Evaluation activity 3

1. EVALUATION ACTIVITY 3 –
WHAT KIND OF MEDIA
INSTITUTION WOULD
DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCT?
KEREM BAL

2. OUR PRODUCTION COMPANY LOGO
Dream Light
Productions

3. WHAT DOES A PRODUCTION COMPANY DO?
• A production company plays an essential role in the
organisation and distribution of a film. They are primarily
responsible for finding the best director for the film, they
also handle and have a big say in the type of actors to be
in the production. They also assist in:
• Scheduling
• Casting
• Budgeting
• Scripting

4. ORDER OF CREDITS
In a traditional production, the credits to a
film are usually shown at the beginning,
during an opening sequence. However they can
be shown at the end of the production also.
The normal order is as follows:
• Name of studio distributing the film
• Name of production company responsible for
making the film, usually ‘in association
with’
• A (producers name) production
• A film by (director)
• Starring… (optional)
• Film title
• Then credit the rest of cast.

5. DISTRIBUTION OF OUR FILM
• The distributor for a film is a company responsible for advertising
a media product to the public. This is a very important, if not the
most important in the process of a film as if the product is
marketed well, it will gain a lot in revenue even if it’s not a
very good film.
• The distributor decides how many copies of a film will be made and
showcases it to potential buyers such as cinema chains.
• For our film, we would need a small distribution company who
distribute low budget horror films that is based in the UK as our
media product is unlikely to go international.

6. WELL KNOWN DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES
• Here are some of the largest distribution companies, where
some of them are in the ‘big six’, which is the six largest
conglomerates in film production.
• 20th Century Fox
• Universal
• Warner Bros.
• Paramount
• Walt Disney
• Columbia
• However these production
companies wouldn’t
distribute our film due to
its low budget and therefore
quality of it.

7. POSSIBLE DISTRIBUTORS FOR OUR
PRODUCTION
• Film4
• Lionsgate UK
• Studio Canal UK
• These companies are examples of possible distributors for
our media product as they distribute smaller films, are
based in the UK and have an experience in distributing
horror films. This then makes them ideal for a media product
such as our film.

8. FILM4
• Film4 would be a very good distribution company for our production
as they are very experienced in the distribution of horror films as
well as films in general and would know the best forms of
distribution.
• They also support ‘emerging talent’ and have a showcase of upcoming
films they have a share in and also showcase films that they have
helped make on their website www.film4.com.
• They are also a UK based company and back lower budget films, they
are also very experienced in distribution for horror films.

9. EXAMPLE OF A FILM4 FILM
• Film4 is very good for the distribution for horror films, an
example of this would be ‘Kill List’.
• Kill list is an independent film that was successful as well as
being nominated for six British Independent Film Awards and won an
Empire Award for ‘Best Horror’
• This makes Film4 an ideal distribution company for our film due to
its showcased success on other films.

10. LIONSGATE UK
EXAMPLE OF A LIONSGATE FILM
• Lionsgate would be a good distribution company for us as they have
successful films in the horror genre, an example of this would be
‘Texas Chainsaw’ which is a widely known horror film.
• They also have a wide social media network, through which they
could advertise our production, this is useful as it costs very
little but reaches a large audience, it would also help if the film
went global however this is very unlikely for a small production.
• In addition to this, Lionsgate, as a global institution, specialise
in films aimed at a younger audience which is very useful to us as
they will know the most effective forms of advertising in order to
reach our target audience.

11. STUDIO CANAL UK
EXAMPLE OF A STUDIO CANAL HORROR
• Studio Canal UK would be a great choice for
the distribution for our film as they are well
known in the horror industry.
• An example of a successful horror that they
produced would be ‘The Last Exorcism’ (2013)
which fetched $15.1million at the box office
with a budget of $5million, more than tripling
their budget in box office takings.
• Therefore, like film4 and Lionsgate, they are
very experienced in horror films and would be
the type of company to distribute our film.

12. GLOBAL OR NATIONAL?
• As our media product is only as small budget horror film, we would
not have the option to distribute globally as it costs a lot more
but does mean a higher profit, if marketed well. Therefore a
distribution company such as Film4 would be a very good company for
our production due to the national distribution needs rather than
global. This means that they can air and advertise on multiple
channels, such as Channel 4, Film 4 and E4. E4 targets young
audiences and therefore would be a good location for advertising
and airing of the film, due to their range of channels they can
capitalise on cross media promotion for better advertising.

13. GLOBAL OR NATIONAL? (2)
• However, if we did have the chance to go global, Film 4 would also
be a good production company as they work with other US companies
such as Fox Searchlight, which is a News Corp subsidiary, and could
use cross media promotion even more in this instance as there are
more channels and platforms to advertise on.
• Going global would mean a higher revenue due to a larger audience
as long as the advertising is done well which could be used for
funding for a second film, allowing a better film to be made the
second time round.