RESEARCH: THE ROLE OF THE DISTRIBUTOR

To research the role of the distributor, I looked at The Film Space (from the FDA) where Mark Batey, the Chief Executive of the FDA, explained in a number of videos, the majority of what a distributor's role entails. I also used the 2019 FDA Yearbook, a downloadable pdf that shares a rich source of information on the film industry, audience and trends. Batey's first point in his introductory video is to emphasise that it is the connection of films to their audiences. The caption for the initial video explains that if the distributor is a 'major', it is connected to one studio and distributes every film made by that studio and might occasionally acquire the rights to an independent film. However, Batey also points out that an 'independent' distributor will have to buy the rights to a film, often from film festivals, seen at script stage or at the production phase, to be able to distribute the intended film.

Batey then breaks up the distributor's role into WHAT, WHO, WHEN, and HOW.

WHAT:

"One key question when either acquiring a film or financing a film is what the distributor thinks are the best selling points of the film are - WHAT type of film it is."

Occurring at the earliest stage they can, the distributor must determine the genre of film, whether there is a market for the film, if there are any similar films out recently, if it is a sequel or part of an established universe, any source material used and how the actors and director's latest films have done. These need to be clear, every individual film needs to be assessed, regardless of whether it is part of a franchise or not.

In one of our case studies, Captain Marvel, the Unique Selling Point was very clear; this was the first female led superhero movie in the film industry. As a superhero film, and part of the largest superhero cinematic universe, Disney knew they had an established market. Because it was the first of its kind, with a female protagonist, and the comics the film took inspiration from were already hugely popular, Disney decided Captain Marvel would prove to be a box office hit. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the directors of Captain Marvel, had seen large success in previous hits like 'Sugar' and 'Mississippi Grind'. Brie Larson, the actress playing the role of Captain Marvel, was not as mainstream, but had given brilliant performances in films like 'Room' and 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'. Disney knew they would be very comfortable distributing Captain Marvel to an already waiting audience.

Mark Batey brought to attention the individual distribution plans made for each film. I looked at Lionsgate UK, a leading UK distributor. They had a variety of films and different genres. 'Anna' is an action film with a female protagonist, whilst 'Angel Has Fallen" and "John Wick 3: Parabellum" are action sequels. They also distribute horror films like 'Spiral' and mockumenturies like 'Farming'. Lastly, they also distribute TV shows like the comedy 'The Goes Wrong Show'.

WHO:

"In acquiring the film, the distributor will have considered that there is a viable audience for the film, i.e WHO might pay to see it."

Batey puts a clear emphasis on who the audience will be. A distributor would look for who the most frequent cinema go-ers tend to be (usually young adults and teenagers), and the target audience for the film in question, as well as the broadening of the stereotypical cinema go-er, to include an older generation frequenting the cinemas for certain films.

I, Daniel Blake, another case study, tells the story of a Newcastle upon Tyne worker who becomes unemployed due to a heart attack. BFI, the distributor, knew that the cinema's usual audience would not be the target audience for I, Daniel Blake, and decided to screen in local areas similar to the Newcastle shown within the film. This allowed I, Daniel Blake to be shown directly to the target audience, before a nationwide screening in cinemas to allow the broader cinema frequenter to view the film.

In the FDA handbook, it is made clear that the 'largest audience sector is from the 16-34 age bracket'. This group made a total of 77 million visits within 2018. The FDA observed a growing divergence on age viewing patterns. The average TV audience is getting older (over half are above 54 years old). An OFCOM survey found that 48% of 12-15 year olds preferred YouTube, and 19% picked Netflix as their main platform for viewing media. Distributors have noticed this trend and this can be seen in Disney's Trolls World Tour release. Instead of having only a cinematic release, Trolls World Tour was also released on the same day, on Disney's own streaming service, Disney+, a rival to the streaming giant Netflix. Increasingly, distributors like Hallmark also are now releasing tv only movies, to market to the older audiences, with tv only movies tending to fall into the period dramas and rom-com categories.

The FDA also made the observation that certain genres can hold 'various different appeals to people at different times'. A girls' night out might see the group going to the cinema to watch the feminist 'The Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn', whilst an evening with a partner or a friend might end in a rom-com viewing of "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" on Netflix. "Audiences comprise a complex mosaic of consumer segments, varying substantially film by film, week by week."

WHEN:

"They will also decide WHEN to release the film in cinemas and on other digital formats."

Batey explains that distributors acquire films for release, and must make a key decision on when to release the film. This is based on a number of factors: how many feature films have been released at the time (usually in the UK, about 700 feature films are released each year), the balance within those 700 in terms of genre such as niche documentaries, foreign language films, and the bigger films like blockbusters or franchises, and the traditional seasons.

As seen with two of our case studies, Captain Marvel and Rogue One:A Star Wars Story, both distributed by Disney, the superhero and action films tend to come out around the summer season from about March to September. However, networks like Hallmark, that are known for original seasonal programs, will usually pick a date just before the appropriate holiday, such as Christmas. Christmas movies will usually come out end of November, which can also be seen in Disney's Frozen. Although it is not themed around Christmas, the winter themes in the movie meant Disney released it on 27th November, 2013, in order to catch the Christmas season and capitalise on the gift giving season.

 

In the FDA handbook, the Christmas season is highlighted with films like 'The Grinch' and 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms' being specifically released in late November, in a move similar to Disney's Frozen, in order to catch the family Christmas buzz.

There are also occasions where factors outside distributors' control ca affect box office takings despite careful planning. This was seen when FIFA world cup fixtures disrupted cinema audience numbers on many weekends in 2018, due to the population wanting to watch the live football rather than attend a cinema movie showing. Weather can also affect cinema audience numbers. The third weekend in April, 2018, had unusually hot and sunny weather compared to the long cold winter, and many British cinema go-ers opted to stay in parks and attend BBQs instead of visiting the cinema.

Lastly, genre can affect the timing of a cinematic release compared to the trailer release, as shown by a graph designed by the FDA below. Rom-coms tended to have the shortest release period, closely followed by period pieces, and drama. However, animated and family orientated films tended to have a longer period between trailer release and cinematic release. This is a ploy used by distributors to capture the attention of the target audience and drip feed clips of the movie to garner excitement and market the film to create anticipation for the movie, especially seen within Disney's originals, Marvel and Star Wars films.

HOW:

"This will govern HOW they will market the film and how much to spend on advertising and promoting it. Based on this they will create trailers and display materials to promote the film, create publicity through such things as interviews with the stars online (e.g. twitter Q&As giving public as well as media access); on TV, radio and in the press, premieres and news stories. This will also involve developing promotions for the film with media partners- all to engage particular audiences as the release of the film approaches."

Batey talks about the last decision a distributor makes, which is that of how will they distribute the film. The distributor needs to keep in mind what is this film, who is it for, how much can we afford, and how many cinemas will be interested in showing it. This again must be worked for each individual film regardless of belonging to a franchise or not. The distributor must predict how much a film might make at box office in order to create a budget for marketing.

Rogue One:A Star Wars Story had an already established audience because of the link into the Star Wars Cinematic Universe. As an action film, it would have to be released in the summer to make the most amount possible at box office, although Disney would not be worried about cinemas turning down showing Rogue One:A Star Wars Story. At box office, Rogue One:A Star Wars Story made just over a billion dollars worldwide, the fourth Disney film to do so in 2016. However, Disney suffered a loss with Rogue One:A Star Wars Story, although not major, partly because they spent 40 million dollars in marketing costs. Rogue One:A Star Wars Story is an example of when a distributor estimates too highly initially for box office revenue and spends a reasonable amount on marketing for their estimation, but is considered too high a cost for marketing when the estimation falls short.

The FDA handbook explains the different types of marketing strategy as well. UK film distributors' cost in marketing 916 new films was over £350 million. About half of this was spent on nationwide advertising, which includes digital, social and physical media outlets. The other half is spent on advertising with post and trailer production, publicity and premiere cost and digital cinema packages to be supplied to cinemas in many formats. Like with Rogue One:A Star Wars Story, these excessive costs of marketing mean that the UK has relatively low returns for the distributor. Because there are so many films being released in the UK every year, there is a tough decision to make in terms of release dates, especially with large marketing campaigns.