Distribution

DIS  TRIB  U  TION

As we get closer to the due date, I am realizing I need to prepare my CCR video. I have viewed the questions in the past and made blog posts researching some of the topics. I have already covered target audience, representation, and even mentioned some technologies that aided in the creation of the project. The one thing that I haven't touched on is........ DISTRIBUTION.

I may have slightly avoided this blog post because I honestly don't know too much about film distribution. Additionally without school, Leandro and I haven't really discussed where/ how we would distribute the film. My teacher did briefly talk about distribution when discussing the CCR questions and I have researched distribution with other medias but it differs with smaller films. All I remember is that Leandro and I were leaning towards distribution the "film" into a festival because that is what most interested us during the lesson. To avoid the confusion, I need to research:

Distribution Research

So when it come to indie films, distribution may not come as simple. Large companies like Disney can easily distribute their media to the movie theaters and even advertise through their various platforms.

Festivals

This is a form of distribution that Leandro and I are very interested in. Film festivals either have theme or just be open to all and is where one can submit their film in hopes that it wins a prize orgains attention. With digital distribution increasing, festivals are not as popular but still serve as a good tool. There are large, renown festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival. Smaller, local festivals such as the Miami International Film Festival also exist. A negative would be that not many people attend festivals. The majority tend to be people already interested in film or the industry.

Streaming Platforms

Recently streaming platforms such as Netflix and Hulu have gained a large popularity. People like the ability to steam movies whenever and wherever they choose. However, gaining a deal with a brand like Netlifx is not always easy. Luckily, there are also smaller streaming services where one can attempt to make a deal with. Having one's film on a streaming service can allow for a large group of people to see it. Additionally, many streaming services cater the movie selections per viewer which would allow for the film to be easily distributed to its target audience. The negatives are that it can be difficult/ detrimental to sign a film away to a larger company.

Streaming Web Sites

Although some may consider something like "Youtube" to be a streaming platform, I put it in its own category because it functions differently. Often times for sites such as YouTube, Vevo, or even smaller streaming sites like Film Hub, no account or subscription is necessary. It is usually very easy to distribute your own content on these sites and it can be viewed by a large amount of people. The negatives are that there are often a lot of competition of sites like these and it may be difficult for one's film to gain popularity. However, some sites such as Film Hub specialize in distributing Indie films.

These 3 forms of distribution seem to be most popular in the indie film industry. However, after doing some research and analysis we believe it would be best to distribute our film in smaller local festivals and both large/ specialized streaming sites. We think it would be strategically best to disregard streaming platforms.