INST ITUTI ON S AN D AUDIEN CES

FIL M IN DUSTR Y
LE SSON 1
INT RODUC TION T O P RO DUCT ION,
DIST RIB UTI ON AND MA RKET ING
 AIMS
• To understand the focus for KEY TERMS
the Audience and Audience
Institutions section of your Institution
January Exam
Production
Subsidiary
• To understand the structure
Distribution
of a Media Triangle
Marketing

• To understand the different Exhibition

sectors of the film industry Horizontal Integration
Vertical Integration
 THE EXAM
Section B: Institutions and Audiences
Candidates should be prepared to understand and discuss the processes of production,
distribution, marketing and exchange as they relate to contemporary media institutions, as well as
the nature of audience consumption and the relationships between audiences and institutions. In
addition, candidates should be familiar with:

•the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;

•the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing;

•the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution,
marketing and exchange;

•the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;

•the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;

•the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by
international or global institutions;

•the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns
and trends of audience behaviour.

This unit should be approached through contemporary examples in the form of case studies based
upon one of the specified media areas.
 MEDIA TRIANGLES
Wh at th ey h ave
produc ed

Media
Text

Target
Institution
Audience
Wh o has p roduc ed Wh o it is produ ce d
the m edi a t ext fo r.

Devise your own example for Clerks.

 THE FILM PROCESS
There are three distinct areas of the film industry.
Each one of these could be viewed as a type of media institution.

PRODUCTION DISTRIBUTION EXHIBITION

What would you expect to happen at each stage?

• Production involves the creation of the media
product and is the responsibility of the
PRODUCTION COMPANY

• This includes all pre-production, production &

post-production processes.

• Before that the writer/director/producer must Clerks had a production

budget of just $27,000.
find finance for a film – which may come from This budget was mostly
one or many production companies (a co- provided by director
Kevin Smith’s credit
production) cards.
Why would this film
have found it difficult to
get finance from a
production company?
•Film distributors are responsible for prints and marketing:
PRINTS – producing physical copies of a film for cinema/home
release and finding the exhibitors/retailers to sell the film
MARKETING – raising audience awareness and anticipation of a
new release

•A distributor may:
-Be a part of the same parent company as the production
company
-Have a long term arrangement with a production company and
provide financial assistance for many of their productions In 1993 Clerks was
-Provide financial assistance for a single film by a production bought by distribution
company company Miramax for
-Acquire a film after it has completed production just over $2million

•A film will likely have different distributors for: It has only been
-Releases in different countries distributed in seven
countries – why would
-Cinema Release that be?
-Home-Video Release
• Exhibition is divided into two sections:
- Cinema – the distributor is paid by the cinema for a copy
of the film
- Home – the distributor is paid by the company who is
selling the film for a copy

• A film’s success is often decided on the amount of

money it makes during it’s cinema release. This is
known as the Box Office Takings
Clerks made just over
• Home Exhibition is becoming an increasing valuable $3million at the cinema
and varied source for distributors to increase profits. – a respectable
amount!
However, it was far
WHAT METHODS OF HOME EXHIBITION CAN WE THINK OF? more successful on
DVD, spawning
numerous versions and
special editions
Why would this film be
more successful on DVD
HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL INTEGRATION
Often a single parent company will own multiple
companies in the film industry. HORIZONTAL
The parent company
This is divided into two types of ownership: owns multiple
companies at the same
stage of the film
industry. A smaller
PRODUCTION PRODUCTION PRODUCTION company, owned by the
parent is a subsidiary.

VERTICAL
DISTRIBUTION The parent company
For
For example
example WaltBros
Warner Disney also owns:
owns: owns multiple
companies across
•Miramax
•Warner BrosFilms
Studios (Production) different stages of the
film industry.
EXHIBITION •Hollywood
•Warner Pictures
Bros (Distribution)
•Used to own
•Pixar Warner Bros Cinemas
Animation What are the
in the UK (Exhibition advantages for a parent
company of each type
of ownership?
RESEARCH TASK - THE LIFE OF A FILM
-SUBMIT AS A POST ON YOUR BLOG (MAKE AS VISUAL AND INTERACTIVE AS POSSIBLE)
-DUE SUNDAY 8PM
-STARTING POINT FOR RESEARCH SHOULD BE IMDB.COM – USE COMPANY CREDITS SECTION
1. YOUR FILM
Provide a brief synopsis of your film’s story
Include some of your film’s marketing materials (trailers, posters, cast interviews etc.)

2. PRODUCTION
What was your film’s production budget?
Which Production Company (s) provided the finance? What other films have the company (s) produced?

3. DISTRIBUTION
Who are your films theatrical distributors? How many countries has it been distributed in and what are they?
Who are your films home distributors? How many countries has it been distributed in and what are they

4. EXHIBITION
What was your film’s box office takings? Would you expect it to be shown in Romford VUE? Why?
What formats is your film available on for home exhibition?

5. HORIZONTAL & VERTICAL INTEGRATION

Is your film’s production company a subsidiary of a larger company (Horizontally Integrated)?
Are there any signs of horizontal integration between your film’s production company (s) and distributor(s)?
 RECAP
What do the following terms mean in relation to the film industry?
• Production
• Subsidiary
• Distribution
• Marketing
• Exhibition
• Horizontal Integration
• Vertical Integration