The Role Of The Distributor

Distributors have the job of gaining the largest possible audience for each film release that they are supporting and working for. This is in no way an easy job for the distributors as so many other entertainment options are open both in and out of the home. Distributors have to promote upcoming titles to the market place, and gain a higher interest in their film than others. They have to first find out what the possible amount is that the film could earn, and then they can prepare a budget to release it. The higher the production budget of a film is, the more likely that film is to have a distributor.

Distributors have to find out:

• Who is the target audience?
• Who can be convinced by the distributors to buy a cinema ticket?
• What sort of audiences have films of the same genre previously attracted?

The marketing plan of the distributors:

• First they budget the release of the film- covering both the launch and the sustaining of the film post-release.

They they organise the advertising:

• They create the poster, advertising the movie itself, which can they go on to lead into social construction of 'word of mouth' advertising.
• They then create the films trailer which is seen as one of the most useful advertising ideas.
• Then the distributors set-up the movie through online services for things such as trailers,galleries of stills, behind-the-scenes footage and much more.
• They then set out to gain an active, not passive approach to the audience for the sake of media advertising.

Publicity is then taken into consideration:

• The distributors publicity team arranges interviews to take place within the media, containing member's of the cast from the film, and also the artists attending premieres of the film.
• Publicists create a press kit for the journalists, containing things such as cast and crew lists, biographies, facts about the film and the production of it, and a synopsis.
• They then construct screenings for national critics and set visits for the distributors.
• Also things such as merchandise from the film is created, promotional partnerships, premieres and preview screenings.

To the right is an image of Harry Potter merchandise which has been released due to the success of the films. This also enables the film to be advertised.

Distributors also take it upon themselves to arrange promotional partnerships. They allow customers to interact with the film characters by entering a particular competition, or perhaps collecting premium items.