Product Placement

There are many places to watch and buy films: Cinemas, supermarkets, specialist video stores and even from peoples own homes using online shops. Film has become increasingly easy to access especially over the last few years with the arrival of internet downloads and broadband capable of providing them, this means that more and more people can see films, so it's a small wonder that 2007 was the most profitable year in film ever.

My film will require a distributer, they will take care of things such as getting the film out to the public and advertising the film to my target audience. Some distrubution companies are: Buena Vista, Columbia Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Lucasfilms, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Paramount, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Every film needs a distributer to get the film out to it's audience, it is an absolutely neccessary part of any film project.

An advertisement campaign usually accompanies most films released at the cinema or on DVD, it has to stand out and be different enough to tempt people to see it but costs can be an issue, many lower budget and independent films can't have large amounts of advertisements due to the cost of having them made and actualy getting them displayed and they require word of mouth and small viral websites to get publicity.

In all the places where movies are for sale they are always made easy to see, sometimes big releases will have their own custom stands. Films in shops are quite often arranged by genre so people can find what they are looking for easily. I would try to sell my film in as many locations as possible to ensure that any potential buyer would have a chance to see it, however it may not be possible to do that due to costs and the buyers of action movies might not be looking to buy an action movie from a minor store which is why it would be better to only release at major retail outlets; e.g. supermarkets like sainsburys and dedicated video shops like hmv. It would also be a good idea to sell online since this is where most people like to buy films now due to the ease and the great range of titles. The graphics and pictures on the DVD box would also have to stand out from other similar movies to be noticed.

You can also sell films over the internet in both physical media form (DVD etc) and download form. My film could be given a viral website with info on the film and a place to buy it from. This method would make the film more accessible to the online populace but would lock out people without a computer or internet connection, however the costs are less and the film could be distributed faster than having to use DVDs which take time to press and cost more than a download earning me more money. There is one more downside in the form of piracy; a hacker could get into the site and download the film without paying and possibly open a 'back door' for others to go through and downlaod without paying.

Price is very important, if it's too low then my film won't make a profit and if it's too high then people won't want to buy the film at all. Most DVDs are priced between £5 and £15 so mine will be to when it comes to a DVD release. Cinema tickets typically retail for £5 but this price is usually decided by the cinema itself. In 2008 'The Dark Knight' brought in $999,060,209 at the box office and $191,678,574 from DVD sales.This is an example of a very successful high budget film, most low budget films will only get $30,000,000 - $60,000,000 at the cinema but they won't suffer such large costs.