Distribution Methods

 DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH

Film distribution is the process of making a film available to an audience through platforms. It is important as it allows the producers and directors of a film to have their media aired to a larger audience to admire and enjoy their work.

SELL TO A STREAMING PLATFORM

Selling to a streaming platform such as Netflix, Disney+, Lionsgate, TVNZ, Hulu, Apple TV etc. can be extremely beneficial as there are tens or hundreds of millions of people that have direct access to your media. It is one of the most popular methods of distribution today and very clearly by the sheer volume of media distributed across streaming platforms. It is one of the most profit-maximising methods, however, it can be incredibly difficult and expensive to close a deal with a streaming platform as large as Netflix, especially for smaller producers. It can also destroy your reputation if the media is controversial or insensitive.

BIDDING WAR AT A FILM FESTIVAL

This is where your film is displayed at a film festival or event, or generally on the opening night of your film. Buyers who take interest in your film may propose a deal or price or bid on your film, and by the end of the night you may walk away with a closed deal. The downside is that in modern day film industry people are buying films before they are even aired or displayed at an opening night or film festival, which means not many films are available at film festivals, and people may not be looking out to buy or bid on films now. 

CUSTOMISED STRATEGY 

Every film can benefit from having a distribution strategy prior to film festivals or before handing rights over to anybody else. A customised strategy should be based around the films content, its core audiences, and the opportunities in key avenues of distribution. They are generally easier to construct as they are specific to the film and its corresponding  circumstances.This will allow for profit, audience, revenue, impact and career maximisation. 

The best strategy for our short film distribution would be a customised strategy. This is because we are a small group of students looking to release our media for a limited purpose.