertory theatrical bookings through
the remainder of the film's licenced period.
Digital distribution
From the end of 2008, the UK distribution and exhibition started to move towards digital
technology. In distribution terms, the advantages of digital technology are even clearer, though
perhaps longer term. Digital technology is seen to offer a more cost effective and logistics-light
alternative to the tried and trusted, but unwieldy model of 35mm print distribution described
above. It will, eventually, be cheaper and much less stressful to send films as computer files to
cinemas across the UK, than to transport 20-25kg tins of film in the back of a van. The force of this
change, coupled with the new capacity of technology to replicate 35mm imaging, has led the UK
Film Council to establish a digital distribution and exhibition programme for the theatrical sector at
the end of 2005. Entitled the Digital Screen Network (DSN), it will eventually support new facilities
in 211 screens across the country (out of a total of just over 3,300 screens in the UK), and is seen as
a small but important step change towards full digital cinema. All this suggests that in the future,
more titles, both mainstream and specialised, will receive wide theatrical openings, and that this
broadening of access at the point of release will dramatically reduce the overall theatrical period
from 3-6 months to perhaps 1-3 months. Thereafter, films will enter into a second-run and
repertory programming market aided by lower costs. The adoption of digital technologies offers
greater opportunities for distributors to create joined-up campaigns for theatrical and DVD
releases, in which, increasingly, the theatrical opening is used as a way of providing a loss-leading
marketing platform for the highly lucrative DVD leg.
Case study – bullet boy
Bullet Boy is a low budget, independent feature by director Saul Dibb. The film stars UK rapper
Ashley Walters as Ricky, a young man newly released from prison, but unable to extricate himself
from the cycle of gang violence that has become an everyday feature in some parts of inner-city
London. The film describes the effects of Ricky's life on his mother and, especially, his younger
brother. Following festival screenings at the end of 2004, the film quickly gathered a reputation as
the first film to tackle the difficult subject of contemporary gang and gun crime in Britain’s inner
cities. In Hackney, where the film is set, local people saw the film contributing, in one way or
another, to the ongoing debate. By the time the film was released, it had accumulated both word-
of-mouth and press coverage in the news pages. The release of Bullet Boy was handled by Verve
Pictures. On the face of it, Bullet Boy is a specialised film - its naturalistic representation of
characters, time and place, and the use of authentic locations and language have drawn
comparisons with milestone British films including Ken Loach's Kes (1969) and Horace Ove's
Pressure (1975). This take on contemporary urban life offered a unique selling point for the film,
and gave the distributor some confidence that the film would receive exceptional reviews. Verve
Pictures however, saw the potential of the film in the wider market beyond the arthouse,
especially with a young black audience drawn by the presence of Ashley Walters (of So Solid Crew,
here making his big screen debut) to seek out the film in key urban multiplex sites. In order to
broaden the theatrical release of the film, Verve applied successfully for funds from the UK Film
Council's P and A Fund. The film was released on 8th April 2005, opening on 75 prints UK wide, in a
combination of established independent cinemas and multiplexes concentrated in greater London
and other major urban centres. The poster design aims to convey the look, subject and tone of the
film, supported by key press quotes, while also foregrounding the major presence of Walters. The
ad campaign, too, aimed for diverse audiences, interested in film and music, urban black and
white. The campaign included advertising in all of the national daily newspapers that allocate
significant space to film reviews, plus two tabloids, newspapers with a black perspective, a
selective London Underground campaign and extensive use of radio stations with a concentration
on R 'n' B and Garage, the musical forms with which Walters is associated. Towards the end of its
first six months of theatrical release, the film had grossed an impressive £450,000 at the UK box
office, most of this achieved in carefully selected urban multiplexes rather than specialised
cinemas. It was anticipated that the substantial audiences and awareness generated for the
theatrical release would ensure success for the DVD release of the film, six months after the
theatrical opening.
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/distribution/distribution1.html