Using our opening title sequence as our media product, as if it was a full film, it is important that we choose the correct company to market and distribute our film. This is because if our product and the company don't fit well together, they may put out a product separate to our original intention and change the direction of the film. While this can be beneficial in some ways, as it is to make the film sell, you don't want it to be misleading or change the meaning of the film.
Firstly, Lionsgate UK is an independent producer and distributor that is based in California, United States.
While they focus on horror, dark drama and foreign language films, in 2005 they attained Redbus Films (a
UK-based distributor) that released films such as 'Bend it like Beckham'. This means that there are parts of the company that could deal with a football drama film and have it widely distributed and well recieved amongst our target demographic. Some Lionsgate UK films include: Dirty Dancing, Blitz, Now You See Me and Saw. For a long time their target audience consisted of men 20-55, however, they have accumulated a large female audience as well.
Arguably, one of the biggest production and distribution companies in the UK is Pathe Distribution. They are well established, since 1898, and have produced a range of films over time such as: Chicken Run, Beauty and the Beast, Judy, Lolita, The Lost Prince and Family is Family. These all range from comedy, drama, family and romance to name a few. Their good long standing reputation, of over 124 years, means that they are trustworthy and reliable, additionally, they have an established method that could be used for our film. There target audiences range dependent on the film, for example, Chicken Run's target audience is far younger than the older audience required to understand jokes in Family is Family. However, most of their films are rated 12, meaning there is moderate offensive behavior in a lot of their films. This would not affect us as, although there would be some foul language, it fits with our target audience of 15+.
Vertigo Films produces and distributes predominantly genre-driven low budget-films. One of the directors that are on their team created 'The Football Factory', meaning that they have had experience with the same genre of sports/drama and could effectively market and distribute the film. Additionally, they would be able to help us decide if we should pull the emotional and dramatic elements out when marketing, or if the sports should take priority. However, on their website it speaks how "having built up one of the most successful feature film businesses in the UK, encompassing production, distribution, sales and post-production, the company is now concentrating on television production". While this doesn't mean our film wouldn't be accepted (as it is a film rather than a series), it would just have less focus than it would've if it was presented before the company wanted to shift to television. They released other films such as Street 3D, this gives them experience targeting both a predominantly male audience and a female audience, helping us target a larger audience.
While Verve Pictures particularly focus on British and independent films as an independent company itself, they distribute DVD indie films and have a key interest in contemporary art-house and foreign films. Although we could still utilize this company, they specialise in genres far from our film that there are other companies that would be more successful for our desired outcome. Also, it would lower the risks we are taking as filmmakers when it comes to the marketing and presentation of our film. Some of these films include: My Brother The Devil, Red Road, Bullet Boy and Shell. Verve's specialty lying within the release of independent films means they have had to adapt to a wide range of target audience over time.
New Line Cinema has the parent company of Warner Bros. Pictures. This means there is a lot of financial support behind them which could be beneficial to our film, however, this means that their films are very commercial. Additionally, there is a lot of sci-fi and horror films behind them such as: It, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Annabelle, The Conjuring, The Nun to only list a handful. Because of this, I don't feel like they are the best fit for our underdog football film. In the beginning, New Line targeted college students, however, following their successes, they were able to develop a sense of what niche audience would like each film. This allowed them to develop other audiences such as teenage boys, young children, middle-aged women and other demographics.
However, they have worked with companies such as Entertainment Film Distributors to release The Lord of the Rings trilogy. They are a British distributor of predominantly independent films but have released well known films such as: The Space Between Us, A Bad Moms Christmas, Hereditary etc. Despite this, I still feel as though neither company would be suitable for our sports/drama film.
Lastly, and perhaps the most obvious for the contemporary way of consuming entertainment, is Netflix. Netflix are known to have a large range of films
that they release, however you are paid on a one-off fee for a license, which normally lasts a year or two, to stream the film to an unlimited audience. Netflix have a mass audience of ranging demographics, however, this can be separated into groups, attracting mostly adults aged 25-34 years old, followed by 35-44 year olds and 18-24 year olds. While this could be beneficial, I feel as though our film may got lost in the sea of films released monthly on the streaming site. It may be worth signing with Netflix after a cinema release as it would garner more attention and then be available on video-on-demand.
After considering all of this, my top 2 institutions that I would look into are Lionsgate UK and Vertigo Films. This is because they have experience when marketing and distributing genre films similar to our title sequence. Lionsgate UK is the diversified entertainment subsidiary to Lionsgate (a leading entertainment studio) meaning they have financial backing compared to our completely independent production. Despite Vertigo Films being independent, they have had such successful films that they are also financially stable. In my opinion, I would rather go with Vertigo Films as 'The Football Factory' is closer to our film than 'Bend it like Beckham' - in both genre and target audience as Lionsgate targeting a more female audience compared to Vertigo Films. Additionally, Vertigo Films may be able to help us keep the 'rough-around-the-edges' impression we would like to have.
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