Planning & Choosing my Film institution

The importance of film distribution:

• Choosing the right film distributor is really important as the reputation that the film distributor has with its previously distributed films will have effect on other films being distributed.
• The more copies of the film that can be made from the distributor the reputation of the distributing company will be better
• However, it is shown that the less successful films are distributed by independent distributors because these companies are limited to the amount of money that they have with campaigning, advertising and promoting the film.
• It is also important to choose the correct film distributor correlating to the nature of your film as it would be a bit obscure if you chose to have a major film distributor back your alternative film.
• This will therefore be something that I will take into consideration when choosing my Film distributor for LUCID.

In order to decide what film distributor is the best for my specific film I have done some research on both independent and major film distributors.

Independent Film Distributors:

I have looked at certain independent film institutions that are based in the Uk, because most other independant film institutions are based in the USA, but seen as my film has been planned, made and campaigned in the Uk, doing research in the uk is more important and suited to my film.

Here is what I have found:

Independent specializes in the development, financing, production and distribution of independent feature films. Led by CEO Luc Roeg, who has over twenty years experience in the film business, Independent has a team of highly motivated and experienced professionals with expertise in project development, production, structured finance, distribution, sales and marketing.

The first independent distributor that I found was actually named: the independent film company

• The Sea

Based on the Booker Prize-winning novel by John Banville.

After the death of his wife, Max Morden retreats to a house by the Irish sea where he spent his childhood summers. Re-acquainting himself with places past brings back powerful memories from one fateful summer many years ago. Only an unforeseen revelation will provide a path to closure and redemption.

• The Information

Powerful and psychological story that examines the minutiae of relationships in the most extraordinary of circumstances: two undercover police officers posing as a couple, living together in the middle of a massive crime-ridden tower block. Meanwhile their own partners are left sitting on the sidelines, awaiting discreet telephone calls, and stolen moments. We all occasionally take our work home with us, but what happens when work becomes our new home? How do you live as a believable couple when you are not one… and never make a mistake?

Film4 Productions is a British film production company owned by the Channel Four Television Corporation. Before 1998 Film4 Productions was known as Channel Four Films or FilmFour International. In 2006 the name Film4 Productions was introduced.

Another quite famous independent film distributor is ‘Film 4’

• The Inbetweeners film 2

• Macbeth
• Carol

Another independent film distributor is ‘BBC FIlms’

BBC Films is the film making arm of the BBC which has been responsible for co-producing some of the most successful British films in recent times. Until 2007 BBC Films was located in Mortimer Street, London, UK but now BBC Films is based at the BBC Television Centre, London, UK.

In cinemas now:

• Treatment of youth
  http://emp.bbc.co.uk/emp/embed/smpEmbed.html?playlist=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fcorporate2%2Fplaylist%2Fp02bn7ys&title=testament_of_youth_uk_trailer.mov&product=iplayer

Upcoming films:

• Man Up

• London Road

Warp Studios and FIlm 4 often combine when financing a film…

The final independent film distributor that I have researched is ‘Warp’:

Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is an independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, specialising in electronic music. Warp Films is one of the UK’s most critically acclaimed independent Film and TV production companies and is based in Sheffield & London, UK.

• ’71’

• Four Lions

Here’s a compilation an snippets of films distributed by Warp Studios that I found on youtube:

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/GQtvw_01nQM&#8221; frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe

Mainstream Film Distributors:

I will be researching Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, MTV films and Happy Madison Productions 2005, here is a video of what there logos are.  This is often featured at the beginning of major distributed films:

1st major film distributor: Columbia Pictures (Sony pictures)

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. (CPII) is an American film production and distribution studio of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.^[1] It is one of the leading film studios in the world, a member of the so-called Big Six. It was one of the so-called Little Three among the eight major film studios of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Click on this link to show you a poll made by Columbia Pictures to show you peoples opinions on what was the best distributed film by Columbia Pictures

From this website it says:

1) Groundhog Day

2) The Shawshank Redemption

3) Misery

Paramount Pictures:

Paramount Pictures Corporation (commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, and formerly known as Famous Players-Lasky Corporation) is a film studio, television production company and motion picture distributor, consistently ranked as one of the “Big Six” film studios of Hollywood. It is a subsidiary of US media conglomerate Viacom.

Top 3 films distributred by Paramount Pictures:

source of reference: IMDB

1) Titanic

2) Transformers Dark of the moon 3

3) Transformers: Age of Extinction

MTV films

MTV Films is the American motion picture production arm of the cable channel MTV. Founded in 1996, it has produced films based on MTV programs such as Beavis and Butt-head Do America and Jackass: The Movie, as well as other adaptations and original projects. Its films are released by fellow Viacom division Paramount Pictures.

•  Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

• Blades of Glory

• Justin Bieber, Never say Never
  

Happy Madison Productions

Happy Madison Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 1999 by Adam Sandler who is best known for his comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, two box office successes starring Sandler himself, both produced by Robert Simonds. The elderly man depicted in the logo is Sandler’s late father, Stanley.

• Zookeeper

After taking into account of both Mainstream and Independent distributors I think that best distributor for Lucid would be and Independent distributor so Warp Studios or Film 4. I believe that having an independent distributor will allow me to have more scope and choice in how I want my film to be. Although the budget will be minimal, I will not need much money as I’ve used local locations and my own idea for the making of LUCID.  Big successful independent films are rare however, there have been successful independent films in the past:

Click on this link: and it will show you the top ten indies at the box office.

When researching warp studios I watched some of the films and how they were produced, this is appealing to me because the aesthetics of some films will be similar to my film; LUCID