The Role of the Distributor

the role of the ditributor is to plan, identify and deliever the largest audience possible for the movie they are working on. Using the audiece it is their job to create a interest in the audience for the film as this will help convince the audience to want to go see the movie and plan for when they will befor the movie has been released. the job of the distributor is a competitive business where they are all competeing in making their movie sucessful in the launch of the movie to the cinema but also sustaining its future in the market place.

This is then made harder as the entertainment indusrty is forever moving forward and changing. One of the biggest changes to the industry would be the move to digital. Digital has allowed movies to be promoted, consumed and released in diffrent ways. therefore creating a more modern cinema and entertainment industry. The consumer is able to pick which movies they want the infomation about and trailers for. This means the distributor looks for an original convention in the movie or a outstanding feature which will help sell the movie to the audience. Such as a star actor. anouther exaple is the movie ironman. This is a well known marvel superhero. The distributors would use this to thier benifit when trying to create a audience for the movie. other things such as 3D or a "hook" which is a interssting story line will also be used by the distributor. The distributor will need to identify the audience, why this audience might see the movie, estimate the revenue potential, build awareness and interesst in the film by developing plans and partnerships. This is then making as much interesst as possible and getting people into the cinema when the movie launches. The distributor also has to work with the exhibitors to get the movie screened in the cinemas. In the contract with the exhibitors include the rights to be able to release the movie into cinemas and also promote the movie befor and during the release of the movie using all forms of media. Distributors can be working on multiple movies at the same time. In a average week around 10 movies are opening in the uk cinemas, this makes the movie industry a highly competitive place as the media oppertunities to promote the movie compared to the amount of movies is small.

This means the distributors have to use every way possible to engage a strong audience. To do this the distributors use diffrent ways of advertising the movie. One way is posters. The poster must fit the conventions of the genre as well as the storyline of the movie. the imagery must be interessting and encourage the audience to want to find out more about the movie or to go see the movie. It must also contain the vital information for example, the name of the film, the date of the release, the stars of the movie, the directors of the movie and the company which made the movie. Posters also usually contain a catch line which is a glimse at the narrative and what the movie will be about. This allows the audience to understand the movie and poster better, allowing them to create more of a bond with what the movie may be like and creating a sense of wanting to know more about it. Another way is through the use of trailers. Trailers are also used to give the audience a better understanding of the feel for the movie and what it will be like. this helps to create a hype about the movie coming up to the release of the movie. this will help people to want to go see the movie and also make it a talking point amongst the audience and creating a larger audience because of it. Word of mouth is another way of advertising. It allows the audience to talk to friends and let them know about the movie which if the other ways of advertising are good then in theory creates a larger audience as the movie becomes a talking point in conversations and on social networking sites. Another tool in advertising is social media. Social media allows people to keep up to date with such things as movie trailers and releases. Distributors are eager to make sure that thier movie is the one in the discussions on such websites as facebook and twitter. To help achieve this and help the audience keep up to date movies will make fan groups for the movie on these sites that the audience can follow and share information from. These also give the distributor another media level to promote their advertising products such as the trailer on. The distributor will also try and get the movie in broadcasts and print media. This could range from posters or trailers to interviews with the director or stars from the movie. Promotional partnerships and merchingdising also help people discover the movie and keep the movie on thier mind until the release date.