A film distributor takes a film that has been made and ultimately gives it access to the cinema or wherever it will be broadcasted. This involves advertising, legal and physical distribution of the film through copies. This is vital to ensure the film can make as many sales as possible by reaching its target audience.
We chose Film4 as our distributor as they aim to produce new innovative and unique films. From there back catalogue they also seem to enjoy films which have a twist or edge to them, which we believe our product contains. Film4 was launched in 1998 and whilst it may broadcast some huge block busters hits on the channel nowadays, its selling point was and still continues to be the rare British film it produces. Some of its most notable productions or co-productions are: Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 12 years a Slave, Four Lions and The Inbetweeners Movie.
More recently Film4 launched the above campaigns to reach out for more exclusive films. We believe our film could fit into this new, particular category due to several reasons:
• We believe that the narrative of our piece stands out as it is a fairly bold way to open a film being ‘thrown’ into the action within a few minutes. Film4’s productions are often willing to step over the line and break into new territory like this.
• Our use of sound is different and engaging as we use it to link together our sequences and as the dominant sound within the title sequence and dance scenes.
• We believe our film fits with the Film4 ‘ethos’ of edgy and ground breaking as shows the teenage world from a more immersive angle. It is clear from Film4’s releases and Channel 4’s hosted programs that they enjoy teenage comedies and also that they enjoy darker stories. Therefore our mix of thriller and teenage is perfect.
One of our inspirations was also Skins which hosted on Channel 4’s side channels of e4. We feel if the content of that TV series was the kind of material Channel 4 looks for then our film may fit in perfectly. Although Channel4 and Film4 are managed separately from viewing both hosts products they carry very similar values for the TV or film that is appealing.
Former film distribution research
Anya || Media 