The role of the film distributor

The role of the film distributor is to "identify and deliver the largest possible audience for every film" the distributors job is to inform the public about the film so that they know which films they want to go and see. Distributors view an earlier version of the film and then decide how it will be advertised and specifically when. If we are talking about a film like Halloween then distributors might have advised that they release it close to Halloween to attract a larger audience.

When promoting a film distributors have to look deeply into demographics and also into psychographics, they have to decide who the main target audience is, who is going to want to see the film, what kind of audiences have recent similar films attracted and quite simply who can they convince to see this film. They do this by carrying out audience research and by looking at the different lifestyles of focus groups and other aspects of their lives. Social sites on the internet can be a very important and large source of this information, they provide information on all kinds of people, mixed genders, ages, races and obviously, this will show information on how much each group keeps in touch with modern technology and the internet. This specifically may show that internet advertisement is now a big add-on to the success of a film.

Competition in the film industry is very obviously present, this can create huge problems for film distributors especially when sequels for famous films are released. This is where distributors have to adjust release dates for films, normally the smaller films will have to adjust because bigger films will overshadow them and there will be no audience available. Of course sometimes this isn't that much of a deal such as if a horror film was released on the same day as a comedy, the audiences wouldn't be as effected compared to if two horror films were released because of the audience's differences.

Publicity
This shows inside footage of films with lots of information for upcoming films often with interviews of famous actors within it giving facts about the film, explaining characters perhaps a vague view of the narrative.
Film critics are often given the chance to see the film before it is released so that reviews can be posted, this can both attract and push away desired audiences, obviously depending on the critics views of the film.
A good example of this would be the hobbit production videos posted on YouTube, these videos show the viewers the production of the film videos with the actors and specifically with this Peter Jackson who was very famous for making the Lord of the Rings trilogy which won many awards.

Promotions
Part of promotions are to reach areas of the market which wouldn't be heavily advertised, promotions advertise in places which would not usually be advertised like in shops and restaurants. Another aspect of promotions is to encourage the audience to get closer to the creators of the film and to build a relationship between them so that when they see advertisements for a film which includes that star or that director they will be encouraged to see it. They can do this through having competitions and by including actors or directors, they can have interviews with the stars which include public choice of questions and other interactive ideas which can link a film lover to a certain actor or director.