1. Objective
• Understand how film producers use different
types of advertising to market their products
• Be able to explain what above-the-line and
below-the-line means in terms of film-making
Make a list of all the ways a film can be marketed
(advertised) and place it on the chart on the board
based on how effective you think it is.

2. Effective
Ineffective

3. THE FILM PROCESS
PRODUCTION DISTRIBUTION EXHIBITION
There are three distinct areas of the film industry.
Each one of these could be viewed as a type of media institution.
What would you expect to happen at each stage?

4. Q2 – Overview: The Production Cycle
You are expected to know what happens
in each of these 4 stages of a film’s life:
1. Film Production
2. Film Distribution
3. Film Exhibition
***Film Marketing
Choose
genre, director, stars, SFX, &
film it!
£1000 Film reels produced &
sent to as many cinemas as
possible
Get film into multiplexes & TV
deals
Advertise the film as widely as
possible (Synergy?)

5. Above, below or through the line?
Impersonal
Mass market so mass media
‘Traditional’ advertising
Expensive because wide
audience (agency make
money)
Personal
Target a specific group so
more direct
More subtle – you may
hardly even notice it
Disguised as something else
Through the line = mix of
both

6. Production
(making it)
Distribution
(showing it)
Publicity (shouting
about it)
Merchandising
(cashing in on its
popularity)
New Film
The ideal scenario would be...

7. Production
How much did the film cost to make?
How much did it make at the box office?
Distribution
When and how was your film released?
If released in the cinema, how long did it run?
Publicity
What were the main ways the film was
publicized?
Who was the target audience for the film? How
can you tell this?
Merchandising
Did your film have any merchandising
tie-ins?
(spin-offs, sequels, toys, happy meals
etc…)

8. Production
How much did the film cost to make?
How much did it make at the box office?
Distribution
When and how was your film released?
If released in the cinema, how long did it run?
Publicity
What were the main ways the film was
publicized?
Who was the target audience for the film? How
can you tell this?
Merchandising
Did your film have any merchandising
tie-ins?
(spin-offs, sequels, toys, happy meals
etc…)

9. Production (making it)
Cost £3.5m (relatively expensive!)
Box-office revenue £45m
Distribution (showing it)
August 2011 – January 2012 (yes, still
showing in some small cinemas)
Exceeded usual three-week run
Publicity (shouting about it)
Target audience = fans of show
(teenagers, hence 15 certificate)
But also attracted range of other fans
from older age groups because film was
funny
Merchandising (cashing in on its
popularity)
DVD sales of the TV series increased
dramatically
Sales of soundtrack on iTunes
Sequels?
The Inbetweeners
Movie
Case study for this... The Inbetweeners!

10. Production (making it)
Budget = $11m
Box-office = $775m (first film)
Lucas heavily in debt when he made the film
Distribution (showing it)
Queuing round the block
Dominated cinemas wordwide
At one time, highest grossing film in cinema
history
Publicity (shouting about it)
Change to posters – disliked it
EVERYWHERE
Word-of-mouth; sheer popularity
Merchandising (cashing in on its popularity)
Actor deal/director deal (AG = 2% of 40% paid
to GL)
Sales of toys/merchandise top $8bn per
annum even now
GL net worth now... $4bn
Star Wars (first film, 1977)
Case study for this... Star Wars!

11. Original Film
Merchandising (e.g.
Products connected
directly to the film)
Licensing (e.g. Using
characters from the
film to promote
other things)
SYNERGY = In media economics, synergy is the promotion and sale of a product (and all
its versions) throughout the various subsidiaries of a media conglomerate, e.g. films,
soundtracks or video games. Walt Disney pioneered synergistic marketing techniques
in the 1930s by granting dozens of firms the right to use his Mickey Mouse character in
products and ads, and continued to market Disney media through licensing
arrangements. These products can help advertise the film itself and thus help to
increase the film's sales.

12. Skyfall (2012)
How much synergy was used to make Skyfall the success it has become?
TASK:
Research the film Skyfall and create a presentation detailing the ways in which the film
was marketed and licensed using synergy.
You should attempt to answer the following question in your response:
• Which production company financed the film?
• How much did it cost to make?
• How much of the film’s budget was spent on marketing?
• What were the THREE main ways the film was promoted? E.g. TV spots (ads).
• How much money has Skyfall made at the Box Office so far (both domestically and
internationally)?
• Is Skyfall a successful film? Why? What role did synergy play in this?