DISTRIBUTION: Types of distribution

POSSIBLE POINTS OF INFLUENCE:

I may want to distribute my film through self distribution because this suits an unknown director with no stars because distributors are looking for stars in a film because they will only want to release it in the cinema if it will make money or sell. Also distributors will tend to distribute a film that has a high budget, but my film has a micro budget so it would not get very far in the cinema or on DVD shelves.

Wide Release

A wide release is when a film has been shown in a large amount of cinemas across a country. If a film is going to be a success, it will need to have a wide distribution in order for it to make as many screenings as possible. 

The Gant Rule, suggests that if a film is a success in Britain, it will make 10x more money in the US and have 10x more screenings than in the UK. 

Below you can see a table with the box office results for the 29th of January to the 1st of February in the US.

As an example, The Revenant has grossed around £12m in Britain, whereas it has grossed $140m in America. Due to this, we can say that the Gant Rule is quite accurate. 

Theatrical Release:

This is basically the cinematic release of a film, when it is released in cinemas. e.g. Fifty Shades of Grey was released on the 14th of February in cinemas.

IMAX and 3D release:

These drive the four quadrant theory- pushing up the production costs a lot, but are also key to the wider cinema industry's fightback against the rise of high quality home cinema.

- taken from Mr Burrowes' 'British Cinema WORKING TITLE new strategy with top two in UK box office blog post'.

Four Quadrant Theory

Wikipedia's entry

In the Hollywood movie industry, a four-quadrant movie is one which appeals to all four major demographic "quadrants" of the moviegoing audience: both male and female, and both over- and under-25s. Films are generally aimed at at least two such quadrants, and most tent-pole films are four-quadrant movies. A film's budget is often correlated to the number of quadrants the film is expected to reach, and movies are rarely produced which are aimed at fewer than two quadrants. Although four-quadrant movies are generally family-friendly, this is not a requirement. Some other genres meeting this may be romantic (such as Titanic and Meet the Parents) or horror films (The Exorcist), or be crowd-pleasing in nature.Four-quadrant movies often have both adult and child protagonists. They are often built on a "high-concept" premise with well-delineated heroes and villains, with emotion, action and danger present in the story.

Limited Release:

This is a release in a specific region or city.

Straight-to-DVD:

Taken from Wikipedia:

Direct-to-video or straight-to-video (also known as direct-to-VHS, direct-to-DVD, direct-to-Blu-ray, direct-to-digital, etc.) refers to the release of a film to the public immediately on home video formats rather than a theatrical release or television broadcast. Because inferior sequels or prequels of larger-budget films may be released direct to video, references to direct-to-video releases are often pejorative. Direct-to-video release has also become profitable for independent filmmakers and smaller companies. 

Some reasons why companies use straight-to-DVD is because:

• The film has a low budget.
• The film may attract a niche audience.
• Lack of general public interest.
• Due to controversial content in the film.
• The film company thinks the film won't make sales or profit in cinemas.

I would perhaps use this kind of distribution for my film because my film would not make it in/get into theatres/cinemas and my film has a micro budget. 

Direct-To-Itunes:

Taken from Wikipedia:

Direct to iTunes is an online distribution method that avoids all upfront DVD production, marketing and distribution costs as well as upfront cinema distribution and marketing costs. Apple distributes the film for 30% of the revenue, while an additional 10–15% may go to the person who formats the film for iTunes compatibility. The first independently produced feature-length motion picture to pursue the direct-to-iTunes marketing scheme was Ed Burns' Purple Violets, which debuted on iTunes on November 20, 2007. It was the first feature-length film to "premiere exclusively on iTunes". It was distributed exclusively on iTunes at a price of US$14.99 for a month before being made available through other distribution channels. The movie, which was produced at a cost of $4 million, had premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, where it was reviewed positively, but only received modest distribution offers. At the time of the Purple Violets release, most studios were not distributing via iTunes early in the process and only Walt Disney Studios, which was the first movie studio to distribute via iTunes, was distributing at iTunes simultaneously with DVD distribution. It was not very common for consumers to make digital movie purchases at the time. The Polish brothers' 2011 For Lovers Only, which had virtually no production costs and was released to iTunes on July 12, is regarded as the first profitable feature length direct-to-iTunes product. 

The direct-to-iTunes method is also becoming common with both books and music.

Direct-To-Stream:

Taken from Wikipedia:

Due to the growth of YouTube and other video-streaming websites, premieres of long-form films increasingly occur through online streams. Long-form films to premiere on YouTube or other sites include Home (2009), The Cult of Sincerity (2008), Life in a Day (2011), Eyes and Ears of God: Video Surveillance of Sudan (2012) and Zeitgeist: The Movie (2007). In 2010, Striker was the first Indian film to premiere on YouTube on the same day as it was premiered in theatres. Some releases are not only available only from digital services such as Netflix, but are actually produced by them.