Bums On Seats Part 1

Introduction

Ever wondered how a blockbuster movie promotes itself to generate enough interest to earn millions? This illustrated blog tells you all the important information about why target audiences are identified, why new markets are discovered, the importance of film distribution, the ways of promoting a film and the most useful ways of finding research.

Importance of Publicity and Marketing

Publicity and marketing is very important to a blockbuster movie’s success, because it provides awareness of the film to the target audience. Without publicity and marketing, a film is not promoted and without promotion, a film cannot be sold to a cinema and without appearances in cinemas, a blockbuster movie cannot make a profit.

Film Distribution

Film distribution is where a film producer and distributor approach many different cinema chains, DVD/BluRay rental chains, DVD/BluRay retailers, etc. Film producers hire trained film distributors to distribute their film because it will speed up the time between making the film and releasing the film and professional distributors know how to market a film to cinema chains and retailers.

Role of a Film Distributor

A film distributor’s role is to sell the film to cinemas, DVD/BluRay rental and retail and as many other avenues as possible which will generate more income for the film. Another role of the film distributor is to research how a particular film should be distributed and marketed. Then, they should distribute and market the film in a similar way to how similar, successful films have been sold.

Audience Research

Audience research is essential for a film before the pre-production stage, as it is important to know if a film will be watched and if there is a market for the film. Otherwise, a film may take years to create, but fail because there was no audience. A key example of a film failing, because it had no audience at the time of the film’s release, is Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 film, “Grindhouse”.

There are two main types of audience research. The first is market research and the second is audience research.

Market Research

Market research is important, as it will tell a producer what will be popular, what gaps in the market there could be and what markets have recently been acknowledged.

The “Twilight” film series’ producer’s found a gap in the market for vampire films, and so, they decided to make a film based around a vampire. This discovery of a gap in the market sparked the interests of other film and TV producers, providing the popular TV series “True Blood”.

Audience Research

Audience research follows market research. Audience research will allow a film producer to understand what the audience expects to see, a description of the target audience, which promotional strategies will be the most effective, etc.

British Film Institute (BFI)

        What is it?

“BFI is the British Film Institute. Our world-renowned archive, cinemas, festivals, films, publications and learning resources are here to inspire you.” (Source: http://www.bfi.org.uk/about/)

The British Film Institute is an institute, which helps provide support to the British film industry. The BFI offer research about the British film industry, along with cinemas, publications, films, festivals, learning resources and an archive of British film.

        Research Collected by BFI

The BFI are used by many filmmakers to research the British film industry. This is because the BFI offer a very accurate collection of information within the BFI National Library, Film & TV Database and BFI National Archive.

Each year, the BFI create a statistical yearbook about the British film industry in the past year, often comparing the year to other years.

(Source: http://www.bfi.org.uk/filmtvinfo/stats/BFI-Statistical-Yearbook-2011.pdf)

 

(Source: http://www.bfi.org.uk/filmtvinfo/stats/BFI-Statistical-Yearbook-2011.pdf)

Statistical Yearbook

The BFI’s Statistical Yearbook includes a variation of information about the British film industry, including box office earnings, cinema sites, performance of UK films abroad, film rankings, cinema audiences, UK film market, UK film economy, budget trends, film imports and exports, etc.

(Source: http://www.bfi.org.uk/filmtvinfo/stats/BFI-Statistical-Yearbook-2011.pdf)

(Source: http://www.bfi.org.uk/filmtvinfo/stats/BFI-Statistical-Yearbook-2011.pdf)

Film Distributor’s Association (FDA)

        What is it?

Established in 1915, the FDA is an association, which represents film distributors in the UK in consultations with the UK Film Council, UK Government and other trade organisations in the film industry.

The FDA is actively engaged in the combat against film piracy and theft.

The FDA also supports the charity, Film Education, to attempt to develop the use of film and media in the UK school curriculum.

        Stats and Research

The FDA provide stats and research on their website, including cinema admission figures for each month of the past 10 years, top 100 films in UK cinemas, etc.

The FDA also provide an Annual Yearbook courtesy of Rentrak and a Guide to UK film distribution aimed at trainees and students.

    Preview Screenings

Preview screenings are used in two ways; to research the audience’s views on the film and to help generate word of mouth about the film. To research an audience’s opinions on a film, preview screenings are used to understand what is wrong with the film and how the film can be improved. This is done by asking a selection of people, who fit the targeted audience of the film, to watch the film and then fill out a comment card.