Red State Kevin Smith

Kevin smith is an American film director, his breakthrough film is called ‘clerks’ and was shot with the small budget of $20,000 set in the convenience store that we worked in at the time. He took this to Sundance film festival in order to sell it to a distributer, and did just that. He had a niche but loyal market for his dark comedy films that he continued to make after ‘clerks’. However after making many films of the same genre and style he decided to try his hand at something else and chose to make ‘Red State’. Because Smith was not known for this genre of film no film company would back and fund him as, because their only aim is to make money not art, they wanted him to continue to churn out the type of films they knew would be successful and make money.

So, in order to fund his film, he raised funds himself through other sources backing. He made ‘Red state’ for about $4 million and decided to sell the film to a distributer as he had done with ‘clerks’. However upon further thinking he chose to distribute the film in a more traditional in spite of the major film labels. As his film had cost $4 million, it would cost $20 million to market meaning that the film would have to earn $24 million  back, which he thought was unachievable and effectively end his career if he ever wanted backing for a film in the future.

He booked into independent cinemas over America in order to tour his film, he aimed to make back the money purely by people coming to watch at these cinemas. He charged more for the ticket than cinemas do but said in return for paying more for the experience they could have a cast and director Q and A after and a more interactive experience. This broke the business model for a film as it was independently distributed. Prior to ‘Red State’ Smith had created a podcast which he then used as a platform to promote his films and his tour.

He made all his money back with the tour and then made a profit overseas through the usual means of selling the film. This was an innovative step in contemporary film making as it proved that independent distribution on a large scale can be successful.

Stranger By The Lake

Stranger on the lake is a story of Franck who falls in love with a man called Michel who is attractive but lethally dangerous. After seeing him drowning another man Franck decided to pursue the relationship regardless.

Stranger on the lake was released on VOD and in cinemas at the same time. Four exit polls were covered of 117 people in Bristol, London, Cambridge, and Manchester and then 106 people two weeks later in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The results were accompanied by a survey of Peccadillo’s Facebook and membership email list. The  data collected from the industry included box office results and sales information.

The film was funded by the BFI distribution Fund with a grant of £50,000 and released on February 21st 2014 in 24 UK cinemas, two weeks later the film was released on VOD and in Scotland. The film was predominately aimed at the LGBT community. At first Cineworld agreed to show the film as a one off special screening but then decided to boycott the film as it broke the established 17week window between cinema release and VOD.

The audience, as expected, was mostly male with 76% of cinema goers and 84% downloads. In addition to this most of the cinema goers were frequent with 61% going at least once a fortnight. The average age of the male sector of the audience was 46. 51% of the audience rated the film good and 81% said they wouldn’t download the film.

The theatrical gross total was £154,000, it was concluded that this release strategy had led to  lower theatrical revenue. 72% of Box Office revenue came from London.  Online promotion was key to download revenues. Some of the information gathered however is contradictory, for example Peccadillo’s own survey suggested 74% of VOD viewing came from outside of London but a survey done by Curzon Home Cinema said that 63% of viewings came from London.

The state we’re in

The state we’re in regarding production, marketing, distribution and exhibition:

Currently the big 6 make nearly all of the film exhibited in cinemas. Each year each company makes a portfolio of films, some of these are big films some of them are small, some of these films are tentpole releases. They follow the same business pattern for each film as this is a tried and tested method that is predictable and safe, in addition they can work out the amount of money they are likely to get back from each film. They stick to this method of traditional film making because it always works for them and will continue to do so. Tentpole releases may seem a huge risk however they are very carefully calculated to ensure they make the money back with a profit. For example avatar was a massive film released costing millions to make ad yet it was relatively safe as they invested loads of money into marketing to ensure that many people were hyped to see the film.

After these films have made money in the cinema and dvd rentals there are many other sources of income that keep the money rolling in for years after the release of a film. For example foreign markets, television, shops. Therefore by the time the life cycle of the film is over nearly all films make a relatively large profit.

The film making process is collaborative as although one company makes the film, another exhibits, another distributes and many other companies get a share of the profit.

These companies claim that piracy looses them a lot of money each year, as now with sites such as Putlocker, it is impossible to remove pirated films from the internet completely. However it can be argued that piracy does not loose the companies as much money as they claim as most of these people that have pirated the film would not have gone to see the film at the cinemas anyway.

Most major cinemas, such as the odeon, show films completely compiled of films from the big 6. This is because the big 6 can control the cinemas as they know they are the most desired films and the films which will earn the cinemas the most money. The cinema do not make money from selling the ticket itself, they only make money from additional items such as upgraded seats and snacks. Meaning that their main goal is to get as many people as possible into their cinema to buy these things, which a film from one of the big 6 will do.

Another important aspect for the films when it comes to making a profit is ensuring that their film is on at the best time at the cinema. For example they tactically work out when the film will make the most money by not putting a smaller film on with a tentpole release or not putting to tentpole releases on at the same time, this way they are not competing. Film companies tell help each other in doing this even though it is illegal. Another example would be putting Deadpool on, a violent action film, at the same time as How To Me Single, a chickflick, both have very different audiences and this could be intended to make women go to the cinema with their friends whilst their boyfriends and male friends are watching Deadpool. A company such as disney can effectively black mail a cinema in order to get their desired slot by saying things such as “if you don’t put our film on then, you can’t have any disney films in the future” as all cinemas need disney films to survive they have to cave in to their demands.

When it comes to independent films, most people cannot afford to make a film and need investment. This will still likely be from a film company but just a much smaller one. These are then shown at a film festival such as SunDance and bought by a distributer who will invest money to market an distribute the film.

Institutions and Audiences Terminology

  • Guerrilla filming making are films made by independent film makers and are low budgets and simple props using whatever is available. Often scenes are shot quickly in real locations without any warning or without obtaining permission from the owners of the locations. Real guerrilla film making would be a normal person independently making a film.
  • Exhibition- a display of film to a large amount of people, this is similar to an art exhibition.
  • concentration of ownership Concentration of media ownership is where progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media. A company covers many different aspects of the media industry that would usually be covered by several different companies.
  • horizontal integration/ vertical integrationHorizontal integration is the process of a company increasing production of goods or services at the same part of the supply chain.
  • Theatrical exhibition/ non theatrical exhibition 
  • Technological convergence Technological convergence is as technology changes, different devices evolve toward performing similar tasks. An example of this is the smartphone which is a laptop, phone and camera all in one.
  • “the big six” The big six are the top six major film companies, they call the shots as to what is shown in the cinemas and have the majority share of the film industry and therefore the largest influence.
  • Tent pole releases film releases from studios that can collapse a studio financially, these nearly always succeed.
  • Synergy synergy is the simultaneous release of two different media products with the aim of boosting both.
  • targeted advertising/ un-targeted advertising Targeted advertising is where adverts are used specifically for a certain type of person to see, for example on a youtube beauty channel the adverts would be targeted at young women. Untargeted advertising however is when an advert is in a place where many types of people can see and it is not aimed at anyone in particular, an example of this is advertising on the side of buses.
  • media conglomerates A media conglomerate is a company that owns numerous companies in various mass media
  • SymbiosisAn agreement that benefits both companies involved with the deal, a good example would be film companies who have their toys in happy meals as both companies benefit.
  • Cross media convergence Media convergence in the film industry can be between production, distribution or exhibition and it is combining two or more mediums.
  • Distribution The delivery of media products to the intended audience.

An Unexpected disruption: the digital age

Films make money from the merchandise they sell of the film. An example of a film that was made specifically for the sale of merchandise was the transformers as after this many people wanted to collect the toys that accompanied the film. Another prime example is Star Wars, there are many people who say that star wars was created with the aim of marketing merchandise to sell and this has been extremely successful making more money from merchandise than the film itself. Another way a film can make money is by selling the soundtrack to the film, this is particularly good for musicals such as Les Mis or films with iconic soundtracks such as Jurassic Park. Nearly all films produce a soundtrack for purchase, this is a small but significant income for the film. Films also make money out of selling DVDs, Blu-rays and digital copies for rental and to own which makes the film company a lot of money. In addition to this they sell the rights of the film to T.V companies for them to broadcast and also to companies such as Sky box office and BT vision on demand to sell as pay per view.

There is a symbiosis between films and the fast food company McDonalds , this means that both companies prosper out of the deal. Toys promoting the film are included in happy meals, this makes children want to see the film and also makes them want to collect all the toys, encouraging money for the film as well as mcdonalds.

Then the internet came, the internet was unexpected for most people and changed the world and the film industry suddenly. One of the most revolutionary features is video downloads. All of a sudden people were able to buy or rent videos from places such as iTunes to watch in the comfort of their own home, what was the incentive to go to the cinemas anymore? In addition to this popular websites such as YouTube were created allowing the audience to watch and upload their own and others’ videos for free. This meant the content was universal meaning it offered a much wider range than any cinema ever could. In addition to this YouTube is partially self running, it is contributed to by users without need for the company to make their own content for people to view.

The next major breakthrough was video screening, this meant that people could watch videos in the comfort of their own home in live time, without needed to wait to download the content. This method is immediate which is greatly convenient to the consumer.

To ensure they are still relevant cinemas focused more on the experience they could provide to challenge the internet. They made the screens wider and of a higher quality, which the viewers could not achieve in their own home. This provides an incentive to go to the cinema as you cannot get this experience anywhere else. In addition to this the films shown in the cinema are new releases that you cannot see anywhere else, this makes it exclusive and a reason to see the film at the cinema.

The next step in the timeline of the film after cinema is to be released on DVD. This is realised months after the film is shown in cinemas. DVDs can be bought or rented however there is an exclusive window where the film can only be bought for those that cannot wait to see the film to create the most money back.

After this the film is then available on video on demand sites such as netflix, sky movies, xbox store and BT vision. There are two types of on demand sites. Rental in which a video is rented at a set price for a certain amount of time or subscription, where it is a monthly, weekly, yearly payment made for unlimited viewing. Subscription is more cost effective if you watch a lot of films and it is tailored to your interests. However if you are looking for a specific film then rental is better as your chosen subscription service may not have the film. Subscription is all you can eat and unlimited.

With free to air T.V now there are more channels and therefore more choice. IN addition to this there are more options of entertainment on the internet such as YouTube, games, social media that district people fro viewing T.V.