Institutional Research

Create a post - Research into institutions that distribute similar products

In order to create professional products, you need to research into real companies / institutions that create magazines or films.

Read the relevant instructions below, open suggested links, think about what you are asked to present - then decide on the best tool to present your research. Including images would make it more effective.

To research film distributors - follow these steps:

1. From the film openings you have researched, identify the distribution companies. If you cannot distinguish production companies from distributors, look up the film on http://www.imdb.com/ and look towards the bottom of the page for a link tocompany credits.
2. Open in new tabs the links to the film's distribution companies onhttp://www.imdb.com/
3. Copy and paste the URLs and the date you accessed them in order to reference the source, into whatever you make for your post "Research into institutions that distribute similar products".
4. Make a note of a range of other films that each company has distributed. For those with tens of titles, record a sample.
5. Who are the target audiences for their other films?
6. Is the production company a major film production company, or an independentone? Does this affect their products in any way? How?
7. Can you find out whether the distributor you have looked at is a subsidiary of (owned by) a larger company? If so, record who owns them and note what other media interests they have.
8. Might this distributor be interested in distributing your film? Explain in what ways your film could be similar to other products they have dealt with, or explain how your film could not be like the other films they have distributed.
9. If you have researched blockbuster films that are distributed by mainstream distributors, it will be difficult to claim that they would be interested in the kind of film that you could produce. (See the advice in the Film Opening Textual Research prezi about being realistic and keeping it simple). You will need either to be very creative with your resources or to find distributors that do deal in small-scale, low budget, independent, British films and then find film titles that they have dealt in. Record this information. Add comments on why such a distributor would be a more likely distributor for your film.
10. GRADE BOOSTER - Are there any mainstream distributors that might take a chance on your film and distribute it? Why? Think here of films such as City of God(a foreign language film that was so well received by audiences that Miramax picked it up) or This is England. Does your film have anything that would suggest that it would be well received if it's not already a mainstream film.
11. Finally, create a subheading 'How will this research affect my ideas?' Create a video of yourself (or other means of presentation) discussing how this research will help you. For example, will it help you decide upon the content of your film opening? How exactly will it help you produce a film opening that resembles professional practice, that will also appeal to your target audience?