Why do audiences flock to certain films? How do you raise awareness of a particular film and encourage them to see it? What kind of strategies are best suited to promoting different types of film? These are the kind of questions faced by people working in film marketing and distribution – key figures in the industry and just as important as the content producers (filmmakers, actors) whose work they promote.
You will learn how marketing is used to mitigate risk and maximise revenue and what forms and formats film publicity takes and the purpose they serve. You will explore how distributors purchase rights and assemble lists
how distributors and marketers position individual films to certain target audiences and territories and how film audiences select which films to view. Finally, you will consider how cinematic exhibition fits within multi-platform distribution strategies and the rise of ‘non-traditional’ distribution portals (e.g. Netflix and Amazon).
By the end of the module, you will be able to use this knowledge to inform your own practice, as you will gain hands-on, practical experience of creating your own marketing materials (such as posters, trailers, press notes).
Lecture & Screening: 24 hours
Seminar: 16 hours
Presentation.
Assessment Details: Recorded Presentation (5-minutes). Worth 30%. This Assessment is Pass Compulsory.
Portfolio.
Assessment Details: Digital Portfolio (2000-word equivalent). Worth 70%. This Assessment is Pass Compulsory.
Reassessment Method:
Like for like
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On successfully completing the module, students will be able to:
1. Critically analyse the diverse and specific purposes and roles of film marketing and distribution in the context of the major media industry institutions.
2. Appraise secondary literature on film marketing and distribution and integrate it into their own work.
3. Compare and contrast the way specific marketing campaigns function and evaluate their efficacy.
4. Create new marketing campaign tools and/or modify existing campaigns.
5. Systematically reflect on their own creative strategies and justify their choices, making reference to concepts explored in the module and in secondary literature.
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