Question 3

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

My thriller isn't a mainstream product, it is more reminiscent of niche low budget independent productions, shot in ambiguous locations in remote parts of the uk. This leads me to think that a distribution company like Cinemanx is ideally suited to distribute my thriller. Cinemanx distributed 'The disappearance of Alice Creed' a thriller very similar to my own, it is dark and gritty and has a unique aesthetic. Cinemanx has distributed a range of British low budget productions, which leads me to infer that they are well established as a distribution company working with niche films, and making use of their maximum marketability. All of the products cinemanx have distributed are quirky independent products including a comedy, a documentary, and an animated crime film, this confirms the institutes diverse range of ventures, and also displays how they would be able to successfully distribute my film. Another company that could distribute my film is picturehouse Entertainment, who've distributed other small budget indie films like 'The Lobster'. This proves their expirience distributing non mainstream films. while Picturehouse entertainment is similar to Cinemanx, I think cinemanx is the better of the two for my film as cinemanx is more suited to the niche of the film. Another choice may be Film 4 as they are good at distributing niche films and promoting new actors and producers, for example the inbetweeners 2 which was globalised after its initial release.

Cinema city is an art house cinema owned by cineworld which runs as an independent cinema and would be perfect for my thriller. It often has special offers for young people, this means that my thriller will be seen by a wider audience. Vue however may not be as good for showcasing our film, as it is far too mainstream and not many people would go to view to see an indie film. None the less vue is the biggest cinema chain in the UK so it would be useful for reaching more people.

Netflix is a very large platform for alternative content, many non mainstream products are put on netflix to be consumed by viewers, and many are very successful via this method. This is because it is cheaper to pay for a subscription than to go out to the cinema often. There are also many films similar to my thriller so it will come up and be suggested to viewers watching similar products. Another service suitable for my thriller is YouTube, on YouTube you can directly purchase products and stream them in high quality. YouTube also allows independent film makers to directly upload their films and get profit via monetisation. YouTube is a platform that all kinds of people have access to.