Film Distribution Notes

 Distribution 

distribution is...

• making the film available to exhibitors (agreeing deals, producing digital and physical copies), raising awareness and demand through marketing.
• exhibitors include cinemas, TV channels, streaming cites etc...

Warner Bros

• Wonder Woman was distributed to 69 countries 
• they are vertically integrated and have their own in house distribution company
• spent approx 150 million US dollars on marketing and distributing Wonder Woman 

Belstone Pictures 

• Spent approx £2000 on marketing the finished version of Tank 432 to various distribution companies in attempt to get a deal. 
• Took 18 months for Kaleidescope to agree (who spent £23000 on marketing and distribution 

Theatrical release

 

Putting a film in the cinema

• cinemas purchase the license rights to the film
• cinemas pay the distribution company per 'print' they need
• the bigger the film, the more money cinemas have to pay the distribution company
• many big budget blockbusters like Wonder Woman cost more to get the rights to screen them than the money the cinema will expect to make on ticket sales for the movie...

A LOSS LEADER

A loss leader is a film which is so expensive to either make or buy the rights to, that is unlikely to make enough profit at the box office to recoup the cost

                          BUT...

Companies involved can make their money back through things like merchandise, TV deals, snacks at the cinema...

• A distributor will decide whether to distribute to IMAX or other formats eg 3D/4D, cinemas across the world... 
• If they think its too expensive or no cinemas want the film, companies may decide to not theatrical release at all 

Wonder Woman

• Distributed to 69 countries around the world
• 8000 prints in the US alone, $8 million spent
• cost $1000 per print
• released on Amazon prime, HBO...
• 4 types of DVD were released

Tank 432

• Didn't get a theatrical release (0 countries)
• couldn't afford it
• THEN, for their next film (Tucked), costs were lower as they filmed on a digital camera, so they had more money to spend on marketing. They had a theatrical release in 19 UK cinemas- they made approx £32k from this.
• For tank 432, they did a variety of video on demand deals around the world- went on Netflix US for a short period of time
• they edited their IMDB page to get a deal with Netflix (to sound more appealing)
• Kaleidoscope split the profit with Tank 432 so they made less money.

Other distribution options-

• DVD/ BLURAY
• TV Channels
• per pay view 
• free distribution eg Youtube (to get noticed)
• digital download on a website or app
• video on demand, Netflix...