THEATRICAL DISTRIBUTION WORLDWIDE

THEATRICAL DISTRIBUTION WORLDWIDE:

In this day where globalization is becoming more common, the majors are taking two sides as to how they release and market their films. On one hand, there is the traditional way, which separates international and domestic distribution, mainly because of cultural issues. This means that a film needs to be marketed differently depending on the country it is being released in. Not only this, but it also looks into the content, the film itself, to see how it must be sold and who are the targeted audiences.

On the other hand, we have a new global economy where culture globalization is become more and more intense. The U.S. which is the largest exporter of copyrighted intellectual property and the majors who are mostly responsible for this, are determined to treat the world the same. Instead of selling a film country by country and localizing the marketing, which is how most international executives think it should be done. The trend is for a day and date, a worldwide release date. This would certainly reduce privacy, an illegal activity that costs studios billions of dollars a year but in my opinion it would also circulate quicker. By reducing the time in which a theater shows a movie worldwide you create a bigger box office quickly rather than slowly, which allows the studios to release more films. So the question arises, what is better, three good films a year or ten regular/normal films? It is a business so therefore ten films a year would most likely create more profit and reduce the risk. If each film spends a total of a month in the theatrical window, it can move down the windows quicker, letting the next film in. If this is done in the world simultaneously not only you reduce piracy but you're also going to try to get as many ticket buyers as possible. To set a metaphorical example that has a lot to do: If an exhibitor has to decide between an hour and a half film and a two hour film, he will go with the hour and a half film because he can have more screenings per day. The 2 hour film will mean less screenings, therefore less people at the concession stand and therefore less revenue. It happens in domestic distribution too. Studios will aim for the biggest box office possible on the first weekend and then let the film slowly die from the first run movie theater into the second run, third run, and then prepare it for the next window. They do this because of competition and because once they’ve struck gold the first weekend, they can release a second film a couple of weeks later and again hit the biggest box office possible. If the films are bad, this will eliminate the risk of having bad word of mouth and attract moviegoers, just on the marketing. Not only this, but if the exhaust the film fast they can reduce the piracy that will not be able to keep up . If this is done worldwide, treating the whole world as a whole global market, then it is one market you are dealing with. This not only cuts costs, instead of two departments: international and domestic, you have one. Also, studio chiefs need to keep a closer look at the international marketplace because it provides 65% of the box office grosses as well as “foreign marketing campaigns can cost-effectively dovetail with those of domestic, because top pics are released in many territories in a matter of weeks. Now the biggest question arises: Is the world globalized enough for this to work? Definitely not, I believe. I am not for global day and date releasing because I believe that films should have legs, They should be good and not mental diarrhea with no other purpose than to create a profit. I also believe that a film with legs is more profitable in the long run than a film with a huge box office success the first weekend. Culturally a global day and date does not work and will probably never work. If it is played right spending more money on international campaigns can in the long run create more profit. Europe’s culture has been there since before filmmaking existed, if this is not kept in mind and if this culture is not thought of when coming up with an international distribution strategy then most probable the film will flop in the worst case. On the best case it will probably work but not reach its fullest potential.

Marketing is pretty much what makes or breaks a movie. No matter what film it is, cutting down the above the line costs makes the film more profitable if the advertising budget stays the same. Why makes expensive films if cheaper films can be more profitable?. Now the way these films can be sold better is by bringing in as many people as possible the first weekend. Supersaturation. Nowe they way they can do this is by showing their movies in as many first run screens as possible giving enough room for those who got caught in the hype of advertising to watch the film and giving no other option for those who don’t care what they see. It seems to be true that the most money you spend marketing a film the more money you make in the quickest time because the bigger the hype you create.. Now the quickest a film fdies, the quickest a screen opens up for a new movie. This benefits the distributor or the studio but it hurts the exhibitor because the longer a film stays in the screen the better for them. The interests of these two industries clash.