Question 3

Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Distribution is a very important part of film making in the media industry. It all starts from someone coming up with an idea of making a film and they make an outline of the film and use it to promote the interest in the ideas to others. An independent investor or a studio will purchase the rights of the film. People are hired to make the film, for example, scriptwriters, camera men, etc. once the film is completed, it is sent to the studio that makes a licensing agreement with the distribution company. The distribution company will make a decision on how many copies of the film to make and they will send these copies to potential buyers representing cinemas. The buyers discuss the lease agreement with the distribution company and copies of the film are sent to the cinemas a few days before the first showing. The cinema will show the film for a certain amount of time only, this is called engagement.

Many websites online can help to distribute an independent film. For example, Youtube. Youtube is a great site to increase chances of distribution as films and videos can be easily uploaded onto the website and easily accessed by the public. Also, this makes it more likely to be shown at film festivals as its more easily seen by others, and the URL of the film cold be spread by others to increase the viewings. Comments can be made on the video, which means that its easier to network with others of the same interest and ideas can be shared along with constructive criticism and feedback.
‘The Short Film Bureau’ is an independent film distribution company that offers advice and supports new film makers with funding, production, marketing and distribution. The short film bureau will select 20 good short films from what has been submitted to them and they will get a panel of film makers, actors and executives to shortlist 10. these 10 will go head to head in a nationwide competition where an audience will be given the chance to vote for their favourite.
There is also another independent film distribution company called ‘Shorts International’ which has a much simpler approach to distribution. You have to download a form from their website and fill it in and send it to the office in London along with a copy of the DVD, where it will be watched by others and a final decision will be made.
However, the ‘Independent Film Channel’ sends acquisition staff to film festivals around the world to scout new films and new film makers. But for this to be successful for my film, I would have to get my film to be shown in a film festival.