The Role Of The Distributor

According to Lord Puttnam CBE (President of film distributors' association) a key role of many for the distributor is to identify and deliver the largest possible audience for every film, by targeting the core audience to get them to see the film but also to expand the films appeal to those that may not be directly part of the targeted audience. He goes on to say that this is no small task especially with the wide variety of entertainment options now available to the consumer both inside and outside of the home. There are on average 500+ titles released in UK cinemas every year meaning that there is bound to be fierce competition to capture the largest audience, this combined with the fact that most cinema goers know in advance what they going to see this is due to the "behind the scenes" job done by the distributor their sole objective is to promote interest in the title they are in charge of. They will come up with a stream lined, audience focused, tailor made distribution plan in order to exploit the rapidly changing elements of the entertainment industry.

The distributor will work on items for example, who shows the film, how long for and the release date (how many films are being released at the same time and can how big of an impact will this have on the revenue our film makes) Distributors have to work extremely hard to get their film into the spotlight and talked about this doesn't just happen by accident. They have to create plans and partnerships to build this interest and awareness, they aim to then convert this interest into cinema visits. The distributor takes delivery of the master print of the finished film this is then presented to exhibitors and they negotiate a bilateral agreement to have it shown.

This is when the distributor's marketing campaign comes into effect as it creates a "want to see" attitude amongst the target audience.

Ways to effectively market a film is via:

- Word of Mouth - Social recommendation is key as people are more likely to see a film if there friends want to see it or has said it is good.

- Film Posters - A well created and interesting poster is able to show off the stars/directors/star reviews to further whet the appetite of the audience.

- Trailers (Teasers and Theatrical) One of the most effective way to market a film is a well made trailer these are shown in a variety of media texts on TV, before other films in the cinema and also online.
- Online & Mobile - Nearly every film company has a website to highlight and show off their films

- Social Media - One way in which social media is used in marketing is by competitions or on twitter in particular they can buy a promoted "trend" something which is widely spread to a large amount of people.

- Print Media (Magazine interviews, Reviews etc) Stars can be featured in magazines with a fresh interview and photoshoot.
- Publicity - This is to do with the fact that people are more likely to accept independently written pieces rather than paid for advertising.
- Promotional Partnerships - Tie-in with other films of a similar audience e.g win a voiceover role in another movie.

- Merchandising - Special burgers with fast food restaurants, special edition lego etc.

- Premieres - Creates hype about the film.
- Festivals (Cannes, Venice) - Picking up/nominated for prestigious awards.
All of these combined (if used correctly) can greatly improve a films successes

Once the films run has come to an end at the cinemas it is not the end for the distributor as they then go into DVD sales, pay per view/subscription based media, and finally free to view on televisions programming all this is enabled by the distributor.

Every film has a specialised distribution plan where the distributor, producers and the studio meet and decide on the objectives of the plan like any business plan it is normally to cover the large costs of production and then to make a profit. As so that every film has a successful launch it's release date is chosen carefully so that it doesn't clash with other films that may hurt its chances at going big, and also so that there is enough time to create enough hype and buzz.

Something that goes hand in hand with the distribution plan is the marketing plan. This is the element of the distribution to create hype/interest surrounding the film, consumers awareness of the film and how many different ways it can be consumed.

A detailed target audience profile is created for each film, their age, gender, hobbies, interests,lifestyles, job, use of social media and consumption patterns. It's important to include a large percentage of your target audience to see the film but also as the distributor it's important to attract as wide spread audience as possible.