Questions – The Film Industry – Production
What is the role of the producer? What different elements does it contain?
What are the four ‘blocks’ that Nick Powell talks about?
The IDEA
What makes a good script? What must it include?
The PACKAGE
What does the PACKAGE involve and who is it aimed at?
What is ‘script development’?
Attracting investment
Who can UK film producers go to for finance?
How many partners is typical for a film?
What is a co-production deal? Where might a UK film producer find it?
What is the negative side of having a single investor?
How does a UK film producer decide on the best deal for each film?
Planning
What’s the role of the producer in planning the shooting schedule of the film?
Who is the director’s ‘right hand’?
Budget
What is the significance of the budget?
How is the budget broken down?
What are ‘above’ and ‘below-the-line’ costs?
Audience
What question should an executive producer ask of every film?
Why is audience so important?
Marketing
Why is marketing considered a hidden cost?
What is the importance of genre in marketing?
What is the ‘need to see’ and how does it work?
What are the significant differences between Hollywood and the UK film industry?
Questions – The Film Industry – Distribution 1
What is the distributor’s job?
What different ways do distributors acquire films?
Marketing
Where do distributor’s start when marketing films?
Why is genre important?
Target Audience
Who are the most frequent cinema audience?
Release date
Why is it so important? Why are the school holidays so popular?
Film research
Why does it happen? What does it involve?
Marketing budget
How is the budget decided upon? Once the budget is estimated, what tends to be the percentage spent on marketing?
Advertising / publicity
What three sections does this involve?
Questions – The Film Industry – Distribution 2
The marketing campaign
Why do distributor’s find it so difficult to get their message to stand out?
What remains the most important marketing tool for a film?
Why is synergy important?
The poster
Why is poster art important? Why do they ‘tease’? What should a good poster reveal?
The trailer
Why is the trailer important?
What three different types of trailer do you have?
Why would the ‘perfect’ trailer not have voiceover?
How is a TV trailer different?
Digital/Multimedia
What two basic uses can distributors make of the internet?
PR/Publicity
How can you get free publicity for a film?
Tracking
When are tracking figures first released? What are they tracking?
Why is ‘word of mouth’ king?
How do distributors create ‘buzz’?
Why is the opening weekend’s ‘three day figure’ so important?
Questions – The Film Industry – Exhibition
What happened in the summer of 2007?
What do exhibitors need and what are the problems/developments facing them in the 21st century?
What has driven the rise in cinema audiences since 1984?
Cinema location
Why were the older multiplexes out of town? What did they need? What’s happened in recent years?
Curzon Cinemas/City Screen are ‘niche’ exhibitors – how do they compete against the majors?
Audience
Who are an increasing part of the changing audience of cinema goers?
How do ‘film bookers’ decide on what films go where? How far in advance are films booked? When are their decisions reviewed?
Audience again is vital! The Vue cinema chain spent millions doing research called ‘mosaic profiling’ in the last few years. What did they discover?
How do people decide which cinema to go to? Where does ‘brand’ tend to be in the top ten?
How do Curzon cinemas attempt to differentiate between themselves and the majors?
What percentage of audience leaving a cinema did not know the name or brand of that cinema?
What’s going to happen with the arrival of digital projection?
How is digital 3d likely to change things?
How will the digital screen network help niche exhibitors like Curzon reach a wider audience than their typical 25-45 age range?
How are cinemas attempting to differentiate themselves from home entertainment?
