FILM 4

PRODUCTION

DIRECTORSFilm 4 work closely with specific directors such as:

Danny BoyleDavid FincherTim RothWilliam FriedkinTony ScottRidley ScottGeorge ClooneyTerry GilliamBen StillerRichard E GrantQuentin Tarantino

Danny Boyle is an English film director, producer, screenwriter and theatre director. He is known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later, 127 hours and Trainspotting. He has won awards for the film Slumdog Millionaire, including the Academy Award for best director. David Fincher is an American film director and

music video director. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for the 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and also the 2010 film The Social Network. For this film he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director and the BAFTA Award for Best Direction. His most recent film is 2011’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

ACTORS AND ACTRESSESKey points- British actors and

actresses- They use people who

appear in channel 4 programmes such as Skins and The inbetweeners

- They try to edgy and unique

Less of the budget is spent on distribution, because the films can be advertised on their own and parent companies TV channels.

Budget

Poor marketing budgets means that ‘unknown’ stars in the UK do not get to promote their film abroad. British stars are better known for their work in Hollywood than they are in the UK.

FUNDING Film 4 use a variety of different funding strategies- Often their films are co-productions with other small

companies e.g. the eagle with focus features- Their films are sometimes financed by bigger deals

with bigger distributors e.g. Never let me go with Fox Searchlight

- Often their films receive funding from official bodies such as Attack the Block and The UK film council

- They are part of channel 4 and some of their funding comes as subsidiary from their parent company

They fund around 20 films per year. They look for distinctive films which will make their mark in a competitive cinema market. They gain a lot of funding from taxes and advertising unlike the BBC where people are subscribed by a TV license. Film council also give funding e.g. lottery funding department.

DISTRIBUTION

Film 4 is a free digital television channel in the UK and Republic of Ireland.It is owned and cooperated by channel 4 which has been responsible for backing a large number of films made in the UK and around the world. Film 4 started in 1982 as Film Productions The company's first production was Walter, directed by Stephen Frears, which was released in 1982. Film4 was originally known as FilmFour and became Channel 4's second channel (after Channel 4 itself). It was a subscription-only service available on satellite television via the Sky platform, digital terrestrial via ITV Digital (until the platform went into administration in 2002), and most UK cable services.In 2004, Tessa Ross became head of both Film4 and Channel 4 drama.On 1 November 2010, Film4 partnered with FilmFlex to launch Film4oD.

MARKETING

AUDIENCES The majority of Film 4 films are created for a western audience. The films are generally smaller than big American films so would therefore draw attention to smaller audiences. Audience attendance has improved over the last few years because of the difference in cinemas. Multiplexes have improved cinemas by making them bigger. The British audiences complains that British cinema is not as good as the American cinemas and has been registered poor box office returns. The poor box office returns meant that budgets were limited for future productions.

British films usually focus on real life such as people in the working class or with little money. They show how life really is which the British audience can easily relate to.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIREDanny Boyle, 2008

Production: jointly produced by Film 4 and Celador Films, the British company that created who wants to be a millionaire?

It was made on a small budget of $15M with earnings to date of over $243 million.

THE AUDIENCESlumdog Millionaire was marketed towards its audience through the use of different languages throughout the film. Danny Boyle wanted every person in India to be able to see the biggest film that was inspired from their country as well as widening the target audience. He made re-makes where the actors spoke both Hindu and Tamil.

The film was created with the intention to cross cultural barriers and reach to an international audience, rather than a specific audience. This is portrayed by the different language use and cultures included throughout the film.

MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION OF SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

The films original US distributors Warner Independent were sceptical about its commercial prospects so they pulled out. But Rice's Fox Searchlight stepped in instead.

The campaign drove over 75,000 new visitors to SlumdogMillionaireMovie.co.uk.Over 73,000 viewed the video trailer and more than 21 million ad impressions were served and viewed by target audiences for free.

The film succeeded very well in the UK box office records and won 7 Bafta awards and eight Oscars.

The film was marketed through the trailer and exclusive clips that were shown mostly on channel 4 and Film4. This is because they are the company who created the film and they wanted to market it as much as possible. They also expanded their television marketing scheme to other channels that may get more viewers because of their popularity such as Sky and ITV. Posters were used on newspapers, websites, billboards. Many posters had Danny Boyles name written on it so the audience would know that he was a major icon of the film.

THE EXHIBITION Slumdog Millionaire was first shown at the Telluride Film Festival on 30 August 2008, and it had a positive reaction by audiences. The film was also screened at the Toronto International film Festival on 7 September 2008, where it was "the first widely acknowledged popular success" of the festival.

Cinemas- In North America the film only opened in 10 cinemas, then in the second week it was shown in 32 cinemas by the 25 December it was shown in 614Festivals -The film had both a Indian and UK film premiereReviews- Slumdog currently holds a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 8.2/10 average score. Movie City News shows that the film appeared in 123 different top ten lists, out of 286 different critics lists surveyed, the 3rd most mentions on a top ten list of any film released in 2008. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, stating that it is, "a breathless, exciting story, heart breaking and exhilarating.“

Profit- DVD & Merchandise Sales: reached number 2 on the DVD chart sales and took in a total of $14.16 million

SYNERGYUnder the ‘Film4’ brand are a website and digital television channel. Comparing this to Disney, who own magazines, a range of film production companies including Pixar, theme parks, television and radio networks and also merchandise stores. They also promote their films through tie-ins with multi-national companies like McDonalds.

Film4 has to source distribution for its films outside of the UK because do not have the funds to distribute their films worldwide, calling on Fox to acquire the rights to the film to distribute in the US. Therefore, the profits for the film are divided and not all the profits go back into the UK film industry.Media convergence is an important issue for Film4 and other UK companies because they do not have the same opportunities or finance as Hollywood companies.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE SYNERGY

Film4 has its own website which provides an opportunity for synergy. On the website they promoted the film with content such as trailers and interviews with Danny Boyle (director). Futhermore Danny Boyle has often worked with Film4 and brings along his own audience based on the success of previous films such as Trainspotting. The soundtrack for Slumdog Millionaire also became well known, especially the song ‘Jai Ho’ which also had a music video. This was played on various music channels and went into the charts. The ‘4’ brand also has a music channel, ‘4 music’, and there were opportunities here for synergy with the music video being played and cast members speaking about their favourite tracks. This type of promotion is good to appeal to younger audiences.

Posters Book

Music (an album featuring the songs which were played in the film e.g. Jai Ho)

The film was distributed by Warner bros and the music came from a universal music group. This highlights the synergy between the two companies who have worked together. This means that both will be advertising a product of each others.

EXHIBITION

Digital exhibition is important for the UK film industry because it means that non mainstream films are becoming more accessible. More independent cinemas have the capability to screen more films because digital distribution and exhibition is cheaper than the usual methods. Three ways why the UK film council want to make films more accessible.

1.) Improving access- The digital screen network is made up of 240 digital screens across the UK that now show non-mainstream films regularly.2.)Raising awareness- The prints and advertising fund provides £4 million every year to help British distributors promote non mainstream films.3.)Increasing information- The website is one of the UK’s leading websites for film fans to watch, download, buy or rent films.

The exhibition of films involves the management, ownership and operation of cinemas. The films will only be released on a small number of screens because less copies of the films are made.

SUCCESSES AND FAILURESSuccessful films include Slumdog millionaire, 127 hours, Four Lions, This is England, Trainspotting.

They celebrate five wins at the London’s Film critics circle awards. in the Film of the Year, British Film of the Year, Actor of the Year, Supporting Actress of the Year and Young British Performer categories. 12 years a slave earned three awards from Film of the year, Best actor, for lead Chiwetel Ejiofor and Best Supporting Actress for Lupita Nyong’o. Steve McQueen won Best Film.

One of Film Four's major problems has been competing for cinema space with multinational film companies, whose films account for more than two thirds of UK box office takings. They blame the poor box office results on its lack of control in the distribution market rather than the quality of its films.

Film Four is that it does not own its own exhibition theatrical chain, so this becomes a real issue.