Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? Prima Facie Rachel Limage

What is the difference between mainstream and independent films? Mainstream Are films that generally have a LARGE BUDGET and lots of WELL KNOWN ACTORS, therefore attracting a WIDE AUDIENCE. They contain SPECIAL EFFECTS and often have HIGH PRODUCTION VALUE; meaning the large budget is spent on exotic locations, expensive props and quality camera equipment. For example the mainstream film The Dark Knight Rises (2012) is produced and distributed by Warner Bros; its high profile worldwide marketing campaign and high production value meant the budget was a massive $250,000,000. Due to the worldwide advertising campaign they profited from this on it’s opening weekend. Independent Are films that in contrast have a relatively LOW budget. Instead of big Hollywood names, they use UNKNOWN or EMERGING actors. In being an independent (Indie) film, they generally appeal to a SMALLER AUDIENCE, or niche market. Therefore in contrast with mainstream, their LOW PRODUCTION VALUES reflect the budget; often taking place in one setting, minus special effects and opting for a more CHARACTER AND NARRATIVE driven film. For example, Kidulthood (2006) is distributed by Revolver Entertainment, with an overall budget of £600,000. This budget reflects the production values as the film is set in London throughout, and only released in the UK cinemas. This independent film has a niche market, confined largely to British viewers due to its culture based narrative.

PRIMA FACIE Our film is an Independent film; due to it’s narrative and low budget production. The narrative follows a young male, obsessed with the world of detective fiction and crime. This is therefore appealing to a small, niche audience due to the Crime Thriller sub genre. The film takes place in the British location of Brighton, and has only one main actor; resulting in little expenditure. The narrative requires little special effects, and follows a storyline that conforms to realistic locations and settings. A distribution company that would potentially be interested in marketing our film is the Independent Distribution Collective (IDC).

POSSIBLE FILM DISTRIBUTION As our film is independent, it is therefore more likely to initially only be screened within independent cinema chains such as the Picture House chain The film may also be screened at small independent festivals where a likely market may form, and generally for shorter runs which could possibly lead to recognition by larger companies Brick (2005) is a similar independent Crime Thriller film, with a budget of $475,000. On it’s opening weekend it grossed £142,878 in the UK. This is a similar figure our film could hope to achieve considering the unknown cast, containing emerging talent, limited location and budget