Question 3: What kind of media
institution might distribute your
media product and why?
The Driver
Tabitha Green
The driver opening title sequence
The difference between Mainstream
and independent distribution
companies?
Independent distribution companies such as Revolver are known for showcasing new, emerging talent such as
‘Kidulthood’ to smaller/ niche audiences such as people within the UK. Films which are likely to be promoted by an
independent distribution company are likely to be character and narrative driven rather that packed full of technology
and special effects. Click here to see the trailer for the independent film ‘Kidulthood’.
Revolver is known for creative and unique advertising techniques such as their attempt to break the world record for a
zombie gathering in Leicester Square (to promote The Zombie Diaries). They also offer unusual and untoward prizes etc
to attract attention over other distribution companies. An example of when Revolver did this was offering a trip to
Amsterdam and a free bag of marijuana as a prize at the release of ‘The Wackness’ and when they were promoting
‘Dead Man Running’ starring Danny Dyer by dropping hundreds of customized £5, £10 and £50 on crowds in London
and Manchester.
Click link to watch youtube clip of the ‘revolver’ trailer- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svGAucw3Y80
In contrast, mainstream distribution companies such as Paramount (promoters of ‘Shutter Island’) have a medium to
big budget and promote films with very ‘big names’ in them which is a main advertising technique used by these
companies eg. Getting the main actors to do interviews on popular TV shows. They use a high profile marketing
campaign such as Billboards, Posters, large visual campaigns with famous actors and award shoes etc. The type of films
which are advertised by these mainstream companies often are heavily laden with cutting edge special effects which
also plays a part in the target audience to which the company advertises the film, eg, Harry Potter.
How ‘The Driver’ will be promoted
As our film is new and producers and actors will be new in the world of cinema, we
decided that we would prefer our film to be promoted independently by MGT
productions. MGT productions is a new distribution company which we will set up
specifically to promote this film. The reason we would like to use an independent
company is that we would like to use creative techniques to create a buzz about our
film. For example we could have replica packages made and hidden at the cinema
premiere of the film to create extra excitement amongst the audience.
As our film is a crime thriller, we expect that it is going to appeal to a huge range of
different audiences however predominantly to teenagers and young adults. As social
networking is an ever expanding technology which is very poplar with younger adults
and teenagers, therefore by posting trailers and reviews of our film on sites such as
Facebook and Twitter is not only free, but can easily be accessed by a whole range of
people and easily shared by millions to create a widespread buzz about our film.
I believe that spending millions of pounds on a mainstream production campaign
would not be cost effective for our film as the actors and directors are not well known
so the techniques such as large bill boards and posters wouldn’t be effective as the
unrecognisable names and faces wouldn’t catch peoples attention.
Evaluation of our distribution
techniques
• Facebook will be our main advertising technique as we are
using a low budget distribution company (and it’s free). It is
a very good technique because then a huge percentage of
the population has access to our film.
• Thriller Film festivals would be a good technique for our
film to be advertised as the audience there would be
interested in that thriller genre. Another way to display our
film to audiences is playing it on the summer big beach
screen in Brighton. As this event attracts many young
people that may be interested in the type of film of which
the driver is included.
• Hopefully after the first year, our film will be making
enough money to cover filming expenses.