Evaluation Task 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My opening title thriller sequence follows a man, Chris, on a roof who at first appearance seems to be suicidal. However, as the sequence goes on the audience is revealed to another man, Adam, who is behind the 'jumper.' The audience then goes on to find out that Chris is being forced to jump by Adam as a result of Adam threatening his family. This sequence is actually from the end of the film, and the rest of the film goes on to explain how the characters got to this point.Our thriller would fall under the category of crime-thriller.

Deciding on which media institution might distribute our thriller is an important decision to make as they are responsible for the marketing and arguable success of the film. Certain media institutions target certain areas of the film industry more than others. For example, Warp Films mainly produces and distributes dramas that are distinctively British made. This is another important factor when considering which company would decide to distribute our thriller as there are specific companies that distribute specific types of films. These companies normally drift towards a certain genre of film as a result of the recurring target audience they choose. Thriller, especially, has a very specific target audience as they are often very dark and not everyone enjoys them. Targeting an audience is arguably the main way to success for a film as the company is aware of how much money they are going to make from how prominent a specific target audience is. There is also the consideration of whether our film is made mainly to gain critical acclaim or to make money. For example, if Warp Films were to distribute our film, we would be more likely to become very successful when regarding awards and critical acclaim. However, if Warner Bros Pictures were to distribute our film we would be likely to make a lot of money.

The plot for our thriller could be argued as quite Hollywood-like. For example, the cliff hanger of the opening title sequence is a common connotation of Hollywood films as they often leave the audience thinking and wanting to find out more about what happens. It is a classic technique of keeping the audience interested. As well as this, the mafia plot is something that occurs in several Hollywood films, like for example GoodFellas directed by Martin Scorsese. Goodfellas was distributed by Warner Bros which shows that our thriller could also be distributed by this company as they have already shown that they are interested in distributing a similar storyline. As well as this, our opening title sequence uses green screen. This already illustrates that expensive professional technology is needed. This would support why Warner Bros would be a good distributor for our media product as there would need to be a lot of money to advertise and produce it. 

Despite this, it could be argued that Warner Bros itself is a bit too commercial for our thriller and in reality only produces and distributes a handful of thrillers. As well as this, our thriller has no pre-sold elements which is a massive part of Warner Bros films. 

 However, the distribution and production company New Line Cinema is a branch off of Warner Bros and is responsible for the distribution of many thrillers. This would mean the company would be more likely to be interested in our thriller as it is their area of expertise. As well as this, there is also all the requirements, such as money, as the company is still part of the Warner Bros branch yet it is also an independent film company which means it is used to distributing films of a lower budget or less fame. This would be the ideal distributor for our thriller. An example of a successful thriller distributed by New Line Cinema is Seven.