Film Distribution and Marketing

The term 'distribution' is used to describe the process where a movie is made available for the viewing of an audience. There are a variety of ways that this can happen such as; Theatre release, Home entertainment release (DVD) both of which fall under the distribution section. It is the distributors job to do a number of things to bring the movie to the forefront of the market. They have to consider each of the following things to ensure they have fulfilled the role that they play in the successful distribution of the movie;

• Identifying it's audience
• Considering why they'd go and see it
• Estimating the revenue potential across all formats of it's release
• Developing plans and partnerships to build awareness and interest in the film
• Aiming to convert as much interest as possible into cinema visits
• Persuading cinema operators to show the movie

Reach is how they aim to get the film out to a wider range of people, expanding their audience. It is all to do with the advertisement of the product. This related to film distribution because they want to achieve a bigger reach in order to have a more global audience, the more media platforms they are on, the more successful the product/business will be.

A marketing plan is something that is produced when a film is being made so they know the steps that they are going to take in order to raise awareness for their product. There are a lot of factors that go intp a marketing plan, and this makes it a vital part of any successful film. Word of mouth, posters, trailers, online and mobile, social media, broadcast, ambient and print media, publicity promotional partnerships, merchandise, premieres and experiences, festivals and inspiring young audiences are some of the thing that have to be considered when a marketing plan is being written. As well as this the company will also need a distribution plan which will help them to see and outline the costs they will use in things such as advertising to get there product out to the public.

Film companies use advertising, publicity and promotion to encourage people to watch their films. Although these 3 methods are very similar but all are different in their own ways.

Advertising is something that the company will use to get their product out to the audience, in this particular case we are talking about a film. 

Publicity is something that the company can't control as it is how the media talks about their product and promotes the film at the same time. But this can't be predicted whether it will be positive or negative.

Promotions are then used to entice and bring in an even larger audience by the use of offers or just to engage them with the film.

Paranormal Activity

This film was released in September 2009 in 54 different countries and showed in 2,712 theaters around the world. It's total worldwide gross is $193,355,800. In the first week it had made $19,617,650 in the USA, and £16,027,045 in the UK.