Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Studiocanal is a French film distribution company, started in 1987 responsible for distributing critically acclaimed films such as Hot Fuzz (Wright, 2007), Inside Llewyn Davis (Coen Brothers, 2013) and Submarine (Ayoade, 2010). Studiocanal has a history of releasing films from alternative or lesser known directors in the UK, which is a reason they would support our film. The British branch was formerly known as Optimum Releasing which was more of a low budget distribution company, releasing films like This is England (Meadows, 2006) which was produced by Warp and Film 4, both independent British production companies. The film made £5 million and sent Meadows' directing into the mainstream, leading to a follow-up television series for Channel 4. At the end of 2015 Studiocanal had a net worth of over £29 million. I would choose this distribution company because it has a reputation for well produced British films. 

Pathe films is also a French company which distibutes in the Uk and Europe, responsible for films such as 127 Hours (Boyle, 2010) and Selma (DuVernay, 2014). One of Pathe's biggest successes was the critically acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire (Boyle, 2009) which also kick started the career of its protagonist, played by Dev Patel. With a budget of $15 million it was a box office smash, grossing 377 million dollars. Slumdog Millionaire won 8 academy awards including Best Picture and best director for Danny Boyle. This proves that a low budget distribution company can release a smash-hit film, which is why this is a viable choice for our film, because it is low-budget and we would like to stay true to UK companies that have gained respect through the release of professional and unique films. At the end of 2015 Pathe had a net worth of just over £26 million in comparison to a larger company such as Universal who had a net worth of £38.2 million. 

If Oliver and I were to have our film distributed we would choose Studiocanal because it is a company that we have respect for due to its entertaining films which we enjoy. It is known widely in the film industry and has a reputation for distributing well made films by respected directors, whilst also giving a chance to independent companies with lesser-known directors.