What kind of media institution might distribute

my product and why?

Kirsty Evers

What is an Institution?

An institution is a company that can release media products out to the public, they can do this through the release of a movie or DVD’s. A film can be released internationally or locally to a specific country, DVD’s can be released out to shops.

Before a film is released an institution could possibly help with the final product such as with funds, editing or even production.

Stages Of Production

The usual stages of production begins with a key concept, Someone would go to the company and present them with a key idea, if the company agrees they will carry on with the film and support it through the process.

Storyboards would initially be made with casting and script making. Then it would go to filming in specific locations then to editing and possible re-shoots encase any scene went wrong however they are quite expensive. Lastly it would be finalized then released in a premier if it is a cinema blockbuster, in contrast the film could be direct to DVD or direct to TV depending on what the distributors want.

What companies distribute films in the

genre? After looking in depth at the following films I can see which

institutions distributed their product and also see which might distribute mine;

World War Z

The Walking Dead

Zombieland

Shaun of the Dead

Godzilla

I am legend

28 Days Later

World War Z

WWZ used Paramount Pictures for most of their distribution in Europe and USA. Paramount pictures is a film studio, television production company and motion picture distributor. They are ranked as the top ‘big six’ film studios of Hollywood.

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead is a TV show therefore will have a different company distributing their product. They use AMC which is an American Basic cable and satellite TV channel. It has released a lot of other famous TV shows such as Breaking Bad, Mad Men and Hell on Wheels.

Zombieland

Zombieland used Columbia pictures to release their movie. They are also a member of the ‘big six’ and generally release to America, Columbia pictures also are a subsidiary to Sony Pictures Entertainment

Shaun Of the Dead

Shaun of the dead used Universal pictures to release their film also with Studio Canal. Universal is included in the ‘Big Six’ category and is owned by Comcast. However Studio canal is a french film company who own the third largest film library in the world.

Godzilla & I am Legend

Godzilla was distributed by Warner Bros. Which is a very famous film company they make film, television and music content and are generally very successful, they are a subsidiary to time warner. This company is also known for distributing the famous Harry Potter movies and newer ones such as American Sniper. Just like Godzilla, I am legend also is distributed by Warner Bros.

28 days later

This film was produced by British film council and DNA films. These are very unknown film companies and was distributed by 20th century fox for America and UK. Since it’s lower budget I think it would be good for my film since it really is not at the level for a big budget film and also the style of the film is very different to a big type film like World War Z.

The companies

Overall the companies that produce films that would be similar to mine are; Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures, Studio Canal, Warner Brothers and British film council. With then a TV show could be AMC.

I feel as though the ‘big six’ film companies would be the best to distribute my film.

Advertisement

Films are generally advertised by; trailers, posters, magazines, interviews etc. however the most common is by trailers. Trailers help show off the film subtlety to give a little bit of the plot to let people get an idea of what the film is about to allow them to decide whether to go see the film or not. If the film is released direct to DVD there would not be many trailer advertisements and only really advertisement for the release date of the dvd.

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures have released many successful film series such as Transformers, Indiana Jones, The Godfather, Star trek and many more. This therefore suggests they would be better with films with sequels, they also don’t seem to release many zombie films since their only real zombie film is World War Z which is however very successful but I don’t think Paramount would want to accept my film since they focus on more of an action, psychological and paranormal.

Columbia Pictures

Columbia is a subsidiary to Sony Pictures, they have released over 100 films from a wide range of genres. Including zombieland they have released After Earth, Robocop, The grudge and many more. However zombieland being more of a comedy type zombie movie it did do very well. They would be a good company to release my product since they work with so many other genres I think they would be welcoming to distribute my product.

Universal Pictures

With universal pictures they have 25 highest grossing films and work with a lot of different genres such as Jurassic park to Bridesmaids. Just like with Columbia pictures I feel as though they would be good to distribute my product since they can work with what type my film is, however they have not release any zombie genre movies that are serious, instead of Shaun of The Dead which is more of a comedy.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. work with a lot of fantasy styled movies such as Harry Potter, The Hobbit and Batman. The films they did release to do with zombies were not very successful and are not in the highest grossing films. Also warner bros. works with a lot of child type films therefore it would not be good to distribute my product

In Conclusion

Overall I think a company that works with so many other genres would be good to release my product therefore I think Columbia pictures would work well with my product due to what I stated before. However with my product I feel as though it is not too big budget and could be more like 28 days later and British Film Council. Also it would be direct to DVD since it is not big budget and more like a gritty British drama about zombies.