Film Distribution and Marketing

The term film distribution is the process of how a film is made avaliable for an audience to watch in a cinema.Film distribution is a vital part of making a film available to the public; without an audience the film can't make any money. 

Responsible, the film distributer will identify the films audience, decide the release date of the film and organise the method through which it will be exhibited - wether it's home-viewing(DVD, video-on-demand, download, television programs through broadcast syndication etc.) or theatrically. But not only are they responsible for just distributing it in different countries, they are also responsible for the whole marketing side of the movie, so this would include all of the trailers, teaser trailers, posters, billboards and merchandise of the movie.

The film distributor may be a company or an individual who owns distribution networks and can therfore release the film through vertical integration. For example, of the low budget 'Colin' was released in one cinema in England with an estimated budget of $70.

A great example of how women are represented in horror is Halloween (1978). This consisted of a masked killer who escapes from a psychiatric centre to cause havoc in Haddonfield during Halloween. Slowly killing off the teenagers due to sinful acts, for example Bob and Linda whilst having sex. For instance, Carol Clover (publisher of ‘Men, Women and Chainsaws: gender in the Modern Horror Film’) would say Myers kills in response to his sister having sex. Therefore, he uses a phallic weapon (knife) to deal with his repressed sexuality. Clover would also mention the final girl theory, saying that Laurie fought back, and stabs her attacker with a knitting needle and again with a coat hanger. Clover’s final girl theory suggests the girl that’s a virgin with a masculine presence would be the woman to escape or fight the attacker back.

Distributors also work with a marketing plan, which is basically to try and get as many people as possible wanting to see thew movie, so that when it comes out, it will make more money. They do this in several ways, such as releasing a teaser trailer up to a year before the film is even finished, just to get people talking. By doing this, people then become aware of the film, and spread this awareness through word of mouth. When it comes nearer the time of the release, the distributors create posters, trailers and any other forms of advertisement for the movie, such as pairing up with other companies to advertise it.